Smoked by Meat: Byron Buxton nearly got leveled by a Brewers bratwurst

"Is this the man that ran you over?" Byron Buxton, conscious for the first time in nine days, nods somberly from his wheelchair as the sketch artist holds up a picture of a mustachioed bratwurst in green lederhosen. In the background of the police station, the Twins can be seen falling in an afternoon tilt to the Tigers to lose their 10th straight.

Thankfully, baseball avoided this exact scenario, if only by a whisker. Buxton, the Twins' star center fielder, was nearly flattened by Brett Werst, one of the members of the Milwaukee Brewers' Famous Racing Sausages, but he got out of the way in the nick of time, saving his life and the Twins' season.

Byron Buxton nearly suffered the worst baseball injury of all-time

With his rare combination of speed and power, Buxton is one of the most talented players in baseball, but he's been plagued by health issues throughout his career. His list of injuries is basically just a list of nearly every human body part. Setting aside his rookie season, when he was called up to the majors in June, and this season, which has only consisted of four games, Buxton has only played in 624 out of a possible 1,296 games. While strained hamstrings, concussions, and broken toes are all valid, if unfortunate, reasons for missing games, missing time for being run over by a sausage would have been a tough pill to swallow for the Twins and their fans.

Luckily, Buxton's quick reflexes saved himself and baseball from disaster, so at least we can all laugh at the incident. Some of the online comments about the close call were priceless, including one Minnesotan who said "We absolutely would have closed the border to Wisconsin if this happened," and another who said that Buxton "almost ended up like Mufasa."

Baseball is no stranger to crazy injuries, but this one may have taken the cake, if you'll excuse another food term. Tigers pitcher Joel Zumaya once missed time after injuring his arm playing Guitar Hero. Salvador Perez of the Royals tore his MCL while carrying luggage. Marty Cordova of the Orioles fell asleep in a tanning bed and missed time with a burnt face. But never has a player been out after getting truck sticked by a racing anthropomorphic cased meat.

This also isn't the first time the Famous Sausages have been in the headlines for the wrong reasons. Randall Simon of the Pirates once bonked one on the head with a bat, resulting in a fine for disorderly conduct and a three-game suspension. A controversial bill brought forth by the Wisconsin GOP once sought to ban the sausages from polling sites, if you can believe that.

Thankfully for all involved, Buxton and the sausages are just fine. Buxton is penciled into the third slot in the lineup, and you can bet he'll be more aware of where the sausages are in the sixth inning. As for other visitors to American Family Field, have your head on a swivel, because you never know when a bratwurst might be hot on your heels.