New York Mets pitcher David Cone allegedly lured two women into the bullpen area of Shea Stadium in 1989 and masturbated in front of them, a lawsuit filed yesterday said.
The suit, filed in state Supreme Court in Rockland County, N.Y., is an amendment to a suit filed by three Rockland women last year accusing Cone of harassment and slander.
The women were identified in the suit as Phyllis DeLucia of West Nyack, Debra Hittelman of Spring Valley and Joan Twohie of Wesley Hills, all 28.
The suit also alleged that later in the 1989 season Cone went to a hotel where two of the women were staying and jumped into bed with them.
Cone could not be reached for comment at spring training in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
The suit seeks $8.1 million from Cone and the Mets, whom they allege were negligent in security during the harassment incident.
* GIANTS: A day after the infant daughter of one of their pitchers was injured by a foul ball, the Giants said that the screen behind home plate at their spring training stadium in Scottsdale, Ariz., soon would be raised by 9 feet.
The safety of the new $7 million Scottsdale Stadium, called into ++ question last week after Angels pitcher Matt Keough was nearly killed by a foul ball, was criticized again Wednesday night after 8-month-old Emily Jo Hickerson was hurt.
The baby suffered a bruised cheek after Matt Williams of the Giants tipped a ball back into the stands. Jo Hickerson, wife of Giants pitcher Bryan Hickerson, tried to shield the infant, but the force of the ball drove her hand into her daughter's face. Paramedics checked the baby, and determined she had a bruise. Jo Hickerson's hand also was bruised.
* PIRATES: Barry Bonds gave Pittsburgh a scare Wednesday. He gave them a surprise yesterday.
Bonds, expected to be out for several days with an abrasion to the cornea of his right eye, was back in the lineup as the designated hitter last night against the White Sox.
Bonds was struck in the eye by a foul ball off the bat of teammate Jay Bell about 90 minutes before Wednesday's Twins-Pirates game. He lay motionless for about 30 seconds and was bleeding from the nose when he was taken to a nearby eye clinic. Pirates trainer Kent Biggerstaff initially had expected Bonds to be sidelined for two to three days.
* DODGERS: Though many in the Los Angeles clubhouse have been grumbling about needing another right-handed veteran hitter in the lineup, club president Peter O'Malley voiced his support for vice president Fred Claire's refusal to makes moves that would limit the opportunities for younger players.
"We have done everything possible to put together a group of talented players," O'Malley said. "I am not going to tamper and say that we will not do anything else, but I know we have done everything possible for this team."
"There has to be a place for young players with the veterans," O'Malley said. "Yes, our flow of talent [from the minors] has resumed . . . and Tommy [Lasorda, manager] has shown more enthusiasm for that young talent."