SURPRISE, Ariz. — Were the biggest, most troublesome bruise on Adrian Beltre's left shin a human, it would be a high school freshman who later this year would be getting its learner's permit to drive.
Oh, it's definitely alive nearly 15 years — 15 years! — after making the future Hall of Famer's leg its permanent home. It is also the reason Beltre wears a protective guard each time he takes an at-bat.
"The first one was 2003," he said. "If I get a foul ball there, it blows up."
More and more, Texas Rangers players are protecting themselves at the plate in a sport in which a generation ago almost no players went to bat with anything more than a helmet.