MLB Notebook: Giants closer Wilson's season likely over
BY Associated Press
Monday, April 16, 2012
4/16/12 at 3:12 AM
Brian Wilson has no regrets about how many times he pitched during the San Francisco Giants' improbable 2010 World Series title run. Nor about how he handled his rehabilitation program this winter and certainly not how he stayed on the mound at Colorado last week, despite ligament damage in his arm.
"Absolutely not," Wilson said. "That's how I play baseball. Push it to the limits."
Wilson has now reached his limit.
San Francisco's bearded and boisterous closer said before Sunday's series finale against the Pittsburgh Pirates that he will probably have elbow-reconstruction surgery, ending his season after only 46 pitches, two appearances and one save.
An MRI showed the structural damage. Wilson plans to seek at least one other opinion and probably two, including from the renowned orthopedist Dr. James Andrews, who performs Tommy John elbow-reconstruction surgeries. Rehab time is typically a year to 18 months.
The news hands a big blow to a Giants team that has lost a major clubhouse fixture for the second straight season and has hopes of recapturing the magic from the city's historic championship two years ago.
MLB honors Jackie Robinson with ballpark tributes: LaTroy Hawkins has heard the stories from his 87-year-old grandfather, about his days of picking cotton in Mississippi, about the times when there were no black players in big league baseball.
And about what it meant when Jackie Robinson broke the game's color barrier.
"Without Jackie, I wouldn't be in front of you," the Los Angeles Angels pitcher told several dozen kids at a Bronx ballfield Sunday. "Jackie's role in my life has been tremendous."
From Dodger Stadium to Fenway Park, there were ceremonies as Major League Baseball honored Robinson and his legacy. Video tributes and on-field celebrations at every ballpark included his family, his former teammates, players from the Negro Leagues, NBA great Bill Russell and members of the Tuskegee Airmen.
Players, managers, coaches and umpires all wore No. 42 on Jackie Robinson Day to remember the 65th anniversary of the day the future Hall of Famer first took the field with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. Markers on each base noted the occasion.
Chipper Jones returns to Braves' lineup: Chipper Jones is starting for the Braves against the Brewers after missing two games with swelling in his surgically repaired left knee.
He had arthroscopic surgery on March 26 to repair a torn meniscus in the knee, missing the first four games of the season. He had the knee drained before the Braves' home opener on Friday night. He said there was still some swelling on Saturday.
Jones homered in his first game back on Tuesday night in Houston and added two hits on Wednesday night. He says it was not a big surprise he had swelling in the knee after the flight back to Atlanta.
