Palmeiro heads home to try to heal
Knee and ankle injuries have slowed Rafael Palmeiro since his steroid suspension.
By wire services
Published September 6, 2005
BALTIMORE - Rafael Palmeiro has been sent home to Texas, where he likely will ponder whether to return next season while rehabilitating knee and ankle injuries that have further ruined what was once a rewarding season.
"Everything just kind of crumbled, unexpectedly really," the Orioles first baseman said Monday. "I never expected that anything would happen to me, not at this stage of my career, anyway."
Palmeiro's season unraveled soon after he collected his 3,000th career hit July 15. He received a 10-day suspension on Aug.1 for testing positive for steroids, and upon his return he was booed by fans in Baltimore and on the road.
He is 2-for-26 with one RBI since coming back and has been bothered the past two weeks by injuries to his left ankle and right knee. The Orioles still expect him to play this month but decided Monday it would best for him to recover at home.
"We feel like he can do that there," interim manager Sam Perlozzo said. "We will monitor him and bring him back at the end when he's ready. We definitely feel like he's going to play again this year. I'd like to see him get back for the last 10 days, anyway."
Things can't get much worse for Palmeiro, who's experiencing a one-of-a-kind season for all the wrong reasons.
"I've played my whole career pretty much injury free. There's been no controversy in my life at all, on and off the field," Palmeiro, 40, said. "I've always been a type of person that does it the right way and follows the rules and does the right thing for the most part."
GENEROUS GIAMBI: When Yankees first baseman Jason Giambi heard that Oakland third-base coach Ron Washington lost two homes, his and his mother's, in Hurricane Katrina, he asked to join the A's players who were raising money to help.
Giambi, who played in Oakland from 1995-2001, donated $20,000 to help Washington find housing for 16 relatives who were forced out of New Orleans last week and have taken refuge in Alabama.
"They pretty much lost everything," Giambi said. "I just felt (the donation) was something I wanted to do. He's a great man."
The A's players donated about $9,000, and when Washington heard about the size of Giambi's contribution, he tried to tell Giambi it was too much, but Giambi insisted. "That's the way Jason is: He's a class act," Washington told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Locally, Twins right-hander Brad Radke , the former Jesuit High standout, and his wife, Heather , have started the Brad and Heather Radke Foundation and are collecting donations for Katrina relief at Heather's store, Guillot Apothecary, 3115 W Bay to Bay Blvd., Tampa. Donations to the Red Cross can be made by phone as well; call (813) 835-4299, ext.16.
BONDS JOINS GIANTS: Barry Bonds worked out with San Francisco, taking batting practice and testing his throwing arm. Bonds, recovering from three right knee operations since Jan.31, said he didn't know when he would return to the lineup.
"It's day by day right now, get through today and see how I turn out," he told reporters in the dugout.
The leftfielder, 41, took 17 swings and hit five balls over the fence during his turn in the batting cage.
"I did pretty well," he said. "When I get back on the field, I want to be playing where I left off."
GRIFFEY INJURY MINOR: Reds centerfielder Ken Griffey is day to day after an MRI exam revealed a strained right foot.
Griffey was injured Sunday when he rolled his foot rounding second in the 12th inning at Atlanta.
"I can't kick anybody," Griffey joked. "It feels a lot better (Monday) than it did yesterday. I can run. I just can't stop."
VERSATILE GUY: Utility infielder Kevin Hooper played all nine positions for Tigers Triple-A affiliate Toledo in its regular-season finale, pitching the ninth to preserve a 4-3 win over Indianapolis.