Elbow

Elbow with Devotchka Where: Greek Theatre, 2700 N. Vermont Ave. When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday Price: $29-$40 Info: http://www.greektheatrela.com

Eleven months and one unusual surgery later, it's the return of Josh Beckett. Barring something unexpected, Beckett will make his season debut Wednesday night against the Detroit Tigers. No small order -- he is essentially replacing Clayton Kershaw in the rotation. “He looks like the guy,” said Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly. Beckett has seen his comeback from summer surgery to remove a rib that was pressuring a nerve and causing finger numbness pushed back by a pair of recent injuries.

Tiger Woods won't be on hand to defend his title at the AT&T National next week, but he plans on being ready in July to continue his quest for his first major championship since 2008. The world's No. 1-ranked golfer announced on his website Wednesday that he will not compete in the National, which benefits his foundation, at Congressional Country Club due to a left elbow strain doctors found after his return from last weekend's U.S. Open. "I have been advised to take a few weeks off, rest and undergo treatment," Woods said on his website.

While the Dodgers were preparing to open a two-game series against the Detroit Tigers, Brian Wilson was at a minor league game. Wilson is fine with that. The Dodgers' bearded $10-million setup man is looking ahead. “I was signed for multiple reasons. For clubhouse, leadership, certain advice to certain pitchers, but most of all I was signed so I could play in October,” he said. “That's what this team was built for. That's the whole reason they signed me last year. It's the exact reason why they signed me this year.

DENVER--As if George Karl needed another reason to loathe the Lakers. The self-styled Lakers hater watched video of Metta World Peace smacking Denver Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried in the mouth Monday and came away with a fairly straightforward review: two thumbs down. “I saw it on film and I thought it was - whatever the word is - premeditated,” Karl said Friday about a play toward the end of the third quarter in which no foul was called. The NBA seemed to agree, retroactively assessing World Peace a flagrant 2 foul on Thursday.

Wrong place, wrong time. With three days to think things over and see plenty of replays, Lakers forward Metta World Peace viewed his elblow on Oklahoma City guard James Harden as nothing more than cosmic forces suddenly creating chaos. "It was bad timing for me and then, physically, it was bad timing for Mr. Harden," World Peace said Wednesday at the Lakers' practice facility in El Segundo. "Who can write up a left-hand dunk and then all of the sudden somebody is right behind you?

PHOENIX - Zack Greinke is scheduled to play catch Friday, four days after he returned to Los Angeles to get his sore right elbow examined by Dr. Neal ElAttrache. Greinke won't throw a bullpen session until next week. With only two weeks remaining in spring training, Manager Don Mattingly said he didn't think it would be possible for Greinke to pitch in more than two exhibition games before the start of the regular season. Greinke has pitched in only two games this spring and appears to be a longshot to be able to face the San Francisco Giants on April 2. Because the Dodgers have two days off in the first eight days of the regular season, they won't need a fifth starter until April 13. They could therefore place Greinke on the disabled list without making any alterations to their rotation.

Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly was watching videotape of his closer, Jonathan Broxton , on Wednesday morning, seeking clues to Broxton's inability to throw strikes the night before, when team trainer Stan Conte walked into the room. "You don't need to look at tape anymore," Mattingly said Conte told him. The reason: After repeatedly insisting he felt fine in recent days, Broxton had acknowledged a sore elbow on his right pitching arm. A couple of hours later, there was more bad news for the Dodgers.

Hong-Chih Kuo is scheduled to undergo his fifth elbow operation Friday, but his agent said he intends to pitch next season — even if it's not for the Dodgers. "There's no thought of retirement," Alan Chang said. "He's fully committed and highly motivated to do what it takes. " In the final month of the regular season, Kuo sounded uncertain about his plans for 2012, telling The Times he wanted to pitch but telling mlb.com he might want to run a restaurant in his native Taiwan instead.

St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Rafael Furcal will have major surgery on his right elbow next week. The team did not say in its statement how long the three-time All-Star will be out. Dr. James Andrews, the noted orthopedist, examined Furcal on Wednesday and will perform Tommy John surgery. The 35-year-old Furcal has been sidelined since reinjuring the elbow he hurt late last season. Furcal and the team had tried rehabilitation rather than reconstructive surgery in the off-season.

HOUSTON - The news on Angels reliever Sean Burnett was not bad, but it didn't sound real encouraging, either. The left-hander threw another simulated inning in Arizona on Saturday but seems to have hit a bit of a plateau in his return from elbow surgery. “He got through it and he felt OK afterward, but he needs a little bit of work,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “And he needs to do it in a controlled environment.” Translation: Burnett, who would be an integral part of the bullpen if he was healthy, will not be starting a minor league rehabilitation assignment any time soon.

Chad Billingsley will pitch Sunday for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga, the first of his five scheduled starts on a minor-league rehabilitation assignment. Billingsley, who is recovering from Tommy John elbow surgery, last pitched in the major leagues on April 15 of last year. Standing in the Dodgers clubhouse Friday before the team's home opener, Billingsley said, “It felt like a year since I'd last been at the stadium. You almost forget how beautiful the stadium is.” When the Dodgers departed spring training for their season-opening series in Australia, Billingsley remained in Arizona.

Some girls choose soccer or cheerleading. Ivy Wolk chose roller derby. "This is it, this is for me," the petite, wide-eyed 9-year-old said to her mom the first time she saw the Los Angeles Derby Dolls hit the track, and one another, two years ago. Split lips, black eyes, rink rash and bruises are trophies here. "It's not child abuse, it's derby," she once told her mother, who made sure she alerted her daughter's pediatrician about the girl's newfound love for the sport. "There have literally been days where I have been like, 'I must be crazy.' But she just picks herself up and gets back out there," said her mother, Tracy Wolk.

TEMPE, Ariz. - There was some encouraging news regarding two key Angels relievers on Saturday. Right-hander Dane De La Rosa threw his first bullpen session since suffering a forearm strain on March 6, and left-hander Sean Burnett said the discomfort that forced him to be shut down during Friday's bullpen session was minor and unrelated to the elbow surgery that ended his season last August. “I had a little reaction from an injection I had a week ago,” said Burnett, who was limited by elbow problems to 13 appearances last season.

As if it wasn't bad enough that Zach Greinke's comments about only a few Dodgers being giddy over opening the season in Sydney had turned most of Australia into Diamondbacks fans, now the rest of the world might be pulling for them in the two-game series. It's hard not to feel sorry for the Diamondbacks after it was learned Sunday their No. 1 starting pitcher, Patrick Corbin, was scratched from the trip with a sore elbow and could be headed for Tommy John surgery. Corbin was scheduled to start the opener against the Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw on Saturday, but now Arizona will go with Wade Miley.

Blake Griffin sat in his chair in the Clippers interview room after their victory over the Phoenix Suns on Monday night with his lips pursed and jaw tight. Griffin was still ticked about the takedown by Suns forward P.J. Tucker in the fourth quarter that left the two of them wrestling to get free of each other while down on the Staples Center court. It was yet another game in which an opponent had taken a shot at Griffin, but he maintained his composure instead of fighting back.

Chad Billlingsley's sore elbow flared up again Friday. Billingsley left the game against the Marlins with one out in the fourth inning, with what the Dodgers termed a tender elbow. He had previously been on the 15-day disabled list with a sore elbow. Since returning July 23, he had won six consecutive starts before Friday. Aggravating the elbow a second time has to be of greater concern to the Dodgers. It could be a good thing they included right-hander Josh Beckett in that proposed blockbuster deal with the Red Sox for first baseman Adrian Gonzalez.

Coach Vinny Del Negro said that the Clippers were concerned about Blake Griffin's burst bursa sac in his right elbow, but that his All-Star power forward was feeling well enough to play against the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night. Del Negro said Griffin also had a stiff neck as well from being hit in practice Tuesday. But he said Griffin went through the morning shoot-around Wednesday. "There is always a concern because Blake is such a huge part of what need to do," Del Negro said.

Frank Jobe batted third at Cooperstown last summer, in the annual awards ceremony on the Saturday before the induction ceremony. Paul Hagen led off, a distinguished baseball writer from Philadelphia. Shirley Cheek followed, the widow of the late Tom Cheek, a beloved broadcaster for the Toronto Blue Jays. The names of Paul Hagen and Tom Cheek would be forever displayed within the Hall of Fame. Jobe's award did not come with a permanent place inside the Hall of Fame -- an error that ought to be rectified forthwith -- but the good doctor nonetheless was delighted with his moment in the Cooperstown sun. Jobe rose to his feet, slowly.

In the summer of 1974, Dodger pitcher Tommy John heard his arm snap like a guitar string after delivering a pitch. The torn ligament was the type of injury that commonly ended athletic careers, but John, then a 31-year-old star, pushed team doctors "to figure it out. " Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Frank Jobe made what many consider the most extraordinary medical advance in baseball history that September when he invented a transplant procedure that resurrected...