When Detroit Tigers pitcher Joel Zumaya was benched during October's American League Championship series with inflammation in his right arm, Tigers Athletic Director Kevin Rand theorized it was because the pitcher was "playing in different times now, different weather." Turns out the actual problem was not different weather but a different game -- specifically, Guitar Hero.The Detroit Free Press is reporting that Tigers manager Dave Dombrowski told WXYT-AM yesterday that Zumaya's injury recurrence came from excessive virtual guitar shredding, not from excessive baseball throwing. Once the Tigers training staff realized the injuries were "more consistent with the action of a guitar player than a baseball pitcher," Zumaya stopped playing the game and recovered in time to pitch in three World Series games.
We can't help but question Zumaya's priorities here. While pitching in the World Series is important, think of the damage done to Zumaya's Guitar Hero career during this hiatus. We can only hope practice and hard work during the off-season will bring him back to top shredding form.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]