Hall of Fame jockey Shoemaker dead at 72
LEXINGTON, Ky, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Hall of Fame jockey Bill Shoemaker, who ranked second all-time in wins in Thoroughbred racing history, died Sunday. He was 72.
Shoemaker died in his sleep at his suburban home near Santa Anita racetrack, according to Shoemaker's longtime friend Mike Wellman.
"He died peacefully in his sleep," Wellman said. "His attendant went in to check on him at 6:30 this morning and he was gone. He was a legendary rider and a great friend. He will be missed by so many people."
Nicknamed "The Shoe," Shoemaker racked up 8,833 victories. He held the all-time record until Laffit Pincay Jr. broke the mark in 1999.
"This is a very sad day time for me," Pincay said from his home in Arcadia. "We were good friends for many, many years. He was my idol when I came to this country and he was always a class-A guy."
Shoemaker was paralyzed from the neck down in an auto accident in 1991. He trained horses from a wheelchair until he retired in 1997. He also spent his final years working on the Shoemaker Foundation, his non-profit organization dedicated to people in the horse racing industry who have had catastrophic accidents.
Former Padres owner Joan Kroc dies at 75
SAN DIEGO, Calif., Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Joan Kroc, who owned the San Diego Padres for six years in the 1980s, died Sunday of brain cancer. She was 75.
Kroc died at her home in Rancho Santa Fe. She succumbed to the disease after a brief battle.
Kroc's husband, Ray, bought the Padres in 1974 and owned the team until his death in 1984, when Joan took over. Ray Kroc was best known as the entrepeneur who created the McDonald's fast-food chain.
In Joan Kroc's first season as the Padres' owner, the team made its first World Series appearance, falling to the Detroit Tigers in five games.
The Padres finished three games behind the San Francisco Giants in the National League West Division in 1989, one of San Diego's four winning seasons while she owned the team.
Before the 1990 season, Kroc agreed to sell the team to a group of 15 businessmen led by Tom Werner. That group sold to the current owner, John Moores, in 1994.
After getting out of the baseball business, Kroc became a philanthropist. She gave $100 million to the Salvation Army for a recently opened community center in 1998 and also gave $25 million to the University of San Diego.
Florida forces Game Six; Yankees-Red Sox rained out
MIAMI, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Josh Beckett tossed a 4-0 triumph over the Chicago Cubs in Game Five of the National League Championship Series, keeping his Florida Marlins from elimination.
Beckett forced the series back to Chicago, where the Cubs will try to clinch their first World Series berth since 1945. Chicago will ace and Cy Young Award contender Mark Prior for that one.
But on Sunday, Beckett showed why he also is considered among the league's elite young righthanders.
The No. 2 overall pick in the 1999 draft, Beckett has battled injury problems -- particularly blisters -- over the last two seasons. In Game Five, he displayed what he is capable of when he is healthy, holding Chicago hitless through 4 2/3 innings and posting his first career shutout.
On the six-year anniversary of possibly the greatest postseason pitching performance in Marlins history -- Livan Hernandez's 15-strikeout gem against the Atlanta Braves in Game Five of the NLCS -- Beckett made a little history of his own, striking out 11 and walking just one. He allowed just two singles, a flare by Alex Gonzalez in the fifth and a base hit by Moises Alou in the seventh.
"Maybe in my career, except for a couple of no-hitters I was in behind Kevin Brown and Al Leiter, (that was as dominant as you can be)," said left fielder Jeff Conine, one of three Marlins to hit homers. "Two singles - that's about as dominant as you can get."
MLB fines four for ALCS incident
NEW YORK, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Major League Baseball issued fines for antics in Game Three of the American League Championship Series.
Amounts of the fine against Manny Ramirez and Pedro Martinez of the Boston Red Sox and Karim Garcia and bench coach Don Zimmer of the New York Yankees were undisclosed, according to a statement from Bob Watson, MLB vice president of on-field operations. No players or coaches were suspended.
The fines were levied in response to the fourth-inning brawl on Saturday. A separate altercation involving Garcia, Yankees reliever Jeff Nelson and Red Sox groundskeeper Paul Williams in the bullpen in the ninth inning remains under review.
Chiefs, Panthers unbeaten
By United Press International
Even without their usual touchdown from Dante Hall, the Kansas City Chiefs remained undefeated.
Peyton Manning pulled off another fourth-quarter comeback but couldn't keep the Indianapolis Colts from falling 23-20 to the Carolina Panthers in overtime.
Trent Green passed for 400 yards and three touchdowns, including a 51-yard throw to Eddie Kennison in overtime, as the Chiefs (6-0) rallied from a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit Sunday and defeated the Green Bay Packers, 40-34, in Week Six of the NFL.
The idle Minnesota Vikings (5-0) are the NFL's only other unbeaten team.
Steve McNair enjoyed a memorable Sunday, passing for a career-high 421 yards and three touchdowns in the Tennessee Titans' 38-17 rout of the Houston Texans.
Matched up against Packers star quarterback Brett Favre, Green engineered four scoring drives in the fourth quarter when the Chiefs rallied from a 31-14 deficit.
Ohio St, Florida St fall from top-five
MCLEAN, Va., Oct. 13 (UPI) -- "Separation Saturday" parted Ohio State and Florida State from the top five in the latest USA Today/ESPN football coaches poll.
Defending national champion Ohio State (5-1) had its 19-game winning streak stopped with a 17-10 Big Ten Conference loss to Wisconsin on Saturday. The Buckeyes dropped five spots from third in the poll to No. 8.
After snapping the nation's longest winning streak, the Badgers (6-1) ascended 10 spots to No. 12.
Florida State (5-1) endured a 22-14 defeat to rival Miami (6-0) and slipped two spots to No. 7.
After recording their 38th straight regular-season win, the Hurricanes remained in second place with five first-place votes and 1,514 points.
Oklahoma (6-0) remains at No. 1 after a 65-13 rout of Texas, earning 58 first-place nods and 1,570 points.
Virginia Tech (6-0), which pounded Syracuse, 51-7, moved up one spot to third, while Southern California (5-1) and Georgia (5-1) moved into the top-five. Washington State (5-1) climbed six rungs to No. 6, as did No. 9 Iowa (5-1).
Louisiana State (5-1) fell to the No. 10 after losing to Florida on Saturday and is followed by Arkansas (4-1), Wisconsin, Texas Christian (6-0), and Nebraska (5-1), which plummeted seven positions after a 41-24 loss to Missouri.
Purdue (5-1) rose five spots to No. 15, ahead of Northern Illinois (6-0), Michigan (5-2), Michigan State (6-1), Minnesota (6-1), Texas (4-2), Oregon State (5-1) and Tennessee (4-2).
Texas Tech (5-1), Oklahoma State (5-1) and Auburn (4-2) entered the poll at positions Nos. 23-25.
Pittsburgh (3-2), a 20-14 loser to Notre Dame, Kansas State (4-3) and Virginia (4-2) dropped out of the poll.
