When Edwin Encarnacion struck the winning home run in Tuesday’s Wild Card Game, the Toronto Blue Jays were understandably excited. According to Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet Magazine, catcher Russell Martin was maybe too excited.
Martin high fived someone so hard that he later required stitches.
https://twitter.com/ArdenZwelling/status/783525370674962432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Ouch.
In a way, this is a rookie mistake from a veteran player. Come on, Russ, you still have three rounds to go before the big celebration. How hard will his high fives be if Toronto wins the ALDS, ALCS or the World Series? Should that happen, teammates would be well advised to steer clear of Martin, at least in the immediate afterglow.
One thing we have to applaud is Martin’s veteran savvy. A lesser experienced player might be dishing out the over exuberant high fives with his throwing hand.
Even if the injury is fairly minor, we can’t imagine it would be a lot of fun trying to throw out potential base stealers with stitches on your finger.