Frank Gore Breaks Hand; Spirit Fortunately OK

Well that didn’t take long, did it?

In the first padded practice of training camp, budding superstar RB somehow broke his right hand during a non-contact ball-handling drill:

… Coach Mike Nolan said he would not practice with the team for the remainder of the week. Gore will be re-evaluated next Monday, and Nolan expects him to return to practice then with a cast on his hand.

“He’ll be ready for the latter part of preseason, but his participating in the preseason, we’ll wait and see on that,” Nolan said.

Gore has a long history with injuries already (he’s had surgeries on both knees and both shoulders; heavens Frankie), but the bigger problem may be his propensity for putting the ball on the ground. He already fumbled six times last year, and this latest injury can’t be good in that department.

This can’t be a good omen for the trendy darkhorse pick to win the NL West. Is this a fluke accident that will be forgotten by opening day or the first indications that heavy expectations may weigh the Niners down?

Gore breaks bone in right hand, may miss preseason [ESPN]

Giants Roundup: And The Winning Streak Starts … Now.

• Hey, lookee who won a close game! [SFGate]
• Bruce Bochy has been letting Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum throw an awful lot of innings. Can someone say Mark Prior/Kerry Wood? Cue the uncomfortable smile and nervous laugh. [SI]
• Russ Ortiz and the disabled list are starting to become good friends; yesterday, the veteran righty was placed on the 15-day DL. Someone needs to drink more milk. The good news is that Jonathan Sanchez is back. We heart him. What? [ESPN]
• Hank Aaron would rather not relinquish his record. [ESPN]
• The San Jose Mercury’s Tim Kawakami will cut Brian Sabean. He ain’t even bullshittin’. [SJ Merc]
• Speaking of straight shooters, Mama Bonds told her controversy-saddled son: “The Giants are losing because of the way you’re playing and you know it. So snap out of it … Nobody told you to be great, but you are. That’s your responsibility. So play like you are [great].” Ten bucks says Barry goes yard tonight. [The FanHouse]
• That Mets clubhouse steroid deal is beginning to feel the pressure to name names; he already agreed to cooperate with the Mitchell investigation. For what it’s worth, Bonds has no connection to this scandal at this point. [NY Daily News]
• There’s an RBI Baseball tournament in Ohio. We really enjoyed RBI Baseball. Vince Coleman was so fast. [Deadspin]
• Barry Zito will get a shot a redemption when he faces the A’s and Dan Haren on Saturday. We’re fairly certain that our man BZ will lead the Gigantes to a glorious victory. Don’t blow it Zito. [SFGate]

A’s Roundup: Yeah, There’s Another Team In The Bay, Allegedly

Apologies for the lack of A’s coverage lately …

• While the Giants sort through their own closer issues, the A’s are making a solid case that their situation is much worse. Last night, the A’s blew their second save in as many nights as Kiki Calero couldn’t close the door against the Kansas City Royals. [SJ Merc]
• Good news though: there’s no bad news after Huston Street’s initial MRI exam. [SJ Merc]
• You know your team is plagued by injuries when it’s a crushing blow that Chris Snelling had to be put on the disabled list. Snelling’s is the 10th DL stint this year for the A’s, including just about every outfielder on the team not named Shannon Stewart. [ESPN]
• New Jersey kid Jack Cust has hit seven homeruns in his first 35 at-bats. So hot right now. Jack Cust. [NY Daily News]
• What’s this? Dave Stewart is an Indians fan all of a sudden? [Sports Action]
• When Barry Zito returns to the Coliseum on Friday night, what type of reaction will he gets from the Oakland faithful? [The Drumbeat]
• And there’s tons of other A’s injury news: rehab starts gone wrong, sore right hips, yada yada yada. [Official Site]

Shocking News Of The Day: David Wells Has Diabetes

Now, we aren’t one to make fun of potentially fatal diseases, but don’t worry. San Diego Padres pitcher David Wells announced that he has Type 2 diabetes (Type 1 is the “bad one” … we hear). Now, if you’re surprised that a 350-pound man with a fondness for smoking cigars and drinking before pitching (he pitched a perfect game hungover) might develop diabetes, then you may also be surprised to hear that there was a war protest in San Francisco and there were car bombs in Iraq. Wells said that there should be “no problem” if he follows the rules. It’s just so hard to lay off that gin and tonic during the seventh inning stretch.

Padres’ Wells has diabetes but vows to ‘beat it’ [ESPN]

March Madness Update: Collison Hurt Again

UCLA All-Pac 10 point guard and catalyst Darren Collison sprained his ankle in practice yesterday. He’s listed as probable for Thursday’s game. Tomorrow should be a cakewalk for the Bruins, but you can bet that Collison–who missed the West Virginia game earlier this year, with disastrous results–will be back on Saturday’s game against Gonzaga/Indiana. Nonetheless, this is not good news for Bruins fans. And plenty of people just decided to take Kansas instead.

UCLA Report [LA Times]