Tigers Pitcher Not Very Guitar Heroic
from the zoom-zoom-strum-strum dept
Detroit Tigers relief pitcher Joel Zumaya missed three games during this past year’s ALCS because of pains in his right wrist and forearm. Sure, sounds normal enough for a pitcher who is regarded as one of the fastest pitchers in baseball, but, it was recently reported that the cause of the injury was his continued play of the video game, Guitar Hero. His doctors diagnosed his pain as something more consistent with a guitar player than a pitcher, and as soon as he stopped playing, the pain went away and he went on to pitch in the World Series. We’ve seen before that video games are great to mentally prepare for the next day’s game. But, with the latest gaming consoles causing injuries well beyond just “Nintendo Thumb”, could a “no-gaming-during-the-season” clause be on the horizon for player contracts? In any case, it’s a good thing that Guitar Hero 2 wasn’t released until after the World Series — the newest version of the game allows for two players to strum cooperatively, which could have taken out two guys out of the Tiger’s bullpen.
Comments on “Tigers Pitcher Not Very Guitar Heroic”
I wonder if players will stop playing games on their own simply out of embarrassment of being injured while playing a video game like “Guitar Hero”.
You can probably expect most lawyers to avoid games like “Deer Hunter 5” as well.
Wii Sports?
Perhaps the Tigers could use Wii Sports in their training schedule? 🙂
Maybe, instead of playing air guitar (or making too much hand jobs), he could learn real guitar playing.
He’d be better off learning how to hit the strike zone and then learning which base to throw to on a routine grounder back to the mound.
This has to get added to the Jim Rome list of dumb off the field sports injuries of all time. Rack him!
and re: Dennis’:
“because of pains in his right wrist and forearm. ….. it was recently reported that the cause of the injury was his continued play of the video game, Guitar Hero. His doctors diagnosed his pain as something more consistent with a guitar player than a pitcher, “
The dude simply is not playing guitar right and is using poor form, and playing floppy-wristed rather than keeping it straight. I have no idea if Guitar Hero or its documentation includes instruction on proper form or not, but this is something that wouldn’t happen if he really knew how to play right. Which I know, is the point, Guitar Hero lets you be a Guitar Hero without having to really learn to play… which get’s to Aldo’s point:
re: Aldo’s:
“Maybe, instead of playing air guitar (or making too much hand jobs), he could learn real guitar playing.”
I can’t agree more. I go into electronics stores and as I walk by, inevitably there’s a couple people hooked up playing Guitar Hero and a few more standing around watching the spectacle.
And I think, what are these people hoping to accomplish? Gosh maybe one day if I practice my Guitar Hero enough, maybe I can grow up to be a real animatronic rock star?!?!?
Guitar Hero is for complete losers. Frys.com has a Guitar Hero 2 package for $79. Musician’s Friend has a Behringer package that includes a guitar, amp, cable, strap, picks, chord chart and a gig bag for $81. Admittedly, it’s crap compared to a nice guitar, but it’s still a far cry head and shoulders above Guitar Hero.
Re: Anonymous Coward
I think you’re missing the whole point of video games. They are a way to escape reality and “get away” for a few hours.
Guitar Hero allows people to enter a virtual world where they are a rock star and play infront of thousands of people. Which is much different than buying a real guitar with all the accessories, learning how to play, becoming good, joining a band, making it big and playing in front of thousands.
Saying Guitar Hero players should buy a real guitar would be the same as saying FPS gamers should buy a gun and start shooting people, racing gamers should buy a race car and start racing, flight sim player should buy a real plane and take flying lessons, etc.
Re: Re: Anonymous Coward
Yep, and techdirt users should stand on a street corner and spew their idiocy there.
Nintendo Thumb
You might be too young to remember Dennis, but more than 20 years ago, following the 1982 U.S. release of “Pac Man” on the Atari 2600, this was commonly called “Pac Man Thumb” by people of the generation, even when playing other games besides the wildly popular Pac Man. As in, “got a bad case of Pac Man thumb from playing Dig Dug too long”
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