| | Associated Press
SAN DIEGO -- San Diego Padres pitcher Woody
Williams had
successful surgery Thursday to repair an aneurysm under his right
armpit.
| |  | |
| Williams |
Williams was to remain in the hospital overnight for
observation. It is not known when the right-hander might pitch
again, although there had been speculation he would be sidelined
for four months.
Williams was 3-2 with a 5.21 ERA in six starts this season.
On Wednesday, Williams went to the ballpark in San Diego and met
his teammates before they played Florida. The Padres hung his
jersey in the dugout.
"I had no idea that I meant so much to so many people. It made
me feel good," Williams said.
Williams, 33, was diagnosed with the aneurysm during
an angiogram Tuesday. Doctors had performed tests during the weekend, one of which
showed a small blood clot had reached Williams' right forearm.
Another test showed that the circulation in his hand was fine, and
the team's medical staff felt any risk from him pitching Monday
night was relatively low.
Williams pitched 8 1/3 innings in a loss to the Marlins on
Monday night.
The Padres had said Williams' condition was similar to when New
York Yankees pitcher David Cone had an aneurysm in his right
shoulder in 1996. Cone was out about four months and returned to
help pitch the Yankees to the World Series title.
Cone and Williams were teammates with the Toronto Blue Jays in
1995. On Tuesday, Cone got a call in the visitor's locker room in
Cleveland from Ed Sprague, a former Blue Jays teammate who now
plays with Williams.
Told by Sprague of Williams' condition, Cone phoned him at the
hospital.
"When David called me, it kind of made me realize that
everything's going to be OK," Williams said. "I just hope that
I'm no worse off than he was. I'm very positive and optimistic that
I'll be back. It may not be this year, it may be. I'm going to do
everything I possibly can."
Said Cone: "Aneurysm is a scary-sounding word. I just wanted to
tell Woody that his problem was fixable."
"It's good that they found it before something drastic
happened," he said. | |
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