Easy Call: Pain in Thumb Keeps Jeter Out of Lineup

June 6, 2006
Easy Call: Pain in Thumb Keeps Jeter Out of Lineup
By TYLER KEPNER

By TYLER KEPNER
Published: June 6, 2006

Joe Torre was still talking with reporters in the Yankees' dugout yesterday when Derek Jeter's voice boomed from his left. Torre, the Yankees' manager, had planned to watch Jeter take batting practice and test his right thumb. But Jeter would not be hitting.

"Geno!" Jeter said, shouting for the team's trainer, Gene Monahan.

Jeter was headed down the dugout steps, toward the clubhouse, and Monahan scurried over to join him. Jeter, who was hit by a pitch from Baltimore's Rodrigo López on Sunday, said he had wanted to show Torre he could play last night.

But Jeter's attempt did not go well. He was playing catch on the field when he felt pain in his thumb while throwing. He was out of the original lineup, and that is where he stayed.

"I never had to make the decision," Torre said in the clubhouse later. "I came in here, and he was already getting ice. If he couldn't throw, he wasn't going to hit."

Jeter, who missed two games last week with a strained right hand, may miss that many again.

"I'm not counting on him for a couple of days," Torre said after the game. "Hopefully it's no longer than that."

To protect themselves in Jeter's absence, the Yankees will purchase the contact of Nick Green, the former Atlanta and Tampa Bay shortstop who has been playing for Class AAA Columbus, Green's agent, Tom O'Connell, said last night. Green is expected to join the team for tonight's game.

CHACON READY FOR RETURN Joe Torre said Shawn Chacon, who is on the disabled list with a hematoma in his left leg, needed to throw in the bullpen today before he would clear him to start Friday. But Chacon said that Ron Guidry, the pitching coach, had told him to expect to start.

Chacon pitched five innings for Class AA Trenton on Sunday, and Aaron Small has struggled in his absence. In three starts, Small is 0-2 with a 10.50 earned run average.

“You’ve got to take that into consideration,” Torre said.

NO BROKEN BONES Scott Proctor was relieved to learn that X-rays of his right hand yesterday revealed no broken bones. Proctor punched a clubhouse door in Baltimore after Saturday's game, which he won after blowing a lead for Randy Johnson.

"They need to X-ray my head," Proctor said. "It was immature. It's been corrected and it won't happen again."

MATSUI ON THE MEND Hideki Matsui was back at his locker before last night's game, telling teammates he felt much better and joking that he could play now if he swung with one hand. Matsui, who broke his left wrist May 11, will see a doctor Thursday to get a better idea of when he may return.

Matsui is wearing a removable plastic cast around the wrist and has been doing exercises to improve his range of motion. He had not missed a game since 1993 and said he had been reading fiction, watching movies and following the Yankees on television.

“It was certainly somewhat strange, after all these years, to have all this downtime,” Matsui said through an interpreter.



Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company