Friday, August 14, 1998

BY SCOTT MACGREGOR
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Stan Belinda isn't healthy yet, but he believes he'll get there. The veteran Reds reliever, debilitated by a second bout with inflammation in his spinal cord, says he's much more positive about it this time, even though he had to be placed on the disabled list Monday for a second time.

Doctors have run varied tests (including a spinal tap and MRI) to make sure it's not multiple sclerosis and have so far found no evidence of anything that serious. Not all the test results are in -- Belinda has an appointment for next Friday to go over the remaining ones -- but the odds are getting slimmer and slimmer it's MS and better and better that it's just inflammation.

"To me, my body doesn't feel like I have MS. That part's great," Belinda said Thursday. "But the other part. . . . I've basically just been looking for answers."

In that quest, Belinda estimates he has spent $400 to $500 on books about spinal injuries to learn what he's facing. He also talked with Linda Sirotka, the wife of White Sox pitcher Mike Sirotka, who was bed-ridden for nearly three months with a similar condition. "Some of (the reading) helped, but the best thing is to have somebody who's gone through it talk to you," said Belinda. "At least I don't have a severe case."

Though he's still bothered by tingling in his back and legs -- he says he can't wear long pants or sleep underneath sheets without getting an uncomfortable sensation -- Belinda is decidedly more upbeat this time than during his first bout with the inflammation, last month.

Hometown blues

Does Sean Casey have a mental block when it comes to hitting against the Pittsburgh Pirates? The native of Upper St. Clair, Pa., a Pittsburgh suburb, is 1-for-20 and 0 for his last 17 in six games against the Bucs this year.

Reds manager Jack McKeon gave him Thursday off as a result. Casey doesn't know why he slumps against the Pirates, but he doesn't think the hometown factor has much to do with it.

"I was sitting there last night thinking, "I have one hit against the team I've been following my whole life,' " Casey said. "I know everyone's back home watching on TV, but I don't think about it. I don't think it has anything to do with it. Maybe the first time (when he was swarmed by reporters on his first trip to Pittsburgh in May) I was pressing, but not now."

Overall, Casey is hitless in his last 13 at-bats and is 2-for-17 on this homestand.

Busy man

Reds hitting coach Ken Griffey has reached one goal by being tapped to manage Maryvale in the Arizona Fall League later later this year, his first managerial experience other than instructional league. But that's not his only offseason endeavor; Griffey plans to open a baseball school for youngsters 10- to 14-years-old at the Disney complex in Orlando, Fla., with sons Ken Jr. and Craig.

Winchester surgery

Reds pitcher Scott Winchester has a slight tear in his right rotator cuff and will have arthroscopic surgery next week.

Winchester was in the Reds starting rotation most of this year before being demoted to Triple-A on July 25. He was examined Thursday by Reds medical director Tim Kremchek.

The results of the MRI are being sent to Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala., for a second opinion, but Kremchek and Andrews are expected to perform the surgery next week.