Rays/MLB

Possible clot may threaten Glavine's year

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published August 21, 2006

NEW YORK - Tom Glavine sounded worried and hopeful at the same time. In a small room next to the Mets' clubhouse Sunday, he said his pitching shoulder is being examined for a possible blood clot.

Glavine, 40, felt coldness in his left ring finger after his start Wednesday in Philadelphia. Depending on tests, the left-hander could return to the mound next weekend or require surgery.

"You get scared. You start wondering about the rest of your career, if there's going to be one," the two-time Cy Young Award winner said. "I had a wonderful career, and I've stayed healthy for the most part. I've envisioned my retirement, but I never envisioned it through an injury."

Glavine is 12-6 with a 3.92 ERA for the NL East-leading Mets, and his 287 victories rank third among active pitchers behind Roger Clemens (346) and Greg Maddux (329).

His left middle finger and index finger were diagnosed in 1990 with Raynaud's, a condition caused by poor circulation that leads to numbness and coldness.

"We just thought it was an extension of that," he said, "and then when they got further into the tests, I guess they picked something up when they did the ultrasound."

This was the first time his ring finger was bothered.

"The possibilities go from doing an angiogram and seeing that this is just an isolated incident - I don't have a problem, that I could be pitching by the weekend - to I have to have surgery and I could be done for the year," said Glavine, who added the injury is not life-threatening.

[Last modified August 21, 2006, 02:03:28]