Brady Anderson finally got the answer he was looking for.
In the midst of his finest season in the major leagues, Anderson has decided against having an appendectomy that could sideline him for nearly a month.
Anderson saw three doctors, all of whom told him to have surgery as soon as possible. So the Baltimore Orioles’ center-fielder went to see a fourth physician, who said immediate surgery was not required.
“I kept going until one of them said what I wanted to hear,” said Anderson, who batted in his customary leadoff spot Tuesday night in the Orioles’ 3-2 loss to the Minnesota Twins.
Anderson first experienced pain in his stomach last week in Boston. He missed four straight games and the Orioles were prepared to put him on the disabled list before Anderson told manager Davey Johnson that he would be ready to play Tuesday.
He will be playing in pain, and there is a chance his appendix could burst at any time–even while Anderson is making a play in the outfield.
“Yeah, and there’s a risk a run could score on the play too,” he said with a grin. “If it gets any worse I know I’m going to have to do something about it.”
After going 0 for 4 with two strikeouts Tuesday, Anderson was hitting .284 with 31 homers.
Paul Molitor doubled home the tying run in the eighth inning and scored on a wild pitch as the Twins rallied to hand the Orioles their 10th loss in 14 games.
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On the day they put two-time AL batting champion Edgar Martinez on the disabled list with bruised ribs, the Seattle Mariners acquired third baseman Jeff Manto in a trade with Boston. To get Manto, Seattle gave up Triple-A infielder Arquimedez Pozo, 22, who was hitting .279 with 15 home runs and 64 RBIs in 95 games at Tacoma.
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Around the horn: Pat Hentgen scattered five hits in 7 1/3 innings and Joe Carter hit his 350th career home run as Toronto beat Cleveland 3-1. “One hundred and seventy-five (with Toronto) and 175 away from here. Nice split,” said Carter, who hit no home runs in 51 at-bats with the Cubs in 1983. “But I’d like to get a few more, maybe reach 400.” . . . Dwight Gooden (10-5), in his strongest outing since throwing a no-hitter May 14, allowed two hits in seven innings to lead the New York Yankees past the Texas Rangers 6-0. . . . Kevin Appier (7-7), the subject of several rumors as the July 31 trade deadline approaches, won his fourth straight start as Kansas City beat Boston 7-5. . . . Dave Nilsson homered twice and Scott Karl (10-5) became the first Milwaukee left-hander to win 10 or more games since Teddy Higuera won 11 in 1990 as the Brewers beat Seattle 7-3.
