Climate change is now affecting the bread and circuses
Tom KirkmanIndependent Project Manager
Oh noes, Climate Change is affecting the bread and circuses. This is catastrophic.
Clearly, everyone needs to panic more about Climate Armageddon and pay even more attention to bread and circuses.
For the greater good, of course.
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“The Phillies and the Atlanta Braves reputedly are among the elite teams of major-league baseball, but if the quality of play at Citizens Bank Park during their season-opening series doesn’t quite measure up to expectations, go gentle on the booing.
These players are experiencing a form of abrupt climate change, says Struan Coleman, a sports medicine specialist who practices in New York and Philly.
… One comprehensive study documented that such a degree of coolness can affect the quality of play. The early season can be particularly challenging for hitters.
“It’s more about the cold rather than the rustiness,” study co-author Brandon Koch, a statistics professor at the University of Minnesota, said Tuesday.
Plus, such a radical change in air masses, says Coleman, an orthopedic surgeon who is a medical consultant for the New York Mets, is more than just a matter of comfort for the players: It can be hazardous.
“It’s something that’s probably not focused on enough, and talked about enough,” he said.
… “Baseball is the one sport where you go from absolute standstill to absolute sprint.” A batter hits the ball and then bolts out of the box.
That is a leading cause of hamstring pulls, especially in the cold.
“When it’s colder, you lose elasticity in your muscles,” he said.
“If there’s less elasticity, you’re more likely to tear the muscles.
… He added that injuries to oblique muscles, the ones in our sides that give our trunks their twist, are common among hitters when it’s chilly.
●》…“Climate in baseball is incredibly important,” said Coleman, who practices at the Vincera Institute in Philadelphia, “and something that should be looked at and discussed more carefully.”
He added that he would like to interest the Phillies in an analysis of the relationship of weather and sports injuries. …”