Painful game of catch

Professional baseball players routinely catch balls speeding faster than cars on the freeway -- repetitive impact that can cause serious damage to catchers’ receiving hands, a new study has found.

“The glove provides protection, but not the ultimate protection,” says lead researcher L. Andrew Koman, an orthopedic surgeon at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina.

Koman and colleagues examined 36 players -- nine catchers, seven infielders, five outfielders and 15 pitchers -- from four minor league teams in North Carolina for signs of hand injury.

They found that catchers had the highest level of hand trauma. Despite wearing padded gloves and other protective gear, many catchers had an index finger two sizes larger in their catching hand than throwing hand -- a sign of underlying injury -- as well as abnormal blood flow in that hand.

Because of the design of catcher’s mitts, most pitches are caught at the bottom of the index finger, where many vessels and nerves are located.

Catchers can receive 150 pitches per game, often at speeds greater than 90 mph. The repetitive nature of this position may lead to damaged blood vessels and bruised nerves in the gloved hand, Koman says.

He says the risk for younger, non-professional players is probably less serious, because they catch fewer and slower balls.

The research was reported in the July issue of the Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery.