Joel Zumaya Puts His Life In Rock's Hands

Remember in the American League Championship Series, when flamethrowing, red-eyeballed righthander Joel Zumaya was sidelined with a "right wrist and forearm inflammation?" It turned out not to matter, because the Tigers blitzed the A's in four games, but had there been some tighter games late, it could have been costly not to have Zumaya around. Zumaya's violent pitching motion had been thought the cause of the troubles, but it turns out there was a decidedly different explanation.

Club president and general manager Dave Dombrowski told WXYT-AM (1270) on Wednesday the team had concluded Zumaya's injury resulted from playing a video game, not from his powerful throwing motion. "That was probably what was taking place," Dombrowski later told the Free Press. Zumaya, 22, was known to play "Guitar Hero," a PlayStation 2 game in which a player uses a guitar-shaped controller to simulate the performance of popular songs.

This makes perfect sense and is in no way indicative of other possible injuries. It can be awfully difficult to hit those ripping chords on "Rhythm Of The Saints," we'll give Joel that.

Guitar Video Game Hurt Zumaya's Arm [Baseball Think Factory] Breaking: Athletes Also Like To Jack Off To Internet [Deadspin]