NOTEBOOK \ From Jacobs Field

Good news: Coco Crisp grabbed his right thumb, twisted it slightly and smiled like a man who had just avoided surgery. Luckily, he had. "I went from one extreme to the next, and the next was a good one," the Indians outfielder said. "I went from being out from three months to a few weeks." Crisp, who severely sprained his thumb while sliding into third base last week, does not need an operation as the Indians had feared. Instead, he could return to Cleveland's lineup in two weeks. "It's fantastic news," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "To go from possibly missing two to three months to maybe being back in two to three weeks, it's great to hear. We're pleasantly surprised." While sliding into third base in a May 17 game against the Los Angeles Angels, Crisp jammed his thumb into the infield dirt as he overslid the bag while trying to stretch a double. An MRI taken the next day revealed that Crisp had sustained a high-grade sprain and was expected to be out for at least 90 days. However, on Monday, Crisp visited Dr. Thomas Graham, a Baltimore hand specialist, who examined the thumb and determined that it was stable enough that the speedy Crisp would not need surgery. "It's great news," Crisp said. "Great news. Hopefully I can play in two weeks. It's like a Christmas present." Crisp will wear a splint on his thumb for the next 3-to-5 days and will begin a light program of baseball activities on Friday. Indians trainer Lonnie Soloff said he was shocked when he learned that Crisp would be back so soon. "It just shows that you can't just go by film," he said. Soloff credited Crisp's bone structure for minimizing the severity of the injury. Crisp, who played for six innings after getting hurt despite being in extreme pain, was asked what he did to make sure he had such strong bones. Did he drink a lot of milk when he was a kid? "Yep," he said. "I had my Coco Crispies and drank my milk right after." Crisp is batting .283 with three homers and 11 RBIs and has scored a team-high 24 runs. Wedge said that Crisp could start an injury rehab assignment in the minor leagues in a couple of weeks. "We'll know more in a couple of days, but by the middle of June he could possibly be sent out and start playing. He's been a very solid player for us and hopefully he'll get back and pick up where he left off."
Boone break: With third baseman Aaron Boone continuing to struggle at the plate, Indians manager Eric Wedge gave him the night off and started Jose Hernandez. Boone is batting just .159 and entered Tuesday night in a 1-for-11 slide. In his past 16 games, Boone is batting .217. "Boonie's played a lot of games in a row and we want to give him a day," said Wedge. "We also want to get Jose in there. It has been a long stretch where he hasn't played much and we want to try and keep him sharp." Before playing on Tuesday, Hernandez had played in only six games in May, hitting .200 (4-for-20).
He's no. 1: Wedge thinks Grady Sizemore still could be the solution to the Indians' troublesome leadoff spot. In 10 games batting first, Sizemore is hitting .244 (10-for-41) with five runs and five RBIs. Sizemore is one of five players Wedge has used at the top of the order. "I'd like to see Grady stay up there because he's brought energy to the top of the lineup," said Wedge. "He's got intangibles, most of all he goes about his business the right way. The thing I like best about him is he plays with no fear."
Associated Press