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Roundup Belle returns to Baltimore to have hip evaluated
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Orioles outfielder Albert Belle was sent back to Baltimore to have his sore right hip examined by a team doctor. The Orioles were expected to get the results of Belle's exam on Thursday, team spokesman Kevin Behan said. Belle left the team Tuesday afternoon, prior to Baltimore's game with the Twins. He has been nursing the hip injury since July, and it's not known what specifically caused the injury. Belle's injury didn't force him to miss any games until Aug. 27, when he sat out against Tampa Bay, snapping a streak of 232 straight games played, the longest in the majors at the time. Belle is is hitting .215 in his last 39 games and has just four home runs in his last 59 games. Overall, he is hitting .279 with 22 homers and 97 RBIs in 135 games this season. Cone to miss next startKANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- New York Yankees right-hander David Cone will rest his separated left shoulder until next week, and will miss at least one start. "He's not going to do anything between now and the beginning of the week, at which time he'll hopefully start exercising that shoulder and maybe do a little throwing," manager Joe Torre said Wednesday. Cone underwent an MRI examination on Wednesday, a day after he was injured while diving to catch a bunt in the third inning of a 10-5 win over the Kansas City Royals. "The MRI was clean, minimal bruising -- better than I thought," said Cone, who had likened the pain of the shoulder separation to feeling "like my shoulder was up in my neck." Cone already was in the midst of a bad season when he was injured. He is 4-11 with a 6.16 ERA, and had gone 15 starts without a victory before recently showing signs of improvement. Torre said the sight of Cone writhing in pain brought back memories of seeing St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson blow out a knee while running bases during a game in 1973. "Gibson kept saying, 'Don't touch me, don't touch me,'" Torre said. "He (Cone) kept saying to Geno (trainer Gene Monahan), 'Get off me,' and Geno wasn't even on him. I think there was so much pressure on that shoulder, he felt like someone was pushing up against it." The Yankees have no timetable for Cone's return, Torre said.Eldred not giving up yetCHICAGO (AP) -- Despite a stress fracture in his pitching arm, Cal Eldred isn't ready to say his season is over. Tests showed the Chicago White Sox right-hander has a stress fracture just below his right elbow. He said Wednesday he wants to consult with doctors some more before deciding what to do next. "I can't really tell you what we're going to do," he said. "There's nothing really final. We're waiting to see what our options are and we'll go from there." Eldred plans to meet with doctors Thursday, and general manager Ron Schueler said he hopes to announce a decision before Thursday night's game. While Schueler said it's possible Eldred could pitch again this year, he wasn't exactly optimistic. "I'm not going to rule it out yet," Schueler said. "I'd be thrilled if he did come back. But I'm not going to count on it." Eldred has been on the disabled list since July 17 because of nerve problems in his right elbow. It's the sixth trip to the DL in five years for Eldred, who had ligament replacement surgery in 1995. His rehabilitation was going well -- so well, in fact, that manager Jerry Manuel hoped he'd pitch this Friday against Cleveland. But during his second rehab start Sunday at Triple-A Charlotte, the pain returned and Eldred pulled himself out after two innings. He went through a battery of tests Tuesday, and results showed the stress fracture but it isn't related to the nerve problems. Eldred said he had a similar injury in 1998 and showed symptoms of another one last year. The fractures eventually heal, but it takes time. With the playoffs beginning in about three weeks, that's something neither Eldred nor the White Sox have.Gore throws BP at Comerica ParkDETROIT (AP) -- Al Gore thought about hiding behind his Secret Service agents, but was soon enough strutting his stuff in a charmed outing Wednesday with the Detroit Tigers. "A lot better than a lot of broken-down former pitchers that I've seen," Anaheim Angels pitcher Tim Belcher said as Gore threw batting practice for the Tigers an hour before the two teams met. "Pretty consistent," nodded Detroit first baseman Shane Halter. Even hitter Robert Fick, after getting whacked in the hip by Gore's lone wild pitch, was impressed. "He's definitely not making (a fool) out of himself." The right-hander did show enough athletic ability on the mound to throw numerous strikes, which kept batting practice moving along. "He throws better than some of our guys," Detroit manager Phil Garner said with a smile. Gore hadn't, at first, seemed sure it would go well. After hitting coach Bill Madlock reminded the Democratic presidential candidate that only hitters are allowed on the mat behind the batting cage -- and that he'd either have to step to the plate or step off -- Gore joked, "I'm gonna have the Secret Service tackle him." Instead, he shed his suit coat and stepped to the mound. Behind home plate, lead agent Bill Pickle didn't flinch as one of Fick's hits nearly beaned the candidate. Gore bellowed laughingly, "Where's the Secret Service?" Autograph seekers mobbed the rookie star on his way out. "Here I was, worried about throwing my arm out," Gore said, indulging every one. "I'm gonna throw my wrist out!" On his way out, he added immodestly, "E-Bay's going to be rich tonight."Baseball finally gets mlb.comNEW YORK (AP) -- After several years of talks, baseball is finally moving its Web site to www.mlb.com. Mogan, Lewis & Bockis LLP, the fourth-largest law firm in the United States, registered the domain name in 1994, and launched its site two years later. The firm, which represented baseball in its negotiations with the players' association in 1990 and 1994-95, had refused to relinquish the site, forcing baseball to use www.majorleaguebaseball.com for its Web site. The firm will now switch to www.morganlewis.com. The announcement was made Wednesday as baseball team officials met in Chicago to be updated on baseball's Internet operations, which are being centralized under the direction of the commissioner's office. Baseball is not making any payments to Morgan, Lewis other than covering the firm's costs of switching its Web site. The firm has more than 1,000 lawyers in 12 offices.
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