Wounded working way back to lineup

By BRUCE LOWITT

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 3, 2000

ST. PETERSBURG -- If Greg Vaughn gets through today's rehabilitation workout the way he and manager Larry Rothschild expect, the Devil Rays leftfielder will receive a slightly belated birthday present.

A return to the lineup.

Vaughn turns 35 today. He'll celebrate, so to speak, with more running, batting practice, stretching -- all the things he's been doing since he went on the disabled list June 18 with a strained right hamstring.

"Greg was a lot better," Rothschild said after Sunday's 5-2 loss to the Yankees. "We'll get on it a little bit more (today). The possibility is for him to return Tuesday."

That would please Vaughn to no end. "They're killing me," he said of the workouts and the tedium. "I've got to get back in the lineup. It's easier playing than being on the DL."

He's not the only Ray due back soon, and, coincidentally, the other three on the DL have birthdays this week as well. Designated hitter Jose Canseco's 36th birthday was Sunday, third baseman Vinny Castilla turns 33 Tuesday and pitcher Dave Eiland 34 Wednesday. Castilla (back inflammation) was 2-for-4, including a three-run homer, for Triple-A Durham Sunday. He was 3-for-8 in his two games with the Bulls. Eiland (pinched bursa sac, left hip) pitches in rehab Tuesday at Double-A Orlando, and Canseco (strained left heel) could come back for the series against the Marlins just before the All-Star break, Rothschild added.

Centerfielder Gerald Williams (left hip flexor) is doing better, Rothschild said, and is close to returning. His birthday is Aug. 10, but then, he's not on the DL.

MISSED IT BY THAT MUCH: Yankees leftfielder Shane Spencer lost Bubba Trammell's eighth-inning fly ball in Tropicana Field's maze of girders. The hit off rookie (and former FSU) pitcher Randy Choate landed just shy of the warning track for a triple, the second of Trammell's major-league career and the first in 746 at-bats since Aug. 21, 1998, at Kansas City.

Trammell scored when Choate misplayed Fred McGriff's one-hopper.

"I thought (McGriff) hit it harder," Choate said. "I was turning to throw to first and I didn't have it and it bounced off the tip of my glove."

Yankees manager Joe Torre met Choate on the mound. "He said, "Great job pitching, but we need to work on the fielding a little bit,' " Choate said.

WHO DO YOU LIKE?: Torre, manager of the American League All-Star team, and Rothschild, who will be one of his coaches in Atlanta, chatted before the game about the Devil Rays' representative.

"We've had some guys who've had a very good first half," Rothschild said, "but there's a lot of guys in that category in the whole league."

KEEP THEM PLAYING: Considering how Frank Robinson, Major League Baseball's vice president of on-field operations, has been handing out suspensions, Rays second baseman Bobby Smith and Yankees catcher Jorge Posada can expect to spend some time in baseball purgatory for their scuffle Saturday that emptied both dugouts.

Rothschild said neither deserves to sit because it was over quickly, no damage was done and it didn't escalate into a brawl. "(The players) didn't come out to get into a fight, they came out to stop a fight," he said.

ETC: The three games with the Yankees drew 99,431, the Rays' second best-attended home series this season or last. They had 101,450 for an Aug. 6-8 series with Cleveland. ... ... Reliever Rick White has allowed three of 25 runners he has inherited to score, a .120 percentage, second on the Rays to Jim Mecir (1-14, .071). ... David Justice drove in New York's first run with a second-inning single, his first hit as a Yankee.

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.

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