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Hamilton will miss more time

By JOHN ROMANO and MARC TOPKIN

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 4, 2001

ST. PETERSBURG -- It appears Josh Hamilton will be sidelined for another 3-4 days after a traffic accident, although the Rays prospect said he is fortunate under the circumstances.

Hamilton and his parents were taken to Manatee Memorial Hospital in ambulances after their 1999 Chevy pickup truck was struck on the front driver's side fender by a dump truck that ran a red light while traveling between 35 and 40 mph Wednesday.

Linda Hamilton, who was driving, was cut out of the truck and stabilized on a stretcher for fear of a spinal injury. Mrs. Hamilton had neck surgery a few months ago.

Josh and his mother suffered minor aches and pains although he said his father had a slight skull fracture.

"It's a scary feeling when you see it coming and you know you can't get out of the way," said Josh, who was in the front passenger seat. "I reached over to grab my mom and the truck hit us ... we got thrown around pretty good. We spun two or three times and ended up about 100 feet away."

Rays minor-league catcher Toby Hall happened on the scene about 10 minutes after the accident in Manatee County.

"I looked and said, "That looks like Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton's truck.' It was totaled. The whole front end was crushed and the wooden console was knocked out of the truck. It was scary looking at it," Hall said. "If it had been 1/10th of a second difference, it would have been a direct hit. That's the only thing that saved them."

Hamilton said his right forearm and biceps were sore as well as his back. He was back in uniform on Saturday, but went through only a light workout.

"It's amazing nobody was hurt worse than they were," Hamilton said. "We were just lucky. I thank God everything is okay."

FIRST WIN: The Rays beat the Braves 5-1 in their home opener Saturday before an announced 6,464. It was the largest crowd in Rays history for a spring game at Florida Power Park.

Albie Lopez and five relievers held the Braves to eight hits and Randy Winn drove in the go-ahead runs with a bloop single in the seventh off Joe Slusarski. Manager Larry Rothschild said he was pleased with the execution of the winning rally. Steve Cox and Hall led off with singles, Andy Sheets moved them over with a bunt and Winn fought back from an 0-and-2 count.

"He did a good job getting me down 0-and-2," Winn said. "After that, I was just trying to cover the plate and put the ball in play because we had guys in scoring position."

Lopez, who is in his first spring with the Rays as a starter after three years as a reliever, pitched two shutout innings.

"It's good to get into a routine," Lopez said. "I can concentrate on getting ready instead of having to go out and perform."

TWICE AS NICE: The Rays beat the Phillies 4-0 in a B game at the Ray Naimoli spring training complex Saturday morning. Starter Trevor Enders allowed two hits in three innings. Carl Crawford had two hits and a stolen base.

GOOD COMPANY: Hamilton was honored before Saturday's game with the USA Today Minor League Player of the Year Award. Previous recipients include Rick Ankiel, Ben Grieve, Andruw Jones, Tino Martinez and Todd Zeile.

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