THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 17, 1994 TAG: 9407170223
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM ROBINSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
Brook Fordyce plays baseball with a hole in his left knee. Not a nick or cut or gash, but an inch-in-diameter, deep gap into the flesh below his knee cap that manager Bobby Valentine calls ``cavernous.''
Fordyce has it packed every day with more than a foot of medicated gauze, shielded with a protective wrap and then covered with a shin guard as he, remarkably, continues to carry on as the Tides' catcher.
All of which is preceded by an excruciating daily ritual of having infected tissue scooped out of the hole - drainage was its original purpose - to facilitate healthy regeneration. Fordyce tops off the night with painkillers after games.
It is the bizarre result of a staph infection Fordyce came down with a month ago. One day he had an abrasion, the next a bloated knee that briefly put him on crutches and sidelined him for two weeks.
Enduring the condition would challenge anybody. That Fordyce is catching, with all its ceaseless squatting and rising, speaks to his toughness and passion for the game.
Though playing has slowed the knee's healing, Fordyce has been told it won't cause permanent damage. That's all he needed to hear.
``As long as it's my knee, it's my decision,'' said Fordyce, who said the Mets let him make the call. Only the possibility of lasting problems would make him reconsider.
``I'd probably think twice,'' Fordyce said. ``Maybe three times.''
The knee will need at least another six weeks to heal, trainer Fred Hina said, which will take Fordyce through the rest of the season. The hole can't be closed up, because that would lock in whatever staph is still inside.
So Fordyce is stuck with literally gritting his teeth and bearing it.
``It's a miserable thing,'' Hina said. ``Anywhere else on the body and he wouldn't have nearly the trouble he has now. It's bad luck.''
BEST TOOLS: Rico Brogna, who went up to the Mets nearly a month ago, is the only Tide represented on the International League's ``best tools'' list compiled by Baseball America. Brogna was voted the league's best defensive first baseman in a poll of league managers.
ORGANIZATION NEWS: The Mets have promoted Cuban shortstop Rey Ordonez from Class-A St. Lucie to Double-A Binghamton. They obtained Ordonez, who defected, in a special lottery last year.
Ordonez, 22, batted .309 with 40 RBIs for St. Lucie. Shortstop Edgardo Alfonzo was switched to second base at Binghamton to accommodate Ordonez. That was bad news for Pablo Martinez, who was sent from the Tides to Binghamton on June 27. Martinez was sent to St. Lucie to replace Ordonez.
BURNITZ POSTERS: The first 5,000 fans tonight will receive posters of Burnitz. Brad Woodall (12-4, 1.70) will pitch for Richmond vs. Dave Telgheder (6-6, 4.16) at 6:15. by CNB