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Roundup Shoulder surgery to sideline Rangers' lefty for season
Posted: Wednesday May 10, 2000 09:18 PM
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -- Texas Rangers' left-hander Justin Thompson will have surgery Friday to repair a torn rotator cuff and will miss the entire season. The decision for more surgery on Thompson's pitching shoulder was made Wednesday after an examination by noted orthopedist Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala. Thompson was recalled from a medical rehab May 1, and appeared close to joining the Rangers until he continued to have soreness in his left shoulder last week. A preliminary MRI was done Monday. Dr. John Conway, the Rangers' team doctor, said the tear appeared larger than first thought and that surgery was the best option for Thompson to have a chance to play in 2001. "We can continue to rehab and hope it gets better, but at this stage he will not be ready for this season anyway," Conway said. Conway said the recovery time will be six to 12 months, meaning Thompson could be ready to for spring training. Conway will perform the surgery in Fort Worth. The tear was not fixed when Thompson underwent surgery from Dr. Andrews last Aug. 27 to repair tears in the labrum of that shoulder and smooth out fraying in the rotator cuff. Trainers and team doctors said that it's not unusual for pitchers to have some abnormality in the cuff.
Bones hurts back watching TV and will miss startMIAMI (AP) -- Florida Marlins right-hander Ricky Bones has been scratched from his scheduled start Thursday against the Atlanta Braves for a novel reason: He strained his lower back watching television The injury occurred while Bones was relaxing in a clubhouse recliner Sunday. "It's the darnedest thing," manager John Boles said. "He was just sitting in a chair watching TV. When he got up, he said he felt something." Bones is expected to be sidelined only a few days. He'll be replaced by right-hander Jason Grilli, who will be recalled from Triple-A Calgary to make his major-league debut. Grilli, 21, is expected to make just one start before returning the minors. "I hope he doesn't try to beat the world," Boles said. "Young guys are so worried about what everybody thinks about them. Just enjoy it as much as you possibly can." Grilli is considered a top prospect, but he has struggled this year at Calgary, where he's 1-3 with a 7.34 ERA in six starts.
Ramon Ortiz sent downANAHEIM (AP) -- The Anaheim Angels optioned promising but struggling rookie right hander Ramon Ortiz to Triple-A Edmonton on Wednesday and recalled Jarrod Washburn from the Trappers. Ortiz, who turns 24 on May 23, is 2-2 with a 6.90 ERA in six starts with the Angels. He allowed seven earned runs and three homers in 3 2-3 innings against Oakland on Monday night. "I understand the reason why I have to go down," Ortiz said through an interpreter. "I am going to work hard and do what (manager) Mike Scioscia and (pitching coach) Bud Black told me to do. I don't feel good about it, but I was prepared for anything." Ortiz is scheduled to start at Fresno on Saturday, which would be his regular turn in the Angels rotation. "Ramon's confidence is there, but I don't think his confidence level is where it needs to be," Scioscia said. "I think it will help his confidence to go down there. This guy has the potential to be a premier pitcher in this league." Washburn was 3-0 with a 3.52 ERA in five starts for the Trappers.
Five homers for high school playerBUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- Junior Brent Williams, amid chants of "Mark McGwire," tied a national high school baseball record by hitting five home runs in one game on Tuesday night. The 17-year-old Western New York native accomplished the remarkable feat in five consecutive at-bats during Maple Grove High School's rain-shortened six-inning 17-2 win over Clymer. "This young man had a day for himself," Maple Grove coach Scott Lewellen said on Wednesday. "He hit five out that were over the fence, and I would say three of them were just crushed. Gone. "One was a line-drive over the left field fence that might have made it out of Houston's ballpark." The game was played at Clymer's fenced-in field, which measures 275 feet to left and 320 to center. All five homers cleared the left-center field fence. The weather may have helped, as an incoming thunder storm stirred up the winds, which were blowing out. Only three other high school players - most recently Aaron Hull of Nantucket, Maine, in 1996 - are on record as having hit five homers in one game. Shawn Gallagher of Wilmington, N.C. in 1995, and Youngstown, Ohio's Ken Lisko, in 1976, also share the record. It's not clear whether any of the other record holders hit their home runs in five straight at-bats. In all, Williams faced 12 pitches, and recorded eight RBI. Williams' performance came exactly a year to the day when Florida State second baseman Marshall McDougall set the NCAA record for most home runs in one game: six. The major league record is four, set nine times, most recently in 1993 by Mark Whiten. Williams plays second base for the Red Dragons, the Chautauqua County school located in Bemus Point. He bats third in the order and is known for his power, although he's only hit one home run in his previous 10 games this season. "Right after I hit the third one, I was shaking my head. I really didn't think I could hit three home runs," Williams said, noting that he had never hit five home runs in one varsity season. After the fifth homer, he didn't know what to think. "It was amazing, five home runs in a game. I didn't feel like I felt when I got home and found out it was a record, but it felt great," he said. Saying he wasn't shifting his weight properly, Williams entered the game struggling at the plate, with one hit in his previous 13 at bats. Evidently, he made the proper adjustment. "I just started loosening up" he said. After hitting his fifth home run with one out in the sixth frame, Williams was due to bat seventh in the seventh inning before the storm struck. Coach Lewellen said athletes and fans at a track meet and softball game on adjoining fields got caught up in the buzz, stopping to watch as Williams came to the plate. "Every time he came up, it was like a McGwire thing," Lewellen said, referring to the St. Louis Cardinals' slugger. "It was special." Maple Grove's next game is Thursday against Sherman, followed by a rematch against Clymer on Friday. Clymer coach Irvin King was impressed with Williams' performance. "I feel good for the kid. It wasn't like we were trying to feed him. He had a couple of tough pitches," King said, adding he didn't have any intentions of walking him. As for Friday's rematch, King noted that the game will be played on Maple Grove's field, which is not fenced in. "We'll back up a long way," he said, laughing. Williams' father, Steven Williams, is a Red Dragons' assistant coach and had a front-row seat for his son's fireworks. "I can't believe it. He hit some, I don't care where you play it, they're gone," the elder Williams said. A former minor league pitcher, whose career ended with a rotator cuff injury in the late 1970s, Williams added he had never witnessed such a display. "I'm sitting there and he gets up and hits the first one, I don't think nothing of it because he swings the bat well. 'Way to go,' you know?" he said. "He gets up again and, boom, he hits another one. He looks at me and I go, 'Good, keep it up.' "He did, he kept it up. ... He was just locked in." Brent Williams is looking ahead to his first at-bat Thursday against Sherman. "The first time I swing, I'm going to try (for a home run)," the younger Williams said. "And if I miss it, I'll cut down on my swing and just put the ball in play."'
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