Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
By BOB PUTNAM, Times wires
© St. Petersburg Times, published May 29, 2001
Sheffield gives in to pain in finger, heads to DL
LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers placed leftfielder Gary Sheffield on the 15-day disabled list Monday after he played more than a month with pain in his left index finger.
An MRI Thursday revealed a torn ligament in the finger on Sheffield's glove hand, an injury sustained April 25 during pregame fielding practice. That night, he threw out two Pirates runners at home on back-to-back plays in the first inning.
The move is retroactive to May 24. Sheffield is eligible to be activated June 6, when the Dodgers begin a home series against the Angels.
"I just felt like I could play through anything. That's my mentality," Sheffield said. "When you grow up playing football, you look at an injury like this and just tape it up and go.
"But in baseball, I really need my hands and my fingers. And when they aren't at 100 percent, it kind of throws things off a lot. I wouldn't advise anybody to hit like me because, when things go wrong with your hands, there's going to be a problems."
Former Pinellas Park High pitcher Nick Masset, a Rangers eighth-round pick last season, signed with the team Monday. Terms were not available.
Masset was a projected first-round pick by Baseball America, but his stock fell after he had Tommy John elbow surgery in April 2000. Two months into his rehabilitation, he was drafted by the Rangers as a sign-and-follow.
This spring, Masset played for St. Petersburg Junior College.
Masset likely will report to Port Charlotte this week.
CARDINALS: St. Louis won't say what's next for left-hander Rick Ankiel. Team officials planned to meet with the wild 21-year-old a day before his next scheduled start for Triple-A Memphis, but manager Tony La Russa and general manager Walt Jocketty would not say what was discussed.
CUBS: Former Ray Miguel Cairo played third base because Ron Coomer was scratched with a tight left calf that has bothered him since Thursday.
EXPOS: Right-hander Tony Armas is expected to make his next start after X-rays on his pitching wrist were negative, a day after he was hit by a liner off the bat of Philadelphia's Tomas Perez.
INDIANS: Jim Thome tied Albert Belle for first on the club's all-time home run list with his 242nd.
REDS: Cornerback Deion Sanders bunted for a single as a pinch-hitter in the fifth, ending an 0-for-19 slump that was the longest by a Cincinnati hitter this season.
ROCKIES: Outfielder Todd Hollandsworth, who was eligible to come off the disabled list Saturday, flew to Denver to see a nerve specialist.