Last Friday he had an ingrown toenail removed from his left foot and has been dealing with soreness and tenderness all week. That foot is the foot he uses to drive himself forward when he swings. The foot was still bothering him enough for him to sit out the game against the Cubs on Saturday afternoon.
At the time manager Davey Johnson was unsure if Harper would return to the lineup for Sunday's series finale. It might have been a good thing if Harper had stayed out of the lineup through the early part of the week.
Harper crashed face first into the scoreboard at Dodger's Stadium earlier in the week, causing fans and the
After 11 stitches, Harper was supposedly OK, but watching playback of the video gives you the heebie jeebies.
Teammate Denard Span told reporters after the game, "I thought he was going to brace himself or do something. As the ball kept going, I was like, 'Is he going to stop?' And he just kept going. I've never seen anybody run into a wall like that."
Span also said that Harper fought to stay in the game after hitting the wall. "Thank God he was able to get up. He was actually trying to stay in the game. I was looking at him like 'No, you need to come out of the game.' He's a warrior. I guarantee he's probably going to try to play tomorrow. I just thank God he's okay," Span said. "He kept telling Davey, 'I'm okay, serious.' I was like 'Is somebody going to step up and say he's not okay? Because he doesn't look good.'"
The team performed several concussion tests after the injury and Johnson had a "let Harper be Harper" attitude. "He's not worried about the wall or anything. He should know it's on the warning track and back off, but that's not his nature. I don't want to change that. I feel sorry for the wall if he keeps running into them," Johnson said.
Harper however admitted on Tuesday that he felt nauseous and many were speculating if he actually has a concussion. Trainers denied that the nausea was connected with a concussion and said that it was because Harper was hungry. Mmmm... right.
Johnson doesn't seem concerned, although he maybe should be: "I wasn't worried about the concussion. He got hit in the chin. Nobody gets a concussion from getting hit on the chin. You might be knocked out. You don't usually get a concussion from that. He's got a few aches and pains, but he's young. He'll probably be alright today."
Anyone else think he needs a refresher course in head injuries?
There's always the possibility he was so distracted by the pain in his toe that he didn't notice where he was headed...
Reference: Washington Post, Washington Post, and Washington Post.
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