DiMaggio Surprises Doctors With Dramatic Improvement

Joe DiMaggio made a dramatic turnaround from a serious lung infection just after doctors told his family and friends to prepare for the worst.

“We called the family because, frankly, we thought we were getting down to the last road,” Dr. Earl Barron said Tuesday in an interview with the Associated Press. “Today, there’s a little more hope.”

DiMaggio, recovering from lung cancer surgery, fought off a 102-degree fever, pneumonia in his good lung and an intestinal infection that developed during the weekend.

His condition was so grim at that time that doctors gathered DiMaggio’s family, including his brother, Dom, and even discussed signing a “do not resuscitate” (DNR) form for the 84-year-old Hall of Famer.

“They asked me to sign a DNR form [Monday],” said Morris Engelberg, DiMaggio’s attorney and family friend. “It was circled in red. I was emotional. I told them they had the wrong guy. I refused. I said, ‘Let’s play it out.’ ”

The former New York Yankee center fielder has shown a remarkable ability to fight back from several serious setbacks since the cancerous tumor was removed from his right lung on Oct. 14.

“He’s going to be here a lot longer,” Barron said.

But he also cautioned: “Don’t walk out of here and say ‘Joe DiMaggio’s in great shape.’ Everything is relative. You and I are in good shape. He’s hanging in there.”

His improvement began after doctors inserted a tube into DiMaggio’s trachea Monday to suction the infected material.

“He perked up immediately,” Barron said.

Barron denied a broadcast report that DiMaggio had lapsed into a coma.

“His level of consciousness has been down because he was sedated. But he is not in a coma. He is up and moving and opening his eyes,” he said.

DiMaggio entered Memorial Regional Hospital Oct. 12, with Barron heading a team of six doctors treating him.

Since his surgery, he has suffered recurring pneumonia in his left lung. Besides treatment with three antibiotics, he also has had fluid drained from his lungs several times. His blood pressure dropped so rapidly on Nov. 16 that a Catholic priest was summoned to administer last rites.

The past weekend was particularly frightening.

“I thought he was near death,” Engelberg said. “We’re playing this day by day. Today is good. Tomorrow, who knows?”

Even if DiMaggio is eventually discharged from the hospital, he will never have the same quality of life, Engelberg said.

“Machines are keeping him alive. He’s been in the ICU for 58 days. He’s got every hookup known to man. He’s being fed through tubes,” Engelberg said. “If he recovers, he won’t be the same. He’ll never have the quality of life he did.”

Barron refused to speculate on whether DiMaggio would ever leave the hospital. “He could go sour in five minutes and he could walk out of the hospital six weeks from now, I would certainly not want to predict,” he said.

Doctors anticipate other problems and must treat any complications as they occur, Barron said.

“They’ve done a sensational job with him, I don’t think he could have gotten better care,” Barron said. “The proof of it is when he walks out of the hospital, God willing.”

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Another day of trade talks didn’t appear to bring the Toronto Blue Jays closer to a deal for Roger Clemens.

“We’ve gone through this first wave and gotten ourselves into the serious contenders,” Blue Jay General Manager Gord Ash said Tuesday. “Now it’s follow-ups.”

The New York Yankees, Houston Astros and Texas Rangers are the top contenders to get the five-time Cy Young Award winner, who last week demanded a trade. Cleveland also is in the mix, with the two others teams believed to be in the National League.

New York Met General Manager Steve Phillips said Tuesday he had made an offer but didn’t know if Toronto considered him among the final six. Atlanta is thought to have dropped out.

“I haven’t gotten the offers finalized,” said Ash, who hopes to complete a trade before the winter meetings start this weekend. “We have parts of offers. They’re almost in every case two-thirds of the way done, but they’re not all they way done. In other words, we’ve got A and B but not C.”

Texas General Manager Doug Melvin went to Toronto and met with Ash for about 90 minutes.

“I just felt it was better to sit down face to face. At least you know one way or another whether your going to have a chance or not,” Melvin said. “You can do things better face to face than over the phone.”

Ash said a deal such as this takes time because of Clemens’ contract. He has salaries of $5 million next year and $6.35 million in 2000, and Toronto owes $5 million in deferred money from the first two seasons of the deal, which currently guarantees a minimum of $31.5 million over four years.

Toronto wants potential suitors to pick up as much of the contract as possible.

“Obviously on a deal of this nature, there are a lot of issues surrounding it that have to be dealt with,” Ash said. “This is a contract that is very complicated in terms of its structure and we’re making sure the clubs understand what they’re taking on.”

Once Toronto has a package of players it like, Clemens would have to negotiate a new contract with that team. He has the power to block just about any deal.

“I haven’t gotten to that step in the process yet,” Ash said. “I want to first get to the point where we’re talking about the best players we can. Then we’ll face the next step.”

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Sean Berry, an infielder who batted .314 for Houston last season, agreed to a two-year contract with the Milwaukee Brewers.

“Sean will help us to fill our need for a right-handed bat in our lineup,” General Manager Sal Bando said. “He also has the experience of being with a winner and being a part of postseason play which is where we strive to be.”

Berry, 32, had 13 homers and 52 runs batted in for the Astros thus year, when he appeared in 102 games and split time at third base with Bill Spiers.

Berry, who played for Kansas City and Montreal before going to Houston in 1996, has a .281 career average.

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One day after he was refused salary arbitration by the Chicago Cubs, right-hander Mark Clark agreed to terms on a two-year contract with the Rangers.

Financial terms were not disclosed but the deal includes a club option for 2001. Clark’s $5.05-million salary last season ranked second on the Cubs.