Williams’ Father Dies Before Son Arrives

Bernabe Figueroa, father of New York Yankee slugger Bernie Williams, died about an hour before his son was able to reach his bedside in Puerto Rico. He was 73.

Figueroa, who had been ailing for months, died in Hospital San Pablo in Bayamon, a San Juan suburb, late Sunday night, said a cousin, Teresa Altrust.

Williams arrived at the hospital from New York about an hour after his father died, said Jedan Figueroa, a nephew of Figueroa.

“Bernie wasn’t able to see him alive,” the nephew said.

Williams left the team after the Yankees’ 10-5, 11-inning loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday after learning his father had a heart attack.

Williams missed 10 games last month because he returned to Puerto Rico to be with his father, who had pulmonary fibrosis. Figueroa had recently returned to the intensive care unit.

Williams, usually a slow starter, has struggled this season, hitting .221 with three home runs and 14 runs batted in.

The Yankees open a six-game trip tonight at Oakland.

Catcher Mike Lieberthal of the Philadelphia Phillies will be sidelined the rest of the season because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

Lieberthal, who suffered the injury when he was picked off first base by Brian Anderson of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the second inning of Saturday night’s game, also tore the medial collateral ligament and lateral meniscus.

Team physician Michael Ciccotti said he recommended reconstructive knee surgery after Lieberthal had an MRI on Monday. Lieberthal would be sidelined for six to eight months.

“He was very appropriately upset about the whole thing,” Ciccotti said, adding that Lieberthal probably will have a second opinion.

Lieberthal, an all-star last season, was batting .231 with two homers and 11 RBIs. He had 15 homers and 71 RBIs in 108 games last year. His best season was 1999, when he batted .300 with 31 homers and 96 RBIs.

Johnny Estrada, who was hitting .290 at triple-A Scranton with 16 RBIs and only six strikeouts in 131 at-bats, will replace Lieberthal as the Phillies’ everyday catcher.

The San Francisco Giants beat the New York Mets, so the Mets beat the dugout.

Now the Giants are billing the Mets $4,000 for the damage.

The Giants won, 3-2, in extra innings Friday night against the Mets, beginning a three-game weekend sweep at San Francisco. Closer Armando Benitez, who gave up the game-winning hit Friday, reportedly took out his rage on the visitors’ facilities.

Damage was discovered on the dugout roof, bat rack, clubhouse heating panel, a phone line, two doors, a bathroom stall and a paper-towel dispenser.

“It’s out of the ordinary, but it’s not unprecedented,” said Bob Rose, the Giants’ vice president of communications. “It happened a couple of times at Candlestick as well.”

Rose said it was the first time since moving into Pacific Bell Park last season that the Giants have had to bill an opposing team for damage.

An invoice detailing the dents and dings is to be sent to the Mets in the next few days, Rose said.