Sometimes we think of professional athletes as robots or superheroes, incapable of feeling emotion. That’s clearly not the case, however, and the latest example comes from Milwaukee Brewers MVP Christian Yelich.
Yelich fouled a pitch off himself and broke his kneecap last week, ending his season in one unlucky instant. It took about a day for news to come out that he wouldn’t return this year, forcing the Brewers to compete for one of the NL’s final playoff spots without him.
In his first comments since the injury, Yelich acknowledges it was hard not to feel sorry for himself.
“It’s the first time I’ve broken anything in my life or had a real injury,” Yelich said, according to the Associated Press. “It seems to be one of those things that’s not fair at the moment. Trust me, I had my pity party that night at the stadium and I felt terrible. … Trust me, I wish I could have an impact on this race or if we make the playoff, participate in that. But it’s not going to happen. So there’s no point in dwelling on it or letting it get you down.”
“Trust me, I had my pity party that night at the stadium,” @ChristianYelich said. “After getting showered, putting street clothes back on and getting going, it’s being positive and trying to get back. I haven’t spent any time on ‘Why me?’ or ‘Why this?’” pic.twitter.com/ZC9NoUeLTG
— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) September 16, 2019
A bad break
Yelich was having another MVP-type season, with 44 home runs and a Major League-leading 1.100 OPS.
Without him, the Brewers have turned to Trent Grisham to play more in the outfield. And they have continued to win. They’ve won 9 of their past 10, including a 6-1 mark since Yelich’s injury last Tuesday.
Milwaukee is one game behind the also-hot Chicago Cubs for the final wild-card spot, 1.5 games behind the Washington Nationals for the first wild card and three games behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central race.
30 for 30: “What if I told you that one of the greatest hitters of our generation went down on a fluke injury, and the team he played for still rallied from 5 back of a playoff spot to a World Series title? This is the story of the 2019 Milwaukee Brewers”
— OberSports (@obersports41512) September 12, 2019
Coming back strong
Yelich did say the bit of good news he got was that the injury won’t require surgery. He’ll be out eight to 10 weeks and probably wouldn’t be ready even if the Brewers go all the way to the World Series.
But he’ll be able to recover in plenty of time for spring training next year.
“I think the hardest part of the whole thing was the unknown for about 24 hours,” Yelich said. “It was a broad spectrum of outcomes and recovery times, depending on what the MRI showed. We got the good news of no surgery. Once I knew that, it was just about getting better and trying to make a full recovery.”
Here’s the foul ball that knocks Christian Yelich out for the rest of the season. Brewers say he has a fractured kneecap. (Video via @FOXMarlins) pic.twitter.com/D52FAljJbL
— Will Manso (@WillManso) September 11, 2019
