31.   But he struggled Thursday, his first game after missing two weeks because of a sprained right thumb.

32.   But Duval said he might be hampered by lingering blisters on his right thumb and forefinger.

33.   But that plan collapsed when Tyson again broke his right thumb Monday during a sparring session for the press after originally injuring it during training in Ohio.

34.   But then he broke his right thumb in a pickup game in Miami.

35.   But the children missed out on Jayson Williams, who remained at home with the fractured right thumb he sustained on Friday night.

36.   But the snap lands with some force directly under his right thumb.

37.   CECIL FIELDER jammed his right thumb after an awkward head-first slide into home and was taken to the hospital for X-rays after the game.

38.   Carter, the rookie from Georgia, admitted that his severely bruised right thumb hurts whenever he takes a snap from center.

39.   Center fielder Darryl Hamilton came away with a mangled right thumb, dislocated during an ill-fated slide and tag at third base in the ninth inning.

40.   Charles Oakley will remain out for the next five weeks with a broken right thumb and Patrick Ewing is listed as day to day with a sprained right ankle.