Cleveland Indians pitcher Kyle Denney slipped on a pair of knee-high go-go boots Wednesday night, accentuating the USC cheerleader outfit and blond wig he wore as part of rookie hazing.

"I'm sure glad the boots were on," Denney said Thursday, 12 hours after a bullet pierced the Indians' bus headed for Kansas City International Airport and lodged in Denney's right calf.

Denney, 27, said the boot stunted the impact of the bullet, which team trainers speedily removed from his leg after it grazed outfielder Ryan Ludwick. After a quick stop at St. Luke's North Hospital, Denney was released early Thursday morning and flew in the afternoon to Minneapolis, where the Indians next play the Twins.

"I feel fine," Denney said. "Totally fine. I'm not upset with the person who did it. I obviously wish they wouldn't have shot me. But it happened, and you deal with the things that happen. It'll make me stronger."

Major League Baseball sent Kevin Hallinan, senior vice president for security, to Kansas City early Thursday. He spoke with both teams and arranged for police to escort home the bus of the White Sox, in town for the Royals' final series this season.

"Certainly when something like this comes up, you go to the drawing board and say, `What can we do?'" Hallinan said. "So that's what we're here for: to see how we can react and prevent this from happening."

Police have no suspects in the shooting, which took place near Interstate Highway 70.

Denney said the whole thing seemed like a practical joke at first.

Some baseball teams force rookies to wear outrageous outfits after the final game of a series, with Denney's USC outfit particularly humiliating because he graduated from Oklahoma, a big-time football rival. Denney assumed the loud noise he heard came from a firecracker tossed by a veteran player.

"All of us jumped," Denney said. "It got me. It seriously felt like somebody came up and pinched me real hard on the leg. I didn't think anything of it.

"I felt a little bit of a sting, though, so I reached down to feel it, and there was a hole in my boot. I put my finger inside and pulled it out, and there was blood."

An officer found a bullet hole on the driver's side of the chartered bus, about 15 feet from the front, police said. On the bus, the bullet tore through Row 20 and glanced off or flung shrapnel at Ludwick, whose leg was red and swollen but didn't require medical attention. Denney, across the aisle, rested one seat further back in Row 21.

Trainers Lonnie Soloff and Rick Jameyson removed the small-caliber bullet while the bus drove toward the airport.

"The craziest 12 hours I've ever had," said Denney, whose mother and grandparents drove six hours from his hometown of Prague, Okla., to watch him start for the fourth time in the big leagues. Denney gave up two runs in four innings and didn't factor into the decision in Cleveland's 5-2 victory. He is 1-2 with a 9.54 earned-run average, his lone big-league victory against the Royals.

After the game Denney's family greeted him--getup and all--outside Kauffman Stadium. Denney paraded around in the outfit given to him by pitcher C.C. Sabathia--the only attire among the rookies', Denney said, that included boots.

"I have to give C.C. a big hug," Denney said.

The most serious Royals-related incident with a firearm came June 9, 2000, when three shots were fired into Kauffman Stadium. A bullet struck a 64-year-old woman in the abdomen and ended up in her elbow. Police believed that someone from outside the stadium pulled the trigger.

Denney walked Thursday, albeit with a limp, and wanted to use the Indians' off day to rest--and bask in his newfound fame.

"My friends cut me no slack," he said. "They were saying, `Well, it's better to be known for being shot than having a 9.00 ERA.' Hopefully, I can work on that next year."

He doesn't expect the injury to sideline him long.

Per usual, he plans on returning this off-season to Prague, the one-stoplight town where he graduated in a 53-person class. As a child, Denney said, he and cousin Scott Smith fought with BB guns in his grandparents' back yard.

This wasn't the first time a projectile settled in Denney's leg.

"We were so stupid back then," he said

On Thursday Denney felt smart. He took his rookie's penance by sporting the outfit, and the boots--as uncomfortable as they were--saved him from further harm.

One problem.

"We don't wear boots," said Justine Gilman, the adviser for the USC Song Leaders cheerleaders. "But we are thrilled that we could help and we could be so supportive. We support all kinds. Even ones from other schools."