Boston Red Sox rookie Bryce Brentz at Boston Children's Hospital on Jan. 9, 2013 in Boston, Mass.
The Boston Red Sox would surely love a season without drama. The team’s 2011 baseball season culminated in a collapse of historic proportions, losing 16 of their final 21 games. And last year saw new skipper Bobby Valentine fail to inspire his charges with the Fenway Park outfit registering their worst season in 47 years, finishing with a dismal 69–93 record.
But with new beginnings under new boss John Farrell, the team wouldn’t be remiss in hoping for a peaceful year. If that was the plan, the start of spring training has already been blighted by an incident which doesn’t bode well for the rest of the season. Prospective player Bryce Brentz, a 24-year-old outfielder, accidentally shot himself in the leg a few weeks ago.
(PHOTOS: Happy 100th Birthday Fenway Park! 25 Moments from an Historic Stadium)
But Brentz, who was forced to miss the preseason training camp, described his injury nonchalantly. “After the rookie program, I had an accident,” Brentz told radio station WEEI. “Everything is fine, but I was cleaning my gun and it accidentally discharged on me and I sustained an injury. Nothing serious. That’s why I was out of big league camp, because at the time I’m not able to participate fully, but I am recovering very fast and should be OK for the season.”
General manager Ben Cherington’s take accentuated the positive, with him acknowledging that “I guess you could say he got lucky relative to what happened. I think he understands he got lucky and it’s a serious thing and he has to be careful.”
In 2012, Brentz hit .290 split between Double-A Portland and Triple-A Pawtucket, with 17 home runs, 76 RBIs and seven stolen bases. He’s listed as the number six prospect for the Red Sox, according to SoxProspects.com. Hopefully team scouts have wrapped the top five Sox prospects in bubble wrap and have assigned security guards to watch over their every move.
MORE: New York Yankees Hit 3 Grand Slams in One Game: A Red Sox Fan Takes the Blame