Flash will try to pitch through torn labrum

LOS ANGELES - Flash Gordon knows his injured right shoulder might never allow him to regain the form that made him an All-Star last season.

But he's going to avoid surgery if possible and keep trying to pitch around his injury - possibly, he said, past the length of his contract with the Phillies, which runs through next season.

In last night's 15-3 victory over the Dodgers, Gordon returned to the mound for the first time since going on the disabled list May 2. He pitched a scoreless ninth, allowing a single, then retiring three hitters in a row. He threw 13 pitches, 11 of them fastballs, eight at 91 mph, two at 92.

Earlier yesterday, Gordon revealed that he has been pitching with a partially torn labrum in his right shoulder since last season, when he went on the disabled list for 3 weeks Aug. 13.

The Phillies last year said he went on the DL with a strained right shoulder. This year, when he went on the DL until Sunday, they said he had right rotator-cuff inflammation.

Gordon tried to pitch with the injury after the break last year and for the final month of last season. He tried to pitch through it this spring, and early in the season.

Since just before the break last year, Gordon is 2-3 with 21 saves in 25 chances with a 5.21 earned run average. He said he has not felt sound since late June of last year.

He is nowhere near being as effective as he was when the Phillies signed him to a 3-year, $18 million contract before the 2006 season.

"I'm still feeling myself. It's taken me a lot longer than I expected," Gordon, 39, said before the game. "I think it's going to take a lot of time. I still have some areas I'm still concerned about."

There appears to be no solid evidence that Gordon had the tear when he signed the deal.

"How long this has been there for me, I absolutely don't know, to be honest with you," Gordon said. "I started to feel a little bit of the effects in late '05, but not as much."

Assistant general manager Ruben Amaro, the Phillies' medical spokesman, refused to specify if Gordon had the tear when he signed.

"When our doctors were shown his exam, it was typical of most pitchers who have had this type of continual work," Amaro said.

Gordon said he has seen Los Angeles specialist Dr. Lewis Yocum twice about the shoulder, most recently early last month. Gordon said Yocum believes that aggressive maintenance of the joint could buy Gordon years, as it has for other pitchers.

"Other guys have had slight tears - and most pitchers do have that - they've been able to go out there a couple of years after that," Gordon said. For example, "He said Pedro Martinez pitched with it for almost 6 years."

Martinez, 4 years younger than Gordon, underwent surgery in October to repair a torn right labrum. That significant difference in age could mean a different decision for Gordon, who is reluctant to consider surgery.

"Right now, I'm not thinking about retirement," Gordon said. "If I can bounce back from this, and I can hold up the remainder of this year, then we'll see where we are. If I can get through this year and next year, and everything goes well, I don't know. I hope I don't have to go through that."

However, should the Phillies surge into the playoffs and wind up playing in late October, Gordon might walk away.

"If everything goes the way I'd like for it to go this year, and we're in the World Series, then that would be something I'd really think about," Gordon said. "But I don't see myself backing away from the game unless I get an opportunity to get in the World Series."

Further damage to the labrum could make his preferences moot.

"If it happens where I have to have surgery, then it'll be a decision I have to make: Whether to have it, or to retire," Gordon said. "Right now, I don't think I want to do either."

He wants to continue with the prescribed stretching and strengthening program he has followed since last year. He has yet to become comfortable with the loosening effects of the yoga-like routine. Gordon is used to being tight and in control, so he cannot yet gauge how effective he can be with the new regimen.

"If I can get through this little bit of a roller-coaster ride, we might not be talking about retirement. We might be talking about pitching another 3 or 4 years," Gordon said.

Said Amaro: "We're confident we can manage this this year and, hopefully, the next year.''

Confident and hopeful, but not sure: "We don't have any idea,'' Amaro said. "That's like looking into a crystal ball. Any time you have a pitcher who has pitched as long as he has, there's always a risk."

Former Phillies All-Star catcher Mike Lieberthal was playing catch with Dodgers teammate Ramon Martinez on the leftfield line at Dodger Stadium during batting practice yesterday when Martinez paused and stared at the DodgerVision video tower in leftfield. Soon, the entire outfield of Dodgers stopped to gawk. Chase Utley and Cole Hamels, lounging in the Phillies' dugout, looked on, too.

Former Phillies All-Star catcher Mike Lieberthal was playing catch with Dodgers teammate Ramon Martinez on the leftfield line at Dodger Stadium during batting practice yesterday when Martinez paused and stared at the DodgerVision video tower in leftfield. Soon, the entire outfield of Dodgers stopped to gawk. Chase Utley and Cole Hamels, lounging in the Phillies' dugout, looked on, too.

For 15 minutes, they were treated to a video montage of the greatest moments of Lieberthal's 13 seasons as a Phillie, all set to music. When Lieberthal hit one of his 150 homers as a Phillie, they clapped. When he gunned down a runner, they clapped.

Lieberthal mostly blushed.

It was the second straight celebration of a rare Lieberthal start; he had started just nine games as Russell Martin's backup.

"The last time, they sent flowers and balloons," said Lieberthal.

The last time, the culprit was Luis Gonzalez. This time, Randy Wolf seemed the likely prankster.

"I was blamed for it right away, but honestly, it wasn't me," Wolf said. "It was perfect timing, though."

Brett Myers threw a simulated game yesterday in Clearwater, Fla., and felt fine, according to the Phillies. Myers will begin a rehab assignment with Class A Clearwater on Friday. He has been on the 15-day DL since May 24 with a strained right shoulder muscle. He was the team's closer when he was injured. *

Brett Myers threw a simulated game yesterday in Clearwater, Fla., and felt fine, according to the Phillies. Myers will begin a rehab assignment with Class A Clearwater on Friday. He has been on the 15-day DL since May 24 with a strained right shoulder muscle. He was the team's closer when he was injured. *