When Aaron Boone came out of the Reds' training room, the evidence of knee surgery was clear. You could see the incision on his left knee and “W-R-O-N-G” written in big letters on his right knee.

        “You want them to do the right one,” Boone said.

        They did. Boone had reconstructive on the left knee Tuesday. By Wednesday afternoon, he had put in two hours of rehabilitation work with Reds physical therapist Lonnie Soloff.

        “I'm just thankful to get out of that hospital,” Boone said. “I couldn't sleep much last night.”

        Boone did a half-hour of rehab before leaving Bir mingham, Ala., where Dr. James Andrews and Dr. Timothy Kremchek performed the surgery.

        Boone flew home Wednesday afternoon and went straight to the ballpark to work with Soloff.

        “It's not really that sore,” Boone said. “I'm just tired from not getting much sleep.”

        Boone will be on two crutches for a week, then one crutch for another week or two.

        Boone is used to working with Soloff. They rehabbed the knee from July 5, when he last played, to just before the surgery.

        “It's best to get everything strong before the surgery,” Boone said.

        Boone won't be able to run for eight to 12 weeks. He is expected to be ready in time for spring training.

        “We'll work on his range of motion and strengthing his quadricep,” Soloff said.

        “We have an outline, but every patient is different. We'll adapt it to the individual.”

Reds 10, Braves 6 Box, runs Boone has knee surgery Larkin expects to return Friday

• Return to Reds front page...