Nomar Playing The Waiting Game

(AP)  Nomar Garciaparra will wait a few days before deciding whether to have surgery on his injured wrist, an operation that could sideline him for up to four months.

Garciaparra said Wednesday he hoped that more rest will allow the wrist to heal by itself.

"There's maybe that last little hope," he said after he and general manager Dan Duquette had a 1 1/2-hour conference call with team doctor Bill Morgan.

Duquette said he supported the decision. If Garciaparra has surgery, he could miss at least 2 1/2 months.

"If we wait and it responds to the wait, I would think he'd be back quicker than if he had surgery," Duquette said. "We're down to the last few days of waiting. If he doesn't respond to the waiting, then we'll probably have to proceed with surgery."

Garciaparra, who hasn't had an at-bat this spring, split a tendon in the wrist when he was hit by a pitch from Baltimore's Al Reyes in September 1999.

The loss of the three-time All-Star shortstop would be a huge blow to the team's hope to make the playoffs. Boston also will start the season without third baseman John Valentin, who's trying to come back from knee surgery, and pitcher David Cone, who has a sore shoulder.

Also, Manny Ramirez, signed to a $160 million, eight-year contract, has gotten only 29 at-bats in 11 games this spring because of a pulled left hamstring.

Some Red Sox players were resigned to losing Garciaparra.

"There's no pipe dream, we're not going to get him back. He's our spine, our backbone and he's gone," Scott Hatteberg said after the Red Sox beat the New York Yankees 11-2 Tuesday in Tampa. "We've got to pick up the slack.

"As far as filling his spot, it's just not filling the hole at shortstop, you're filling basically our team's offensive leader. A lot of the pressure is going to fall on some other guys. It's not an impossible task, but it's one that some other guys will have to step up."

Lou Merloni, Mike Lansing or Craig Grebeck would likely fill in while Garciaparra is out. Merloni left Tuesday's game during the seventh inning after being hit in the left elbow by an Adrian Hernandez pitch; the injury is not believed to be serious, but Merloni has a knot near the elbow.

The bal that struck Garciaparra's wrist caused swelling in the tendon and the canal encasing the tendon, making it impossible for the tendon to move up and down smoothly. The throwing and swinging motions required in baseball have aggravated it.

Garciaparra played with his injury last season and led the league in hitting for the second consecutive year.

"It was just something I thought I'd live with the rest of my life," he said. "I thought I'd be a cranky old man, going 'Aw, my wrist hurts."'

But early in camp, Garciaparra woke up and the pain in his wrist had reached a new level. "I'd never felt it at this point, ever," he said.

Garciaparra has said he has no regrets about trying to avoid surgery with rehabilitation, saying an operation should always be the last option.

"Mentally, I know from my standpoint I've done everything," he said. "I've had the right advice, the right guidance. I've had the right information up to this point... We've done everything exactly how you're supposed to do it."

Doctors told Garciaparra he could probably play with the injury without doing long-term damage if he had cortisone shots to deal with the pain. Garciaparra said there's no way he'd take daily shots.

"I'm going to be around here for a while," he said. "I'm going to be here for years to come and I'm going to be here this year, too. So let's get it done. Whatever we need to do, let's get it right."


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