Associated Press
NEW YORK ó Tom Glavine’s teammates want him back next season. Now, it’s up to the Atlanta Braves front office to decide whether he’ll get that chance.
Glavine was examined Wednesday by Dr. James Andrews in Alabama. As expected, tests showed the 42-year-old pitcher has a partial tear in the flexor tendon in his left elbow ó but no ligament damage.
The 300-game winner will have surgery Thursday, performed by Andrews, to repair the tendon and is expected to face four to five months of rehabilitation.
That leaves open the possibility Glavine could return next season. The left-hander had said he’d retire if he needed elbow ligament replacement surgery because the “Tommy John” procedure often requires at least a year of rehab.
But, if Glavine is to come back next season, he only wants to pitch for Atlanta, close to his home and family. The Braves have not said whether they’ll offer him a contract for 2009 as he comes off surgery.
“We’ll see what happens afterward,” manager Bobby Cox said Wednesday. “I hope so. Before he got hurt he was pitching lights out.”
Jones thinks the Braves could still use Glavine in 2009.
“I think they’ll probably give him a look, give him an opportunity. This team’s hurting for arms,” he said. “I think most guys as they reach the end of their career are looking for that one last standout moment before they ride off into the sunset.”
COLLEGE HOOPS
LAWRENCE, Kan.ó Markieff Morris, an incoming freshman basketball player at Kansas, is facing a battery charge after allegedly firing a BB gun from his dorm window.
The 18-year-old, a member of coach Bill Self’s 2008 recruiting class along with his twin brother, Marcus, has been ordered to appear Sept. 10 in Lawrence Municipal Court, the Lawrence Journal-World reported Wednesday on its Web site.
– WASHINGTON ó American University basketball coach Jeff Jones, who last season led the Eagles to the first NCAA Division I men’s tournament berth in school history, has been rewarded with a contract extension.
– PITTSBURGH ó The NCAA has rejected Pittsburgh forward Mike Cook’s request for an extra year of eligibility.The school appealed to the NCAA after Cook’s senior season ended with a knee injury. Cook played in 11 games before the injury Dec. 20 against Duke.
NBA
NEW ORLEANS ó It’s out with the old teal-dominated Hornets jerseys, and in with pinstripes, darker colors and “Mardi Gras gold.” New Orleans Hornets forwards Morris Peterson and Julian Wright walked across a raised stage Wednesday, modeling the new uniforms during a news conference at a French Quarter jazz club.