Significant Boston sports injuries

Red Sox star Ted Williams fractured his elbow making a catch during the 1950 All-Star game. He missed 89 games and returned Sept. 15. The Sox finished in third place in the American League that season, losing out on the pennant by four games.

Young Red Sox star Tony Canligliaro was hit by a pitch on his left cheekbone in 1967, and was carried off the field on a stretcher. He sustained a broken cheekbone and severe damage to his left retina. A year and a half later, Conigliaro made a remarkable return, but he was forced to retire early in the 1975 season because his eyesight had been permanently damaged.

“Gentleman Jim’’ Lonborg, the ace of the Impossible Dream Red Sox in 1967, suffered a broken leg during a skiing accident after the season. After going 22-9 in 1967, with a league-best 246 strikeouts, he fell to 6-10 in 1968.

During the 1967-68 season, his second in the NHL, 19-year-old Bruins defenseman Bobby Orr was limited to 46 games because of a right knee injury. It became a career-long problem for Orr, who endured more than a dozen knee operations during his playing days and retired at age 30 in 1979.

Celtics star forward John Havlicek suffered a right shoulder injury in Game 3 of the 1973 conference finals against the Knicks. New York won the series in seven games.

Red Sox rookie outfielder Jim Rice was not able to play in the 1975 ALCS or World Series because Tigers pitcher Vern Ruhle broke his left hand with a pitch during the last week of the regular season. The Red Sox lost to the Reds in the World Series.

Patriots wide receiver Darryl Stingley collided head on with Raiders safety Jack Tatum in a 1978 preseason game. Stingley suffered two broken vertebrae and spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair. Stingley passed away in 2007.

Normand Leveille’s promising career ended Oct. 23, 1982, when the 19-year-old Bruins forward was hit into the boards during a game against the Canucks. After the period, he collapsed in the locker room due to a brain hemorrhage. Surgery saved his life, but he was in a coma for three weeks and never fully regained control of his speech.

The first selection in the 1982 NHL Draft, Bruins defenseman Gord Kluzak tore ligaments in his left knee in 1984. After re-injuring his knee in 1986, he played in 66 regular season games and all 23 playoffs games in the Bruins run to the Stanley Cup Finals. But he would only play in 13 more games over the next two-plus seasons, and retired at the age of 27 after 11 knee surgeries.

Celtics legend Larry Bird’s 1988-89 season ended after just six games when he had surgery to remove bone spurs from both heels. Chronic back problems caused him to miss 59 combined games during the 1990-91 and ‘91-92 seasons and eventually led to his retirement.

Former BU hockey player Travis Roy was paralyzed just 11 seconds into his college hockey career in 1995 during a game against the University of North Dakota. The 20-year-old Roy slid head-first into the boards, cracking his fourth and fifth cervical vertebra.

A dirty hit by Penguins defenseman Ulf Samuelsson in the 1991 Wales Conference Finals caused Bruins forward Cam Neely to re-injure his knee. Neely developed chronic complications in the aftermath of the injury, leading to a degenerative hip condition that ended his career in 19966.

Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron suffered season-ending concussions in 2007 and 2008. Fortunately, he has been relatively healthy through his prime years and continues to star for the Bruins today.

Tom Brady’s 2008 season ended barely seven minutes after it began when the Chiefs’ Bernard Pollard crashed into the Patriots quarterback’s left knee just as he was stepping into a pass. Brady tore his ACL and the Patriots missed the playoffs.

The Celtics’ defense of their 2008 championship was not to be after star forward and team leader Kevin Garnett missed the 2009 playoffs with a knee injury.

Pro Bowl wide receiver Wes Welker blew out his left knee in Week 17 of the 2009 season, and the Patriots lost to the Baltimore Ravens in the first round of the playoffs.

Kendrick Perkins tore two ligaments in his right knee during Game 6 of the 2010 NBA Finals against the Lakers, and the Celtics lost Game 7 in Los Angeles without their starting center.

Bruins center Marc Savard sustained a serious concussion on a hit to the head from Pittsburgh’s Matt Cooke in March of 2010, but was able to return to the lineup for the playoffs that season. Savard suffered another concussion in January of 2011, and was shut down for the season, which ended with a Boston Bruins Stanley Cup victory. Savard has not played since due to post-concussion syndrome.

In the 2012 AFC divisional playoff game against the Texans, Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski re-injured his broken arm, taking him out for the remainder of the playoffs. The Patriots lost the AFC Championship to Baltimore,

In what would turn out to be the final year of the Kevin Garnett/Paul Pierce era, the Celtics lost All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo to a torn ACL in January of 2013. Boston bowed out to the New York Knicks in the first round of the playoffs.

Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork tore his achilles tendon in Week 4 of the 2013 season and was placed on Injured Reserve. The Patriots fell to the Broncos in the AFC Championship Game.

Gronkowski took a vicious low hit from the Browns’ T.J. Ward, tearing his ACL and MCL and ending his season in 2013. The Patriots lost the AFC Championship Game in Denver.