Garciaparra Still Unable to Throw

Boston Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra said Friday that he has had “sharp pain” in his arm and has been unable to throw a baseball for the past nine days.

Garciaparra, runner-up in the AL MVP race last year, injured a tendon in his right biceps last Thursday against Toronto. He has been limited to designated hitter duty since then with what the Red Sox called tendinitis in his arm.

Garciaparra was “encouraged” by a light catch he had at a workout Friday, according to team spokesman Kevin Shea.

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The Cubs’ Sosa says he will no longer bow to the crowd after home runs. He touched off a minor storm Wednesday when he hit two homers against Arizona Diamondback pitcher Todd Stottlemyre, who claimed Sosa was showing him up.

“I’m going to stop it, but not because I’m scared or because he [Stottlemyre] wants me to do it,” Sosa said. “Nobody can stop me. I’m a grown man. I wasn’t trying to show up anybody.”

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St. Louis Cardinal right-hander Matt Morris has a sprained elbow on his throwing arm, and team officials aren’t sure if he’ll be ready for the start of the season. . . . New York Met outfielder Bobby Bonilla will sit out at least 10-14 days because of an injured right knee. Bonilla underwent an MRI on Friday, which showed a partial tear in the posterior cruciate ligament.

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When nature calls, sometimes it just can’t wait.

At least, that was Cub pitcher Kerry Wood’s defense when two Scottsdale police officers caught him and a friend urinating against a parking lot wall on Feb. 13.

“I can’t stop now. I have to finish,” Wood told the police officers, who caught him at approximately 1:10 a.m. behind a strip of businesses and night clubs. Officer Brian Brown said Wood’s demeanor was “cooperative.”

Kevin Walker, a minor league pitcher with the San Diego Padres, was also caught in the act.

Wood tore a ligament in his right elbow Saturday and won’t be able to play this season for the Cubs. He paid a $90 fine.

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Montreal’s Olympic Stadium received a clean bill of health for the Expos’ season-opener on April 8. The roof of the structure had to be repaired after it was damaged during a January snowstorm.