Back Surgery

SARASOTA, Fla. -- They didn't know it at the time, but the Orioles had help from one of their rival camps while they were trying to sign Chris Sabo.It came from Paul O'Neill, a former teammate of Sabo's with the Cincinnati Reds who now plays for the New York Yankees. The two talked often during the off-season, and even though Sabo said he didn't need much encouragement to come to Baltimore, he got some unsolicited advice from O'Neill."Paul is probably my best friend in baseball," said Sabo, who reported to camp yesterday, three days ahead of schedule.

Colene Daniel's education began with hope, determinationWhile other corporate executives talk a good game about coming up the hard way, few could match the odds Colene Daniel faced.A vice president at Johns Hopkins Hospital currently oversees a $32 million budget and 700 employees. But 30 years ago, she was an 8-year-old sent to live at the Colored Orphanage of Cincinnati. Ms. Daniel spent four years at the orphanage, then three years in various foster homes before running away and striking out on her own.At 15, she was living in a basement apartment and working odd jobs to support herself.

A Maryland defensive unit that was a disappointment in 1992 lost one of its top players this week, as the career of senior nose guard Jim Panagos was declared over after back surgery.Panagos underwent surgery Monday to repair a bulging disk in his lower back, an injury that occurred in early June. He also had back surgery in 1989, his redshirt season, to repair a herniated disk, and team doctors have advised him not to play football.Since it was my second operation, I was told it's best that I not play anymore," Panagos said from his family's home on Long Island.

To cover the incision from Dale Borgman's recent bac surgery, his doctor needed only a Band-Aid. That's because the incision consisted of a single needle puncture.Yet that needle -- as skinny as a plastic coffee-stirrer -- contained a miniature laser and fiber optic lens that made it possible for Sacramento orthopedic surgeon Paul Lim to operate on the ruptured disk that had plagued Mr. Borgman for several months. The procedure was done in a half hour.Dr. Lim and other doctors believe the laser surgery, which has been used on a small scale around the country, may revolutionize back surgery, allowing those who suffer from debilitating back and leg pain to be cured relatively easily.

Toronto -- The love affair between Dave Winfield and this city's baseball fans didn't begin a few months ago. It didn't start with Winfield's first hit or his first home run as a Toronto Blue Jay.It began nearly a decade ago, when Winfield played with the New York Yankees. And it all came to pass because of a dead bird."It's funny how everything worked out," Winfield recalled Sunday.How else can you explain a relationship that began when Winfield's practice throw accidentally killed a sea gull before a Blue Jays-Yankees game in 1983?

LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Darryl Strawberry, never afraid to admit how much he feared a back operation, has persuaded doctors to postpone surgery while he attempts a September comeback.That's September 1992.It's been a little more than two weeks since the team announced an operation would be necessary for Strawberry, who is suffering from a herniated disk.But 16 days after that diagnosis, Dr. Robert Watkins said yesterday that there is little evidence of the back problem that has plagued Strawberry's season.

NEW ORLEANS -- Joe Montana vows to return to the San Francisco 49ers next year, unless his elbow does not totally heal from surgery.However, if he is forced into a substitute's role, Montana said before the 49ers' loss to the Saints on Sunday, he would consider finishing his career with another team.During his first lengthy interview since elbow surgery last month, Montana described the severe pains of his injury and of not having the chance to return this season.Montana said he hoped to test his throwing arm as early as January and his golf swing by entering the AT&T Crosby afterward.

Phoenix Suns swingman Dan Majerle is suffering numbness and strength loss in his right leg after back surgery, and doctors say it might be a year before it is known whether the problems are permanent.Majerle, the runner-up for the National Basketball Association's Sixth Man Award this season, first experienced the symptoms during an April 4 game against the Los Angeles Lakers. He missed the next five games but was bothered by the condition throughout Phoenix's first-round playoff loss to the Utah Jazz.

PHILADELPHIA -- When he was 11, maybe 12 years old, Mark Howe heard a sound that he has not heard since. His famous hockey-playing father had just scored a goal for the Detroit Red Wings, a goal that at the time made him the greatest scorer in National Hockey League history.Young Howe screamed his lungs out along with the rest of the crowd. But the noise was so deafening he could not hear his own cheers. The crowd stopped cheering after 20 wild minutes, but Mark Howe can hear the noise to this day.He has done things on the ice himself to get the crowd to his feet, but never like his father did. Still, he won't stop trying.

Last season, Dulaney's Albert Smith was a 6-foot-2 scoring machine who baffled defenders with his quick moves to the basket.But during the summer, Smith underwent surgery to remove a rib, forcing the two-sport star to miss the Lions' football season. Some doubted his ability to regain his basketball form after the long period of inactivity.Now Smith is back. He still can blow by defenders to the basket, he's worked to improve his jump shot, and he's grown two inches.After recovering from the June operation, the junior small forward leads the area with a 34.0 scoring average for the Lions (1-2)