Braves’ Glavine Too Sick to Pitch Opener

Brave Manager Bobby Cox can remember left-hander Tom Glavine pitching with a sore shoulder, a sore elbow, two broken ribs, two bad knees, a bad ankle, an infected toe, “and he never missed a start that I can remember,” Cox said.

He missed one Saturday night. A big one. Glavine experienced such severe flulike symptoms that he informed Cox on Friday night that he couldn’t pitch in Game 1, which Glavine watched from home Saturday night.

Glavine didn’t dial 911. He went one better, calling Greg Maddux, Atlanta’s four-time Cy Young Award winner, Friday night--before he talked to Cox--to inform Maddux he would have to pitch Saturday night.

“It’s unfortunate, but you know, things like this do happen,” Cox said. “He’s really sick, dehydrated, vomiting. They got some fluids in him, I guess. I think he’ll be able to pitch the first game in New York [Game 3 Tuesday]. We’ll give that one a go.”

Cox shuffled his World Series rotation, moving Game 3 starter Kevin Millwood to Game 2 tonight. No Brave pitcher will start on short rest, so Cox didn’t feel the Braves would be put at any disadvantage by Glavine’s absence.

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Yankee utility infielder Luis Sojo, who traveled to Venezuela on Saturday to make his father’s funeral arrangements, assured Manager Joe Torre he would be back in New York by Tuesday, so Torre put him on his World Series roster.

That means the Yankees will be one man short for the first two games of the series, and that Torre will not be able to remove struggling second baseman Chuck Knoblauch for defensive purposes in late innings until Game 3.

The Yankees petitioned the commissioner’s office to add a player to replace Sojo for the first two games, but the request was denied.