Spring training roundup
Giants’ owner worried about Bonds’ image San Francisco Giants owner Peter Magowan realizes the questions about Barry Bonds’ possible use of steroids might diminish the regard for any records he sets.
“It saddens me. I’m sure it saddens Barry,” Magowan said Friday in Scottsdale, Ariz. “But I don’t think it’s going to affect his performance, or the performance of the team. We lived under this cloud all of last year, and we did fine under that kind of adversity. He did fine under that kind of adversity.”
Magowan wishes Barry Bonds had been less combative in his news conference Tuesday that dealt mostly with questions about steroids.
“I would have said some things maybe a little differently,” Magowan said. “But we have to remember this is a free country. People have a right to say what they think. I’m not the one under that kind of pressure and scrutiny that he was.”
The 40-year-old Bonds, a seven-time NL MVP, enters the season with 703 homers, trailing only Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714) on the career list. Bonds was defiant and called reporters liars in his first public comments since his grand jury testimony was leaked to the San Francisco Chronicle and reported in December.
Bonds testified to a grand jury in December 2003 that he used a clear substance and a cream given to him by a trainer who was indicted in a steroid-distribution ring, but said he didn’t know if they were steroids. Prosecutors believe the substances were two steroids at the center of the BALCO investigation.
In Fort Myers, Fla., Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling felt fine one day after throwing off a mound for the first time since his November ankle surgery.
Schilling, who had the torn sheath that surrounds his right ankle tendon repaired, threw 47 pitches on Thursday and is to throw off a mound again on Saturday. Manager Terry Francona said Schilling felt “no ill effects.”
Pitcher Wade Miller, signed as a free agent during the offseason, threw 180-foot tosses for the second day in a row, putting him ahead of his manager’s expectations
“He’s pushing getting to the mound,” Francona said. “I don’t think any of us quite thought he’d be ready to do that yet.”
In Vero Beach, Fla., Eric Gagne’s sprained knee ligament didn’t keep the Los Angeles Dodgers’ closer from working out Friday.
Gagne hurt his left knee Thursday during the Dodgers’ first full-squad workout of spring training. He was diagnosed afterward as having sustained a mild sprain, and an MRI exam Friday confirmed the diagnosis.
“It’s better today,” Gagne said following his workout on an elliptical machine and before the exam. “It’s not sharp pain. I did about an hour of cardio today. I know it’s not (serious). I’m not a doctor, but I feel better today. I’m walking on it – no swelling.”
When asked what would have happened had a similar injury occurred during the season, trainer Stan Johnston said: “He’d be taped and he’d be pitching.”
In Tampa, Fla., Randy Johnson’s scheduled batting practice session was pushed back one day to Saturday by the New York Yankees to line him up for his first spring training start next week.
Johnson slightly injured his left calf earlier this week, which kept him out of some conditioning drills. Johnson said he could have thrown Friday.
“Age is starting to set in now … they’re giving me an extra day,” the 41-year-old Johnson joked. “I could go out and do it today if they wanted to. Everything is fine. The calf is fine. As little as it is, not a whole lot of muscle to pull there.”
Johnson is slated to start the Yankees’ spring training opener against Pittsburgh on Thursday and the regular-season opener April 3 against Boston.
In Jupiter, Fla., St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Rick Ankiel threw to hitters for the first time in spring training. Ankiel survived a brief scare last fall when, while pitching in Puerto Rico, he felt a twinge of pain in the elbow and was sent home.
“It seems to be completely healed,” Ankiel said. “No pain. I came home and took some medicine, took some time off, and eased back into it.”
Ankiel arrived in 2000 at age 19 with a mid-90s fastball and a nasty curve that teammate Mark McGwire nicknamed the “snapdragon.” Those tools produced 11 victories and more than a strikeout per inning before epic wildness and an elbow injury derailed his career for nearly three seasons.
Ankiel appeared in five late-season games last year and earned his first victory since early in the 2001 season.
“He was doing so many good things,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. “He pitched just a few times, but watching his bullpen sessions he showed what he was capable of. He was pitching, putting a little on, taking a little off, moving it around, and that was exciting.”
In Mesa, Ariz., Kerry Wood will make his third straight opening day start for the Cubs, manager Dusty Baker said Friday.
The 27-year-old right-hander will be on the mound in Arizona against the Diamondbacks on April 4.
“We’ve got five guys, in my opinion, who could be opening-day starters,” Wood said Friday. “Once you get 2-3 weeks into it with rainouts and days off, whatever, everybody’s mixed up. It is an honor, though.”
Wood, 8-9 with a 3.72 ERA last year, was on the disabled list from May 7 until July 11 because of a strained right triceps. For his career, the hard-thrower is 67-50 with a 3.63 ERA and 1,209 strikeouts in 1,043 innings pitched.
“It felt great; everything went well,” Wood said after throwing live batting practice Friday. “I ended up throwing about 28 pitches. It’s nice to see hitters.”
Wood has won on opening day each of the last two years, making him the first Cubs starter to accomplish the consecutive feat since Claude Passeau in 1941-42.