19 Sep

Mariners Gold Glove third baseman Adrian Beltre had surgery Thursday to repair a ligament in his left thumb.

Mariners Gold Glove third baseman Adrian Beltre had surgery Thursday to repair a ligament in his left thumb. And remove bone spurs from his left - or non-throwing - shoulder.

Mariners’ medical director Dr. Edward Khalfayan performed the shoulder surgery Thursday and then assisted in the thumb procedure.

The doctor said both were successful and he expects Beltre to need three to four months of rehabilitation.

Beltre decided last week to have the operations before the end of the regular season to make sure he was healthy for the start of 2009. He finished his season hitting .266 with 29 doubles, 25 homers and 77 RBIs.

—-
Cabrera shut down with strained elbow.

Baltimore right-hander Daniel Cabrera won’t pitch again this season because of a strained elbow.

Cabrera, 8-10 with a 5.25 ERA in 30 starts, experienced pain and tingling in his elbow during a side session Wednesday and returned to Baltimore for tests. He underwent his second MRI in a month Thursday, revealing no damage.

“They put an old MRI side by side with the new MRI and there’s nothing like that,” manager Dave Trembley said before Baltimore’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Cabrera was originally slated to start Friday against the New York Yankees but Radhames Liz was moved up to start on regular rest in the opener of the three-game series. Chris Waters is scheduled to start the final regular-season game at Yankee Stadium on Sunday but Trembley hasn’t announced who will handle the middle game.

—-
Civil Rights Game moving to Cincinnati.

The Cincinnati Reds will host the majors’ first two regular-season Civil Rights Games.

Major League Baseball made the announcement on Thursday at Great American Ball Park. The Reds’ game against the Chicago White Sox on June 20 will serve as the first one to be held during the season, followed by another to be played in Cincinnati in 2010.

The first two Civil Rights Games, intended to raise awareness of the civil rights movement and baseball’s part in it, were held before the season in Memphis, Tenn.

“When we went to Memphis, we always knew we’d grow this into a major league game,” Jimmie Lee Solomon, executive vice president of baseball operations in the commissioner’s office, said.

MLB started looking at potential sites in July and decided on Cincinnati in late August, Solomon said. One of the main reasons Cincinnati was chosen was the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, which is located next door to the ballpark and was a major part of the Reds’ presentation.

“It’s pretty exciting that they’re having the game here, especially when you’ve got the Freedom Center right next door and the history of the town,” said Reds manager Dusty Baker, who is black.

Leave a Reply