Ouch

Baseball

You can guarantee that when a story on the P-I web page has a teaser that reads Ex-Mariner Cameron hurt in collision, it's going to get my attention.

Here's the short version of it: Cammy and fellow outfielder Carlos Beltran were both going for the ball full tilt, neither one saw the other, and they ran into each other. Beltran got up and got off the field on his own several minutes later. Cammy was responsive and at one point shielded his eyes from the sun while being attended to, but he was taken off the field on a stretcher with his neck in a brace. He has a concussion and a broken nose, at least.

Mike Cameron has always been one of my favorite players. It's not that he's the best player out there -- although seeing him in center field in 2000 for the Mariners took some of the sting out of losing Griffey, defensively at least -- but he just seems like he genuinely enjoys being out there playing the game. In an era where players are getting millions of dollars to play a kids' game and all too often treat it like a business, having someone with an attitude of "Enjoy my enjoyment" out there playing strikes me as a breath of fresh air.

One of my Great Moments In Bad Timing was, back when Cammy first signed with the Mariners he was doing an autograph session in the building I worked in. Westlake Center has offices on the upper floors and a mall on the lowest ones, and one day in April 2000 I saw a sign that said Mike Cameron of the Seattle Mariners was going to be at the Westlake Center Lenscrafters that day. Of course I found out about this about fifteen minutes after he was scheduled to leave. I believe the echo from my scream of frustration finally stopped kicking around the atrium sometime last year. Part of the reason for the extended reverbration was that eventually I figured out he probably stayed long after he was scheduled to leave. He's just that kind of guy.

Hurry up and get well, Cammy. Baseball needs more guys like you out there.