DiMaggio Condition Continues to Improve

Joe DiMaggio was sitting up in his Hollywood, Fla., hospital bed Saturday, talking with friends and family, shaking hands and shrugging off a life-threatening illness as if it was no big deal.

“It’s an unbelievable improvement,” Dr. Earl Barron said. “He was awake and he was talking to us. . . . He is back to where he was on Thanksgiving Day.”

After seeing DiMaggio Saturday afternoon, Barron said his patient remained in critical condition but was clearly improved.

“We need another 24 hours of the same,” he said.

Barron said DiMaggio was out of bed, sitting in a chair. “He wants to talk but we don’t want him to use too much effort,” the doctor said.

Barron said the 84-year-old Hall of Famer’s condition improved dramatically when doctors began administering his medication intravenously instead of orally after realizing that the medicine was not being absorbed into DiMaggio’s bloodstream.

“If this discovery had not been made, we would not be talking about a live person,” Barron said.

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Major league baseball commissioned two Harvard researchers to conduct a study on the effects of androstenedione, the muscle-building supplement used by Mark McGwire and other players.

Joel Finkelstein and Benjamin Leder told a gathering of team doctors and trainers at baseball’s winter meetings in Nashville there is not enough evidence yet to determine its overall effect on athletes.

“They said it looks likes andro does raise testosterone levels,” said Dr. Jack Failla, the team doctor for the Pittsburgh Pirates. “But they stressed that it is a small study right now and they need more time to definitively answer that question.”

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Start saying goodbye to those different strike zones.

In a sharp break with tradition, the commissioner’s office will soon take over control of umpires from the American and National leagues, the Associated Press learned.

While there was no official word of the switch during the winter meetings, baseball sources said the move would be finalized when owners meet in mid-January.

Umpires have come under increased criticism in recent years by fans, players and team management, particularly for their inconsistent interpretation of the strike zone.

During the AL championship series, George Steinbrenner was fined $25,000 by league President Gene Budig for criticizing umps, claiming they missed an interference call in Game 2. The New York Yankees owner also was upset by the state of umpiring in general.

“You bring the officiating under the commissioner’s office. It doesn’t belong under the league offices,” Steinbrenner said at the time.

Sandy Alderson, the former Oakland Athletics president and currently the majors’ executive vice president of baseball operations, will oversee all umpires in the new plan, sources said.

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The Cincinnati Reds filled a hole at second base, agreeing to terms with free agent Mark Lewis on a $500,000, one-year contract.

Lewis, who hit .249 with nine homers and 54 runs batted in last season in Philadelphia, will take the place of Bret Boone, traded to the Atlanta Braves last month.

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Roger Clemens was still in Toronto while the Blue Jays tried to fulfill the five-time Cy Young Award winner’s demand for a trade. “There have been no Roger Clemens discussions today,” Blue Jay General Manager Gord Ash said.

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Terry Pendleton announced his retirement.

Pendleton, 38, a backup for Dean Palmer at third base last season with Kansas City, hit .257 with three home runs and 29 RBIs. The NL most valuable player in 1991 with the Braves, he hit .270 lifetime with 140 home runs and 946 RBIs.