Bomb threat highlights stadium security
DETROIT — As they watched a Detroit Tigers baseball game, 40,000 sports fans were unaware that dozens of police, security guards and federal agents were swiftly searching the stadium for a possible bomb after someone phoned in a threat to 911.
Authorities made no announcement over the public address system. Ushers said nothing to the crowd.
Jason Miller, a suburban Detroit rabbi, left the game against the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night and didn’t learn about the threat until the following day.
“I immediately started thinking ‘What if?’” he said. “What if they had to evacuate?”
Miller’s concerns highlighted a vexing question for organizers of major public events: Should large crowds be informed about unconfirmed threats to their safety? Or is better to keep the matter quiet until investigators can check into it?
If authorities “evacuate every time there is a bomb threat, there will be a lot of empty places,” said Steve Layne of Layne Consultants International, a Denver-based firm that specializes in the protection of libraries, museums and other cultural institutions and public facilities.
“You can’t just pull a fire alarm and yell run. An evacuation in the middle of a ball game does cause some problems. You’re running the risk of causing injuries.”
The threat at Comerica Park was the third bomb threat to a Detroit landmark in less than a week. On Monday, someone claimed to have placed a bomb on the Ambassador Bridge linking Detroit with Windsor, Ontario, in Canada.
And on July 12, a similar threat forced the closing of the Detroit Windsor international tunnel beneath the river. In each case, emergency procedures went off without a hitch, and no bombs were found.
But Miller wasn’t satisfied, saying fans “had a right to know what happened.”
Strained Achilles lands DH Ortiz on DL
BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox placed designated hitter David Ortiz on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right Achilles tendon before Wednesday night’s game against the Chicago White Sox.
Manager Bobby Valentine said a second opinion concurred with the team’s original report. Ortiz was injured rounding second base in Monday night’s win.
Valentine said it would be a week to 10 days before Ortiz resumes playing, so the team elected to put him on the DL.
Ortiz has 23 homers and 58 RBI, and is currently on an 11-game hitting streak. He also has at least a hit and a walk in 10 straight games, breaking Ted Williams’ club record set in 1950.
To fill his spot on the roster, Boston recalled Mauro Gomez from Triple-A Pawtucket.
Bartoli earns 2nd-round win over King
CARLSBAD, Calif. — Top- seeded Marion Bartoli overcame her shaky serve to hold off American Vania King for a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 second-round win in the Mercury Insurance Open on Wednesday night.
Bartoli, ranked 10th in the world, had 18 double faults and was successful on just 55 percent of her first services in the 3-hour, 10-minute match. She also had her serve broken eight times.
“When you are going through those kinds of patches, you still have to find a way to win,” Bartoli said.
Bartoli was treated by the trainer when she was trailing 4-3 in the final set. She said she started having a back problem in the first set that began to hurt her left hip and affect her serve.
“The pain started to kill my motion on the serve,” Bartoli said. “It was affecting me a lot and affecting me on my baseline game as well.”
King hit a higher percentage on her first serves (68 percent) and had just three double-faults, but had her serve broken nine times.
Bartoli, who had a first-round bye, won the match when King hit a forehand into the net.
Mathieu ousts Wawrinka at Swiss Open
GSTAAD, Switzerland — Paul-Henri Mathieu of France beat Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 7-6 (3), 7-6 (8) at the Swiss Open on Wednesday to reach his first quarterfinal this season.
Mathieu, who was injured throughout 2011, earned the key points with the third-seeded Wawrinka converting just two of nine break chances in the second-round match.
A former top-20 player, Mathieu is ranked No. 172 after dropping into the high 700s.
Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil downed fourth-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, and fifth-seeded Feliciano Lopez of Spain rallied to beat Czech Jan Hajek, 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-4.
Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis saved 15 of 17 break points to edge Benoit Paire of France 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-4.
In the first round, seventh-seeded Colombian Santiago Giraldo beat Swiss wild card Henri Laaksonen 6-2, 6-2.
Haas beats Simon to advance in Hamburg
HAMBURG, Germany — Veteran Tommy Haas rallied to upset defending champion Gilles Simon 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 Wednesday for a place in the quarterfinals of the German Tennis Championships.
Haas beat Roger Federer for the title in Halle, Germany, in June and is looking to become the first home player to win the tournament since Michael Stich in 1993.
Haas will next meet another German, Florian Mayer, who routed Robin Haase 6-2, 6-1.
Fourth-seeded Marin Cilic stayed on course for a second title in two weeks by dismissing Federico Delbonis 6-3, 6-2.
Albert Ramos beat Lukas Rosol 7-6 (8), 4-6, 6-3.
From wire sources
