Rodgers May Miss 3 Months

Angel Manager Buck Rodgers will have surgery to repair his shattered right elbow and his broken left knee, injuries severe enough to keep him out of the dugout for at least a month and perhaps as long as three.

Rodgers, 53, was the most seriously hurt of the 12 players and staff members injured when their bus veered off the New Jersey Turnpike early Thursday. Officials at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia upgraded his condition from fair to good Friday.

“My wife and the guys in Baltimore have told me how many calls from baseball fans around the country have been received on behalf of those involved,” Rodgers said in a statement released by the club. “We appreciate their thoughts and concerns. The experience has brought all of us closer together, not as professionals but (as) people. I want to say thanks to everyone, as I know the players and staff in Baltimore do as well.”

Third base coach John Wathan will manage the team in Rodgers’ absence. His debut Friday came on the first anniversary of his dismissal as manager of the Kansas City Royals.

“Hopefully, this will draw us together,” said Wathan, who will manage from the third base coaching box. “We want to win as many as we can for Buck. If we should win five or six in a row, that should cheer him up.”

Rodgers will be flown to Baltimore today in an air ambulance and will be examined by team orthopedist Lewis Yocum, who will accompany him to Los Angeles. Yocum and his associate, Bob Chandler, plan to operate on Rodgers’ elbow and knee Sunday at Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood if they find no infection that would force them to postpone the procedure.

“You’re talking about a long time,” Yocum said of Rodgers’ recuperation. “He’s going to try to come back as soon as possible, but I’m not going to let him try if it’s not safe. It would be a combination of him being miserable and compromising the healing of his injuries. . . .

“Most fractures heal in four to six weeks. But the knee is a major weight-bearing joint, and the injury to the right elbow is extensive. There are multiple pieces (of bone) on both sides of the joint, up and down the arm. There are multiple fracture fragments. How many fragments? Too many. We want to try to get it back to as normal as possible. Sometimes pieces have to be removed. We want to maximize his motion. He will have arthritis.”

Rodgers and Yocum will be accompanied today by head trainer Ned Bergert, who suffered a bruised kidney, and traveling secretary Frank Sims, who has cracked ribs. First baseman Alvin Davis, who doctors suspect has kidney damage because of blood in his urine, was to take a commercial flight today with his wife, Kim, who flew East before the accident to surprise Davis for the couple’s anniversary.

“We’re obviously grateful there was nothing worse,” said Yocum, who heard about the accident about 1 a.m. (Pacific time) Thursday and made arrangements by phone for specialized medical care. He flew to Baltimore Friday morning to examine several players and addressed the team before Friday’s game against the Orioles.

“You do enough trauma surgery and you see both sides of the spectrum,” he added. “You see a dented fender and somebody gets killed, and then you see this.”

Many players awoke Friday with sore backs and ribs, but the only player placed on the disabled list was Bobby Rose, who suffered a sprained ankle. If Davis’ kidney injury proves serious, he might also be put on the disabled list.

“What we’re finding out is that some who were not hurt are now feeling it,” said Rich Brown, club president. “Whiplash, soreness. One player said he feels like he’s been in a fight with Rocky.”

Luis Sojo was recalled from triple-A Edmonton to replace Rose.

“We’re going to miss (Davis) and we’re going to miss Buck,” said catcher Ron Tingley, who had sore ribs and bruised buttocks Friday and wasn’t in the starting lineup. “Buck’s the head man. We’re all going to be worried when Buck goes in for his operation, and we want to see everybody back. I don’t think everybody is going to feel comfortable until Buck’s back.”