Sunday, September 08, 2002
Yankees' Wells attacked by man at New York diner
NEW YORK - Yankees pitcher David Wells lost two teeth and was punched in the head when he was attacked by a man waving a butter knife at a diner early Saturday, police said.
Wells refused medical attention after the altercation at 5:50a.m. at the restaurant on Manhattan's Upper East side.
Rocco Graziosa, 27, of Yonkers, N.Y., was arrested and charged with assault and menacing.
Police said they did not know whether Graziosa was being held or released, or if a court appearance had been scheduled. Calls to the district attorney's office and Graziosa's home were not immediately returned.
Wells' teammates saw him at Yankee Stadium before Saturday's game against Detroit, but the pitcher was not in the New York clubhouse after a 2-1 loss.
“I don't even know what's going on,” catcher Jorge Posada said. “I saw him earlier. I think he went back to the hospital or something.”
Yankees manager Joe Torre said he hoped Wells would be back at the ballpark today. Torre was not sure how the attack would affect Wells' pitching.
“We'll have to wait and see how that shakes out,” Torre said.
“I really don't want to talk about that whole thing because one thing leads to another. I don't want to get in trouble,” he said.
Wells pitched a complete game Friday night as New York beat Detroit. Several hours later, he was at the diner with a friend - not a teammate - when Graziosa walked in with some friends and began chatting with the star, police Sgt. David Jorin said.
After the conversation, Graziosa went to a table and made a remark about Wells' deceased mother.
A few moments later, Graziosa grabbed a butter knife off the table, began waving it and attacked Wells, police said. Wells called 911, and police arrived and made the arrest.
Wells, 39, is 16-7 with a 4.00 ERA this season.
BRAVES: Left fielder Chipper Jones was a last-minute scratch from Saturday's game against Montreal because of a stiff neck suffered while making a diving catch Friday. He was available to pinch hit.
CARDINALS: Albert Pujols was out of the lineup Saturday against the Chicago Cubs, a day after leaving a game early because of spasms in his left shoulder.
Right fielder J.D. Drew also didn't start, suffering a mild left quadriceps strain Friday. He's expected to play today.
TIGERS: Detroit released pitchers Jose Lima and Jose Paniagua.
Lima has won just 17 major-league games in the last three years. He was 4-6 with a 7.77 ERA for Detroit this season.
Paniagua was 0-1 with a 5.83 ERA and a save in 41 games this year.
RED SOX: Pedro Martinez threw more than 50 pitches in the bullpen without difficulty and could be ready to return to the rotation early in this week.
“Feeling better, but not yet,” said Martinez, who missed his last two starts because of hip and groin injuries.
EXPOS: Pitcher Tomo Ohka was ejected in the bottom of fifth inning Saturday night after hitting Atlanta's Andruw Jones with a pitch in the helmet after Jones homered in his previous two at-bats.
Jones had a bruise around his left ear and cheek. Later, Atlanta reliever Chris Hammond was ejected after hitting Brad Wilkerson.
Ohka was immediately ejected by home plate umpire Wally Bell as the benches and bullpens spilled onto the field. No punches were thrown as Jones was held back by Bell and Ohka was escorted off the field by pitching coach Dick Pole.
Jones left the game as Jesse Garcia came into pinch-run. Tim Drew came in to pitch for the Expos.
Jones hit two-run homers in the first and third innings off Ohka to give the Braves to a 4-0 lead. He leads the Braves with 29 homers this season.
Hammond relieved to start the seventh. He hit Wilkerson in the hip with his first pitch and was ejected.
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Yankees' Wells attacked by man at New York diner
