Dreifort Unlikely for Most of 2002

Dodger starter Darren Dreifort is expected to miss most of the 2002 season after undergoing reconstructive elbow surgery for the second time in six years Tuesday.

Team physicians Frank Jobe and Ralph Gambardella performed the 1 1/2-hour procedure at Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood, repairing a 90% tear of the right-hander’s medial collateral ligament in his pitching elbow and reattaching a muscle.

A tendon from Dreifort’s left forearm was used to repair the torn ligament in his first surgery, so Jobe and Gambardella removed a tendon from his pitching forearm for this reconstruction.

“It took a little bit longer than we usually do on a virgin elbow,” Jobe said. “You have to be real careful that you don’t involve the nerve or get into trouble, so you go a little slower.”

The doctors said Dreifort, who missed the 1995 season after the first surgery, could resume pitching in about a year.

“Everything went smoothly, considering that this was a revision,” Gambardella said. “We expect him to come back and throw with us again, and I agree the recovery should be in the year time frame.”

However, Manager Jim Tracy recently acknowledged that Dreifort--in the first year of a five-year, $55-million contract--might be sidelined longer because the club plans to proceed “very” cautiously.

And Jobe, who pioneered the procedure on former Dodger pitcher Tommy John in 1974, conceded that Dreifort is in uncharted waters, having had the surgery twice.

Dreifort had a 4-7 record with a 5.13 earned-run average this season. The seven-year veteran is 43-52 overall, with a 4.38 ERA and 10 saves.