Crosby was hit by a fastball from right-hander Justin Speier in the eighth inning of the A's 4-3 victory on Tuesday night. It's the fifth time he has gone on the DL in the last three seasons.

"It's not a great place to get hit," Crosby said. "I haven't looked at the tape yet, and I don't know if I want to. But from what I hear, it's not too pretty. When I got the X-rays, I could see that there were lines on both those bones that weren't natural. But I'm trying to be as positive as I can. It could be worse."

It was only the second time Crosby was hit by a pitch all season, and only the third time since the start of the 2005 campaign.

"With two strikes, you're trying to protect (the outside part of the plate) and trying to wait as long as possible to see the spin on the ball," Crosby said. "If you get jammed, so be it. But sometimes when that happens, and the pitch is up and in, it's going to get you. I tried to wait as long as possible to see if it was going to be a slider or fastball."

Crosby, 27, was limited to 186 of 324 games over the previous two seasons because of an assortment of injuries. This was the first time in three years that he survived opening day without getting hurt.

"I don't know what it is. I told a lot of people that my main goal coming in was being healthy and playing the whole season," Crosby said. "I felt really confident that I was going to get through this whole year and not have any hiccups. I mean, you can only do so much in order to prepare — and then you get hit by a fastball in the hand. I don't know what to say. It's the most depressing thing ever."

In 2005, Crosby sustained stress fractures in his ribs in the season opener and missed the next 49 games. Last year on opening day, he tried to tag out the Yankees' Robinson Cano as he tried to steal second base. But Crosby ended up with a laceration on his left index finger that kept him on the bench for the next four games.

A fractured left ankle sidelined Crosby for 32 games in 2005. Last season he went on the disabled list with a lower back strain, then played in four games before he was back on the DL with the same injury. In 93 games this season, he is hitting just .226 with eight homers and 31 RBIs.

"To go through what I did last year, then have my struggles this year, then finally feel like I've figured something out and then go down again, it's indescribable how depressing it is," said Crosby, Oakland's first pick in the June 2001 draft. "I did all I could in the off-season and during the season trying to stay healthy. Yesterday was the first day in probably about a month and a half where I felt great at the plate and felt like I had figured something out."

Crosby is the sixth Oakland player currently on the disabled list. The Athletics have used the DL 18 times this season — the most since 1997, when they used it 21 times. They entered Wednesday's game 9 1-2 games out of first place after winning the first two games of a three-game series with the AL West-leading Angels.

"It couldn't happen at a worse time," Crosby said. "I mean, we looked great the last couple of nights. This is the time where we normally get hot — and we are going to get hot. But once again, I have to sit down and watch it. I thought I was all done with this stuff."