Dierker Released From Hospital

Smiling and joking, Houston Astro Manager Larry Dierker put a baseball cap on his shaved head and left the hospital Wednesday, eight days after brain surgery.

Dierker, 52, hopes to return to the Astros after the All-Star game break on July 15.

Dierker had a seizure and collapsed in the dugout at the Astrodome on June 13. Two days later, he underwent 5 1/2 hours of surgery at Methodist Hospital in Houston to remove tangled blood vessels.

“This is a wonderful hospital. It’s like staying at the Ritz Carlton, or being on a cruise ship,” Dierker said. “The only problem is, you can’t get off. I like to get around and it’s nice to open the curtains and see the sun and say, ‘I’m getting out.’ ”

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St. Louis Cardinal utility player Shawon Dunston pulled a rib cage muscle sliding into second base on Tuesday and is expected to be sidelined six to eight weeks. . . . Cardinal third baseman Fernando Tatis left the team indefinitely to return to the Dominican Republic because of a family illness. . . . The Philadelphia Phillies put shortstop Desi Relaford on the 15-day disabled list because of a torn ligament in his right wrist.