From Titans’ running back Leon Washington to Giants’ catcher Buster Posey, athletes throughout the years have had a history of breaking bones. Fractures are one of the most common injuries an athlete can deal with, and, considering the amount of time they take to fully heal, they’re not exactly fun to face.

Getting diagnosed with a fracture is never pleasant. But, did you know that there are dietary changes you can make that will speed up the recovery process and get you back in the game faster?

Whether you’re a professional or an amateur athlete, these nutrition tips will help you heal and become more resilient to future injuries.

1. Consume Sufficient Calcium

You probably grew up being told to drink your milk to keep your bones healthy and strong. Well, your mom was right. Although, you don’t necessarily need to drink milk or eat other dairy products to get sufficient amounts of calcium.

If you don’t tolerate dairy, you can get plenty of calcium from the following food sources:

• Broccoli

• Collard or turnip greens

• Kale

• Bok choy

• Canned fish (tuna, salmon, and sardines — just make sure they haven’t been deboned)

• Almond milk

You can also use a calcium supplement if you feel that you need additional help meeting the minimum daily requirement (anywhere from 1,000 to 1,200 milligrams per day). Read the rest of this entry →

Besides Hot Stove banter there is much that can be discussed at next week’s GM Meetings in Nashville, TN

With the MLB Winter Meetings in Nashville rapidly approaching, here a few meetings that Bud and his crew should schedule.

The first meeting should be with Bud and every team in the American League. In 2013 there will be 15 teams in the AL, and we need to take a new vote on the DH. Lets say that Houston will vote to eliminate the DH since they never had one. Do you think there are seven other teams that would vote the same way?

The next meeting should be regarding the new schedule.

It might be too late to scrap the model adopted by baseball and change to a more balanced schedule in 2013, but it certainly is early enough to start on the 2014 schedule.

In 2013 each team will play 19 divisional games and 20 interleague games with six teams.

In 2014 a balanced schedule would have each team play 18 divisional games and 20 interleague games with five teams. Eliminating rivalry games every year, will allow baseball to rotate a complete division with all teams playing in every park every three years.

Balanced schedule:

72 Interdivisional – four teams 18 games each
70 same league- ten teams seven games each
20 interleague- one complete five team division four games each

The next meeting will be called Wild Card improvements.

The first thing should be to change the Wild Card Game into a series, WCS. Changing it into a three game series will make it more exciting for fans, and each team will have at least one home game.

Rules for tie breakers also needs modifying. If both teams qualify for post season, then they should never play a game in which the losing team advances, like what would have happened this past season if the Yankees and Baltimore tied.

The next meeting will be called instant replay.

Here is the proposal.

Each team will be allowed three wrong challenges per game.

Each team will have a red ball that would signify a challenge. When a team throws the challenge ball across the foul line, a challenge will start.

The challenge must be made within five seconds of the original call by any umpire. Any umpire call, except balls and strikes could be challenged

After the red ball crosses the line, the four umpires will have 30 seconds to watch replays while staying on the field, using the giant screen in every park.

After 30 seconds each umpire will signal their call. If the result is 2-2 then the original call stands.

All replays will be shown in every park, including balls and strikes.

Umpire Strikezone Scores will be included in every boxscore.

The next meeting will be for rule changes.

Read the rest of this entry →

Joey Votto earned MVP honors after leading the Reds to the playoffs.

The 2010 Major League Baseball Award season is now history. Here is a rundown of the choices and my input on whether the right players were selected.

Rookie of the Year
National League: Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants; American League: Neftali Feliz, Texas Rangers

Based on value to teams and performance over the second half of the 2010 season it is very difficult to argue with the two picks for Rookie of the Year.

You kinda had a sense that Buster Posey was going to be an impact player for the San Francisco Giants when he was called up in late May and promptly had six hits in his first two games and posted seven multi-hit games in his first 12 games. He went on to hit .305 and serve as a major catalyst for the late season surge of the World Series Champions.

What is interesting about his selection over Jason Heyward of the Atlanta Braves is that Heyward got so much publicity early, but by mid-season you almost forgot he was a rookie. Heyward had a great rookie season with a .277 batting average, 18 home runs and 72 RBI. On a team that lost offensive power to injuries on a regular basis, he had a solid rookie season and was definitely a key reason they made the playoffs.

However, at the end of the day the choice of Posey was the right one. It is ironic that neither of the two most celebrated Atlanta Braves rookies of the last two decades, Chipper Jones and Jason Heyward received Rookie of the Year honors. Jones finished second to Hideo Nomo in 1995.

Given the sizzle and star power of the two major candidates in the National League, the American League Rookie of the Year race was basically made up of unknowns. Read the rest of this entry →