Silly injury Will Smith ST. LOUIS, MO – SEPTEMBER 27: Will Smith #13 of the Milwaukee Brewers pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals in the ninth inning at Busch Stadium on September 27, 2015 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images)

If there’s one thing baseball players are good at (besides playing baseball, I guess), it’s getting injured in ridiculous ways. From Sammy Sosa throwing out his back sneezing to Joel Zumaya hurting his wrist while playing Guitar Hero to Joba Chamberlain dislocating his ankle on a trampoline to a million other examples, we’ve seen just about every absurd injury over the years.

Now we can add Brewers reliever Will Smith to the list.

Smith, who was in line to share Milwaukee’s closing duties, will now miss extended time with a knee injury that occurred while taking off his shoe. According to MLB.com, the familiarly named left-hander entered the clubhouse after pitching in an exhibition game and pulled off his cleat too hard.

“My shoes were tight, because I had been pitching,” Smith said, “so I pulled a little bit harder, and ‘pop.'”

The freak nature of the injury made it hurt worse, Smith said.

“We take off our shoes all the time and never even think about it,” he said. “I’m probably going to wear sandals the rest of my life.”

Smith will reportedly miss a good chunk of the season with a torn LCL in his knee, but hopes to return at some point before year’s end. He threw 63.1 innings for Milwaukee last season, with a 2.70 ERA and 1.20 WHIP. He was going to help close games in 2016 for the first time in his career, but that job will now go exclusively to righty Jeremy Jeffress.

Smith’s fellow reliever Tyler Thornburg seems to be having some amount of fun with Smith’s trauma.

We hope Will Smith’s rehab goes forward without a hitch, along his pursuit of happiness. Maybe he’ll lose seven pounds and be back by Independence Day.

[MLB.com]

About Alex Putterman

Alex is a writer and editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. He has written for The Atlantic, VICE Sports, MLB.com, SI.com and more. He is a proud alum of Northwestern University and The Daily Northwestern. You can find him on Twitter @AlexPutterman.