Maybe Dale Sveum should’ve worn a batting helmet with protective ear flaps when he went hunting with Hall of Famer Robin Yount.
Sveum, the manager of the Chicago Cubs, said Tuesday at the winter meetings that he was accidentally hit in the ear with shrapnel while hunting with Yount.
Sveum and Yount are close friends and former teammates and coaching colleagues with the Milwaukee Brewers.
The two were hunting quail in Arizona when Yount bagged a bird, but also hit Sveum.
“The bird was in front of him and I was about 50 yards up on a hill,” Sveum said. “He got the bird up and lost track of where I was. He pulled the trigger and was like, ‘Uh, oh.’ ”
Sveum was hit in the back of the right ear by the spray pattern.
“I got drilled with pellets in the back and then one stuck in the ear,” he said.
Sveum said there was plenty of blood, but he wasn’t worried.
“You don’t get hit very often,” Sveum said. “It’s not that big a deal.”
Sveum said he didn’t receive stitches but did refer to Yount as former vice president Dick Cheney, who famously shot a friend while hunting.
Sveum played 10 games for the Tacoma Tigers in 1993 and 10 for the Seattle Mariners in 1994.
THAT WAS A SHORT STAY
Yunel Escobar’s stint with the Miami Marlins lasted all of two weeks.
The payroll-slashing Marlins dealt the shortstop and his $5 million salary across Florida to the Tampa Bay Rays for minor league infielder Derek Dietrich.
Escobar’s departure lowers the Marlins’ projected opening-day payroll to a major league-low $38 million, which includes $4.5 million owed Toronto next year, $1.5 million due to Arizona in 2013 as part of the Heath Bell trade and $1 million for a prorated share of Bell’s signing bonus.
Acquired in the 12-player trade that sent Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Josh Johnson to Toronto on Nov. 19, Escobar batted .253 last season with nine homers and 51 RBI.
LASORDA SPEAKS OUT
Former Dodgers Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda said Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa should not be elected to the Hall of Fame.
“To me, they don’t belong in there,” Lasorda told the San Francisco Chronicle. “They cheated. That’s the way it is. If my brother did that, I’d say the same thing about my brother. I mean, I know those guys. They’re good friends of mine. But by golly, they didn’t do it the right way.
“I tell you, it’s a shame,” added Lasorda, following up with a question without referring to Bonds by name: “How in the hell could a guy hit 73 home runs? I mean, Babe Ruth couldn’t do it.”
SHORT HOPS
The Red Sox agreed to terms on a three-year, $39 million contract with outfielder Shane Victorino, a two-time All-Star. “Can’t wait to get to Boston!” Victorino tweeted during a day of snorkeling in Hawaii. ... The Nationals are finalizing a one-year, $13 million deal with right-hander Dan Haren, a three-time All-Star. ... In the first trade of the meetings, Colorado got reliever Wilton Lopez and a player to be named from Houston for young right-handers Alex White and Alex Gillingham. ... The World Series champion San Francisco Giants kept National League Championship Series MVP Marco Scutaro, giving the second baseman a $20 million, three-year contract. ... Arizona reached a one-year deal with utility man Eric Hinske. ... Paul Hagen, who has spent nearly 40 years covering baseball for newspapers and MLB.com, won the J.G. Taylor Spink Award for “meritorious contributions to baseball writing.”
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