Schott Falls in Driveway, Breaks Hip

Cincinnati owner Marge Schott fractured her hip when she fell in her driveway and underwent surgery Wednesday.

The 69-year-old owner was injured Tuesday night, hours after her team lost its season opener, 10-2, to San Diego.

An ambulance took Schott from her suburban Indian Hill home to Jewish Hospital Kenwood, a fire department spokesman said.

“She fell in her driveway. It had been raining, it was slippery,” said the spokesman said.

In December 1996, Schott spent a week at Jewish Hospital to treat pneumonia. In March 1991, she was in the hospital for two weeks for a bacterial skin infection that doctors said could have killed her.

Schott participated Tuesday in traditional festivities, including a parade downtown, that annually mark the opener of the baseball season in Cincinnati.

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Florida third baseman Bobby Bonilla, who is on the disabled list while he recovers from wrist surgery, hit a 425-foot home run in batting practice.

“Why aren’t you playing?” teammate Gary Sheffield asked with a smile.

Bonilla is expected to be activated in about two weeks.

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The Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., has asked the Colorado Rockies to send along the bat Mike Lansing used Tuesday night to deliver the first hit at Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix. . . . The Rockies’ 2-0 start is only their second in six years. The other time was 1995. . . . Dante Bichette, who went four for five in the opener, extended his hit streak to six at-bats before grounding out in the fifth Wednesday night.

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Houston Manager Larry Dierker has cautioned his players about excessive fraternizing with opposing players, but that’s kind of hard for reliever Doug Henry, who played for the Giants last season.

“I’ll try to keep my distance,” Henry said. “Most of my friends are guys who can hit me.”