Adrian Gonzalez Sidlined For Back Pain

It seems that hugging a child is more dangerous than we thought, at least for Adrian Gonzalez, who has been sidlined with back issues after bending over to say hi to a kid at the International Plaza in Tampa.

The Boston Globe reports that Gonzalez bent down to say hi to a child in a stroller when his lower back locked up. He stated of the injury that:

“I have no idea how it happened. It was something I’ve done a million times.”

Gonzalez did try to play on Friday night, but was scratched from the Red Sox lineup just hours before the game began. He didn’t return Saturday either, and Brett Lillibridge started on first base in the game against the Rays.

Kevin Kaduk with Yahoo News wrote of the incident that injured Adrian Rodriguez:

“But no. Now they’ll have to wait at least a little while longer because some wiener kid being pushed on his way to Gymboree needed a high five. And poor A-Gone, injured trying to please the smallest subjects of a Red Sox Nation that has grown too unwieldy in the past decade. Chalk this one up to the old maxim that nice guys do finish last.”

According to MLB.com, Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine commented about Gonzalez’s injury Friday, saying:

“I didn’t think he was moving around real well today. For me, the decision to scratch him — again, precautionary, make sure nothing happens that will keep him out more than a day. He was just real stiff today. Must have been from all the weight he lost and everything [while he was sick].”

What do you think of Adrian Gonzalez’s back injury?