Ozzie Guillen Says Players Got Hurt Less When They Were Drinking A Dozen Beers

Former Big League manager and current broadcaster Ozzie Guillen offered quite a take concerning a spate of muscle injuries across Major League Baseball.

His argument can be summed up thusly: today's Major Leaguers are so healthy that they get hurt more.

However, in a way, he might make a good point.

The former White Sox skipper was in the studio on Friday talking about a hip flexor injury sustained by Chicago outfielder Luis Robert.

"Like I always say, John Kruk said, fat never pulls," Guillen began. "All those eat right, be careful what you eat, don’t eat cheeseburgers… no, man, I remember those guys drinking six, seven, twelve Budweisers, three hamburgers, go get it, boys. They played all year long."

I'm sure there were less man games lost when dudes were sucking down lung darts in the clubhouse too. Correlation doesn't equal causation.

But the hilarious thing is, he's not wrong. I mean, the NHL's ironman is Phil Kessel, a man who aside from his three Stanley Cups and unreal goal-scoring ability, is known for his lousy diet and disdain for working out.

He played 1,064 straight games.

Meanwhile, many guys who are gym freaks and eat cleaner than someone with every allergy known to man wind up getting bit by the injury bug.

What do you think Lou Gehrig was eating before and after games during his games-played streak? Whatever it was, I'm sure it'd make modern sports nutritionists and performance coaches squirm.

Guillen might be correct — I hope he is — but I'd have to assume that the increase in muscle injuries comes from the increase in speed we see in just about every sport. Players train harder than ever before just to keep up with the pace of play.

However, if Ozzie Guillen is right and we can go back to the days of beer-swilling, burger-chowing ballplayers, I'm all for it.