THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 12, 1994 TAG: 9408120720
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM ROBINSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
Bobby Valentine might not be in the dugout to see them, but Jeromy Burnitz, Jason Jacome and Fernando Vina are headed back to bolster his Norfolk Tides.
Valentine, the Tides' manager, remained hospitalized in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday for the second day. After being sidelined Wednesday for the second time this season with the intestinal ailment diverticulitis, Valentine faces possible surgery that could force him to miss the rest of the season.
He is expected to remain in Grant Medical Center in Columbus a few more days. At that point, Tides general manager Dave Rosenfield said Valentine probably would have surgery to correct the condition, which also hospitalized him last winter and in June for four days.
The site of the surgery - either Columbus, Norfolk or Valentine's home in Fort Worth, Texas - is being decided, Rosenfield said.
Either way, Rosenfield said, an operation would almost certainly force Valentine to miss the rest of the season. The Tides' final game is Sept. 3.
``It's very disappointing,'' Rosenfield said. ``Bobby's such an asset in every way.''
After his June bout with diverticulitis, a painful inflammation in the lower intestine, Valentine, 44, was advised to have surgery.
``He was very hopeful he could control it until after the season,'' Rosenfield said. ``Surgery had been recommended, and he was considering it.''
Marlin McPhail, the Tides' third-base coach, and pitching coach Bob Apodaca are expected to run the Tides in Valentine's absence.
To continue playing through the major league players strike, Burnitz, an outfielder, and Vina, a utility infielder, were assigned to the Tides after Wednesday's game when the Mets activated outfielder Kevin McReynolds and utilityman Jeff McKnight from the disabled list.
Jacome, a lefthanded pitcher who started the season with the Tides, was returned after Thursday's game when Josias Manzanillo was activated.
Burnitz, however, was required to sit out Thursday's game and tonight's. He was one of 20 Tides fined $300 and suspended two games after a bench-clearing altercation with the Richmond Braves on June 17. He was called up to New York before he could serve his suspension.
Burnitz, 25, batted .238 in 45 games over two different stints with the Mets. He had three home runs and 15 RBIs.
Jacome, 24, was 7-4 with a 2.63 earned-run average, second in the International League, when he was recalled. He was 4-3 with a 2.87 ERA with the Mets.
Vina, 25, was a Tide in 1992 and '93. He made the Mets as a non-roster player in spring training but has played sparingly of late. He has appeared in 79 games but has batted just 124 times for a .250 average, with 25 singles and six doubles. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Bobby Valentine is sidelined with diverticulitis.
TIDES ON TV
An appearance on WTBS is among the four Tides games scheduled to
be televised locally, regionally and nationally during the major
league players' strike.
At the moment, no games are scheduled to be shown on superstation
WWOR-TV or broadcast on the Mets' radio network.
Aug. 17: Columbus at Tides. SportsChannel.* 7:15 p.m.
Aug. 18: Tides at Richmond. WTKR and SportsSouth. 7 p.m.
Aug. 19: Tides at Richmond. WTBS. 7:40 p.m.
Aug. 31: Tides at Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre. SportsChannel.* 7:30
p.m.
*-Could be shown locally by HTS.
by CNB