Joe Mauer was going to play. Then he was dizzy. Then he was held out of the lineup last night. And now he's on the 7-day concussion DL. This is precautionary and preventative in some ways. It is also very serious in other ways -- given that Mauer is 30, a new father, and has five years left after this season on a very expensive contract. Foul tips to the mask, which seem to have caused this DL trip, are an underrated part of what makes catching so tough and so dangerous.
But as serious as this news is, you would hardly know it looking at major national sites this morning. Mauer's DL trip does not make the main sports headline stack on ESPN, Yahoo, CBS Sports, Fox Sports or SI.com. It does (barely) crack a space in the ESPN.com baseball page headline stack, in the No. 9 position.
Maybe we've become desensitized to concussions. Maybe the 7-day DL is less of a big deal than we think it is. Maybe Mauer's place among the game's stars has shifted so much that something like this isn't major news (a potential injury to Miguel Cabrera in a game between the Twins and Tigers, for instance, gets top ESPN treatment).
Or is everyone asleep at the wheel?
