In last night’s game against the Reds, rookie pitcher Drew Smyly left the game after the third inning due to a blood blister on his middle finger, how ironic. Now that I think about it there is probably nothing ironic about it but still I can’t help but laugh, mostly because I tend to have a crude sense of humor, that the blister was on his middle finger. I am more than sure that it is a common location for pitchers to form blisters.

This blister though has seemed to grab some spotlight after some choice comments from Tigers manager Jim Leyland.

“It’s the worst one I’ve ever seen in my life,” he said. “It was huge. I’ve never seen a blood blister that big.”

I love that this blister is newsworthy! I really hope they hold a press conference when they pops, Motown Lowdown promises to have full coverage if they do. Smyly can’t seem to believe the attention it is getting either, especially from Leyland.

“He said it’s the biggest one he’s ever seen?” Smyly said with a grin. “I mean, it looks bad right now, but I’ve got something on it so you can’t really tell. You can’t really tell until the next day or two.”

Supposedly Smyly has had issues with blisters like this before and was able to tough it out until the end of the third. I am a huge baby when it comes to things like blisters, either pop that sucker or wrap it up so tight I lose feeling wherever it is located. In extreme cases I have been known to ask to just have the finger, toe or even hand just completely cut off. Smyly though played through the pain until it was “real puffy and mushy.”

Every pitch, it was getting mushier and mushier. I could see it just start going down my finger. I tried to get through the inning as fast as I could.”

After that he told Leyland he was finished for the night. Can you imagine going over to Jim Leyland and telling him you are done for the night because you have a blister that is mushy and oozing?

“I couldn’t believe it,” Leyland said. “He came up and said, ‘I can’t go anymore.’ I said, ‘What?’ I looked and it and I said, ‘Oh, my God.’ I’ve never seen anything like it. … It’s the biggest blister I’ve ever seen.”

The clubhouse is not sure where this bugger of a blister puts Smyly. As of right now we can only hope for the best but we must prepare for the worst, that this blister could potentially be an alien that has come to take over Smyly’s body and destroy the Tigers clubhouse from within. (Not a great joke, but it’s been a rough day so bare with me.)