Barry Bonds might not resume his pursuit of Hank Aaron's home run record this season.
Joe Borowski broke his arm and will miss at least six weeks for the Chicago Cubs.
Bonds returned to the San Francisco Giants' spring training camp at Scottsdale, Arizona, on Tuesday after having a second knee operation and said he was physically and mentally "done," and blamed the media for at least part of his troubles.
PHOTO: AP
"I'm tired of my kids crying. You wanted me to jump off a bridge, I finally did," Bonds said. "You finally brought me and my family down. ... So now go pick a different person."
Bonds said he was tired and disappointed following a winter in which he was accused of steroid use, his grand jury testimony was leaked and he had two knee operations.
Leaning his head on a crutch and repeatedly saying he was tired, Bonds spoke after a 1 1/2-hour session with Giants trainer Stan Conte.
"Right now I'm just going to try to rehab myself to get back to, I don't know, hopefully next season, hopefully the middle of the season," Bonds said. "I don't know. Right now I'm just going to take things slow."
After Bonds' first operation this winter, Conte had said Bonds was expected to be sidelined for six weeks. All the trainer would say after the second surgery was that Bonds was unlikely to be ready for the season opener.
School of hard knocks
In Mesa, Arizona, Cubs closer Joe Borowski was hit by a line drive in a game Monday. His loss is another blow to Chicago's pitching staff already depleted by injuries to Kerry Wood and Mark Prior.
Borowski is wearing a splint and will begin a throwing program when the healing process is complete, approximately six weeks.
Borowski was attempting to come back from a partially torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder this spring. The injury ended his season in June last year.
"I've worked so hard to get back, and I'm just going to take this as another bump in the road," Borowski said. "Fortunately, all the doctors say it should heal without any problems. That's good news."
The news was even better for starters Andy Pettitte and Odalis Perez, and closer Mariano Rivera.
At Kissimmee, Florida, Pettitte allowed two runs and four hits in his first start of the spring, leading the Houston Astros over the Washington Nationals 8-2.
"I felt like my breaking stuff was decent, and mechanically I felt good," Pettitte said. "I felt like my velocity was better than the other day, and that's a good thing. I don't feel like [the Nationals] really got a good swing off me. They got a few hits, but I really felt good about the way the ball was moving."
Pettitte is trying to rebound from an injury-plagued 2004 season that was cut short by elbow surgery in August. He threw 60 pitches, striking out three and walking one. Pettitte pitched two scoreless innings Thursday in a "B" game against Cleveland.
Houston manager Phil Garner is pleased with Pettitte's progress and said the left-hander and is on track to make his first regular-season start April 6.
"I thought he threw with good velocity, but more importantly, he threw the ball down and he had good location," Garner said. "He used his breaking ball. After a tough first inning, he settled down and got a couple of more innings in."
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