BASEBALL : DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE MAJOR LEAGUES : Umpire Palermo to Begin Therapy

A spinal cord specialist said prospects appear good for the recovery of American League umpire Steve Palermo, shot earlier this month while aiding two robbery victims.

Palermo underwent tests at the Dallas Rehabilitation Institute, where he was transferred from Parkland Memorial Hospital.

“Although the exact extent of recovery cannot be predicted, initial assessments indicated a very optimistic prognosis,” John Milani, medical director of the institute’s Spinal Cord Unit, said in a prepared release.

Milani said Palermo, who was wounded in the lower section of the spinal cord, will need several months of rehabilitation. Milani said Palermo would begin therapy immediately.

Palermo is reported in good spirits and fair condition despite suffering some “leg immobility,” Milani said.

Palermo and former Southern Methodist defensive tackle Terence Mann were shot July 7 while chasing four robbery suspects. The two were at a local restaurant when the suspects tried to rob two waitresses in the eatery’s parking lot.

Mann, who was shot in the neck, abdomen and arm, was released after being hospitalized for several days. Palermo was shot once in the back.

The American League office in New York said diagnostic studies of Palermo confirmed “injury to the nerve controlling his leg function did occur, and that some degree of leg immobility exists at this time.”