News doesn’t get any better
SEATTLE – Hoping for better news during a re-examination of Dan Wilson’s injured right knee, the Seattle Mariners didn’t get it Thursday.
Wilson, the popular catcher who has played for the Mariners since 1994, has a complete tear of the anterior cruciate ligament and will need surgery.
He is scheduled for surgery May 20. Recovery time typically is about a year.
The injury, suffered in the seventh inning of Wednesday’s game at Safeco Field, will end Wilson’s season.
It’s unsure what it means to his career. Wilson, 36, said after he signed a one-year contract with the Mariners in December that this may be his final season.
“It’s very disappointing,” said assistant general manager Lee Pelekoudas. “Dan has been a mainstay here for a lot of years.”
Wilson hurt his knee while running the bases in the game against the Los Angeles Angels. He had run toward second base when Ichiro Suzuki hit a fly to left field, then planted his right leg and ran back to first base after the ball was caught.
Wilson felt the ligament let go when he reversed his direction near second base, even though he made it safely back to first. He stayed in the game for two pitches of the next at-bat, but couldn’t continue and walked off the field.
Pelekoudas spoke with Wilson on Wednesday night and said the catcher’s mood was somber.
“Obviously, he’s disappointed,” Pelekoudas said.
Wednesday was the 1,250th game Wilson has played for the Mariners, who obtained him before the 1994 season in a trade with the Cincinnati Reds.
He has played 1,298 games in 15 major league seasons and has a career .262 batting average. He is hitting .185 this season.
Wednesday’s game was the eighth Wilson had started this season after he became the backup catcher to Miguel Olivo.
The Mariners called up Wiki Gonzalez from Class AAA Tacoma and he will be in uniform tonight at Boston as Olivo’s backup.
In other injury matters, the Mariners had not heard Thursday from shortstop Pokey Reese, who is deciding how to treat his right shoulder.
Reese hasn’t played all season after developing a sore shoulder in spring training. Dr. Larry Pedegana, the Mariners’ medical director, recommended surgery last week.
Reese, however, sought a second opinion and was examined Wednesday by Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala.
Road comfort
It once looked like the buzzsaw portion of their schedule, but three games at Boston this weekend and three at New York next week may seem like a soft pillow to the Mariners compared with the past week.
The Mariners, a disappointment at home with just a 4-10 record at Safeco Field, have succeeded on the road, where they are 8-6. They have lost five straight.
While the Red Sox have turned around a recent skid, the Yankees haven’t. They are 11-18 and next-to-last in the American League East.
“You just hope you’re not the ballclub that they turn it around against,” manager Mike Hargrove said. “The Yankees, even when they’re not playing well, are a very good ballclub.”
The key, of course, is for the Mariners to break out of their hitting slump. They showed signs Wednesday with 10 hits against the Angels, although the middle of the batting order still hasn’t produced consistently.