Many athletes have wound up taking shots to the groin over the years, from Kerwin Bell through Jack Sock through Tim Federowicz through the unnamed hammer throw official hit in 2016 through all the poor speared hockey players. And viewers like to laugh about it; after all, it works on so many levels. But it’s pretty rare to see an athlete get hit in the groin, collapse in pain, and then go on to do the best thing imaginable in their sport.
That’s what Detroit Tigers’ center fielder Leonys Martin did Wednesday in the first game of a double-header against the Pittsburgh Pirates, though. Here’s the clip of him getting hit after he fouled a ball off the plate into his groin:
Leonys Martin fouled a ball off the plate directly into his nuts, then 2 pitches later he hit a home run pic.twitter.com/glumJsmTrT
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) April 25, 2018
And here’s the clip of his home run:
“Leonys Martin has certainly gathered himself.” Yes, yes he has. And the commentators’ discussion about him is quite funny. “He is in a lot less pain right now, I guarantee that.” “You got that right.” Martin is hitting .274/.346/.438 this year, not mind-blowing, but a nice improvement over the .172/.232/.281 line he posted last season. And he definitely showed some perseverance here.
[CJ Fogler on Twitter/For The Win]
