Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters outfielder Daikon Yoh is out of action for probably six weeks after breaking his left thumb in a game against the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles on May 4 in Sapporo. He sustained the injury while attempting to perform one of the stupidest and unnecessary plays in baseball.
He slid "head first" into first base while trying to beat out an infield grounder.
The quotes are around the words "head first" because it is a misnomer. No one does a head-first slide or, as it is called in Japanese, "head-sliding." If Yoh had slid head first, instead of fracturing his thumb, he might have broken his nose, suffered a fractured skull or a broken neck. It's the hands that go into the base first — not the head.