Angels’ Finley Hit in Face by Errant Bat, Injured

An Angel team already besieged with spring training injuries took another major hit Saturday, when Chuck Finley was struck below the right eye by an errant bat.

Finley, the team’s projected opening-day starter, was taken to Scottsdale Memorial Hospital, where a CAT-scan revealed a non-displaced fracture of the floor of his right orbit. Nineteen stitches were needed to close the cut under Finley’s eye.

Finley, a left-hander who sat out a week in February because of shoulder tendinitis, will be held out of all action for seven to 10 days, making him extremely doubtful for the start of the season.

Pitcher Mark Gubicza (shoulder injury) and second baseman Randy Velarde (strained forearm) also are questionable for the start of the season, and closer Troy Percival is out for at least a week because of back spasms.

“Unbelievable--I cannot believe this is happening,” Manager Terry Collins said. “The things I’ve seen this spring, from Chuck, to Randy, to Troy . . . it’s just incredible. One thing I wanted to do was leave camp healthy, and we’re a long way from that.”

Finley was standing next to the batting cage as reliever Mike James took his swings, and the bat flew out of James’ hand, striking Finley in the face.

“It was like standing still and having someone slug you--I just got smoked,” Finley said by telephone from his hotel room. “I was just standing there, and the next thing I know I’m laying on the ground with blood running down the side of my face.”

Finley never lost consciousness, and he spent about three hours at the hospital. His jaw was stiff and sore and his eye was almost swollen shut.

“I look like Rocky Balboa,” Finley said. “The other day I felt so bad for J.T. [Snow, who fractured the lower left eye orbit when he was hit by a Randy Johnson pitch] and now I’m in the same boat.”

Angel athletic trainer Ned Bergert said a non-displaced fracture, where there is no movement of bones, is less severe than a displaced fracture, where the bones are moved.

“But if the fracture becomes displaced there’s a chance of trapping the muscle that controls the movement of the eye,” Bergert said. “The reason he can’t do anything for seven to 10 days is we don’t want any bleeding to occur behind the eye.”

Finley, who is second on the Angels’ all-time win list with 129, said he wasn’t sure whether there was any risk of long-term damage to his eye.

“They didn’t tell me much,” he said. “They were in the corner whispering a lot, though. I don’t know where I’m at in terms of starting the season. I just want to do what they tell me so I don’t damage my eye.”