Adrian Beltre: No Cup, Big Problems…

There has been a lot of weird news out of Seattle lately.

Last week the members of the Seattle Mariners’ bullpen were told they could no longer carry gladiator helmets with them. Then yesterday, something happened to Mariners’ 3B Adrian Beltre that has made every guy cringe.

According to the Associated Press, Adrian Beltre was put on the 15-day disabled list with a severely bruised testicle Thursday, one day after taking a hard one-hopper off the bat of Chicago’s Alexei Ramirez to his groin area in the ninth inning.

Ouch!

Beltre was hit so hard that surgery may be an option. According to the report, Beltre was “walking stiffly with his legs far apart on Thursday.”

I am going to venture to say Beltre’s legs might be the only stiff part on his body for a very, very, very long time.

The reason this happened is because Beltre doesn’t wear a protective cup when playing. He says it’s “uncomfortable.”

Listen, I played baseball all my life, and he is right—wearing a cup is not the most comfortable thing in the world. However, there is no way in hell I would ever take the field without one. That’s the height of stupidity.

What makes it even more crazy is that he is a third baseman in the major leagues! Balls come at you around 95-100 mph off the bat. Outside of catcher and pitcher, it’s the one position where wearing a cup is essential.

Last year I named my fantasy baseball team the “Twisted Testicles” in honor of Felix Pie’s incident. I think now I will rename my team the “Bruised Testicles” in honor of Adrian Beltre.