Posted at 1:29 p.m., Thursday, August 16, 2007
Baseball: Nationals' Johnson won't play at all in 2007
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The Washington Nationals have been waiting all year for first baseman Nick Johnson's broken right leg to heal. Now they'll have to wait until next year.General manager Jim Bowden said today that Johnson will have another surgery on the leg and will not play in 2007.
"We just couldn't quite get over the hump with his hip," Bowden said. "He couldn't quite get to the ground ball to his left. His hitting has come along great. There was no question in our mind that he made tremendous progress offensively. But it just wasn't allowing him to be Nick Johnson. You've got to have the hip in baseball."
Johnson broke his right femur in a collision with right fielder Austin Kearns during a game against the New York Mets on Sept. 23, 2006.
