September 03, 2006
Beltran's Knee
The early reports on the knee are good:
Beltran, who trudged off the field with his left arm draped around trainer Ray Ramirez's shoulder, had X-rays taken at St. Joseph's Hospital in downtown Houston last night. The X-rays came back negative and Beltran is day-to-day. Warren Kadrmas, a former team doctor who attended the game, told Beltran he didn't feel any gaps in the center fielder's knee, suggesting no ligament or tendon damage.
"He made a great catch, unbelievable catch," said Mets manager Willie Randolph. "He went all out and sacrificed his body, that's why he's one of the great players in the game."
Randolph planned to give Beltran a day off today regardless. The Mets' 161/2-game lead in the NL East affords them the luxury of an extended rest if necessary. "I don't want to make this a gloom-and-doom situation," Randolph said. "He'll probably be fine." Beltran sounded reasonably upbeat and even made light of the situation, noting that there was no comparison between this crash and his scary head-to-head collision with Mike Cameron last season.
"After we collided I didn't know where I was. This one I knew where I was. After I heard the boos, I knew I was in Houston," said Beltran, who has been jeered each game here since defecting to the Mets, though the crowd mostly offered sympathetic applause after the injury.
Sometimes damage doesn't show up until after the swelling goes down, so I'm sure he'll be examined again before he plays. A few days off won't hurt him or the team. The Mets magic number is 12 with 28 games to play for the division, 17 for home field through the NL playoffs.
Posted by David Pinto at
10:11 AM
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