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3 freak Mets injuries that we will never forget

By Adrian Cervantes |
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San Diego Padres vs New York Mets / Paul Bereswill/GettyImages
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The New York Mets have had their fair share of bad luck throughout their franchise history and I'm sure every die-hard Mets fan has at least one top-ten list of unfortunate events that have beleaguered this franchise. I wanted to highlight three of the most freak injuries that the Mets have experienced in their franchise history.

Unfortunately, Edwin Diaz was the latest victim recently of the Mets' bad fortunes after fully tearing his patellar tendon in his right knee after celebrating Puerto Rico's victory over the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. While this injury is still fairly new and we don't know the long-term implications of the injury we will leave it off this list.

However, there are three other freak injuries I'd like to highlight that no Mets fan could've seen coming and has pretty much summed up this franchise's luck over the last 61 years.

1) NY Mets freak injury: Duaner Sanchez's taxi ride

How could any Mets fan forget the infamous taxi ride in the early morning hours of July, 31st 2006 when Mets reliever Duaner Sanchez ended up in a cab that was sideswiped by a drunk driver in a Crown Ford Victoria on I-95 near the team's hotel in Hollywood, Florida. Sanchez was in the midst of a career year with the Mets and had become a vital piece of their bullpen prior to the accident occurring.

At the time, Sanchez had a 2.60 ERA over 49 appearances and had been a bridge to Mets closer Billy Wagner. Ultimately Sanchez's right shoulder was separated by the accident and he underwent surgery within 24 hours back in New York City after being flown home by the team. Luckily for the Mets injury had happened at the Trade Deadline and they made a trade for pitchers Roberto Hernandez and Oliver Perez in exchange for outfielder Xavier Nady.

Unfortunately, the Mets' season seemed to be affected by Sanchez's absence due to the Mets missing his electric arm out of the bullpen in the later innings of games. The accident seemed to affect the team and I believe the Mets trading Nady who was having a decent season at the time (.264 with 14 homers and 40 RBI in 75 games) was a bad move made out of desperation.

Duaner Sanchez also was never the same after the injury as his shoulder ultimately weakened and he was out of Major League baseball by 2009 at the age of 29.

2) NY Mets freak injury: Yoenis Cespdes' encounter with a wild boar

Who could ever forget the infamous Yoenis Cespedes wild boar incident? It's not too long ago that Cespedes was a bonafide star for the Mets and he had signed one of the largest contracts in franchise history after the 2016 MLB season. Unfortunately, injuries plagued Cespedes following the new deal, but this injury came completely out of left field.

Back in May 2019 as Cespedes was rehabbing and working his way back from surgery on both of his heels, he had fractured his right ankle on his ranch, which ultimately ended any chance of him returning to play that season. While General Manager at the time Brodie Van Wagenen had simply played the injury down as Cespedes simply falling and injuring himself, the truth eventually came out (as it always does).

Following the 2019 season, reports finally emerged that Cespedes had actually fractured his ankle by stepping in a hole on his ranch after having an encounter with a wild boar. The Mets and Cespedes would then move forward in restructuring his large contract, which at the onset cost him a little over $15 million.

From that point forward we all saw how the ending of Cespedes's term as a Met played out during the 2020 season and it went down as one of the more disappointing endings to a career in a Mets uniform after starting with so much promise.

3) NY Mets freak injury: Bob Ojeda and hedge clippers

One of the more bizarre freak injuries in Mets history was back in 1988 when pitcher Bob Ojeda had to have part of his left middle finger reattached after severing it with an electric hedge clipper in a gardening accident at his home. The injury was so bad that Ojeda's finger was almost completely severed at the joint.

While surgeons were able to successfully attach Ojeda's finger back in place, Ojeda wound up missing the rest of the season for the Mets. At the time Ojeda had pitched to a 2.88 ERA for the Mets before the injury and there was genuine concern whether he would have feeling in that finger again, which he ultimately regained.

The Mets ended up losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series that season in seven games, and it could be argued that maybe the Mets' fortunes would have been different if they had Ojeda available to pitch in that series as Sid Fernandez did not pitch well in his lone start during the NLCS.

Ojeda was also never the same with the Mets upon returning as he largely struggled and was relegated to the bullpen. Ojeda was then traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers after the 1990 season which would end what was a promising career with the Mets after one of the most freak injuries you will ever hear of in baseball history.

Next. How the Edwin Diaz injury shakes up the rest of the bullpen. dark

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