A’s Rookie Billy Burns Gives New Meaning to the Cup Game, Exits with Testicular Contusion

This has nothing to do with the Cubs, but it was too weird/good for me to pass up.

Billy Burns had been having a pretty good season thus far in Oakland. In fact, he was leading all rookies in hits (92), multi-hit games (29), and steals (20) as of last night. Friday’s game against the Giants started out like any other, and Burns even recorded his 18th RBI when he grounded out to score Sam Fuld in the 4th inning.

But it was what happened earlier in that at-bat that made his effort tough to watch. You know that scoreboard game where there are 3 cups and a ball goes into one of them, then they move the cups around and you’re supposed to figure out under which cup the ball resides? Well, Burns’s AB was sort of like that, except more painful.

Batting against Jake Peavy and down 1-2 in the count, Burns offered at a pitch (the broadcaster calls it a slider, MLB.com says curve) in the dirt and just gets a piece of it to stay alive. Unfortunately for his left testicle, however, that contact was just enough to send the ball right up under his cup. Of course, that’s assuming he was wearing one at all.

It actually doesn’t look too bad in real time, but when you slow it down and look from the side, well…

The craziest part for me in all this is that Burns actually finished the AB and drove in a run. Then again, the thing with taking a shot like this is that it doesn’t usually hurt right away. The real pain comes seconds and even minutes later, which is why Burns had to leave the game in the 4th. I just hope the guy’s okay and that this can turn into something his teammates can bust his balls over down the road.