Parrish can shed his cast; Palmer to visit Fifth Third
6/30/2007The news yesterday was good for Mud Hens manager Larry Parrish.
Parrish met with Dr. Christopher Zingas before last night's game, and the doctor approved the removal of the walking cast the Hens skipper has been wearing on his left ankle.
Parrish had surgery on the ankle April 4 and wore a permanent cast until about a month ago, when Dr. Zingas approved a walking cast instead. Parrish still faces rehab on the ankle and calf, which atrophied while the casts were on, before he can return to active duty.
"I'll be working on range of motion, and on getting my left calf back," Parrish said. "I'll do what I can tolerate."
The rehab began yesterday for Parrish, who spent time working with weights and on a step machine. Parrish said there is no scheduled date for him to return to his duties as Mud Hens manager.
"In August I'll go see the doctor again, and by them I should be doing everything I normally do," Parrish said. "I'm not going to be able to run the 100 in 10-flat. But then again, I couldn't do that before the surgery, either."
PALMER TO VISIT: Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer will visit Fifth Third Field on Thursday, July 12, as part of his tour of minor-league ballparks promoting cholesterol education.
Palmer, a three-time Cy Young Award winner who won 268 games in a 20-year career with Baltimore, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch and also sign autographs at the 7 p.m. game.
THE MAGIC MARK: With last night's sellout crowd of 10,300 the Mud Hens' season attendance total rose to 311,828 in 41 dates. That total already ranks as the 10th-best single-season attendance in the history of professional baseball in Toledo.
Last night marked the 16th sellout for the Hens this season and the 156th full house in Fifth Third Field history.
What's more, those six seasons with attendance greater than 300,000 at Fifth Third Field are equal to the number of 300,000 attendance seasons in 37 years at Skeldon Stadium, and four greater than the number of 300,000 attendance seasons in 46 years at Swayne Field.
THREE-DOT DATA: The four-game series against the Lynx drew 37,228 fans to Fifth Third Field. Ottawa has hosted just 50,088 fans in 36 dates in its home park, Lynx Stadium. The team will move to Allentown, Pa., next season. The Hens' four-hit effort meant four hit streaks came to an end. Ramon Santiago extended his current hitting streak to 15 games with a single in the third, but Kevin Hooper and Ryan Raburn each had a 10-game hit streak stopped while Jack Hannahan and Mike Hessman each saw an eight-game hit streak end. Hooper allowed a ground ball to go through his legs in the second inning for an error, Toledo's first in seven games. With Brennan King's home run off Hens starter Virgil Vasquez last night, Vasquez now has allowed 16 home runs. He is tied with Charlotte's Heath Phillips for most allowed in the International League this year.