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| Tuesday, July 11 | |||||
| Maddux, Ripken pull out, too | |||||
| ATLANTA -- Just call it the All-Scar game.
The amazing list of All-Star casualties grew even longer Sunday,
with Ken Griffey Jr., Barry Bonds, Cal Ripken, Mike Piazza and Greg
Maddux becoming the latest to pull out because of injuries.
Mark McGwire, Pedro Martinez, Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez
previously were scratched from Tuesday night's game at Turner
Field.
"We were looking at who we could've had if everybody was
healthy and it looked like it could've been one of the best
All-Star lineups of all-time," said Atlanta third baseman Chipper
Jones, a starter. "It's disappointing."
With Cleveland second baseman Roberto Alomar also hurting -- he
was hit by a pitch below the right elbow Sunday, although he will
start -- there's an injured All-Star at every position.
"They've been bugging me for a lineup the last few days," said
NL manager Bobby Cox of the Braves, "but I just don't know who I
can provide right now."
Cox and AL manager Joe Torre were able to patch together lineups
on Monday, headed by starting pitchers David Wells of Toronto and
Randy Johnson of Arizona.
The AL lineup will lead off with Alomar, followed by Derek Jeter
and Bernie Williams of the Yankees, Jason Giambi of Oakland, Carl
Everett of Boston, Ivan Rodriguez of Texas, Jermaine Dye of Kansas
City and Travis Fryman of Cleveland. Jeter, Everett and Fryman are
replacements for injured starters.
The NL is even more wounded, with four substitute starters.
Leading off for the NL will be Barry Larkin of Cincinnati, followed
by Jones, Gary Sheffield of Los Angeles or Vladimir Guerrero of
Montreal, Sammy Sosa of the Cubs, Jeff Kent of San Francisco,
Andres Galarraga of Atlanta, Jim Edmonds of St. Louis and Jason
Kendall of Pittsburgh.
Sheffield, Guerrero, Galarraga, Edmonds and Kendall all would be
filling in for starters sidelined by injuries.
Cox once thought he'd have McGwire, Bonds and Griffey, the top
three home run hitters in the league, plus Piazza in a power-packed
order.
No longer. Now, the names of the no-shows are starting to
overshadow the actual participants.
The injury bug has been so bad that Cox put out a cross-country
alert for a third-string All-Star catcher to take Piazza's place on
the roster. He finally found the Cubs' Joe Girardi after his first
two choices couldn't make it. Javy Lopez went back home to Puerto
Rico and Todd Hundley is tending to a sick family member and turned
down an offer.
The Mets announced Sunday night that Piazza was out.
The catcher sustained a concussion Saturday night when hit in the
helmet by Roger Clemens' fastball, and did not play in the series
finale against the Yankees.
Cincinnati pitcher Danny Graves, Arizona outfielder Steve
Finley, Baltimore shortstop Mike Bordick and Toronto third baseman
Tony Batista are among the replacements coming to play.
Injuries around All-Star time are common. Tony Gwynn and Jose
Canseco missed last year at Fenway Park and, when the game was
previously held in Atlanta in 1972, five players originally picked
were absent: Luis Aparicio, Amos Otis, Freddie Patek, Gary Nolan
and Joe Coleman.
Griffey will be absent because of a sore right knee. Ejected
Sunday for arguing a called third strike against Cleveland, the
Cincinnati outfielder will take part in the home run derby Monday
in Atlanta, defending the crown he won last summer.
"I guess they feel I don't need to aggravate it any more," he
said. "I'll do the home run competition and then rest for two
days."
Sosa, Guerrero and Jones will join Junior on the NL side for the
derby, taking on Carlos Delgado, Rodriguez, Everett and either
Edgar Martinez or Troy Glaus.
Ripken's record streak of 16 straight All-Star starts will come
to an end. The Baltimore third baseman is on the disabled list
because of a back injury, but baseball rules would have allowed him
to take part Tuesday night.
Bonds missed his eighth straight start Sunday with a hairline
fracture on the tip of his right thumb. The San Francisco
outfielder will make the trip to Turner Field.
"I'm going to honor the fans because they voted me in," Bonds
said. "After that, I'll wave good-bye. It's better than sitting at
home and doing nothing anyway."
Rockies outfielder Jeffrey Hammonds, who has already reached a career-high 65 RBI, will take Bonds' spot on NL roster.
Hammonds, making his first All-Star appearance, is batting .357 with 14 home runs and five stolen bases.
"I didn't have any plans (for the All-Star break) so I didn't have to call anyone and cancel anything," Hammonds told the Rocky Mountain News. "I just had to go buy some clothes when I got to Atlanta. I hadn't planned on being here."
Maddux, one of five Braves on the NL roster, was scratched from
his start Sunday at Boston because of a sore right shoulder, having
been hit by a ball during batting practice Saturday.
McGwire leads the majors with 30 home runs, but is out of the
St. Louis lineup because of knee tendinitis.
Rodriguez was knocked out of the game by a concussion. The
Seattle shortstop tried to break up a double play Friday night and
took a knee to the head from Los Angeles shortstop Alex Cora.
The concussion will keep Rodriguez out for a week. He also
twisted his right knee in the collision, and there was a chance he
has torn cartilage.
"It's a little more bit more swollen today, but it feels a lot
better," he said Sunday.
Martinez, whose 1.44 ERA is the best in the majors, is out of
the Boston rotation with an injured muscle in his side. He is
expected to be in uniform in Atlanta, however.
Ramirez, elected to start in the AL outfield, has been on the
disabled list for Cleveland since May 30 with a hamstring injury.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. | ALSO SEE Johnson, Wells will start on mound in All-Star Game Reds tell Griffey not to play in All-Star game A-Rod's knee concerns M's more than concussion Injured McGwire to miss All-Star Game, HR Derby | ||||