Great story! My understanding of the circumstances is that Pete punched a wall after the San Diego show and broke a few bones in his wrist. Despite the success of the band that year coming back from the Cincinnati debacle and Pete’s own solo album Empty Glass, Pete was in bad shape because of his drug issues.
I saw The Who for the first time a month later in Toronto and noticed no ill effects. 37 years later to the day, I saw them for the sixth time and they were still rocking.
Wouldn’t surprise me at all if the injury was the result of a wall punch. I didn’t know that Pete had major drug issues then.
Slight correction: I saw them at the Forum, not the Sports Arena. They played 7 nights in L.A., 2 at the former then 5 at the latter.
Amazing that they’re still going strong.