Knuckle Buster

A worker busts a knuckle maybe 20 times a year. A slipped wrench, a dropped crate or a momentary lapse with a box cutter are all part of the job.

Every time you find yourself replacing a slab of skin like a divot after a sliding catch, you promise to be more careful. But eventually the bleeding stops and a scab forms and then you slip again.

Damn.

A busted knuckle is similar to a flat slider. You realize it immediately, but it’s too late. The skin is cut and the ball is on its way. You promise it won’t happen again. But everyone knows it will. Workers make mistakes. Ball players make them, too.

Mike Myers will be ready if Lyle Overbay comes up tonight with the bases loaded in the seventh inning.

It’s all part of the job.