Grrr...DD needs a bubble suit

[Eric F]

Two days after her best performance behind the plate to date, my 9yo DD managed to smash the pinky of her left hand between the ground and her knee while playing at school. The swelling and bruising pattern looked very similar to the time last November when she broke the ring finger on her same hand - uh oh! A trip to the Dr. and the x-ray lab today confirmed that the joint at the base of her pinky is bruised, but nothing is broken. A broken bone would have ended her season, and probably cost her a chance at All-Stars. Playing catcher at her game tomorrow is out for sure, but thankfully, it looks like she'll be able to get back into the action in about a week. I have to try to remember that we still have a long road of softball ahead of us, that this will be behind us soon, and it could have been a lot worse.

 

[rdbass]

Sorry to hear that. I mean this in the best way possible. Let the finger heal. You have many, many softball days ahead of you, like you said. Speedy recovery.

 

[Cannonball]

Eric, glad she is going to be ok. I don't have the fancy phone or I'd put a pic up of my finger. Really, pretty neat looking. However, hurts like heck. Tell the dd I feel her pain. LOL

 

[Eric F]

Based on her input about pain level during at-home testing, and at pre-game warm-ups, my DD played OF and 2B with a splinted and taped pinky finger. At the plate, she went 2-for-2 and scored twice. In the field, she made a catch of a pop-up to 2B, and threw out a runner at 3B from right-center field. Her throw was a perfectly-placed rocket that the other team was still talking about after the game. Our back-up catcher did great in her first full game behind the plate, and her skill level took a big step up.

My DW and I will continue to monitor things closely as she heals.

 

[Cannonball]

Eric, great news/game.

Many moons ago I coached a young man who was a tremendous athlete. We were playing a very important game and he showed up at school that day with a broken index finger on his left hand. It was getting late in the game and we were losing by one. Runners on 1st and 2nd. HC went up to him and asked him if he could bunt. His answer was, "No but I can hit!" He promptly walked up to the plate and parked the first pitch over the fence. When I see him, I still ask him if he can bunt. LOL

 

[MsDinosaur]

Based on her input about pain level during at-home testing, and at pre-game warm-ups, my DD played OF and 2B with a splinted and taped pinky finger. At the plate, she went 2-for-2 and scored twice. In the field, she made a catch of a pop-up to 2B, and threw out a runner at 3B from right-center field. Her throw was a perfectly-placed rocket that the other team was still talking about after the game. Our back-up catcher did great in her first full game behind the plate, and her skill level took a big step up.

My DW and I will continue to monitor things closely as she heals.

So glad it's not a break (and not slowing her down at all apparently) and IMO having your back-up catcher get good game time is likely to pay off big time down the road!

 

[Eric F]

A couple weeks further along, and my DD's pinky is back to near-100%. After further Dr. consulting, it was diagnosed as a bone bruise, which takes nearly as long as a fracture to heal completely. She has continued playing throughout the whole process, and did a good job letting me know what she felt comfortable handling. Yesterday, she resumed her spot behind the plate for our starting pitcher, and did a great job.

She also shut down what would have been the opponent's winning run in a bash-up play at the plate...

It's good to have my little beast back in the action.