Who can blame Chuck Finley's Anaheim teammates if they're a bit leery of getting too close to him? Wander over to say hello and take a chance of being run over by a train or hit by a falling safe.

This guy's luck is so bad, it's frightening. For Finley, it has been excruciating.

He managed to get through Thursday's start against the Yankees without ending up in a hospital, which was a victory in itself. The occasion should have been marked by some sort of on-field ceremony. Still, he couldn't catch a break where results count, getting a no-decision despite pitching eight shutout innings in New York's 3-0, 10-inning win.

Finley's superb performance, which included nine strikeouts, came six nights after he was struck just above the left elbow by a line drive from Kansas City's Jeff King, the latest in a bizarre series of mishaps.

Less than a week before getting hit by King, Finley was nailed on the right forearm by a liner from former Oriole Joe Carter while sitting in the Angels' dugout. Three days before that, he had to leave his July 15 start in the fifth inning when he lacerated his knee while sliding across the base path on an attempted tag, requiring eight stitches to close the wound.

Off to a 4-0 start with a 1.70 ERA, he was seeking his 15th straight victory dating back to last season on May 2 when he suffered a bruised left elbow after being hit by a liner from Chicago's Chad Kreuter. Instead, he went 0-2 over his next five starts while continuing to wear a bull's eye.

Finley's latest start was pushed back only one day. Though his elbow was wrapped and slightly swollen, he had almost full flexibility while playing catch earlier in the week.

"I thought that was it. I thought my elbow had shattered," said Finley, whose hard-luck saga dates to last season when he was hit by a flying bat during batting practice and broke a facial bone and fractured his left wrist backing up home plate. "My hand was numb. It was so deep. It's like laying your arm down on a table and telling somebody to hit you with a sledgehammer. I was thinking, 'God's telling you something. Just tell everybody goodbye.' "

The Angels, battling Texas for the AL West crown, could say that about their season if they lost Finley, whose 2.96 ERA is accompanied by 154 strikeouts.

Percival's dizzy spells

The Angels got their closer back. Now, they're looking for answers.

What caused Troy Percival's repeated dizzy spells, which led him to get a brain MRI and an arteriogram last weekend? The tests showed no irregularities, which brought doctors to two conclusions: allergies, or Percival's intake of nicotine and caffeine.

"My mom is allergic to cigarette and cigar ashes and I had a couple of cigars before we went on the road, so it's possible that had something to do with it," he said. "Or it could've been some kind of food allergy."

Percival was taken to a hospital shortly after arriving at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. He had complained of dizziness twice on July 23, before and after recording his 29th save in Minnesota.

Doctors are concerned about Percival's heavy coffee consumption and his smokeless tobacco use.

"I had already cut them both in half," said Percival, who was cleared to pitch on Monday after throwing in the bullpen and contributed one shutout inning to Thursday's loss. "I was down from 10 cups of coffee a day to about four, down from two cans of dip to one and stopped chewing two or three times a day. I'm not going to dip or chew at all anymore, and I'm going to cut way back on the coffee. I might be a little grouchy, but I'll be playing."

Percival's wife, Michelle, is pregnant with the couple's first child, prompting the reliever to get checked out.

Waiting for Bonilla

Los Angeles third baseman Bobby Bonilla was eligible to come off the disabled list Thursday, but it's possible the former Oriole won't play again this season. Just don't try to sell that idea to club officials.

Bonilla reportedly is upset that the Dodgers keep asking about the condition of his surgically repaired left wrist that put him on the DL July 17.

"Ideally, they would let me go home, set up a rehab place and let me get better," said Bonilla, acquired from Florida in the blockbuster Mike Piazza deal. "That would be best for both parties. That's not what I want to do, but what can I do?"

Bonilla, 35, was scheduled to have the wrist examined Friday in New York. He took batting practice two days before but cut it short after complaining of pain above the wrist.

"They knew this was going to be a problem when they traded for me," he said. "Recovery time is one year. Believe me, I want to be out there, but I can't. Maybe the doctor will say give it one more try. But I'm not going to be the bad guy in here."

Dodgers general manager Tom Lasorda said he was surprised by Bonilla's comments.

"He looked great out there. How are we supposed to know how he's doing unless we ask him? We thought he was getting better. He was great in BP. He didn't tell us anything was wrong," Lasorda said.

Bonilla also is hobbled by a tender left Achilles' tendon that required surgery last winter. He went on the DL earlier this season with an intestinal obstruction.

Since there are no guarantees Lasorda will return next season -- his title is interim GM -- it's understandable that he doesn't want to wait on Bonilla and further lessen the Dodgers' chances of rallying for the wild card.

"The way I'm feeling, I can't help anyone right now," Bonilla said.

As Orioles fans learned, it wouldn't be a complete season for Bonilla without some sort of controversy swirling above him. At least he's not being asked to DH.

Cone a bonus for Yankees

Yankees manager Joe Torre says he has to keep reminding himself that the club didn't expect to have the services of pitcher David Cone until June because of October shoulder surgery.

Cone is making it difficult for anyone in pinstripes to remember.

At 35 and considered a major health risk this spring, Cone is having his best year since winning the Cy Young Award with a 16-5 record for the Royals in the strike-shortened 1994 season.

"The most impressive thing is that he's been able to keep his pitch count down and still give us innings," Torre said.

On Tuesday, Cone assumed the major-league lead in victories with 15 by holding Anaheim to one earned run over seven innings, lowering his ERA to 3.33. At one point last week, his ERA would have been 2.51 if the 16 runs he allowed in his first two starts were subtracted.

"I'm a little different pitcher now," said Cone, who has had two major shoulder operations in the past two years. "I'm trying to be more creative and less predictable. I've never had more fun changing angles and looks. I'm more innovative and more aggressive now."

There isn't a part of Cone's body that doesn't ache the day after he pitches, including his toes, which are pounded as his foot drags through the close of his delivery. Sometimes, he opts for a rubdown or a swim to alleviate the various discomforts.

"Some days, I wake up and think I can keep going for a few more years. And then reality slaps me in the face," he said. "I'm just trying to get through this year healthy, and then re-evaluate."

D. Martinez stuck on 243

Another former Oriole, Dennis Martinez, has been stuck on 243 career victories since June 2, one shy of breaking Juan Marichal's record for wins by a Latin American pitcher. Martinez would feel better about his chances if he were being given the ball every fifth day, as he was through most of his 20-plus seasons in the majors until signing with the Atlanta Braves this winter and settling in the bullpen.

"Last year in Seattle, I had the opportunity to start nine games, but I wasn't healthy," he said. "This year I'm healthy and I come to a team that doesn't need another starting pitcher. Maybe it's not meant to be."

His growing frustration has him considering the benefits of moving to another team.

"I would like a chance to start," said Martinez, who cracked the Braves' rotation early in the season while John Smoltz was injured. "I don't want to finish out my career in the bullpen. That's my regret this year. I haven't had a chance to start. But there's not a thing I can do with the best staff in baseball."

Inside-the-park mania

How often does this happen? Boston hit inside-the-park homers in consecutive games, one by Nomar Garciaparra Sunday in Fenway Park, and the other by Darren Lewis Tuesday in Oakland.

Garciaparra's ball curled around the right-field corner. Lewis' was lost in the lights by rookie outfielder Ben Grieve. Originally scored an error, it was changed to a three-run homer after the game.

Boston's victory Tuesday also included Mo Vaughn's first triple since May 12, 1996.

One the strangest inside-the-park homers ever hit occurred last weekend, courtesy of Pittsburgh outfielder Turner Ward and some wicked hops.

Ward chopped a pitch from the Braves' Martinez off the dirt in front of home plate. It bounced twice toward the middle of the infield, then deflected off the glove of diving second baseman Tony Graffanino into left-center field. The ball got past center fielder Andruw Jones and rolled to the wall. While Jones nonchalantly tracked it down, Ward circled the bases for the Pirates' first pinch-hit, inside-the-park homer since Adam Comorosky on July 16, 1931.

It was the Pirates' third inside-the-parker this year, and it took a lot out of Ward, who stumbled down the stretch. "I didn't run out of gas or I never would have made it, but I was running on fumes," he said. "It felt like an 18-wheeler was on my back toward the end."

Pub Date: 8/02/98