METRO ATLANTA — Braves fans have all seen the video and now know the story of injured Atlanta Braves pitcher Charlie Morton who had to leave Game 1 of the World Series after fracturing his leg.
Morton somehow managed to pitch, and get out three more hitters before giving way to the pain in the third inning.
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Channel 2′s Tom Jones spoke to some Braves fans who were in awe of the fact Morton threw 16 more pitches after taking a 102 mile per hour line drive off his fibula.
“He kept going right through it. Through all that pain,” Javier Tejada said.
“My hero, my hero. That’s who he is, my hero,” said Candy Schroeder.
“He didn’t do a single thing to indicate that he was even hurt. Thought he had a bruise,” said Gary Schroeder.
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Jones wanted to find out how a pitcher, who needs his legs to plant and throw the ball at a high rate of speed, could keep performing with a fractured leg.
Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Art Raines, Jr. told Jones as bad as it was it could have been worse had the ball hit his tibia bone.
“I’m sure he had a huge amount of adrenalin going. He was pumped up,” Raines said. “The tibia does most of the weight bearing in the leg. The fibula has a minor role in weight bearing but it’s an important bone because there are ligaments in between.”
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Jones said the fans seem to understand their team has battled with injuries all season long and somehow have persevered. They know Morton’s injury will be hard to overcome, but seeing his will to win and effort to play through the pain for his teammates will be an inspiration.
“It made me feel like very proud to live in Atlanta. To cheer for this team man,” Tejada said. “He was very, very brave.”
Morton will stay with the team through the rest of the series. The Braves want fans to know that he’ll be ready to go by the time spring training begins in February 2022.
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