Houston Astros outfielder Hunter Pence got injured in unusual incident

A major league outfielder with the Houston Astros, Hunter Pence, got injured Monday night in an unusual way. Pence managed to lacerate his hands and knees in an incident with a sliding glass door.

Photo: Houston Astros outfielder Hunter Pence got injured in unusual incident

The outfielder was immediately taken to the hospital. Fortunately, his injuries were not serious, he could have cut a tendon or an artery.

Pence made his major league debut as the Astros center fielder on April 28, 2007 , and got his first major league hit and scored his first run. Pence's first home run in the majors was a grand slam, against the St. Louis Cardinals on May 5th. Pence hit a dramatic walk-off home run against Jose Mesa of the Philadelphia Phillies in the bottom of the 13th inning at Minute Maid Park on July 3rd in a 5-4 win. It was Mesa 's only pitch of the game.

Throughout the first half of 2007 he was often referred to on ESPN's Baseball Tonight as "Rookie Phenom Hunter Pence" by analyst Steve Berthiaume.

On July 23rd, General Manager Tim Purpura announced that Pence would be out with a with a small chipped bone fracture in his right wrist. On August 21st, Pence was activated from the disabled list. At that point, despite having missed a month he was 4th among NL rookies in at bats.

Pence was a unanimous selection to the 2007 Topps Major League Rookie All-Star Team. The selection was the result of the 49th annual Topps balloting of Major League managers.

Pence (15 points) came in third, and lost out to Braun (128 points) in the vote for the 2007 NL Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award by 488 major league players and 30 managers.

He also lost out to Braun in the competition for the 2007 Baseball America Rookie of the Year Award, in the vote for the 2007 Players Choice NL Most Outstanding Rookie by their fellow major league players, and in the Baseball Prospectus 2007 Internet Baseball NL Rookie of the Year Award, with 16 first place votes, versus 666 for Braun.

On November 7, 2007 the Astros acquired centerfielder Michael Bourn in a trade with the Philadelphia Phillies. According to new Houston General Manager Ed Wade, Pence will move to right field and bat third in the order in 2008.

Photo: blog.kir.com