Tornado Barely Misses Astros’ Camp and Several Players’ Nearby Homes

One of a series of killer tornadoes that struck early Monday came within a few yards of the Houston Astros clubhouse and moments later narrowly missed homes of several players in Kissimmee, Fla.

Shane Reynolds, likely the Astros’ opening day pitcher, was one of six Astro players staying in homes at Lakeside Estates, near Osceola County Stadium, the Astros spring training home.

Other players residing at Lakeside are starting pitchers Mike Hampton and Chris Holt, outfielder Ray Montgomery, and infielders Bill Spiers and Tim Bogar.

“If the tornado had gone a little to the left of its path, I don’t think a lot of us would have been here,” Holt said. “We would have been pummeled.

“I’ve been in and around tornadoes before, but I’ve never seen anything like this.”

A tornado shredded the Ponderosa Park campground behind the stadium, killing seven people. From there, it dipped down beside the Astros clubhouse, smashing a batting cage and ripping up two sections of artificial turf.

“If it had been at 1:15 p.m. instead of a.m., the field would have been filled with players,” Astro spokesman Rob Matwick said.

“I had never been in one before and I don’t ever want to be in another one again,” Spiers said. “It was awful. I get chills just talking about it. It was like something you’d see on CNN. It’s amazing what one of those things can do.”

There was roof damage at some of the players’ homes and uprooted trees. A block away, homes were destroyed.

Matwick said the club had accounted for all its players and staff, but Monday’s workout was canceled because all power was off at the training facility. Matwick said plans for today’s workout were undecided.

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Cleveland Indian right-hander Ben McDonald came to Los Angeles for tests on his ailing right shoulder and may not be ready to pitch until at least June.

McDonald “hit the wall” in his rehab program as he was trying to recover from rotator cuff surgery in his pitching arm, Indian General Manager John Hart said in Winter Haven, Fla. After being examined in Cleveland, McDonald went to the West Coast for an appointment with Dr. Lewis Yocum, who performed the surgery on July 29.

As camp started last week, team doctors thought there was an 80-85% chance McDonald could join the rotation by May.

“Now we’re dealing with 15-20%,” Hart said. “We have to figure out how we’re going to address the problem.”

With plenty of off-days in April, Cleveland may be able to get by with the four-man rotation of Jaret Wright, Charles Nagy, Chad Ogea and Dwight Gooden. After that, the choices within the organization for a fifth starter are Bartolo Colon and Steve Karsay, with recently signed veteran Melido Perez a longshot.

Hart did not rule out trading for more pitching help.

The Indians acquired McDonald and two other pitchers from Milwaukee for Marquis Grissom and Jeff Juden on Dec. 8. McDonald was 12-10 for the Brewers last season with a 3.90 earned-run average in 35 starts and 221 1/3 innings.

The Indians knew McDonald was doubtful to be ready for opening day when they acquired him. As part of the trade, the Brewers agreed to pay half of McDonald’s $4.5 million salary if he does not pitch 133 innings this season.

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J.D. Drew’s holdout has cost the Philadelphia Phillies’ 1997 first-round draft choice more than only money and a year’s development.

Lenny Dykstra and Mark Parent criticized the outfielder for not getting on with his baseball career, saying the former college player of the year has lost their respect.

“He’s in dangerous waters right now,” Dykstra said in Clearwater, Fla. “He’s a good player, but you make it hard on yourself when you’ve got people going against you.”

The people Dykstra was referring to are Drew’s would-be teammates, who are having a hard time understanding why he has turned down a multimillion-dollar offer from the Phillies.

“I think a lot of guys resent him. Wouldn’t you?” Parent said. “I wouldn’t cover his butt.”

The Phillies offered Drew a little more than $2 million after they made him the second overall pick in last June’s amateur draft. Drew’s agent, Scott Boras, claims several other teams are willing to pay $11 million to sign Drew.

The comments by Dykstra and Parent came on the day of a meeting between the players’ association and management’s Player Relations Committee, necessary before next month’s start of a grievance challenging the draft. The union hopes to convince an arbitrator that Drew should be a free agent.

Both Parent and Dykstra said that if Drew does sign with the Phillies, they would both expect him to offer an explanation for his actions.

“I think he’s starting to find out that whatever his reasons are, it just doesn’t look good,” Dykstra said.

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New York Yankee relief pitcher Mike Stanton was day-to-day after re-injuring his lower back Sunday. The left-hander already missed four days after irritating back muscles Feb. 14 during fielding drills.

“It’s not as bad as it was the first time, but he did it in the same manner,” Yankee Manager Joe Torre said.

Another reliever, Graeme Lloyd, recovering from double hernia surgery in December, has been hampered by a hip injury. Although Lloyd has been working out, he hasn’t thrown from the mound since Feb. 17.

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Third baseman Joe Randa and outfielder Trey Beamon signed one-year contracts with the Detroit Tigers.

Randa was traded from Arizona to the Tigers in November, the same day he had been selected in the expansion draft. Randa hit .302 with seven home runs and 60 RBIs for the Pirates in 1997.

Beamon was acquired by Detroit from San Diego in November. He split 1997 between triple-A and San Diego, batting .277 in 43 games with the Padres.

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Outfielder Sammy Sosa arrived at the Chicago Cubs’ training camp in Mesa, Ariz., and predicted a reversal this season.

“I think this year it’s not going to be 0-14 like it used to be,” Sosa said, referring to last year’s record-setting losing streak to start the season. “People probably are going to play a different way, and we’ll see what happens.”

Sosa, who starts a $42.5-million, four-year contract, hit .251 with 36 home runs and 119 RBIs last year.

“It was a bad year for me last year with all that happened,” Sosa said. “If we play as a family, we can win a lot of games.”