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Atlanta Braves’ pitcher Chase Whitley married up… way up

By Alan Carpenter

TORONTO, ON - APRIL 28: Chase Whitley #47 of the Tampa Bay Rays celebrates their victory with Derek Norris #33 during MLB game action against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on April 28, 2017 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - APRIL 28: Chase Whitley #47 of the Tampa Bay Rays celebrates their victory with Derek Norris #33 during MLB game action against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on April 28, 2017 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /
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Here’s something that we didn’t hear much about at the time… but it was truly scary for one of the Braves’ pitchers.

Atlanta Braves‘ reliever Chase Whitley will be starting the season on the disabled list.  But mind you, this wasn’t exactly a routine injury.  Mark Bowman takes up the story (emphasis added):

"Whitley was cleared to throw a batting practice session on Wednesday afternoon. It marked the first time he threw against batters since developing a blister on his right heel in early March. The blister healed externally, but the internal [staph] infection spread to his lymph nodes, causing his right leg to go numb as he attended a festival with his wife, a nurse who quickly diagnosed the condition."

Okay, let’s break this down a bit.  I have a bit of experience with such infections.  Around 13-15 years ago now, I had banged my shin with a hunk of (really old) wood.  It broke the skin, bled slightly… didn’t really think much of it, as this was the usual routine with working outside.  Apparently, that board did a bit more than just bludgeoning damage, though.

The cut healed, but in another week after that, the leg turned deep pink and got very painful along with a fever.  I had an infection.  The doctors didn’t bother to culture it, but instead hammered it with multiple, strong antibiotics.  Still, it took close to two weeks to knock that out.  Wasn’t fun.

In Whitley’s case, however, the infection had reached his lymph nodes.  That’s especially scary since they are basically the highway on-ramp to the entire body.  Once there, you can assume it’s everywhere.

How much so?  Bowman reports that the staph infection “affected his heart rate” last week.

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That also tells me that being married to (Brooklyn) the woman who recognized this condition was vital.  Anyone else might have just opted to wait it out on the couch the next day or something like that.  But another day’s delay might have turned a bad problem into a life-threatening inferno, too.

Major and minor league players are away from home a large part of the year – so much so that many players simply opt to delay marriage for a while.

Chase Whitley found his life mate in the person of a medical professional – someone else whose profession can – ironically enough – result in lengthy shifts away from home herself, depending on whether she’s in a hospital situation.

Still, infections are tricky, and the fact the she correctly knew what was going on could have been vital for her husband.

Next: Speaking of Health Issues...

So gentlemen… choose wisely.  Whitley did, and his health could have been rescued as a direct result.

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