In January 2013, Victoria Azarenka of Belarus announced her withdrawal from the ongoing Brisbane International tennis tournament due to an injury to her right big toe. She said she developed an infection after a bad pedicure and that after 10 days the infection got so bad that she had to visit a doctor and have part of the toenail removed.

Spurs forward Stephen Jackson had to leave a game at Madison Square Garden vs. the Knicks on Jan. 3, 2012, after spraining his ankle. The injury occurred late in the first quarter of the game after Jackson attempted a three-point shot from the corner. As Jackson was backing up while tracking his shot, he stumbled over a waitress, who was crouched down to serve New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Joba Chamberlain isn't smiling anymore. In March 2012, the New York Yankees relief pitcher dislocated his ankle jumping on a trampoline with his 5-year-old son, requiring surgery.

During spring training in 2012, Rays left-hander David Price suffered a neck spasm when toweling off between innings against the Detroit Tigers. The bizarre injury was enough to end Price's day against the Tigers. "I was just drying my head off in between innings after the second inning," Price said. "The towel kind of catches the back of my head and it pulls my neck forward and I just felt it a little bit in the back of my neck."

Atlanta reliever Cecil Upshaw missed the entire 1970 season after catching his ring on an awning after being dared by teammates to jump up and touch it. He tore ligaments in the finger.

St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Bill White, who later became president of the National League, missed the first six months of the 1967 season recovering from a severed right Achilles suffered while playing paddle ball.
 

Jeff Kent had his own problems during the spring of 2004, showing up one day at the San Francisco Giants camp with a broken wrist. Kent initially claimed he suffered the injury while washing his truck, but the truth eventually surfaced — he fell off his motorcycle when he was doing wheelies.

Orlando Brown was accidentally hit in the eye with a penalty flag in 1999 while playing for Cleveland and missed three seasons because of the damage it caused. Brown, struck in the right eye by a weighted penalty flag thrown by official Jeff Triplette, stormed on the field and pushed Triplette, drawing a suspension. Brown, whose father was blind from glaucoma, said concern for his eyesight caused him to confront Triplette. Brown was hospitalized for six days with bleeding behind the eye. He sued the NFL for $200 million, settling the lawsuit for $25 million. He missed the next three seasons because of the injury, returning to football with Baltimore for the 2003 season.

Milwaukee first baseman Richie Sexson was ready for the start of the 2003 season, but missed the Brewers first intrasquad game that spring with a strained neck, suffered while he was adjusting his cap during photo day.
 

In spring 2010, Baltimore pitching prospect Brad Bergesen battled a sore shoulder, suffered because he overthrew while appearing in an Orioles commercial shot in the offseason.
 

Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan showed up to spring training one year recovering from a coyote bite, suffered while tending cattle on his Texas ranch.

St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Matt Holliday had to leave a game on Aug. 22, 2011, after a moth flew into his ear.

The New York Yankees invoked the "Jim Lonberg Clause" to void the contract of infielder Aaron Boone in 2004 when Boone tore ligaments in his right knee in a pickup basketball game. It was that injury, in fact, that prompted the Yankees to make the trade with the Texas Rangers for Alex Rodriguez. The Yankees shifted Rodriguez from shortstop — where Derek Jeter was entrenched — to the third base vacancy created by the release of Boone.

Jim Lonborg never got to spring training in 1968. Coming off a 22-9 season in which he struck out an AL-high 246 batters and was a key to the Boston Red Sox advancing to the World Series, Lonborg spent the 1967 holidays at Lake Tahoe with actress Jill St. John. On his final run down the slopes on Christmas Eve, Lonborg fell, tearing ligaments in his left knee. The injury prompted teams to create what became known as the "Jim Lonborg Clause" in contracts, in which players are forbidden from partaking in various activities deemed dangerous. He underwent two hours of surgery, missed half the 1968 season and by his own admission never got back to being close to the pitcher he had been in 1967.

 

Kerry Wood was healthy when he showed up for spring training in 2006, which was unusual for him in his days with the Chicago Cubs. A few days later, though, he was battling back problems, suffered when he slipped getting out of a hot tub.

Joe DiMaggio missed the first 16 games of his rookie season with the New York Yankees in 1936 with first degree burns on his left foot. He was stepped on during an exhibition game, and when the foot began to swell he was given treatment that included placing the foot in a diathermy machine. The heat control was improperly adjusted, burning the foot so badly that DiMaggio had to have two large blisters lanced and then spent two days in the hospital. He did come back to hit .323 with 29 home runs and 125 RBI.
 

The Cardinals' 20-game winner missed his last start of the 2010 season after an MRI exam revealed a strained muscle in his forearm and inflammation near the elbow. Wainwright said he slept on the arm, woke up and found the arm numb, then flung it aside instead of waiting for feeling to return.

''I couldn't make this up,'' Wainwright said. ''I know that happens to almost everybody in your life. Usually what you do is grab with the other arm and move it to other side and you wait for it to tingle or whatever. It was like 3 in the morning and out of pure laziness what I did was just fling it backwards, and I wrenched my elbow a little bit.''

Game, set, match: squirrel. One of the furry critters got in the way of the American tennis player as he was riding his mountain bike near his hometown in Georgia in late 2010. Ginepri swerved to avoid it, then rolled off the bike and broke a bone in his elbow.

Closer K-Rod tore a thumb ligament in his pitching hand and needed surgery to repair the injury, which presumably was sustained when punching his girlfriend's father at Citi Field.

Coghlan attempted to hit teammate Wes Helms in the face with a pie after Helms had sparked a walk-off win for the Marlins — a traditional MLB celebration — when it all went horribly wrong. Coghlan tore the meniscus in his left knee after landing awkwardly.

Reliever Grant Balfour was out four to six weeks after suffering an intercostal strain (rib area) while wrestling with Rays pitching coach Jim Hickey before a game.

While walking down steps at Coors Field in July 2010, Latos stifled a sneeze, causing pain in his side serious enough to land him on the 15-day disabled list. “It’s sore,” said Latos. “I’m not going to lie.”

Thomas Levet of France and his manager Patrice Bartez, jump into the lake on the 18th hole after winning the French Open. At some point during his celebratory jump, Levet broke his leg and had to miss the 2011 British Open.

The Seattle Mariners first baseman cut and bruised his toe tripping over a hotel room coffee table to open curtains at 5 a.m. in July 2010.

The 10-time MLB All-Star pitcher broke a rib in 1992 when he vomited on an airplane.

Mitchell played for eight different major-league teams in his career and had two memorable injuries. He once strained a muscle while vomiting and also broke a tooth after biting into a chocolate donut that he had put in the freezer too long.

The fire-balling (and oft-injured) relief pitcher strained a muscle while playing the video game Guitar Hero in December 2006.

The NFL punter was a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2003 when his coach put a wooden stump and ax in the locker room as a symbol to his players to keep working hard. Hanson ended up cutting his leg while swinging the ax.

The perennial NASCAR champion fell off the top of a golf cart and broke his left forearm in December 2006.

Former Manchester United keeper Alex Stepney screamed so loud at his team during a 1975 match that he broke his jaw.

The journeyman major-leaguer suffers from arachnophobia and, during his time with the Blue Jays, once fell out of bed and crashed into a glass table while having a nightmare about being covered in spiders.

In September 2007, the notorious MLB powder keg was a member of the Padres. He blew his knee out when his manager was trying to restrain him from arguing with the umpire after a controversial call at first base.

The American tennis pro suffered a scary freak injury in September 2009. After a practice session for a tournament in Bangkok, Querrey sat on a glass table which then broke and badly cut his arm. The injury required emergency surgery, but he has since fully recovered.

The Hall of Famer and former member of the Boston Red Sox once strained his back while putting on a pair of cowboy boots.

The Los Angeles Angels first baseman hit a walk-off grand slam against the Seattle Mariners in a May 2010 game. But he then fractured his leg in the ensuing celebration after landing awkwardly on home plate. He missed the rest of the 2010 season and the entire 2011 season.

The longtime Chicago Cub strained his back in 2004 after a violent sneeze and was unable to play in the following game.

After scoring a TD in a 1997 game against the Giants, the then-Redskins quarterback head-butted a wall near the end zone, causing a concussion and forcing him to come out of the game.

The Colorado Rockies infielder, then a rookie, broke his collarbone in 2005 while carrying deer meat up the steps of his apartment.

Coleman was a rookie for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1985 when an automatic tarp machine rolled over his leg during pregame warmups before game four of the National League Championship Series. The injury forced him to miss that year's World Series, which the Cardinals lost in seven games.

The American League Rookie of the Year in 1995, Cordova was a member of the Baltimore Orioles in 2002 when he fell asleep in a tanning bed. The resulting burns forced him to miss a few day games, as he was advised by doctors to stay out of the sun.

Sparks — who pitched in the majors from 1995-2004 — might have made the big leagues a year earlier, but he dislocated his shoulder attempting to tear a phone book in half during a motivational speech in 1994 and didn't get out of Triple-A the rest of the year.

Tennis star Serena Williams needed surgery on her right foot after cutting it on a broken glass at a restaurant in July 2010.

The Atlanta Braves pitching star reportedly once burned his chest ironing a shirt he was wearing at the time, though Smoltz himself denies that account.

The Seattle Mariners legend once missed a game in 2006 — then with the Cincinnati Reds — when he pinched himself with his protective cup.

The long-time NHL goaltender needed 40 stitches to close up his hand after he cut it while changing the bag on a vintage set of bagpipes in the summer of 2000.

The Detroit Tigers third baseman went on the DL in 2008 after he pulled a muscle while moving his child's pillow.

The Carolina Panthers star wide receiver broke his arm playing flag football in June 2010, forcing him to miss the start of his team's training camp.

The San Diego Padres Hall of Famer fractured a finger when he slammed his car door on his hand in 1996.

Dustin Penner has a nice wife that makes him pancakes. Too bad they also cause injury. As Penner leaned over to dig into his breakfast, his back seized up. The hockey player had to sit out a game with the back spasms before being able to return to the ice.

Kansas City third baseman George Brett thoroughly enjoys the game, and as a player he loved to watch great hitters. While he was doing laundry one day at his suburban Kansas City home during the 1983 season, Brett had the Cubs game on TV in his den. He heard the announcer say that Bill Buckner, a particular favorite of Brett's, was coming up to hit. Racing into the den to see the at-bat, Brett hit his foot on a door jamb, broke a toe and wound up on the disabled list.

The Arizona Cardinals kicker tore a ligament while celebrating a field goal against the Giants in a 2001 game. The worst part? It wasn't even a game-winner — New York ended up taking the game, 17-13.