No one can say for certain if Boston poisoned Bay’s water before he ended up in a Mets’ uniform, but the once big-time slugger has experienced a falling off of monumental proportions this season. That’s not to say that some hasn’t been injury-induced; and any transplant from an AL lineup gets a season of doubt’s benefit. But in plain English, Bay simply didn’t pan out like the Mets had hoped.

Now it seems that the young ballplayer’s future may be hanging in the balance altogether after a July 22 concussion that Jason’s seemingly not recovering from.

Bay had left a game earlier this year due to leg problems, had taken a few off like a baby Manny for minor ailments and, after smacking into the wall at Dodger Stadium in late July, was eventually diagnosed with a “mild” concussion.

The Mets originally placed Bay on the 15-day DL due to his concussion, but now have moved that to 60 days. It’s an obvious move to give Bay time to heal properly in a season that went nowhere fast, but the interesting part in this is that Bay was also said to have been suffering from physical exertion.

On its surface, Bay’s odds of coming back at a full strength—and hopefully a lot more effective—next season are solid – a good 5:3. However, in light of recent scientific advancements on brain injuries and their link to long-term diseases, the odds that Bay will be “okay” in his later years are another story – maybe 20:1.

Sadly, you’ll find better odds playing online slots, and that’s tragic for Bay and every other player to suffer concussions and then not heal properly. It’s bad news, and there’s no getting around it.

Thanks to Chris Nowinski, his partners, and many volunteered brains of former athletes, the first major cause of—the ironically named in Bay’s or any other MLB player’s case—Lou Gehrig’s disease, ALS, has been found.

In every brain submitted to Chris from an ALS patient, one factor was present – the brain displayed symptoms of concussions that did not heal properly and thus sent protein deposits into the spinal cord. After years of buildup, these young athletes contracted ALS.

The odds of suffering concussions and contracting ALS are slim on their own, about 1000:1 – better than you’d find on any online blackjack games to be sure. But concussions that don’t heal properly, and those with other complications, are another story. These are the concussions that produce the proteins, and these proteins can produce ALS.

In an investigation into Lou Gehrig’s personal history, HBO’s Real Sports’ host Bernie Goldberg found that Gehrig had suffered multiple concussions during his time on the field, some severe enough to leave him unconscious. And let’s not forget that Gehrig was Cal Ripken decades before there was a Cal Ripken – he was the Iron Horse, never missing a game.

Hopefully, Bay will heal just fine and won’t suffer the fate of the dreaded protein deposits from this concussion. And the Mets’ kid gloves approach really bodes well for his future. But knowing what we know now about the horrible disease and its cause, it truly makes you take a harder look at athletes and question how they’re “really” recovering from injuries.