Garrido to Have Surgery to Repair Ruptured Tendon

Cal State Fullerton baseball Coach Augie Garrido will have surgery next week for a ruptured Achilles’ tendon in his right foot. But Garrido says he doesn’t expect to lose much time with his nationally ranked Titans.

“It won’t affect anything this weekend or next weekend,” Garrido said Thursday after learning that surgery would be needed.

Garrido, 56, said he plans to be in the dugout when his team meets New Mexico State at 7 tonight in the beginning of a three-game series.

Garrido, who was injured during a pregame drill Wednesday at Cal State Northridge, was at Thursday’s practice on crutches.

The Titans, ranked No. 2 in the nation and regarded as a top contender for their third berth in the College World Series in four years, have a two-game lead in the Big West race going into the final weekend series.

“I should be able to handle most of the things I normally do,” Garrido said. “It’s just going to be a problem getting around. The bad thing is that the recovery period is lengthy for an injury like this one, probably around six months. And since it’s my right foot, I won’t be able to drive. It’s going to be more of an inconvenience than anything else.”

Garrido said the nature of the injury prevents arthroscopic surgery.

“I was hitting Tony Martinez some balls at third base when it apparently snapped,” Garrido said. “I thought I’d been hit in the back of the foot by a throw or batted ball. I looked around at the players, and asked them where it came from.”