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Not to trigger any hysteria.
="John Cougar Lunchbucket"]You knew sooner or later the lack of any real players in the lineup was gonna start hurting.
| ="Kong76"]You knew sooner or later the lack of any real players in the lineup was gonna start hurting. |
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Um...
| ="<i>New York Times</i>"]Already Hurting, Mets Face a Swine Flu Scare
By BEN SHPIGEL
Published: June 2, 2009
PITTSBURGH — As if the Mets did not have enough injuries and illnesses to worry about, they confronted a swine flu scare Tuesday when a member of their traveling party was isolated after coming down with an unidentified strain of flu.
Carlos Beltran, out since Saturday with a virus, spent part of Tuesday at a hospital.
An associate producer for SportsNet New York, who started having symptoms after arriving here Sunday night, was treated and tested at a hospital, but the Mets had not received confirmation as to what type of flu the strain was. The producer left Pittsburgh on Tuesday and traveled back to New York by car.
Before Tuesday’s game, the head trainer Ray Ramirez briefed players on the situation, advising them to report any joint aches, high fever or extreme fatigue, symptoms that are associated with the swine flu. John Ricco, the Mets’ assistant general manager, said John Maine and Carlos Beltran, who have been ill with a stomach virus, had not had any of those symptoms, nor had any other players.
“I’m not really that concerned about it, but there really isn’t that much we can do to avoid it,” catcher Brian Schneider said. “We’ll use hand sanitizers and take as many precautions as possible, but for the most part, we don’t really have a choice. We share a plane, so we’re basically in a box together. We share towels. There’s not much you can do except be smart.”
Maine, weakened by the virus Sunday, was feeling well enough to come to PNC Park on Tuesday.
Beltran, though, remained ill and spent part of Tuesday at a hospital having tests on his intestinal tract. Ricco said doctors were confident that “it’s a gastrointestinal issue” and added that the possibility of an ulcer had come up.
But it is possible that Beltran, who has not felt well since leaving Saturday’s game, was also being tested for swine flu.
Beltran, the Mets’ leading hitter, was in the original starting lineup Monday but pulled himself out about an hour and a half before the game started. The Mets, already decimated by injuries, have played short-handed the last three games and, with a struggling offense, miss Beltran.
“I’m concerned about the amount of time he’s missed, and I’m also concerned about his strength when he comes back,” Manager Jerry Manuel said. “That will probably be an issue.” |
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