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 Friday, May 5
It's not known how long Williams will be out
 
 Associated Press

SAN DIEGO -- San Diego Padres pitcher Woody Williams had successful surgery Thursday to repair an aneurysm under his right armpit.

Williams
Williams

Williams was to remain in the hospital overnight for observation. It is not known when the right-hander might pitch again, although there had been speculation he would be sidelined for four months.

Williams was 3-2 with a 5.21 ERA in six starts this season.

On Wednesday, Williams went to the ballpark in San Diego and met his teammates before they played Florida. The Padres hung his jersey in the dugout.

"I had no idea that I meant so much to so many people. It made me feel good," Williams said.

Williams, 33, was diagnosed with the aneurysm during an angiogram Tuesday. Doctors had performed tests during the weekend, one of which showed a small blood clot had reached Williams' right forearm. Another test showed that the circulation in his hand was fine, and the team's medical staff felt any risk from him pitching Monday night was relatively low.

Williams pitched 8 1/3 innings in a loss to the Marlins on Monday night.

The Padres had said Williams' condition was similar to when New York Yankees pitcher David Cone had an aneurysm in his right shoulder in 1996. Cone was out about four months and returned to help pitch the Yankees to the World Series title.

Cone and Williams were teammates with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1995. On Tuesday, Cone got a call in the visitor's locker room in Cleveland from Ed Sprague, a former Blue Jays teammate who now plays with Williams.

Told by Sprague of Williams' condition, Cone phoned him at the hospital.

"When David called me, it kind of made me realize that everything's going to be OK," Williams said. "I just hope that I'm no worse off than he was. I'm very positive and optimistic that I'll be back. It may not be this year, it may be. I'm going to do everything I possibly can."

Said Cone: "Aneurysm is a scary-sounding word. I just wanted to tell Woody that his problem was fixable."

"It's good that they found it before something drastic happened," he said.
 


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