Pitcher woes

It was either my sophomore of junior year of high school. Game day, and I was scheduled to take the mound that afternoon.

It was a big game for my little team. We were playing one of our rivals -- not The Rivals, but a team with which we had a decidedly competitive history. I was fired up and ready to go.

In science (it was either chem or bio, can't recall which), we were working on display boards outlining the projects on which we'd been laboring for the previous week and a half. I knelt on the ground, cutting cardboard with an Exactoknife, when the blade slipped.

I sliced my right middle finger. And while it hurt, and while I bled, my anger had nothing to do with the pain.

There was no way I could take the mound. Just like that. One quick little cut, and I wasn't getting the start.

According to reports, Josh Beckett is facing the same situation right now. Not that he had a mishap with a science project -- but there's a cut on his middle finger.

We hear about a lot of questionable injuries that land baseball players on the bench. So and So sprained his toe after running into a doorframe (oh wait. I've done that too). Another has a bruised muscle. Another hit his wrist against a kitchen counter and is out for eight days.

For many, a cut on a finger registers as just as silly. Wait. You got a papercut, and now you can't start a game. What the hell is that, Beckett? Wuss.

All I know is that when that afternoon arrived and I took my place at first base, whenever the opposing team reached base, the girls looked at me between pitches.

"I thought you were supposed to pitch today."

I'd extend my right hand, showing the bandage on my finger that rendered it impossible to grip the ball for a fastball, let alone a changeup or curve.

"Cut my finger today. Can't pitch for a few days."

Lame? Yes.

But much more valid than, say, a possible, sure-if-you-squint-your-eyes-and-turn-your-head hamstring injury...