Monday, September 24, 2001
Bad break for Boone - again
Fractured thumb shelves him for year
By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MILWAUKEE — Aaron Boone doesn't get hit by pitches. He gets hurt by pitches.
Boone, the Reds third baseman, suffered a fractured left thumb Sunday when he was hit by a pitch from Milwaukee's Jamey Wright. It is the third time this year Boone has had a bone broken by a pitch.
“I've been hit in the hands three times in one season,” Boone said. “I don't think I've been hit in the hand three times in my life before this year. What can you say? It's unbelievable.”
Boone missed a month (May 15-June 15) with a broken hamate bone in his right hand. He had surgery to remove the bone. He missed 16 days (Aug. 15-Sept. 1) with a fractured bone in his right wrist.
Boone remained in the game to run the bases, but he knew what had happened. “I ran down to first, looked at my hand, and said, "I broke my thumb,'” Boone said.
Boone will fly to Cincinnati today to be examined by medical director Dr. Tim Kremchek.
But with 12 games left, he is certainly done for the year.
“I think I have a certain level of perspective,” he said. “What happened to me is very small in the scheme of things, especially with what's going on in the country.”
Boone was the 18th batter Wright has hit this year. That tied the Brewers' franchise record, which Wright set last year. He later hit Corky Miller to break the record.
“I've been pretty successful throwing the sinker inside,” Wright said. “Every once in a while one gets away from me. (The pitch to Boone) was a classic example of that right there.”
Boone had no beef with Wright — or Houston's Wade Miller or St. Louis' Matt Morris, the other pitchers who hit him.
“They're all the same type,” Boone said. “They throw hard and try to jam you.”
Boone was wearing a special pad on his right hand. “If it doesn't catch my thumb,” he said, “it hits the pad. So it almost worked.”
Boone has something to work on in the offseason.
“I've just got to learn to turn the other way,” he said, “so it hits my back or arm and not my hand.”
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Bad break for Boone - again
