BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Howell Fears That His Season Is Over

Jay Howell said Monday that he fears he might have to sit out the rest of the season after being able to throw for only 10 minutes at half speed because of his sore elbow.

Howell’s arm will be X-rayed today to determine whether previous examinations have missed any ligament or bone damage. Howell has not pitched since Sept. 3.

“We’re just going to try and rule out everything,” said Howell, 35, who spent nearly a month on the disabled list earlier this summer because of the elbow. “This injury could require more time and more therapy . . . and time, I don’t have a lot of,” he said.

Howell has 15 saves, his lowest total since 1984, in only 50 innings.

Despite what some might think, the Dodgers were not celebrating the Atlanta Braves’ loss of the Otis Nixon for the season after Nixon was suspended for 60 days for violating baseball’s drug policy.

“You cannot be happy about somebody else’s mishaps, you have to be more concerned with people than that,” said Brett Butler, who played with Nixon several years ago in Cleveland.

“People are bigger than the game, and this is a terrible thing that has happened to another person.”

Said Darryl Strawberry: “I couldn’t believe it. The guy really cost himself an opportunity. I really feel for him.”

Alfredo Griffin acknowledged that his protective mask blocked his vision last week in Houston and caused him to miss a ground ball.

Griffin said he never saw a ground ball by Casey Candaele that skipped past him in the sixth inning of the Dodgers’ 6-2 victory over the Astros.

“The mask is fine for looking straight ahead, but when I look to the right, sometimes I see plastic,” he said. “And when I look to the left, sometimes I see the plastic that covers my nose.”

The pin was removed from his broken right cheek Monday, but he will have to wear the mask the rest of the season.

“I really don’t want to wear it, but they told me that the spot is still healing, so I don’t have a choice,” said Griffin, who has only one error in 15 games while wearing the mask.

Stan Javier, a career .251 hitter who is batting .205 this season, said that during spring training he was found to have bone chips in right elbow and that they will have to be removed after the season. “I didn’t want to do anything then, and I really don’t think it has affected me that much, but who knows,” Javier said. . . . Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda and pitching coach Ron Perranoski met with struggling pitcher Ramon Martinez before Monday’s game, and were satisfied that he is not injured.