BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : Canseco Might Miss Rest of Year

The Boston Red Sox hope to find out today how long Jose Canseco will be out of the lineup with his aching back.

Canseco was quoted in today’s Boston Globe as saying he thinks he will be out for the rest of the season.

“I’m 95% sure my season is over,” the Red Sox designated hitter said.

Canseco and Kevin Mitchell were scratched from the lineup shortly before Friday night’s 5-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins. Canseco hurt his back during batting practice and was to undergo an MRI exam today.

“I’m surprised I’ve been able to play this long with a ruptured disc. It happened in spring training and I tried to keep it quiet, but it got out. I figured it was just a matter of time before it got worse. I thought I could play out the rest of the season,” Canseco said.

He said he was experiencing “excruciating pain” in his leg.

Canseco, who was on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right hip flexor muscle earlier this year, has been bothered by a herniated disc all season, Red Sox Manager Kevin Kennedy said.

“He said he could play through it if it didn’t get worse,” Kennedy said. “Obviously, it got worse.”

Mitchell slightly sprained the middle finger on his left hand during Thursday night’s game. He was listed as day-to-day.

The Red Sox did get Mo Vaughn back Friday after a one-game absence with a sore left knee. Vaughn, whose 95 RBIs are second-most in the majors, moved from first base to designated hitter as Kennedy juggled his lineup. He was one for four with a double and an RBI.

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A monument to Mickey Mantle is being added to the area at Yankee Stadium known as Monument Park.

The monument will be unveiled and dedicated during a ceremony Aug. 25 prior to the Yankees’ game against the Oakland Athletics.

The Mantle monument will be the fourth in the area behind the left field fence, placed alongside granite and bronze memorials to Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Miller Huggins, a former Yankees manager.

Mantle, a Hall of Fame center fielder, died last Aug. 13.

Joe DiMaggio, Mantle’s predecessor in center field, will participate in the dedication ceremony, along with Mantle’s sons, David, Danny and Mickey Jr.