NL DIVISION SERIES: METS v DIAMONDBACKS

October 8, 1999

Fred Hina

Mike Piazza

FRED HINA: I will explain that. As we all know Mike has an inflammatory response to the cortisone injection that he received yesterday morning. In response to the inflammation the proper thing to do is to immobilize the joint, not to continue to stress it. That is the reason for the splint. He is taking oral medication, an anti-inflammatory and lots of ice treatments.

MIKE PIAZZA: Well, pardon me. I am a little slow I guess from the medicine. I am a little bit groggy, but we are just taking it I guess now hour by hour. I am going to keep on treating it throughout the game tonight. From what I understand from what Fred has told me, from what the doctors told me. The anti-inflamatories and just the ice should make the swelling go down significantly this evening and then tomorrow morning I will just evaluate it from there. I think from what the doctors also said, in the next 24 hours it should be improved dramatically.

MIKE PIAZZA: No, I really couldn't do anything today at all. All I is when I woke up this morning I was incapacitated. I couldn't do anything. Got here as early as possible and started treating it with Fred and again it is quite painful. It was pretty swollen up and it was very sensitive and it is feeling better in the last couple of hours since we have been icing it periodically, so again, it is just see how it feels throughout this evening and hopefully it will feel better improved tomorrow.

MIKE PIAZZA: Obviously I am just going to see how it does feel later on through the evening and tomorrow morning. I am going to do everything possible. We are doing everything possible to get back on the diamond. That is where I want to be. But obviously it is a pretty critical area when you are catching and hitting, so, I mean, there is not much you can do if it is swollen up and extremely stiff and very painful right now. It is obviously very disappointing right now, but hopefully it will feel better very quickly.

MIKE PIAZZA: It is -- you know, what can you say? I am very, very disappointed right now. Actually I was very worried as well because of the pain and the doctor was talking about having it looked at for possible infection so I was you know, just didn't sit well. I actually got a little you know, sick starting to think about it. But like I said, from what they said, from what Fred said, it should be feeling better this evening and so again, I mean like I said, you can't -- you can't feel anything, I can't grip a bat or put my glove on. It is very disappointing. But I have the most confidence in this ballclub and they have obviously -- it is not just because I like to think I am a big reason why I am here but I am not the only reason why we are here so I just hope and I know these guys are going -- they are going to be okay.

MIKE PIAZZA: We are trying to be optimistic.

MIKE PIAZZA: Again I can only say once we do ice it a few more times and get the splint off and if it does loosen up, then you know, maybe we can tape it up or do something like that, but I think in the next couple of hours it is going to be a real sort of sign or see what does -- how it does improve and if the swelling does continue to go down.

MIKE PIAZZA: Come to Fred about two weeks ago I had some slight discomfort in my thumb, just from catching and then hitting and I felt it gripped on the bat. I just really didn't feel like I was -- didn't have, you know, 100%. It was enough to hit and it was a little bit of pain. It wasn't to the point of where it was disabling. But then it got markedly -- it did, what is the word -- it did progress into some more pain. That is when I approached Fred last night about getting an X-ray this morning just to look at it or, excuse me, yesterday morning and then when the doctor saw there was no chips or no, you know, immediate look of something wrong on the X-ray, then that is when he gave me the injection. I guess obviously the injection was what really made it blow up.

FRED HINA: No, actually it is very rare. Unfortunately it is very rare. But typically what you see with cortisone injections is the downside risk is an inflammatory response to the injection itself. It is very rare. I can't give you a percentage. Obviously a doctor could better -- but it is a very rare occurrence. Obviously it happened in this time. Typically you see it like the first 24 hours after the injection is the worst time. He had this yesterday morning. It was overnight it was getting worse. This morning it was probably its worst time than it has been since the injection. The good news is that typically in 48 to 72 hours the turnaround is pretty good. So we are doing everything we can medically to stop the response. That is the reason for the splint to immobilize the joint. The oral medication for the inflammation and hopefully this will turn around real quick and he will be fine tomorrow.

MIKE PIAZZA: Kind of lost count, actually. I have had a few. So really I was the last person and we were the last people to think that this sort of reaction could happen. But I am sort of sensing when they do injection they put a certain amount of like Novocaine or some sort of numbing substance as well, and when that wore off I knew there was something pretty wrong. It was extremely painful and very swollen and very stiff. Like I said, any other part of the body besides your hands, it is just -- and it is cold and it is just one of those things that you can't -- extremely frustrating. Like I said, I just hope it is feeling better and I am sure the way we are treating it, it should be improved very quickly.

MIKE PIAZZA: I believe there is not really a week goes by where there is some little small little nagging injury that you have just from the position itself. I had talked to Fred about, less than two weeks ago, that there was a strain in my thumb and it was pretty sore. But it was something that I was managing and I was playing with and we were just doing some minor treatment and just using over-the-counter medication, things like that. But I think coping with the cold day in Cincinnati, catching Al and then the night before catching Kenny; catching Armando who throws, just it -- it was really taking a pounding. That is when I thought the day off yesterday, I thought I should just get a precautionary X-ray and get a shot, so it takes some pain away.

MIKE PIAZZA: I didn't feel like I had 100% of the strength in my left hand hitting-wise and I felt like I just wasn't -- I mean, it wasn't anything like I haven't had in the past, but it is just one of those things that you can just feel when you are getting the bat through the zone it just didn't -- I wasn't able to control the bat as well as I would have liked to.

MIKE PIAZZA: Fred.

FRED HINA: The diagnosis is he has a sprain to the DIP (phonetic) joint of his left thumb. Since the injection he has and inflamed left thumb.

FRED HINA: Yes, "P." He has an inflammation of that joint.

MIKE PIAZZA: Well, that is hypothetical. That is tough to say. I am sure the -- I mean, I am sure it would have been a lot more possible than without it. But as Fred said, it is almost impossible to predict sort of a reaction like this. My best case scenarios would have been feeling significantly better this morning with no swelling, but obviously that is not the case, so -- it is tough to say. I am sure without it would have probably treated it or taped it or done something else, but I guess everyone thought that that would improve it. And obviously it didn't.

MIKE PIAZZA: Well, I mean, obviously I am going to be optimistic and like to think that it is going to go down significantly and I will be able to get in there as soon as possible. Again, I don't know how it is going to feel tomorrow or even later on tonight. I am just going to -- I am going to take it kind of hour-by-hour. I hope it is feeling better. I am sure it will be. I am confident and it if it is not 100% I am going to do everything possible to either splint it up or tape it up and give it support and get in there.

MIKE PIAZZA: That is obviously a hypothetical. I mean, we will just see what happens. Hopefully we will win and maybe it can buy me a few more hours or whatever is needed. So who knows. I mean, again, if you can't -- you know, if it is stiff, I can't move it, I can't catch, can't hit. That is obviously the most important thing. So even if I am in there, it is not like I am going to -- if it is extremely painful, I am not going to be able to do much with it anyway. I want to make sure that it is feeling better and make sure I am able to contribute and make sure I can do something.

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