Missed bunt should be an inning ender, not a career ender

But that could be Chien-Ming Wang's fate.

For Chien-Ming Wang, a series of events in Houston last June 15 [sic] led to one step that may have changed his entire life. For the Yankees, it could change how Brian Cashman approaches the coming trade deadline and building the team for next season.

Wang did not get a proper bunt down and ended up on first base with two outs in the sixth inning. A grounder to shortstop should have ended the inning, but Miguel Tejada tossed it away. Then Derek Jeter singled and Wang headed to the plate to score his first run in the majors.

The funny part? Wang actually took a nice secondary lead off second base and broke just when Jeter hit the ball. His teammates were laughing in the dugout, watching the pitcher run the bases. Then, about 10 feet from the plate, Wang started to limp. He had torn a tendon and ligament in his right foot.

Robinson Cano, one of Wang’s closest friends in baseball, had to help him to the dugout. Wang spent the next two months in a cast.

It's hard to say for sure, but it's very possible that in trying to recover from that single, false step on June 15, 2008 in Inter-league play, Chien-Ming Wang changed something subtly in his mechanics, leading to shoulder surgery that will end what had been a terrible 2009 season and will surely change the arc of his entire career.