A retrospective analysis of major and significant injuries and their consequences reported by retired Australian baseball players

The purpose of this study was to establish if injuries sustained during a player’s career in baseball had consequences later in life following retirement from participation. Seventy-five retired Australian baseball players (mean age 55.8 ±11.4 years) completed a survey to establish the long-term consequences of major (i.e. those resulting in five or more consecutive weeks of training or playing being missed) and serious (i.e. those resulting in more than one week, but less than five weeks of training or playing being missed) injuries sustained during their playing careers. Players typically retire from participation in competitive baseball because of either age (33%), a combination of age and injury (25.3%) or injury (14.7%). The average overall injury rate during a playing career was 5.6 ±7.1. Respondents reported a total of 98 (26.4% of all injuries) “major” injuries (1.5 ±2.2 per respondent/playing career) and 273 (73.6%) “significant” injuries (4.1 ±6.5 per respondent/playing career). The highest number of injuries related to the upper body (n = 145) representing 59.9% of all injuries reported and 40.1% (n = 97) of injuries occurred to the lower body. Some respondents (29.3%) incurred additional medical costs and significant loss of income (12%) associated with their injuries. 5.3% of all respondents indicated their injuries had impacted on their ability to perform work for which they had been previously trained. A further 26.7% reported experiencing limitations in their ability to carry out normal leisure activities later in life. Further research is needed into the mechanisms and management of common injuries and their consequences after retirement with a view to developing strategies that may reduce their incidence/severity and possible negative impact later in life.