Interleague
rivalry games to be reduced in 2013
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The number of games between interleague rivals such as the Yankees and Mets, Cubs and White Sox, and Dodgers and Angels will be reduced under Major League Baseball’s new schedule format for 2013.
Players’ union head Michael Weiner said Tuesday that in most instances the rivalry games will be cut from six to either four or three. The new format was caused by next year’s move of the Houston Astros to the American League, creating two 15-team circuits and the need for interleague play throughout the season.
Teams in a division will play three games each against teams in another division: for example, the NL East vs. the AL Central. The interleague rivalries will be either one three-game series or a home-and-home of two games each, Weiner said.
There will be an exception in years the rivals play the opposite division — for instance, the Cubs and White Sox would play six times in years the NL Central plays the AL Central.
Baseball’s new labor contract says teams will play up to 20 interleague games a year. Weiner says the total is likely to be close to the maximum.
A draft schedule has been given to the union, which is studying it before MLB finalizes it ahead of an anticipated September release.
Because of the two 15-team leagues, two clubs will have to open and close with interleague games.
PSU report on sex-abuse scandal due out Thursday
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — A potentially explosive report into whether football coach Joe Paterno and other top Penn State officials took steps to conceal that former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was a child molester will be released Thursday — online for all to see, officials said Tuesday.
Attorneys for the university’s deposed president, meanwhile, broke a monthslong silence and denied suggestions that Graham Spanier participated in a cover-up with the image of Penn State and its powerful and lucrative football program at stake.
The internal report by former FBI chief Louis Freeh is expected to reveal how the university treated Sandusky, Paterno’s one-time heir apparent, after top administrators fielded complaints about his encounters with young boys more than a decade ago. It is also expected to cast light on how the Hall of Fame coach, who died in January, exerted control over the football program while Sandusky worked under him and after Sandusky retired from coaching.
And the report could influence how Paterno is remembered while affecting an ongoing NCAA probe into the school’s conduct and the criminal cases against two Penn State administrators.
Freeh’s spokesman said the report will be published online at 9 a.m. EDT Thursday. Investigators will hold a news conference at 10 a.m. in Philadelphia to discuss its findings and recommendations.
The university trustees, who are meeting in Scranton on Thursday, said they will respond shortly thereafter.
MLB’s HGH tests could be expanded
to in-season
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Major League Baseball could start in-season testing for human growth hormone next year.
Each player was given a blood test for HGH during spring training as part of the labor contract that was agreed to in November, which allows blood testing during the offseason and spring training, and if there is reasonable cause.
Union head Michael Weiner, speaking to the Baseball Writers’ Association of America before Tuesday night’s All-Star game, said players will be discussing whether to expand testing to the regular season in 2013.
The blood testing that began in spring training could be expanded to the postseason, but that doesn’t appear likely to happen this year.
Baseball cards in Ohio attic might fetch millions
TOLEDO, Ohio — Family members cleaning out their grandfather’s attic in Ohio have stumbled across a find that could be worth millions: century-old baseball cards of such Hall of Famers as Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner and Cy Young.
And the cards are in superb condition.
Experts say it’s one of the biggest, most exciting finds in the history of sports card collecting.
Two cousins came across the cards from 1910 in a soot-covered box last February in the Ohio town of Defiance. They say the cards belonged to their grandfather, who died in the 1940s.
The best of the bunch — 37 of the 700 or so cards — are expected to bring a total of $500,000 when they are sold at auction in August.
Hoops coach McCaffery signs 7-year deal with Iowa
DES MOINES, Iowa — It took just two seasons for Fran McCaffery to take the downtrodden Iowa program and make it a respectable one.
On Tuesday, the university showed it believes McCaffery can turn the Hawkeyes into the Big Ten contenders they used to be.
Iowa athletic director Gary Barta announced McCaffery has signed a new, seven-year deal with a raise. McCaffery will be paid at least $1.66 million a year with a base salary of $1.3 million starting next season.
McCaffery, who said he’s “ecstatic” over the new deal, could make up to $1.86 million per season if the Hawkeyes reach the NCAA tournament, which they haven’t done since 2006.
Rashard Lewis decides to sign
with Heat
MIAMI — Rashard Lewis is joining the NBA champion Miami Heat.
Agent Tony Dutt said the free agent forward and the Heat agreed to terms on Tuesday, and Lewis is expected to sign his contract Wednesday in Miami. Lewis becomes the second addition for the Heat through free agency, after Ray Allen agreed to terms last week.
The 6-foot-10 Lewis was waived earlier this offseason by New Orleans, who exercised a $13.7 million buyout clause in his contract.
By wire sources
