Injuries have become common-place in sports. It’s not rare to hear about how Shaq’s injured toe is healing during the nightly sports report or about which athlete is missing tonight’s game because of a blister (don’t laugh, it happens more than you’d think).

But what about those more unusual injuries?

The ones that are sometimes swept under the rug, because they’re so embarrassing. Or even the ones which are continually talked about and made fun of because of their comedic value.

ESPN’s SportsCenter presented their list of strange sports injuries earlier this year. This time, it’s my turn.

Some come from football players. Even more come from baseball players. While some are funny, some just sound like they’d hurt. Some have already been pushed aside while some have taken place recently. But rest assured, all have their place in history and all are unusual in some way.

15. Twins farmhand David Foster once missed part of a season when a lightning strike through a phone line zapped him while he was making a call.

14. Although not an injury, former Seattle shortstop Rey Quinones was unavailable as a pinch-hitter because he was in the clubhouse playing Nintendo.

13. Atlanta’s John Smoltz will be remembered for a lot of things, but probably not the time he burned his chest while ironing a shirt that he was wearing.

12. Kevin Mitchell strained a muscle vomiting. Enough said.

11. Outfielder Bret Barberie missed a game when he accidentally rubbed chili juice in his eye.

10. Carlos Perez broke his nose in a car accident. The catch? He did it while trying to pass the team bus.

9. Chris Brown missed a game with a strained eyelid after sleeping on an eye a funny way. Since when did people start sleeping on their eyes?

8. Soccer player David Seaman once broke a bone reaching for his TV remote. Hopefully he was at least watching soccer.

7. Ken Griffey Jr. missed a game after his protective cup slipped and pinched a testicle.

6a. Rangers pitcher Greg Harris injured his shoulder trying to flick sunflower seeds into the stands from the bullpen.

6b. Rick Honeycutt injured his wrist while flicking sunflower seeds in the dugout. Who knew sunflower seeds could be so dangerous?

5a. Jose Cardenal missed a game in 1974, because he couldn’t blink. He swore his eyes were stuck open.

5b. That Cardenal guy just can’t get it right. He also missed a game in 1972 because he was kept awake all night by crickets chirping in his hotel room.

4. Rickey Henderson missed several games because of frost-bite. In August.

3. Who can forget the Gramatica brothers: Bill, who was injured celebrating after a routine field goal and Martin, who injured himself on an extra-point attempt. Martin even took it a step further, colliding with the side of a moving ABC crane truck on the sidelines.

2. Vince Coleman missed the 1985 World Series when he got rolled up in the tarp machine.

1. And finally, Gus Frerotte, who injured his neck in the infamous “head-butting” incident. Now that takes the phrase “using your head” to a whole new level.

Emily Arthur is a junior in journalism and mass communications from Clark, S.D. She is the assistant sports editor of the Daily.