NEW YORK - Tom Glavine's pitching shoulder is being examined for a possible blood clot, and the New York Mets left-hander could miss the rest of the season.
Glavine felt coldness in his left ring finger after his start Wednesday in Philadelphia. Depending on tests, the 40-year-old pitcher could return to the mound next weekend or require surgery. The Mets don't expect to receive test results until midweek.
“You get scared. You start wondering about the rest of your career, if there's going to be one,” the two-time Cy Young Award winner said Sunday. “I had a wonderful career, and I've stayed healthy for the most part. I've envisioned my retirement, but I never envisioned it through an injury. So from that standpoint, it's uneasy.
“It's strange, too, because I sit here and I feel fine,” he added. “Everything feels great. I don't have any pain anywhere or anything like that. It's just I have this something going on inside my shoulder that needs to be looked at.”
Glavine is 12-6 with a 3.92 ERA for the NL East-leading Mets and his 287 victories rank third among active pitchers behind Roger Clemens (345) and Greg Maddux (329). New York already is without Pedro Martinez, on the 15-day disabled list after straining his right calf Monday.
Glavine's left middle finger and index finger were diagnosed in 1990 with Raynaud's, a condition caused by poor circulation that leads to numbness and coldness.
“We just thought it was an extension of that, and then when they got further into the tests,” he said. “I guess they picked something up when they did the ultrasound.”
This was the first time his ring finger was bothered, and it still felt cold Sunday.
“The possibilities go from doing an angiogram and seeing that this is just an isolated incident - I don't have a problem, that I could be pitching by the weekend - to I have to have surgery and I could be done for the year,” he said. “I'm hoping for the best but certainly am prepared and understand what the worst is.”
Mets general manager Omar Minaya and manager Willie Randolph were optimistic Glavine would not be sidelined long.
“We believe that Tommy hopefully will be OK,” Minaya said before the Mets played Colorado.
Glavine's injury was first reported by the Daily News on Sunday. He said the injury was not life-threatening.
“When you start hearing blood clots and aneurysms and stuff like that, you start thinking heart attacks or strokes and stuff. It's not the same thing,” he said. “Believe me, I've asked that question to every doctor I've talked to.”
With Glavine and Martinez sidelined, John Maine, Steve Trachsel and Dave Williams will start against St. Louis in a series beginning Tuesday. Orlando Hernandez also is in the rotation, Brian Bannister or Oliver Perez could be brought up from Triple-A Norfolk and Mike Pelfrey is recovering from a strained back muscle.
“You almost expect this kind of stuff. I've been through it many, many times, and you learn to react on the fly and keep your wits about you,” Randolph said. “It's always a challenge in a lot of ways to get through these kind of things.”
“You get scared. You start wondering about the rest of your career, if there's going to be one,” the two-time Cy Young Award winner said Sunday. “I had a wonderful career, and I've stayed healthy for the most part. I've envisioned my retirement, but I never envisioned it through an injury. So from that standpoint, it's uneasy.
“It's strange, too, because I sit here and I feel fine,” he added. “Everything feels great. I don't have any pain anywhere or anything like that. It's just I have this something going on inside my shoulder that needs to be looked at.”
Glavine is 12-6 with a 3.92 ERA for the NL East-leading Mets and his 287 victories rank third among active pitchers behind Roger Clemens (345) and Greg Maddux (329). New York already is without Pedro Martinez, on the 15-day disabled list after straining his right calf Monday.
Glavine's left middle finger and index finger were diagnosed in 1990 with Raynaud's, a condition caused by poor circulation that leads to numbness and coldness.
“We just thought it was an extension of that, and then when they got further into the tests,” he said. “I guess they picked something up when they did the ultrasound.”
This was the first time his ring finger was bothered, and it still felt cold Sunday.
“The possibilities go from doing an angiogram and seeing that this is just an isolated incident - I don't have a problem, that I could be pitching by the weekend - to I have to have surgery and I could be done for the year,” he said. “I'm hoping for the best but certainly am prepared and understand what the worst is.”
Mets general manager Omar Minaya and manager Willie Randolph were optimistic Glavine would not be sidelined long.
“We believe that Tommy hopefully will be OK,” Minaya said before the Mets played Colorado.
Glavine's injury was first reported by the Daily News on Sunday. He said the injury was not life-threatening.
“When you start hearing blood clots and aneurysms and stuff like that, you start thinking heart attacks or strokes and stuff. It's not the same thing,” he said. “Believe me, I've asked that question to every doctor I've talked to.”
With Glavine and Martinez sidelined, John Maine, Steve Trachsel and Dave Williams will start against St. Louis in a series beginning Tuesday. Orlando Hernandez also is in the rotation, Brian Bannister or Oliver Perez could be brought up from Triple-A Norfolk and Mike Pelfrey is recovering from a strained back muscle.
“You almost expect this kind of stuff. I've been through it many, many times, and you learn to react on the fly and keep your wits about you,” Randolph said. “It's always a challenge in a lot of ways to get through these kind of things.”
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