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Orioles: One of four young men accused of stealing a monument to Baltimore great Cal Ripken has pleaded guilty to theft.
Baltimore prosecutors say Jason Stoneburner, 19, of Essex, received a two-year suspended jail term yesterday and was ordered to pay restitution to the Orioles. If he completes all the terms of his sentence, the conviction could be turned into probation before judgment, effectively wiping it off his record.
Three other defendants have chosen jury trials, which are scheduled to begin on Friday.
Police say that the men ripped the 3½-foot aluminum No. 8 from its base outside Camden Yards on Sept. 9, then threw it into the back of a pickup truck. They were arrested about two hours later.
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Dodgers: Pitcher Vicente Padilla is recovering from a bullet wound in his leg after a target-shooting instructor accidentally shot him.
Dr. Eduardo Reguera said that Padilla, who signed with the Dodgers in August, didn't need surgery after spending time at Managua, Nicaragua's Metropolitan Hospital.
Police spokesman Vilma Reyes said yesterday that Padilla's pistol apparently jammed during a target-shooting session late Tuesday.
Padilla handed the pistol to a shooting instructor, a former police captain, who didn't realize that there was a bullet in the chamber and shot himself in his hand, Padilla's legal adviser Roberto Calderon told The Associated Press. The bullet also grazed Padilla's leg.
The account contradicts Padilla's agent, Adam Katz, who told The Los Angeles Times that it was a "hunting accident."
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Tigers: All-Star third baseman Brandon Inge had the patellar tendon in both knees repaired Tuesday, an operation that the team said addressed chronic patellar tendinitis that plagued Inge last season.
Inge, 32, is expected to be ready for the start of spring training in February. He hit .230 with 27 home runs and 84 RBIs in 161 games this season.
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Cubs: Left-hander Ted Lilly, who's been one of the team's most consistent starters the past three seasons, had surgery on his left shoulder and no timetable has been set for his return.
The Cubs said that the arthroscopy and debridement procedure performed Tuesday by Dr. Lewis Yocum in Los Angeles revealed no major damage to Lilly's shoulder. Yocum performed a washout and clean-up of the shoulder during the one-hour surgery.
Lilly, who was 12-9 with a 3.10 ERA in 27 starts this season, said he was told initially he might not be able to start throwing for four months, depending on how well his rehab progresses.
"That could change one way or the other. My intention is to try to get back as fast as I can without setting myself back," Lilly said yesterday during a conference call.
The Cubs are hoping he can join the rotation sometime in April.
Lilly, who signed a four-year $40 million deal with the Cubs on Dec. 12, 2006, was 15-8 in 2007 and 17-9 a year ago.
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