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Williams has pacemaker inserted

By Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published November 7, 2000

Doctors inserted a pacemaker Monday into the chest of Hall of Fame slugger Ted Williams.

Suffering from congestive heart failure, Williams, 82, was admitted to Shands at the University of Florida, Gainesville on Oct. 30. After Williams spent a week in intensive care, doctors opted to implant the pacemaker.

"(Williams) did really well with the procedure," attending cardiologist Rick Kerensky told the Boston Globe. "He was awake and alert within an hour of the procedure. He was in good spirits. There has been some improvement since Friday, and he is listed in good condition."

Dr. Anne Curtis, director of electrophysiology at the hospital, performed the hour-long procedure on Williams, who lives in Citrus County.

"He did great," she said. "It went very smoothly and quickly. The problem lately has been that Mr. Williams had a rapid heartbeat. That can lead to deterioration in the heart function, and we had to slow it down. We implanted a single-chamber pacemaker."

Williams was heavily sedated for the surgery but did not undergo full anesthesia.

"He's very aware of what's going on," Williams' son, John-Henry, said. "I'm just very glad it got done, and I'm looking forward to Dad getting better and getting on with his life. This has been very stressful."

Kerensky would not speculate on when Williams might be able to leave the hospital.

He said Williams asked about today's election. "He's going to be able to vote by absentee ballot," Kerensky said.

DIAMONDBACKS: New manager Bob Brenly has added another former teammate to his coaching staff.

Bob Melvin, who shared catching duties with Brenly for the San Francisco Giants from 1986-88, was chosen as bench coach. Melvin was bench coach for the Detroit Tigers last season.

Last week, Brenly hired Chris Speier, a teammate in San Francisco, as his third base coach.

FREE AGENCY: Relievers Jose Mesa of Seattle and Greg McMichael of Atlanta filed, raising the total to 123 players with four days left in the filing period.

Meanwhile, agent Scott Boras said 16 teams have contacted him about free-agent shortstop Alex Rodriguez. Boras will meet with most of them this week before flying to Miami to plot strategy with his client.

The two then will meet with many of the teams over the next three weeks.

Free agents can't negotiate or sign with teams other than their own until Saturday.

Boras said that Rodriguez, who made four All-Star teams with Seattle, wants a long-term deal so he can buy a home and stay in one city. He said Rodrizuez, 25, has not ruled out any team; Rodriguez said last week he is not interested in the Yankees. Boras also said Rodriguez will not change positions, which would seem to rule out the Yankees.

Boras has compiled a 65-page book filled with numbers comparing Rodriguez to Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays, Ernie Banks and other Hall of Famers at the same age.

INDIANS: Cleveland isn't ready to make a counterproposal to Manny Ramirez's $200-million salary request and could allow the slugger to hit the free-agent market this weekend.

"The process needs to play itself out," general manager John Hart said.

Cleveland has contacted the agents for outfielders Ellis Burks and Tony Gwynn as potential replacements in rightfield.

Ramirez's agent, Jeff Moorad, spoke to Hart on Monday, and the general manager said he had had four conference calls with owner Larry Dolan during the day.

"I think Larry and John will respond in a way that helps their franchise," Moorad said.

MARINERS: Except for Larry Bowa, manager Lou Piniella's coaching staff will return intact. Dave Myers, the manager at Triple-A Tacoma last season, will replace Bowa as third-base coach. Bowa was hired last week to manage the Philadelphia Phillies.

PIRATES: Pittsburgh named Dave Clark hitting coach, Spin Williams pitching coach and Bruce Tanner bullpen coach, completing new manager Lloyd McClendon's staff. Clark, 38, worked as an instructor during spring training with the Pirates last season and became hitting coach at Triple-A Nashville in June. Williams, 43, spent the past seven seasons as Pittsburgh's bullpen coach. Tanner, 38, was the pitching coach at the Pirates' Double-A affiliate at Altoona, Pa., last season. The son of former Pirates manager Chuck Tanner, he was the pitching coach at Nashville from 1998-99.

RANGERS: The team announced that catcher Ivan Rodriguez won his ninth straight American League Gold Glove despite missing the last two months of the season because of a broken right thumb. Texas said pitcher Kenny Rogers also won a Gold Glove.

Rawlings, the equipment company that presents the awards, will announce the AL team today and the National League team Wednesday. Managers and coaches vote on the honors.

REDS: Bill Doran, part of the organization since 1995, was added to new manager Bob Boone's coaching staff. His duties had not been determined.

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