Kevan Smith's White Sox debut put on hold due to ... injury

You have to admit, this deserves to be up there in the history of great baseball injuries.

Okay, so the back spasms, suffered by former Pitt product Kevan Smith, who was set to make his major league debut on Monday but then scratched, aren't all that uncommon. But when it was known that Smith would have to miss the game due to an injury, it was a peculiar situation. Smith, who was called up to the pro club on Sunday, will now need to wait a little longer before he debuts.

The catcher injured himself on Monday during warm-ups and even head coach Robin Ventura acknowledged it was a weird way to begin a career:

"He pulled something in his back the first day, which will go down in folklore history of weird things that happen to people," Ventura said.

And to add insult to injury, he had family members make the trip to see him play. The Chicago Sun-Times said a host of relatives were there, including his sister, brother-in-law, niece, uncle, and cousins.

The irony, of course, is that Smith was called up because Chicago's regular backup, Alex Avila, is on the 15-day disabled list. The team is now left with starter Dioner Navarro as the only backstop left.

In all seriousness, Smith hopefully won't be sidelined too long. If the injury persists, Ventura will be forced to call up another catcher and Smith may not get his chance at all.

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