Hall of Famers happy to see Bonds, Clemens denied

NEW YORK (AP) — Nobody was happier about the Hall of Fame shutout than the Hall of Famers themselves.
Goose Gossage, Al Kaline, Dennis Eckersley and others are in no rush to open the door to Cooperstown for anyone linked to steroids.
Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa: Keep 'em all out of our club.
"If they let these guys in ever — at any point — it's a big black eye for the Hall and for baseball," Gossage said in a phone interview with The Associated Press. "It's like telling our kids you can cheat, you can do whatever you want, and it's not going to matter."
For only the second time in 42 years, baseball writers failed to elect anyone to the Hall of Fame on Wednesday, sending a firm signal that stars of the Steroids Era will be held to a different standard.
All the awards and accomplishments collected over storied careers by Bonds, Clemens and Sosa — all eligible for the first time — could not offset suspicions those exploits were artificially boosted by performance-enhancing drugs.
"I'm kind of glad that nobody got in this year," Kaline said. "I feel honored to be in the Hall of Fame. And I would've felt a little uneasy sitting up there on the stage, listening to some of these new guys talk about how great they were."
Gossage went even further.
"I think the steroids guys that are under suspicion got too many votes," he said. "I don't know why they're making this such a question and why there's so much debate. To me, they cheated. Are we going to reward these guys?"
Not this year, at least.
Bonds received just 36.2 percent of the vote and Clemens 37.6 in totals announced by the Hall and the Baseball Writers' Association of America, both well short of the 75 percent needed for election — yet still too close for Gossage's taste. Sosa, eighth on the career home run list, got 12.5 percent.
"Wow! Baseball writers make a statement," Eckersley wrote on Twitter. "Feels right."
The results keep the sport's career home run leader (Bonds) and most decorated pitcher (Clemens) out of Cooperstown — for now. Bonds, Clemens and Sosa have up to 14 more years on the writers' ballot to gain baseball's highest honor.
"Even having just been considered for the first time is already great honor, and there's always a next time," Sosa said in a statement. "Baseball has been extremely good for me! Kiss to the heaven! It was an honor just to have been nominated. I'm happy about that."
Bonds, baseball's only seven-time MVP, hit 762 home runs — including a record 73 in 2001. He has denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs and was convicted of one count of obstruction of justice for giving an evasive answer in 2003 to a grand jury investigating PEDs.
Clemens, the game's lone seven-time Cy Young Award winner, is third in career strikeouts (4,672) and ninth in wins (354). He was acquitted of perjury charges stemming from congressional testimony during which he denied using PEDs.
"If you don't think Roger Clemens cheated, you're burying your head in the sand," Gossage said.
Sosa, who finished with 609 home runs, was among those who tested positive in MLB's 2003 anonymous survey, The New York Times reported in 2009. He told a congressional committee in 2005 that he never took illegal performance-enhancing drugs. He also was caught using a corked bat during his career.
"What really gets me is seeing how some of these players associated with drugs have jumped over many of the greats in our game," Kaline said. "Numbers mean a lot in baseball, maybe more so than in any other sport. And going back to Babe Ruth, and players like Harmon Killebrew and Frank Robinson and Willie Mays, seeing people jump over them with 600, 700 home runs, I don't like to see that.
"I don't know how great some of these players up for election would've been without drugs. But to me, it's cheating," he added. "Numbers are important, but so is integrity and character. Some of these guys might get in someday. But for a year or two, I'm glad they didn't."
Gossage, noting that cyclist Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles following allegations that he used performance-enhancing drugs, believes baseball should go just as far. He thinks the record book should be overhauled, taking away the accomplishments of players like Bonds, Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro and Mark McGwire — who has admitted using steroids and human growth hormone during his playing days.
McGwire, 10th on the career home run chart, received 16.9 percent of the vote on his seventh Hall try, down from 19.5 last year.
"I don't know if baseball knows how to deal with this at all," Gossage said. "Why don't they strip these guys of all these numbers? You've got to suffer the consequences. You get caught cheating on a test, you get expelled from school."
Juan Marichal is one Hall of Famer who doesn't see it that way. The former pitcher believes Bonds, Clemens and Sosa belong in Cooperstown.
"I think that they have been unfair to guys who were never found guilty of anything," Marichal said. "Their stats define them as immortals. That's the reality and that cannot be denied."
The BBWAA election rules say "voting shall be based upon the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played."
While much of the focus this year was on Bonds, Clemens and Sosa, every other player with Cooperstown credentials was denied, too.
Craig Biggio, 20th on the career list with 3,060 hits, came the closest. He was chosen on 68.2 percent of the 569 ballots, 39 shy of election. Among other first-year eligibles, Mike Piazza received 57.8 percent and Curt Schilling 38.8. Jack Morris topped holdovers with 67.7 percent.
None of those players have been publicly linked to PED use, so it's difficult to determine whether they fell short due to suspicion, their stats — or the overall stench of the era they played in.
"What we're witnessing here is innocent people paying for the sinners," Marichal said.
Hall of Fame slugger Mike Schmidt said that comes with the territory.
"It's not news that Bonds, Clemens, Sosa, Palmeiro, and McGwire didn't get in, but that they received hardly any consideration at all. The real news is that Biggio and Piazza were well under the 75 percent needed," Schmidt wrote in an email to the AP.
"Curt Schilling made a good point. Everyone was guilty. Either you used PEDs, or you did nothing to stop their use. This generation got rich. Seems there was a price to pay."
At ceremonies in Cooperstown on July 28, the only inductees will be three men who died more than 70 years ago: Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert, umpire Hank O'Day and barehanded catcher Deacon White. They were chosen last month by the 16-member panel considering individuals from the era before integration in 1947.

Read More..

Baseball-MLB, players agree to expand drug testing

Jan 10 (Reuters) - Major League Baseball and the players' union have agreed to expand their drug program to include random in-season blood testing for human growth hormone and a new test for testosterone, they said on Thursday.
The testing will start this season.
MLB has been conducting random blood testing for the detection of HGH among minor league players since July 2010.
Starting this season, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)-accredited Montreal laboratory will establish a program in which a player's baseline testosterone/epitestosterone (T/E) ratio and other data will be maintained in order to enhance its ability to detect use of testosterone and other prohibited substances.

Read More..

RPT-Baseball-MLB, players agree to expand drug testing

(Repeats to widen distribution)
Jan 10 (Reuters) - Major League Baseball and the players' union have agreed to expand their drug program to include random in-season blood testing for human growth hormone and a new test for testosterone, they said on Thursday.
The testing will start this season.
MLB has been conducting random blood testing for the detection of HGH among minor league players since July 2010.
Starting this season, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)-accredited Montreal laboratory will establish a program in which a player's baseline testosterone/epitestosterone (T/E) ratio and other data will be maintained in order to enhance its ability to detect use of testosterone and other prohibited substances.

Read More..

NFL's Junior Seau had brain disease from blows to head

Qualcomm Stadium to participate in a "Celebration of Life" memorial, held in Seau's …more
(Reuters) - Junior Seau, the 12-time Pro Bowl linebacker who killed himself last year, suffered from the same debilitating brain disease diagnosed in at least two other former NFL defensive players who also committed suicide, a study released on Thursday said.
Seau, 43, died in May after shooting himself in the chest at his beachfront house in his hometown of Oceanside, California. He played mostly for the San Diego Chargers and two other teams in a 20-year career in the National Football League.
A study of Seau's brain by a team of independent researchers found he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, likely brought on by two decades of blows to the head as a football player, the report said.
Increased awareness and knowledge about brain injuries have unsettled the National Football League, a $9 billion a year industry that rose to popularity largely from the speed and power of its athletes colliding with one another. The league has attempted to institute rule changes protecting player safety while still preserving the spectacle that fans enjoy.
CTE can be diagnosed only after death. Tissue from Seau's brain was sent to the National Institutes of Health for analysis in July, at the request of Seau's family, amid growing concern over the long-term effects of football-related head injuries.
"The final diagnosis was findings consistent with chronic traumatic encephalopathy," Dr. Russell Lonser, the lead researcher on the case, told Reuters. Lonser is chairman of the Department of Neurological Surgery at Ohio State University and led the study of Seau's brain while he was at NIH.
Patients with CTE may display symptoms "such as impulsivity, forgetfulness, depression, (and) sometimes suicidal ideation," Lonser said in the report.
Five neuropathologists - two who work for the government and three who were independent and not informed they were examining Seau - came to a consensus on the diagnosis by studying the accumulation of a protein called tau in certain areas of the brain, Lonser said.
The distribution of tau discovered in Seau's brain "is unique to CTE and distinguishes it from other brain disorders," the NIH said in a statement about the study.
Several thousand former NFL players have sued the NFL in federal court in Philadelphia, accusing the league of fraudulently concealing from players the risk of brain injury in playing professional football.
The exchange of evidence was on hold pending the NFL's motion to dismiss the case.
"While the NIH's findings have provided a measure of comfort, we remain heartbroken that Junior is no longer with us, and are deeply saddened to receive confirmation that he suffered from such a debilitating condition," Seau's family said in a statement.
Just weeks before Seau shot himself, former Atlanta Falcons safety Ray Easterling committed suicide, and family members described a long descent into dementia following his retirement from the NFL. An autopsy revealed indications of CTE.
In February 2011, four-time Pro Bowl safety Dave Duerson, who played most of his career with the Chicago Bears, shot himself in the chest. In a suicide note, he donated his brain for study, and it was found to exhibit signs of CTE.
The NFL said the result of the examination of Seau's brain underscored "the recognized need for additional research to accelerate a fuller understanding of CTE." NFL clubs have already committed a $30 million research grant to the NIH.
CTE AN 'INVISIBLE INJURY'
CTE, once known as boxer's dementia, is caused by repeated impacts to the brain, and has been found in athletes who suffered head injuries as well as members of the armed forces with concussive injuries from blast waves.
Because the mild and moderate brain injuries do not show up on CT scans or other imaging, the condition can be definitively diagnosed only through an autopsy.
The so-called "invisible injury" causes dramatic behavioral and cognitive changes. It can cause depression, aggression, impulsivity and memory loss and has been linked to suicide.
Research led by scientists at Boston University and the Veterans Administration in 2012 showed, through microscopic analysis of the brains of military veterans and young athletes, exactly how repeated head injuries cause CTE and impair mental function.
The trauma strangles blood vessels, diminishing blood flow within the brain, the scientists reported last May. It also breaks components of brain neurons called axons. Axons carry signals between neurons, so when they are damaged, brain signals peter out and thinking is impaired. CTE litters the brain with the chewed-up remnants of neurons and other cells so extensively that the brain seems to be eating itself alive.
CTE also stretches neurons, scientists led by Boston University's Ann McKee found. That stretching damages them so severely that they resemble neurons in the brain of Alzheimer's patients and are no longer functional.
The Institute of Medicine, which advises the federal government, has also begun an extensive study on sports-related concussions in youth that will in part examine the long-term consequences from such blows to the head.

Read More..

Researchers: NFL's Seau had brain disease

When he ended his life last year by shooting himself in the chest, Junior Seau had a degenerative brain disease often linked with repeated blows to the head.
Researchers from the National Institutes of Health said Thursday the former NFL star's abnormalities are consistent with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.
The hard-hitting linebacker played for 20 NFL seasons with San Diego, Miami and New England before retiring in 2009. He died at age 43 of a self-inflicted gunshot in May, and his family requested the analysis of his brain.
"We saw changes in his behavior and things that didn't add up with him," his ex-wife, Gina, told The Associated Press. "But (CTE) was not something we considered or even were aware of. But pretty immediately (after the suicide) doctors were trying to get their hands on Junior's brain to examine it."
The NIH, based in Bethesda, Md., studied three unidentified brains, one of which was Seau's, and said the findings on Seau were similar to autopsies of people "with exposure to repetitive head injuries."
"It was important to us to get to the bottom of this, the truth," Gina Seau added, "and now that it has been conclusively determined from every expert that he had obviously had CTE, we just hope it is taken more seriously. You can't deny it exists, and it is hard to deny there is a link between head trauma and CTE. There's such strong evidence correlating head trauma and collisions and CTE."
In the final years of his life, Seau had wild behavioral swings, according to Gina and to 23-year-old son, Tyler, along with signs of irrationality, forgetfulness, insomnia and depression.
"He emotionally detached himself and would kind of 'go away' for a little bit," Tyler Seau said. "And then the depression and things like that. It started to progressively get worse."
He hid it well in public, they said, but not when he was with family or close friends.
Seau joins a list of several dozen football players who were found to have CTE. Boston University's center for study of the disease reported last month that 34 former pro players and nine who played only college football suffered from CTE.
The NFL faces lawsuits by thousands of former players who say the league withheld information on the harmful effects of concussions. According to an AP review of 175 lawsuits, 3,818 players have sued. At least 26 Hall of Famer members are among the players who have done so.
The National Football League, in an email to the AP, said: "We appreciate the Seau family's cooperation with the National Institutes of Health. The finding underscores the recognized need for additional research to accelerate a fuller understanding of CTE.
"The NFL, both directly and in partnership with the NIH, Centers for Disease Control and other leading organizations, is committed to supporting a wide range of independent medical and scientific research that will both address CTE and promote the long-term health and safety of athletes at all levels."
NFL teams have given a $30 million research grant to the NIH.
The players' union called the NIH report on Seau "tragic."
"The only way we can improve the safety of players, restore the confidence of our fans and secure the future of our game is to insist on the same quality of medical care, informed consent and ethical standards that we expect for ourselves and for our family members," the NFLPA said in a statement.
"This is why the players have asked for things like independent sideline concussion experts, the certification and credentialing of all professional football medical staff and a fairer workers compensation system in professional football," it said.
Seau is not the first former NFL player who killed himself and later was found to have had CTE. Dave Duerson and Ray Easterling are the others.
Before shooting himself, Duerson, a former Chicago Bears defensive back, left a note asking that his brain be studied for signs of trauma. His family filed a wrongful-death suit against the NFL, claiming the league didn't do enough to prevent or treat the concussions that severely damaged his brain.
Easterling played safety for the Falcons in the 1970s. After his career, he suffered from dementia, depression and insomnia, according to his wife, Mary Ann. He committed suicide last April.
Mary Ann Easterling is among the plaintiffs who have sued the NFL.
Tyler Seau played football through high school and for two years in college. He says he has no symptoms of brain trauma.
"I was not surprised after learning a little about CTE that he had it," Tyler said. "He did play so many years at that level. I was more just kind of angry I didn't do something more and have the awareness to help him more, and now it is too late."
Gina Seau's son Jake, now a high school junior, played football for two seasons but has switched to lacrosse and has been recruited to play at Duke.
"Lacrosse is really his sport and what he is passionate about," she said. "He is a good football player and probably could continue. But especially now watching what his dad went through, he says, 'Why would I risk lacrosse for football?'
"I didn't have to have a discussion with him after we saw what Junior went through."
Her 12-year-old son Hunter has shown no interest in playing football.
"That's fine with me," she said.

Read More..

NFL-Manning puts winning streaks on line against Ravens

Jan 10 (Reuters) - Peyton Manning, who has mounted a remarkable comeback with the Broncos, will be aiming to extend two big winning streaks when Denver hosts the Baltimore Ravens in the National Football League playoffs on Saturday.
Manning and the Broncos are gunning for their 12th win in a row this season in the divisional round against the Ravens, a team he has beaten nine consecutive times, with eight of those coming with the Indianapolis Colts dating back to 2002.
The 36-year-old quarterback added to his winning streak against the Ravens with a 34-17 victory last month with a Denver team he joined after missing the entire 2011 season with the Colts after a series of neck surgeries.
Manning picked up where he left off as one of the NFL's preeminent quarterbacks after joining the Broncos, producing a vintage season with his second most touchdown passes (37), second most yards (4,659), second best completion percentage (68.6) and just 11 interceptions.
"Peyton Manning is one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history," Baltimore defensive lineman Haloti Ngata told reporters.
"He has bounced back from injury. He has done a lot of great things for Denver. Hopefully, we can have a good week of practice and stop him."
Denver (13-3), as the top-seeded team in the AFC, is coming off a bye, while the Ravens (11-6) defeated the Colts 24-9 last week in their wild-card playoff game.
Quarterback Joe Flacco threw for 282 yards and two touchdowns against the Colts and is the only quarterback in NFL history to win a playoff game in his first five seasons but he is still striving to get all the way to the Super Bowl.
Flacco made many of his biggest throws to veteran wide receiver Anquan Boldin, who had 145 receiving yards in the second half against Indianapolis.
"We're looking forward to this," said Boldin. "I was hoping we'd get Denver again. This time we'll make it different."
The Broncos have speedy pass rushers on one of the fastest defenses in the league, featuring linebacker Von Miller (18.5 sacks) and Elvis Dumervil (11 sacks), on a team that tied for the NFL lead in sacks.
Baltimore has developed a strong one-two punch of runners in all-round back Ray Rice and rookie Bernard Pierce, who emerged late in the season and powered his way to 103 yards last week against the Colts, though in their last game against Denver, they combined for less than 60 yards.
While the Ravens are rallying around soon-to-be retiring linebacker Ray Lewis, Denver can see Manning, who does not take his comeback for granted, hit new heights.
"I remember opening day against Pittsburgh - I remember one year ago I was in a hospital bed watching opening day so ... there's a little reminder of how far I've come," Manning told reporters.

Read More..

Jets fire offensive coordinator Tony Sparano

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — Tony Sparano has been fired as the New York Jets' offensive coordinator after one season in which the offense ranked among the league's worst.
Sparano was hired last March to replace Brian Schottenheimer and take over an offense that struggled mightily. Instead, the former Miami Dolphins head coach wasn't able to jumpstart the running game or figure out a way to use Tim Tebow consistently as the Jets finished 30th in the NFL in total offense.
Sparano was expected to use Tebow as a major part of the Jets' wildcat-style offense, but the popular backup quarterback was mostly a non-factor — failing to get into the end zone during his first and likely only season in New York.
The contract of quarterbacks coach Matt Cavanaugh also was not renewed.

Read More..

CORRECTED-Institute of Medicine to study US youth sports concussions

(Corrects first and second paragraphs, headline to show that Institute of Medicine is not part of government)
WASHINGTON, Jan 7 (Reuters) - The Institute of Medicine launched on Monday a sweeping study of rising sports-related concussions among U.S. youth, amid concerns that the injuries may have contributed to the suicides of professional football players.
The Institute, part of the private, non-profit National Academies, will probe sports-related concussions in young people from elementary school through early adulthood. The study will include military personnel and their dependants, and review concussions and risk factors.
The study, one of the most extensive ever done, will be scrutinized intently by Americans worried about brain injuries in sports, said Robert Graham, head of the panel carrying out the study.
"You start talking about, 'Is it safe for Sally to be playing soccer?,' you get lots of public interest," Graham, a public health expert at George Washington University in Washington, told Reuters after the committee's first meeting.
He said the panel likely would submit its report to the Institute of Medicine in the middle of the summer, with publication expected in late 2013.
A 2010 study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that U.S. emergency rooms yearly treat 173,000 temporary brain injuries, including concussions, related to sports or recreation among people less than 19 years of age.
The number of emergency room visits for such injuries rose 60 percent in the previous decade among children and adolescents, the CDC study showed.
A separate 2007 study showed that the incidence of brain injury was highest in football and girls' soccer.
About 2,000 former National Football League players sued the league last year, alleging it concealed the risk of brain injury from players while marketing the ferocity of the game.
Concerns about a possible link between concussions and mental illnesses, such as depression, grew in the wake of the suicides of former NFL players Junior Seau, Ray Easterling and Dave Duerson in the last two years.
Participants at the committee's meeting said there was a shortage of data on sports-related concussions among young people. The number of relevant brains available for study is in the single digits, and many studies lack breakdowns by age.

Read More..

Institute of Medicine to study U.S. youth sports concussions

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Institute of Medicine launched on Monday a sweeping study of rising sports-related concussions among U.S. youth, amid concerns that the injuries may have contributed to the suicides of professional football players.
The Institute, part of the private, non-profit National Academies, will probe sports-related concussions in young people from elementary school through early adulthood. The study will include military personnel and their dependants, and review concussions and risk factors.
The study, one of the most extensive ever done, will be scrutinized intently by Americans worried about brain injuries in sports, said Robert Graham, head of the panel carrying out the study.
"You start talking about, 'Is it safe for Sally to be playing soccer?,' you get lots of public interest," Graham, a public health expert at George Washington University in Washington, told Reuters after the committee's first meeting.
He said the panel likely would submit its report to the Institute of Medicine in the middle of the summer, with publication expected in late 2013.
A 2010 study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that U.S. emergency rooms yearly treat 173,000 temporary brain injuries, including concussions, related to sports or recreation among people less than 19 years of age.
The number of emergency room visits for such injuries rose 60 percent in the previous decade among children and adolescents, the CDC study showed.
A separate 2007 study showed that the incidence of brain injury was highest in football and girls' soccer.
About 2,000 former National Football League players sued the league last year, alleging it concealed the risk of brain injury from players while marketing the ferocity of the game.
Concerns about a possible link between concussions and mental illnesses, such as depression, grew in the wake of the suicides of former NFL players Junior Seau, Ray Easterling and Dave Duerson in the last two years.
Participants at the committee's meeting said there was a shortage of data on sports-related concussions among young people. The number of relevant brains available for study is in the single digits, and many studies lack breakdowns by age.
Sponsors of the study include the Department of Defense, the CDC and the National Institutes of Health. The panel will also examine studies being done by the CDC and the American Academy of Neurology.

Read More..

Questioning Albert Pujols' Age; Injury Bug Strikes NBA Players Abroad

Today in sports: Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander is the American League's most value player, an arrest in the stabbing death of Seattle Mariners outfielder Greg Halman, and a tough weekend for NBA players overseas.
RELATED: The St. Louis Cardinals Are Cashing In on Their 'Rally Squirrel'
Seattle Mariners outfielder Greg Halman was stabbed to death early Monday in his home country of the Netherlands. He was 24-years-old. Police confirmed in Rotterdam confirmed that Halman's brother Jason, who played alongside his brother on the Dutch national team, has been arrested and is being questioned in connection with the death. ABC News is reporting the siblings had an argument earlier in the night over loud music. [AP]
Three-time National League MVP Albert Pujols is arguably the best player ever to hit the open market as a free agent, which explains why he felt comfortable turning down a reported 9-year, $225 million contract from the Florida -- sorry, Miami -- Marlins over the weekend. You'd think the club would have to sold on Pujols to make an offer like that, but Dan Le Batard of the Miami Herald casually notes that "like a lot of teams, the Marlins believe Pujols to be older than the 31 he claims to be," which may be true, but in this context sounds like sour grapes. [Miami Herald]
Denver Nuggets guard J.R. Smith reportedly went to Beijing for medical treatment after suffering a grisly-looking knee injury Sunday in his debut with with the Zhejiang Golden Bulls of the Chinese Basketball Association. Smith's decision to leave the team isn't sitting well with Golden Bulls general manager Zhao Bing, who today posted a message on the Chinese microblogging site Sina Weibo instructing Smith to rejoin the club immediately or "face the consequences." He didn't elaborate on what those consequences would be, but the warning didn't seem to faze Smith. According to The Wall Street Journal's Realtime China blog he posted a response to Bing in English less an hour later.  Said Smith: “My main goal is to get healthy! If you can’t understand that then maybe you should pick another profession!” Smith signed a one-year contract with the team back in September  [The Wall Street Journal]
RELATED: The Eternal Sunshine of Bobby Valentine
Smith wasn't the only locked out NBA player to suffer a scary injury over the weekend. On Saturday, Utah Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko suffered a concussion and broke his nose after taking an inadvertent elbow to the face during a Russian league game in Moscow. [The Sporting News]
Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Justin Verlander has won the American League's most valuable player award. He's just the 10th pitcher ever to win both the Cy Young and MVP in the same season, and the first to do since Roger Clemens in 1986. Considering Verlander was unhittable for large stretches of the season and the absence of a viable candidate among position players (Red Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury was the runner-up), the win was deserved.

Read More..

Manny Ramirez Can Even Make Errors While Retiring

The former Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians and Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez is seeking to leave Major League Baseball's retirement list, and will try to make a comeback. There is one slight hitch, as NBC Sports reports. Ramirez retired after he tested positive, for the second time, for a banned substance, meaning he would have faced a 100-game suspension. He left baseball rather than sit out for that long.
RELATED: An Embarrassing Ending: Manny Ramirez Retires
But his decision to retire means he doesn't get credit for all the games he's missed since April. If he makes a comeback, he'll have to do so while serving out a suspension anyway.
Had he never filed those retirement papers, he could have returned to the league in August and would have been all set for the opening of the 2012 campaign.
But, as such, the veteran slugger still needs to serve out half of his original 100-game punishment.
His sweet swing will surely entice some team to sit through the suspension period. For the rest of the league, there is the consoling knowledge that Manny being Manny wasn't always so much fun.

Read More..

Meet Yu Darvish, the Next Possibly Great Japanese Pitcher

Today in sports: The bidding process for star Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish ends tonight, Browns president Mike Holmgren thinks his training staff is doing a heckuva job, and Chinese soccer struggles to go legit.
RELATED: The Republican National Convention, Ryanomics, and K-pop
Hamilton County, Ohio, prosecutor Joseph Deters has decided not to file criminal charges against the players involved in the sucker-punch-a-palooza that erupted with 9.4 seconds remaining in the Cincinnati-Xavier men's basketball game on Saturday. Remarkably, neither school's athletic department seems keen on dropping the annual game between the crosstown rivals from the schedule going forward, even though eight players were suspended and the national sports media has been putting both schools through the wringer for four says now. Xavier athletic director Mike Bobinski conceded that the rivalry -- one of the nation's fiercest -- has gotten out of hand in recent years. "I really do believe that this has been coming for a long, long time,” he conceded. (It was also probably a mistake to keep calling it the Crosstown Shootout.) Still, Bobinski tells the Cincinnati Enquirer the game should stay on the schedule "as long as the dynamic surrounding it changes" and has apparently already spoken to Cincinnati athletic director Whit Babcock  "about finding ways to make it a positive event." (Again, we'd suggest ditching the phrase Crosstown Shootout.) In a potential act of fence-mending that would seem more at home in 1993, the Enquirer says the schools "have had conversations about uniting both teams for community-based work in sportsmanship at their seasons’ end. It’s one way players can show their understanding of the ramifications of the brawl." [The Cincinnati Enquirer]
Football innovator and former Super Bowl winning head coach Mike Holmgren is in his second season as president and de facto public face of the Cleveland Browns, a role he's embraced with the passion of a model train enthusiast distracted by other, more interesting hobbies. Not even Holmgren could duck the controversy over whether the team violated league protocol on head injuries when it reinserted quarterback Colt McCoy into the lineup just two plays after he took a thundering helmet-to-helmet shot from Steelers linebacker James Harrison. McCoy says he can't remember the hit, his dad is furious at coach Pat Shurmur for sending him back out on the field, and doctors from the NFL and NFL Players Association are investigating the club's handling of the injuryIt's a dicey good situation in regular Cleveland, but everything remains smooth sailing in Bizzarro World Cleveland, which is apparently where Holmgren has been spending much of his time, alongside the Browns' tip-top sideline support staff.  “Our medical staff and our training staff, they are the best in football,” Bizzarro Holmgren said. “These guys are really good. So one of the things that is troubling to me in this whole process is that they’re getting slammed a bit, along with the head coach. . . .And it’s unfair.” Actually, there isn't anything more fair than judging people based on what they've done, but Holmgren looks content with being  the NFL front office version of Edward Rochester's first wife in Jane Eyre. The good news is Holmgren doesn't think the team is going to face "punitive" damages for how they handled McCoy, so Cleveland sports fans won't have their hearts broken by tortious liability at least. [PFT]
Starting pitcher Yu Darvish is the most highly-touted Japanese baseball player to try and make the jump to MLB since pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka signed with the Boston Red Sox in 2006. The process by which American teams bid on Japanese big leaguers is a genuine mystery, even in the era of round-the-clock leaks to cable sports stations, blogs, and beat reporters. To begin with, all interested teams must submit bids to negotiate with the player. (The bidding period on Darvish ends this evening.) The bids are submitted in sealed envelopes and the club with the high bid gets the exclusive rights to negotiate with the player, then must hammer out a contract with him. (He also gets to keep his posting fee.) In 2006, the Red Sox posted $51,111,111 for the rights to negotiate with Matsuzaka and spent another $50 million to sign him. The New York Times expects a team will post a figure in the n "perhaps $30 million to $50 million" for Darvish, and notes  and "some people in baseball have projected that figure below $30 million." That wasn't the case in 2007 when current New York Mets manager Terry Collins was managing the Orix Buffaloes and facing the lanky right-hander, then just 21. Says Collins now: "Darvish [is] as good as any pitcher I’ve ever seen. Ever. I asked a scouting guy over there, ‘If Dice-K got $50 million, how much would Darvish get?’ At the time, the guess was $70 million.” Why the decline? Well, Matsuzaka has been inconsistent and the global economy is still hurting. but some in baseball say the entire posting system is flawed and all but rigged to help big-market teams. International players want to play in the limelight of cities like New York, Boston, and Los Angeles. Powerful teams can get promising international talent on the cheap, like the Yankees did last year when they won the services of shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima with a "surprisingly low $2.5 million" bid. The Oakland Athletics, meanwhile, posted $19.1 to negotiate with Hisashi Iwakuma, but he elected not to sign and returned to Japan. Agent Scott Boras, who most baseball fans have learned to be distrustful of over the years, actually has a reasonable proposal for fixing the system. He wants "a sliding scale whereby Japanese players can negotiate with any team and their Japanese teams would receive a percentage of the contract," in effect giving the player the right to choose where he goes instead of having one team and one team only as a suitor. [The New York Times]
As the rest of China grows, the quality of its pro soccer lags behind. The Wall Street Journal notes that fans " blame corruption and mismanagement for the poor quality of the domestic league and of the national team, which qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 2002 but lost every game and failed to score a single goal." According to news agency Xinhua, senior Chinese soccer officials were arrested on bribery and match-fixing charges in 2010. The solution for suddenly cash-rich club owners is to lure aging international stars to China with the promise of a hefty paychecks. Over the summer, Argentine midfielder Dario Conca signed a $10 million contract -- the largest deal in the history of Chinese soccer  -- with Guangzhou Evergrande, which, according to The Wall Street Journal, has also "paid $7.5 million for Brazilian forwards Cleo and Muriqui in the past 18 months." Earlier this week, former Chelsea and French national striker Nicolas Anelka and the Shanghai Shenhua.agreed on a two-year contract. Anelka's weekly salary will reportedly top $300,000 and The Journal says he's already the sport's "biggest international star." That doesn't mean the close ties between pro soccer in the country and Asian gamblers will disappear, or even be pushed underground with a nod. The Journal neatly captures China's problem when it comes to professional soccer in two sentences: "Shenhua's multimillionaire owner, Zhu Jun, posted a photograph on his microblogging account of Mr. Anelka posing with one of the club's shirts. 'Warmly welcome!' wrote Mr. Zhu, founder of Chinese Internet gaming company The9 Ltd., alongside the photo.

Read More..

Science at the (Baseball) Plate

A critical element in the dissemination of scientific discovery is the preparation of a paper for publication. Strong rules and traditions govern the writing of science for a journal. The tone should be sober and restrained as if emotions and literary flourish do not exist. With "I" or "we" resisted if not banned, passive voice abounds and the text becomes littered by words and phrases "thus," "furthermore," and "in this regard." The vocabulary is limited and adjectives, beyond "significant" and "robust," are as rare as hen's teeth. Of course, similes, even if clever and apt, are verboten in science writing. Seeing such a simile, the average editor would blast the author for such license, howling "Jargon!" or at least demanding evidence from a large, cross-sectional study of a chicken coop - IACUC approved, of course - that hen's teeth are truly rare.
Despite glorious data described in the results section in today's scientific papers, the discussions are usually a slog, overflowing with disclaimers, qualifications and stipulations that can rumble on for pages. Inherently bland and enervated (and enervating), such writing can effectively transform a joyous cry of "Eureka!" into a muffled mumble of "Ho-hum." To illustrate how the style of science writing can temper both thinking and feeling, I wrote the following account of a hypothetical World Series contest as if it would appear in a prestigious publication like the New England Journal of Medicine. I think that this piece shows clearly what would happen if reporter would record, with the detachment, rationality and style demanded of a scientist, the drama and feverish excitement of one of great happenings of American sports.
I wrote this piece a time of optimism before the 2012 playoffs and series actually occurred. Alas, the Bronx Bombers bombed and the Giants triumphed over the toothless Tigers. As a baseball fan from New York, all I can say is "Wait till next year." As a scientist wanting to flash a little a personality, liven up my craft and tell the world how snazzy and nifty my data really are, I can only echo the words of the great sage and philosopher Yogi Berra. "Take it with a grin of salt."
~~~
A series of games was held between the New York Yankees and the San Francisco Giants to determine the best team in baseball. This series involved a superiority design, with the number of games played determined according to protocol. The primary outcome measure was 4 games won with a committee of umpires adjudicating events during the game using a set of pre-determined rules. As results reported by ESPN showed, the Yankees had the better series record, winning 4 games to the Giants 3. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the Yankees are the better team.
While the design for the current series is well-established, important aspects bear discussion. Thus, the primary outcome measure is number of games won as opposed to number of runs scored. A priori, number of runs score would appear to be a better measure of a team's capability since it can be established over time and would be less subject to variations at the end of low scoring games, especially in a 7 game series. Indeed, a post-hoc analysis of the current series indicate that the Giants had outscored the Yankees significantly, with a 1-0 victory in game 7 giving the Yankees the title despite being outscored by 35 runs over the preceding 6 games. Furthermore, an analysis of area under the curve (AUC) fully supports the advantage of the Giants in time-averaged runs scored.
Another shortcoming in the current design is the absence of a power calculation. While 7 games have been the format for the series for over 100 years, this issue has not been subjected to rigorous trials.
Further shortcomings of the current approach should be considered. Thus, many decisions throughout the game are made by umpires, especially determination of balls and strikes which can crucially impact of outcome. While umpires are considered to be impartial, the design of the series prevents blinding. In the future, new tools for these determining events in the game should be considered as has been done in other games such as tennis. However, whereas in tennis, lines clearly demarcate court boundaries, the strike zone is highly subjective.
In this regard, the outcome is determined by a putatively objective measure (i.e., number of games won), there are no fan reported measures. Baseball is a sporting event, but it also constitutes entertainment. As such, an assessment of fans seems appropriate. Reference to college football supports this idea. For many years, the national championship was determined by polls of the coaches or sportswriters. While occasionally voting produced discrepancies, the system appeared to be reliable. The more recent BCS series format, while nominally more objective, is nevertheless limited by lack of adequate number of head to head comparisons among teams to support a statistical methodology open to question.
Finally, the conduct of the World Series does not involve an economic analysis. Clearly, a survival analysis of fans is not possible but consideration could be given to a quality of life assessment based on fan reported outcomes. Unfortunately, as noted, the current format does not include assessment of this variable, although, in any such determination, there are many unknowns. Thus, it should be questioned whether fan assessment should be based on time average measures or only the final result. For example, at the time San Francisco led the series, 3 games to 1, it could be argued that fan enjoyment was high and could have balanced their ultimate disappointment. On the other hand, assessment of fan opinion at the end of the series would be consistent with current outcome measures. In this regard, any such economic analysis must include costs associated with any post-game celebration although metrics are lacking in this realm.
Thus, while the Yankees did have more victories than Giants, we do not feel that the data available supports their superiority in a statistically significant fashion. Future series will hopefully utilize more robust outcome measures, including well-validated markers, and determine more clearly the best team in baseball.

Read More..

UPDATE 1-NBA-Warriors beat Hornets at home to stay hot

Top pick Davis gets 15 points, 16 rebounds
* Warriors off to best start since 1991-92
Dec 18 (Reuters) - The Golden State Warriors staved off a late fourth-quarter challenge to beat New Orleans Hornets 103-96 for a successful home return on Tuesday.
David Lee had 26 points and nine rebounds while Klay Thompson added 19 points as the Warriors triumphed in their first game at Oracle Arena since a recent seven-game road trip that saw them finish 6-1.
Despite the Golden State controlling the Hornets for most of the night, New Orleans made a furious run in the fourth to tie the game 92-92 with about four minutes remaining.
Jarrett Jack responded with six free throws during a game-deciding 9-2 stretch to help Golden State (17-8) continue their sparkling start to the season.
"We had a lot of confidence tonight, a lot more confidence than in the past," Lee told reporters after The Warriors were off to their best start since the 1991-1992 season when they started 21-8.
"It's no fun when a team's catching up on you like that, but I think we had confidence we could make plays down the stretch."
One of the younger teams in the league, few expected the Warriors to open the campaign this successfully and they are now just 1 1/2 games behind the Pacific Division lead.
The Hornets (5-19) have lost eight straight, despite getting 28 points off the bench from Ryan Anderson in their latest defeat.
Also a youthful group, New Orleans have endured a tough start and have now dropped 18 of their last 20 games.
Number one overall draft pick Anthony Davis recorded 15 points and 16 rebounds in his fifth game back since missing extensive time with a ankle injury. Greivis Vasquez added 20 and 11 assists.
Golden State grabbed a 10-point lead after the first quarter and were up 90-78 midway through the fourth before the visitors fought back by outscoring the Warriors 14-2 over a three-minute stint.

Read More..

Soccer-Corinthians 1 Al-Ahly 0 - Club World Cup result

TOYOTA, Japan, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Corinthians (Brazil) 1 Al-Ahly (Egypt) 0 - result of Wednesday's first semi-final at the FIFA Club World Cup at Toyota Stadium. Goal: Paolo Guerrero 30 Halftime: 1-0

Read More..

Chelsea are tighter under Benitez, says Cahill

YOKOHAMA, Japan (Reuters) - Chelsea have become more compact defensively under interim manager Rafael Benitez as they prepare for the soccer Club World Cup in Japan, defender Gary Cahill said on Wednesday. The English Premier League side, who face Mexico's Monterrey in their semi-final in Yokohama on Thursday, took four games to register their first win under the Spaniard. However, nine goals in their last two matches have given Chelsea a boost for a tournament they are under pressure to win after an embarrassing group-stage exit from the Champions League. "Since (Benitez) came we have tightened up as a unit defensively and as a team," Cahill told reporters. "That's given us a platform to build on. It was hard at first to get his points across because we were playing games almost every other day. "Now the players are adapting, they know what's expected of them and it's working well at the minute." Cahill said the Chelsea players had realised the significance of the Club World Cup since flying out to Japan following Saturday's 3-1 win at Sunderland. "Since coming here it's sunk in now how big it is," the centre-back said. "It's hard to get into the competition in the first place. "We've come all this way and want to win it. Our Brazilian players have said it's absolutely huge for them and we saw the send-off (Corinthians) got at the airport." Some 15,000 Corinthians fans saw off their team in Sao Paulo, waving banners and letting off fire extinguishers in the airport lobby. DREAM CHANCE Chelsea have Brazilians David Luiz, Ramires and Oscar among their ranks and Benitez echoed Cahill's sentiments about how much the Club World Cup meant to them. "They said it was a dream for them to play in the tournament," said Benitez, who won the trophy with Inter Milan in 2010 and was a runner-up with Liverpool in 2005. "I intend to win the tournament," said Benitez, who replaced the sacked Roberto Di Matteo last month. "I will use the best team possible - you can't leave it for the final. You have to win your semi-final." While club captain John Terry remained in London for treatment on a knee injury, Frank Lampard is likely to play a part after overcoming a nagging calf problem. "Frank Lampard will be available," confirmed Benitez, who knows any slip-ups in Japan could prompt trigger-happy Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich to hire a new coach. "My main focus is to get the players to sleep for more than four hours. "My experience with this tournament is to look at the condition of the players in training. Some are fresher than others. We have plenty of options." With Fernando Torres rediscovering his touch after an alarming drought and scoring four goals in the last two games, Benitez even cracked a joke about Abramovich. Asked if he had received any message from the Russian tycoon, Benitez said: "Not at the moment. But I'm not planning on playing Abramovich at centre-forward; I prefer Torres."

Read More..

Wenger not embarrassed by cup defeat to lowly Bradford

LONDON (Reuters) - Arsenal's quarter-final League Cup exit at the hands of minnows Bradford City left manager Arsene Wenger questioning the power of his strike force but the Frenchman refused to label the defeat as an embarrassment. Despite playing almost an hour with five attackers, Arsenal failed to break down the League Two club who went on to claim Tuesday's match 3-2 on penalties after a stubborn defensive display. Wenger started German international striker Lukas Podolski alongside Gervinho and finished the match with attack-minded players Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Marouane Chamakh and Tomas Rosicky on the pitch, but it was left to captain and centre back Thomas Vermaelen to send the match into extra time when he equalised in the 88th minute. Gervinho squandered a glorious chance in front of goal and Francis Coquelin hit the woodwork in the 38th minute. The end-of-match statistics showed Arsenal had registered 28 shots with 12 on target compared to Bradford's five shots with three on target. "We played with a very offensive team. What is disappointing is (we played) basically over an hour with five strikers and couldn't score," Wenger told club website www.arsenal.com. "We created a lot of different situations. You have to say they defended very well. It's difficult to play this kind of game. "I know people will say: 'it's League Two', but a cup game is a cup game. In football you always have a chance if you give everything." Asked whether he was embarrassed by the defeat, Wenger said: "You feel embarrassed when you don't give everything. I feel the team did fight and will be more disappointed and frustrated. "I cannot fault the effort. We have put the effort in (and) have given absolutely everything until the last minute. It was a typical English cup game and Bradford got on top of us in the end. We missed three penalties - that's a lot to take." Arsenal have not won a major trophy since the FA Cup in 2005 and the latest setback in a disappointing season could trigger another departure at the club with Britain's Telegraph newspaper reporting on Wednesday that Manchester United have their eye on Theo Walcott. Walcott, who did not play against Bradford, has yet to commit to Arsenal after contract talks broke down in August and the 23-year-old becomes a free agent at the end of the season when his current deal expires. Striker Robin Van Persie went to Old Trafford at the start of the season. Arsenal have felt his loss with the Dutchman so far netting 11 goals in the Premier League for his new team. Former Arsenal player Thierry Henry has been linked with another loan return to the Emirates but Wenger said before the match with Bradford that there was no news about his compatriot.

Read More..

Soccer-Scottish Cup 4th round fixtures

Dec 12 (Infostrada Sports) - Fixtures from the Scottish Cup 4th Round matches on Wednesday 4th Round Wednesday, December 12 (GMT) Dumbarton(II) v Hamilton Academical(II) (1930) Postponed 4th Round, replay Wednesday, December 12 (GMT) Arbroath(III) v Celtic (1945) 4th Round Wednesday, December 12 (GMT) Cowdenbeath(II) v St. Johnstone (1945) Postponed 4th Round, second leg Monday, December 17 (GMT) Greenock Morton(II) v Turriff United (1930)

Read More..

UPDATE 2-Soccer-More derby fallout for blighted English game

* Barry charged by FA with abusing match official * Teen arrested over racist tweet (adds background, byline) Dec 11 (Reuters) - The fallout from Sunday's Manchester derby has continued to rumble on with City's Gareth Barry charged with verbally abusing a match official and a 15-year-old arrested for sending a racist tweet to a United player during the match. English football, long seen to have dealt with previous problems with hooliganism and racism, has been hit by a series of recurrences in recent times. The country had hoped the golden glow of a triumphant London Olympics had set an example for a game still recovering from the effects of the John Terry and Luis Suarez racism rows. However, Sunday's pulsating match at City's Etihad Stadium, won by the visitors 3-2 after a late goal by United's Dutch striker Robin van Persie, was marred by crowd disturbances towards the end of the game. Police are trying to identify a supporter who threw a coin at United defender Rio Ferdinand which left him bleeding from a cut about his left eye, while a City supporter ran onto the pitch and had to be restrained by the home side's goalkeeper Joe Hart. Thirteen people were arrested after the match, with nine being charged. There was further action on Monday, with Greater Manchester Police dealing with the latest in a long line of Twitter-related problems in English soccer. "Police investigating a racist tweet sent during Sunday's Manchester derby have made an arrest," a GMP statement said on Tuesday. "An investigation was launched following a message directed at a Manchester United player. A 15-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence on the evening of Monday 10 December 2012." On Tuesday, City midfielder Barry booked himself a date with the Football Association after it announced the England man had been charged for using abusive language towards a match official. MORE ABUSE Since English outrage after their Under-21 team were subjected to racist chanting by Serbian supporters in October, the spotlight has been fixed firmly on the English domestic game as it grapples with seemingly weekly incidents of trouble. Premier League club Norwich City have reported four cases of racist abuse aimed at their Cameroon defender Sebastien Bassong in the past two weeks, coming from both individuals in the crowd and via social media. Referee Mark Clattenburg was cleared of making a racist remark towards Chelsea's John Obi Mikel during a match with United in October, when a Stamford Bridge steward was injured when Chelsea fans vented their anger at United's winning celebrations. Half a seat was thrown onto the pitch while at other matches fans have been seen making monkey impressions in the stands. That same month, Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Chris Kirkland was punched in the face by a Leeds United fan during a second-tier match. All this has occurred as the Terry racism saga came to a conclusion, with the former England captain being banned by the FA for four matches for racially abusing Anton Ferdinand, Rio's brother, a year ago. The Chelsea defender was cleared in a criminal court. VOCAL CRITICISM Lord Herman Ouseley, the chairman of anti-racism group Kick It Out, has accused Chelsea and Liverpool - who last season had striker Suarez banned for eight matches for racially abusing United's Patrice Evra - as well as the Football Association and the Premier League of a failure of "morality" and "leadership". He described the last year as "12 months wasted in hypocrisy" by the authorities. "There is very little morality in football among the top clubs," he told the Guardian newspaper. "Leadership is so important; you have to send a powerful message that racism is completely unacceptable," he said. "But there is a moral vacuum. The big clubs look after their players as assets. There was no bold attitude from them, to say that they would not put up with it." Ouseley went on to say that despite Terry being found guilty and the FA commission expressing doubt on the evidence of team mate Ashley Cole, he felt neither the club, the FA nor the Premier League had made any strong statement of disapproval. "The condemnations have been mealy mouthed," Ouseley said. Following the events in Manchester, authorities have been vocal in their condemnation with the Professional Footballers' Association boss Gordon Taylor suggesting netting should be erected in some parts of stadiums to protect players from objects being hurled from the crowd. Many fans have argued that such an idea would be a retrograde step and regard the netting as an alien concept used in soccer troublespots around the world. However, countries with hooligan problems such as Italy have not been on the front pages of the newspapers as often as England in recent months. The FA's chairman David Bernstein has said fans who "hijack" matches with bad behaviour should be banned for life. (Editing by Mark Meadows; mark.meadows@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542

Read More..

Argentine tennis player Juan Ignacio Chela retires

UENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) -- Juan Ignacio Chela says he is retiring from professional tennis, leaving with six ATP singles titles and three in doubles - all on clay. The 33-year-old Argentine has been hinting at retirement for weeks, and he announced it Monday on his Twitter account. Chela reached three Grand Slam quarterfinals - the French Open in 2004 and 2011, and the U.S. Open in 2007. Known as ''El Flaco'' (The Skinny One), Chela is retiring with his singles ranking at No. 176 and career earnings of $6.5 million.

Read More..