Major League Baseball
NL notebook: Mets' Glavine loses two teeth in taxi accident

Tom Glavine

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Mets pitcher Tom Glavine lost his two front upper teeth in an automobile accident yesterday while going from New York's LaGuardia Airport to nearby Shea Stadium in a taxi cab.

Glavine also got stitches for a cut lower lip. He was to be released from a hospital last night and will miss his scheduled start tonight against Houston.

The accident occurred at 2:15 p.m. as Glavine headed to the ballpark for New York's game against the Houston Astros. The left-hander had spent Monday's off-day with his family in Atlanta.

The 38-year-old was leaving LaGuardia in a taxi that collided with a SUV on the overpass of the Grand Central Parkway as he left the airport grounds, the Mets said.

Glavine was taken by ambulance to NYU Medical Center in Manhattan. He was conscious, a Port Authority spokesman said. Mets' oral surgeon Dr. Robert Glickman treated the pitcher.

Growing up in Massachusetts, Glavine was a high-school hockey star and was picked by the Los Angeles Kings in the fourth round of the 1984 NHL draft.

Once asked why he picked baseball over hockey, he joked, "I had all my own teeth and I wanted to keep it that way."

The drivers of the taxi and the other vehicle were both males and were both uninjured, police said.

Chicago : OF Sammy Sosa hit his 564th homer to move past Reggie Jackson into sole possession of eighth place on the career list. Harmon Killebrew is seventh on the career home-run list with 573. ... SS Nomar Garciaparra hit his first homer since the Cubs acquired him from the Red Sox on July 31.
 
Cincinnati : OF Ken Griffey Jr. (hamstring) was out of the lineup again. He has not started since leaving a game last Wednesday.

Colorado : LHP Joe Kennedy came off the disabled list to make his first start since last month. Backup C Todd Greene was placed on the 15-day DL with a strained hamstring.

Florida : RHP Josh Beckett threw 92 pitches in six innings, his longest outing since May 25. ... Closer Armando Benitez (elbow inflammation) expects to be activated from the DL tomorrow.

Los Angeles : LHP Kazuhisa Ishii will start Saturday in place of RHP Brad Penny, who has a strained biceps.

Milwaukee : OF Scott Podsednik was dropped to eighth in the batting order, leaving his usual leadoff spot to SS Craig Counsell.

Philadelphia : RHP Vicente Padilla came off the DL and RHP Paul Abbott was designated for assignment. ... RHP Kevin Millwood (9-6, 4.86 ERA) won't throw for at least three weeks because of a sprained ligament and strained tendon in his pitching elbow.

Pittsburgh : The Pirates turned their 132nd double play, most in the majors.

St. Louis : RHP Chris Carpenter left the game at Florida in the third inning because of tightness in his lower back.

San Diego : RHP Adam Eaton, who allowed four homers while beating the Cubs, has given up a team-high 22.

San Francisco : OF Barry Bonds plans to map out his baseball future this winter, and said he still wants to finish his career with the Giants. "It just depends on my family," Bonds said.

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