Phillies Say Thome Can Hit Again

Jim Thome was so eager to take batting practice he couldn’t even wait until his return to spring training.

The Philadelphia Phillie first baseman was cleared to start hitting Monday, less than three weeks after breaking the tip of his right middle finger. He was examined by a hand specialist in Philadelphia on Monday morning, and hoped to take swings off a batting tee in Port St. Lucie, Fla., on Monday night.

Thome injured his throwing hand during fielding drills on March 5. He initially was concerned he might need pins inserted into the finger, which would have sidelined him up to two months.

Thome will wear a special splint on his finger for two weeks and his activity will be limited. He could return to the Phillie lineup later this week, and expects to play in the season opener against Pittsburgh on April 5.

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Juan Pierre will sit out only a few days of workouts because of a dislocated right pinkie finger.

Pierre was examined by team hand specialist Dr. Brian Fingado and the Florida Marlins said their center fielder would miss no more than five days of workouts. If tests had revealed ligament damage or a more serious injury, Pierre could have been sidelined for six weeks or more.

“I should be good to go for opening day,” Pierre said.

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Microsoft Corp. will be taking computer users out to the ballgame in a deal with Major League Baseball’s online arm. Under an agreement between Microsoft’s MSN online division and Major League Baseball Advanced Media, Microsoft will promote MLB.com products and offer exclusive free baseball content on MSN.com. It also will give users of its paid MSN services access to live online baseball games, said Lisa Gurry, director of MSN. Gurry declined to comment on the financial terms of the multiyear deal.

Bob Bowman, chief executive of MLB.com, said the deal was part of efforts to make baseball more broadly available over the Internet.

The content available through MSN will be shown in Microsoft’s Windows Media format. But both companies said the deal does not limit MLB.com from showing games on its website in another format.

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Mariano Rivera and the New York Yankees closed in on a two-year contract extension through 2006 that would be worth about $21 million. The deal would be worth about $10.5 million annually in 2005 and 2006. New York would have an option for 2007 at approximately $10.5 million.

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The Texas Rangers signed left-hander Nick Bierbrodt to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training. Bierbrodt was released by Boston earlier this spring. In 34 major league games, he is 5-8 with a 6.77 earned-run average.