The Royal Rooters

A University of Minnesota booster has been banned from the campus' Sports Pavilion and Williams Arena for one year after punching the school's beloved mascot Goldy Gopher, the Star Tribune reported Thursday.

Douglas Dokken, a 60-year-old math professor at the University of St. Thomas in Saint Paul, lost his cool with the buck-toothed mascot after Goldy sat behind him and began tapping on his shoulder during a men's gymnastics meet Saturday night.

"You know, it's the old trick where you tap people on the wrong shoulder and they turn and don't see you because you're on the other side," Goldy's coach, Mike Elder, told the Tribune.

Goldy had reportedly played the trick on other fans, inducing smiles and laughter from the kids trailing behind him.

But Dokken had no initial reaction to the furry fan favorite. It was only after Goldy made a third attempt to get the math professor's attention that Dokken suddenly turned and punched the mascot, knocking him back into the bleachers.

"The kids went from laughing to screaming because they were right there," Elder said. "[Goldy] was shocked."

Elder told the Tribune that Dokken then stood over the reeling gopher before delivering another blow to his oversized noggin.

A female fan was taken out on a stretcher at Osceola Stadium in Kissimmee, Fla., Saturday after she was knocked out by a foul ball off the bat of Baltimore Orioles first baseman Jake Fox, MLB.com reported.

Adding to the drama, her husband fainted as she was being taken to an Orlando hospital, a witness said, while the incident caused a 15-minute stoppage in the game against the Houston Astros.

Fox hit the line drive down the left-field line in the top of the seventh inning, the ball striking the unidentified woman in the head, near her right eye.

"It was real scary," Astros manager Brad Mills said. "I know the game stopped, but our hearts stopped, too."

The woman was sitting near the Astros bullpen, and catcher Carlos Corporan saw the ball hit her, adding she was not watching play at the time because she was conversing with her husband.

"They were talking to each other, and somebody yelled, 'Watch out!'" said Corporan. "She turned right as the ball hit her in the eye. As soon as the ball hit her, she passed out. She had a really bad cut in the eye."

Corporan said the woman regained consciousness and was responding to paramedics when she was on the stretcher. The extent of her injuries were unknown.

"If you're going to come to the ballpark, you can have fun, but you have to pay attention or the ball can kill somebody," Corporan warned. "It could be a really sad moment, you know? It was really, really hard today."

Rockies right-hander Aaron Cook fractured bones in the ring finger on his throwing hand and will be out indefinitely.

Rockies manager Jim Tracy made the announcement after Colorado's 4-3 victory over theKansas City Royals on Friday.

Cook, already on the shelf with shoulder stiffness, caught the finger in a door. His nail was scattered and X-rays revealed the fracture.

''It will be at least a few weeks minimum,'' Tracy said. ''From what I understand he caught the finger in a house door when he reached back to try and catch it.''

Cook opened the spring as the Rockies' No. 4 starter but suffered a setback in the second week of camp when he felt tightness in his right shoulder. He had been on a throwing program until his latest mishap.

Tracy said Jason Hammel will move into the fourth spot in the rotation, while the fifth spot is up for grabs among several pitchers, including right-handers Esmil Rogers and Clay Mortensen.

Tracy also said catcher Chad Moeller was given his unconditional release.

''We decided to let Chad move on,'' Tracy said. ''We did not feel like he was going to be a fit. We wanted to do this now so he can look for another opportunity.''

Meanwhile, Jorge De La Rosa will not make his scheduled start Sunday as a precaution. De La Rosa complained of tightness in his back.