Sports Medicine

In the aftermath of significant, life-threatening head injuries suffered by pitchers, MLB has informed its 30 clubs that padded caps have been approved to provide some head protection against line drives flying back at the mound.

The New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez returned to baseball Tuesday night, making his first rehab start since undergoing hip surgery in January. Most of the fans here in Charleston showed up mainly for the novelty of one of baseball's great players coming to town. As an orthopaedic surgeon, I was much more interested in watching how well his hip rotated with each swing of the bat or when chasing ground balls.

On Jan. 12, pitcher Carl Pavano—currently a free agent—slipped while shoveling snow and suffered a ruptured spleen. According to Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the seemingly minor tumble almost proved fatal.