Of all the recurring features to expect on the blog going forward, this is the one I hope to post to the least frequently; however, baseball is played at blistering pace on dirt, grass, and ankles—not on paper. As a result, injuries remain an unfortunate part of the game, and a source of endless panic for the author.
Fortunately, my cousin Matt Guttridge PT, DPT, CSCS (AKA “Gutty”) is a Doctor of Physical Therapy, and a certified strength and conditioning specialist (hence all the cool letters after his name), and like me he’s a certified blue-bleeding Dodger fanatic.
Whenever the Dodgers suffer so much as a gentle scrape, I panic, and immediately text Gutty, desperate for a prognosis.
The most recent of these exchanges occurred the night of September 26, 2024 when Dodger Legend™ Freddie Freeman appeared to “crab-meatify” * his ankle hustling to first trying to beat a routine ground-out. Below, please find a screengrab from our text exchange that fateful evening:
Admittedly, “won’t be an issue” felt like a wild take at the time — and while Freddie would remain hobbled the rest of the regular season and throughout the triumphant postseason campaign, he did end up being “spot on” about Freddie’s ability to not only play, but to thrive— en route to hitting the greatest home run ever hit, and then several more to close out the 2024 season with a ring.
*Gutty wants to make it clear that ‘Crab-meatify’ is not an actual diagnosis, rather, a term of art used by the author to properly convey the existential horror he felt witnessing the play live, and in the several slow-mo repalys that followed.