Breaking Point

Isn't it a bit creepy having the ability to watch, in super-slow motion, at 5,000 frames per second, the very moment a ball player gets hit by a pitch and has his hand broken?

Of course, in the video above, you don't actually see the bone in Omar Infante's left hand breaking – that would be weird – and we didn't know in the moment that his bone broke, but now we know and that creeps me out just a little… just a little. I felt the same way watching Derek Jeter break his ankle early in the playoffs.

Seeing the pitch hit the Detroit Tigers' second baseman is painful, but seeing the ball-to-hand impact in super slow motion is all the more excruciating for a guy like me who once nearly passed out while giving blood.

As for Infante, the guy suffering the real agony here – not only did he break his hand, his team was swept in the World Series – John Lowe of the Detroit Free Press writes:

"Head athletic trainer Kevin Rand said Monday night that a hand specialist confirmed that Infante has a non-displaced fracture of the fifth metacarpal, the long bone below the little finger. Infante will wear a splint for four weeks and be re-evaluated, Rand said."