Sabo Suspended Seven Games for Corked Bat

Chris Sabo of the Cincinnati Reds was suspended for seven games and the team was $25,000 on Wednesday for Sabo’s use of a corked bat.

“The use of illegal equipment of any kind hurts the integrity and image of the game,” NL president Leonard Coleman said. “Players and their clubs are responsible for the equipment used during a game.”

The players’ association immediately appealed the suspension and fine. The penalties cannot take effect until after Coleman holds a hearing and decides on the appeal.

Reds manager Ray Knight had no problem with the suspension.

“It’s appropriate. It’s absolutely the right thing to do. I’m not going to argue for a second,” Knight said.

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Jose Canseco will have season-ending surgery to repair a ruptured disc in his back, the Boston Red Sox have confirmed. Canseco (28 home runs, 77 RBIs, .308 batting average) re-injured his back during batting practice last Friday. He has not played in more than 120 games in a season since 1991, which included a full, strike-shortened season in 1994. The team said he will have surgery at the University of Massachussets Medical Center tomorrow. . . . A flight attendant has sued New York Yankees third baseman Wade Boggs, claiming he threatened and cursed her during an April 15 charter flight. Karen Plympton says Boggs became enraged without provocation, using foul language and threatening her physically. The incident occurred aboard a Continental Airlines charter flight carrying the Yankee team from Newark to Milwaukee. “Boggs became angry and irritated with Ms. Plympton during the flight,” according to the lawsuit filed Monday in Houston. “That anger turned to rage when, as the plane was beginning its final descent, [she] declined to respond to Boggs’ demand that he be served another beer.” Boggs is accused in the suit of escalating his verbal attacks on the attendant, unleashing profanities and sexist slurs, the lawsuit states. When the plane was still on the tarmac in Milwaukee, the lawsuit says, Boggs cornered the flight attendant in the rear galley and made more threats while poking his finger in her face. The suit seeks unspecified damages for assault, infliction of emotional distress and loss of wages and punitive damages for gross negligence.

The San Francisco Giants placed second baseman Robby Thompson on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to July 26, because of a strained hip.