Rays/MLB

Injured Nationals star expected back for spring

By TIMES WIRES
Published September 25, 2006

NEW YORK - Nick Johnson had successful surgery on his broken right leg, and the Nationals first baseman is expected to be ready for spring training.

Johnson was injured Saturday in a gruesome collision with rightfielder Austin Kearns at Shea Stadium. He was carted off and taken to a hospital, where a titanium rod was inserted into his fractured right femur during a two-hour procedure Saturday night.

Doctors said Johnson's leg will be immobilized for six to eight weeks.

Several teammates visited Johnson in the hospital, including Alfonso Soriano, Brian Schneider, John Patterson and Kearns. A few others called to check on him.

Patterson said once doctors were able to reduce the pain, Johnson seemed okay. He was in good spirits before he went in for surgery, joking as they watched college football on TV.

"Once they got him calmed down, he was fine," Patterson said. "They had him pretty comfortable."

BELL DOING WELL: Royals manager Buddy Bell, who had surgery Friday to remove a growth near his left tonsil, talked to interim manager Billy Doran and the coaching staff by phone before the game against the Tigers.

"He told me to get the staff together and go into his office," Doran said. "We went in and he told us he was doing fine. It was good to hear his voice. We talked about five minutes. His voice sounded surprisingly good. We didn't talk about baseball at all."

Doran said Bell likely would be released today from the Mayo Hospital in Scottsdale, Ariz. Results from the biopsy of Bell's growth likely will be known today or Tuesday.

ANGELS ACE EXAMINED: Los Angeles hopes to have a better understanding of right-hander Bartolo Colon's health this week.

The 2005 AL Cy Young Award winner will return from Arizona, where he has been rehabbing a partially torn rotator cuff, to southern California in the coming days to be examined by team orthopedist Lewis Yocum.

Colon, 33, went 1-5 with a 5.11 ERA in 10 starts this season after going 21-8 with a 3.48 ERA a year ago. He spent April 19 to June 17 on the disabled list with an inflamed throwing shoulder and made his last appearance July 27 at Tampa Bay, where he left after allowing two home runs in the first.

CONTRERAS FINISHED: White Sox right-hander Jose Contreras will miss the rest of the season after leaving his last start with a strained right hamstring, manager Ozzie Guillen said. Contreras left Friday's game against Seattle after 1²/₃ innings when he collapsed at first and limped off. He had been scheduled for one more start.

[Last modified September 25, 2006, 01:22:38]