Major League All-Stars take center stage
MILWAUKEE, July 9 (UPI) -- The 2002 Major League All-Star Game was be played Tuesday night at Miller Park in Milwaukee. The best in the sport gathered in the hometown of Commissioner Bud Selig to stage the first All-Star Game in Milwaukee since the National League won, 6-3, in 1975 at County Stadium.
Many of the questions asked of the All-Stars Monday dealt with either labor issues or steroid use, putting a damper on what is supposed to be a time of celebration. The players will try to put the focus back on the field when the American League goes after its sixth straight win in the Mid-Summer Classic.
Curt Schilling of the Arizona Diamondbacks was named as starting pitcher for the National League for the third time in four years.
American League Manager Joe Torre of the New York Yankees gave the starting nod to Derek Lowe of the Boston Red Sox. Lowe made the All-Star team as a closer two years ago and has excelled as a starter this season, tying for the league lead in wins with 12 and leading the league with a 2.36 ERA.
Schilling was named the starter for last year's All-Star Game, but had problems loosening up before the game and was replaced by Arizona teammate Randy Johnson. Schilling, who is 14-3 with a 3.08 ERA, started the All-Star Game in 1999 as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies.
In his first season at the helm of the NL squad, Arizona manager Bob Brenly named six players from his defending world champions. Torre, as has become his trademark over the last couple of seasons, opted to take six Yankees, including his entire starting infield. Catcher Jorge Posada, first baseman Jason Giambi and second baseman Alfonso Soriano were elected to start and Torre added shortstop Derek Jeter, third baseman Robin Ventura and closer Mariano Rivera.
Giambi was the winner of the Home Run Derby contest on Monday night.
Brenly chose Johnson, Schilling and closer Byung-Hyum Kim, but Johnson asked out of the game on Sunday. Outfielder Luis Gonzalez, backup catcher Damian Miller and reserve infielder Junior Spivey are the other Diamondbacks on the NL squad.
Johnson heads an impressive list of All-Star pitchers who will not participate, among them Atlanta's Tom Glavine and Matt Morris of St. Louis, who also were late scratches. Robb Nen of San Francisco, Vicente Padilla of Philadelphia and Mike Remlinger of Atlanta were the late NL replacements.
Boston ace Pedro Martinez turned down an invitation last week.
McEwen gets third stage Tour de France win
REIMS, France, July 9 (UPI) -- Robbie McEwen of Australia outsprinted Erik Zabel of Germany on Tuesday to win the third stage of the Tour de France.
However, Zabel took over the yellow jersey as the overall leader in the world's most famous cycling race.
McEwen, who also beat Italian speedster Mario Cippolini during the Giro d'Italia, moved up into second place overall, trailing Zabel by eight seconds.
Meanwhile, three-time defending champion Lance Armstrong of the United States remains well-placed in fifth, just 17 seconds off Zabel's pace.
Switzerland's Rubens Bertogliati, who entered Tuesday as the overall leader, slipped to third and France's Laurent Jalabert fell one place to fourth.
Riding for the Lotto-Adecco team, the 30-year-old McEwen captured his second career stage victory, winning the 114.95-mile leg from Metz to Reims. He also took the 20th and final stage of the 1999 Tour, crossing the famed finish line on Paris' Champs-Elysees.
The early stages of the 2002 Tour as expected are being dominated by the top sprinters. McEwen and Zabel, who is gunning for an unprecedented seventh green jersey as the Tour's best sprinter, were edged by Oscar Freire of Spain in Saarbrucken, Germany on Monday.
Armstrong remains the strong favorite to win the event again. He simply is looking to stay within striking distance of the leaders until the mountain stages begin with the 10th leg on July 17.
MetroStars Mathis needs knee surgery
SEACAUCUS, N.J., July 9 (UPI) -- Clint Mathis, the MetroStars midfielder-forward who had a goal and an assist for the United States national team during its run to the World Cup quarterfinals, will undergo knee surgery, the MLS club announced Tuesday.
Mathis will have an arthroscopic procedure to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee on Wednesday and will be sidelined up to five weeks. Dr. Bert Mendelbaum, the U.S. national team doctor, will perform the surgery.
The same doctor operated on Mathis in June 2001, when the star player tore his right ACL while training for the U.S. National team. On that occasion, the Conyers, Georgia native missed six months.
According to the MetroStars, the two injuries are "separate and unrelated."
Mathis will undergo his third knee surgery since joining MLS. A Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder in 1999, Mathis underwent successful surgery to repair torn cartilage in his left knee.
Norman upsets Bjorkman
BASTAD, Sweden, July 9 (UPI) -- Magnus Norman, struggling to regain top form since undergoing hip surgery last August, Norman upset fellow Swede Jonas Bjorkman, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, Tuesday in a first-round match at the Swedish Open.
Norman had won just two of nine matches this season and needed a wild card into the main draw of an event he won in 1997 and 2000.
The eighth-seeded Bjorkman, who won his fifth career title in Nottingham last month, has lost in the first round of seven of his past eight tournaments. He received a hero's welcome here on Monday after winning the Wimbledon men's doubles title with Australia's Todd Woodbridge.
Norman beat Bjorkman for the sixth time in seven meetings and will play Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty in the second round. Hrbaty beat Arnaud Di Pasquale of France, 6-3, 6-4, on Tuesday.
Top seed Guillermo Canas of Argentina improved his match record this season to 32-16 with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Sweden's Andreas Vinciguerra.
Third-seeded Carlos Moya and fourth-seeded Tommy Robredo of Spain advanced to the second round on Tuesday. In his first ATP match in a month, Moya defeated Olivier Rochus of Belgium, 6-3, 6-4, and Robredo rallied to beat Kristian Pless of Denmark, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.
Nagyova reaches second round
PALERMO, Italy, July 9 (UPI) -- Second-seeded Henrieta Nagyova of Slovakia cruised into the second round of the the Palermo International claycourt event on Tuesday with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Magdalena Grzybowska of Poland.
Nagyova, the 2000 Palermo champion, is gunning for her first WTA title since 2000, when she captured three of her eight career titles. The world No. 53, Nagyova in the second round will face Russia's Evgenia Koulikovskaya, who defeated compatriot Galina Fokina, 6-4, 6-3.
The three other seeds who took the court on Tuesday also advanced to the last 16. No. 3 Asa Svensson of Sweden defeated Sandra Kleinova of the Czech Republic, 6-4, 6-3; No. 7 Angelika Roesch of the Czech Republic of Germany eased past wild card Nathalie Vierin of Italy, 6-2, 6-4; and No. 8 Celine Beigbeder of France bested Flavia Pennetta of Italy, 6-3, 6-4.
MLB to select baseball's greatest moments
MILWAUKEE, July 9 (UPI) -- Major League Baseball and MasterCard Tuesday unveiled a program that will determine the greatest single moment in history of America's pastime.
With Tuesday night's All-Star Game as a backdrop, Commissioner Bud Selig revealed the 30 finalists for the Memorable Moments program. To kick off the campaign, which will encompass voting around the globe, the league convened many of the players involved in the moments.
Among the nominees were Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak in 1941, Bobby Thompson's dramatic home run 10 years later, Hank Aaron's record-breaking 715th home run, and Reggie Jackson's three home runs in Game Six of the 1977 World Series.
Other events include Lou Gehrig's tearful farewell speech in 1939, Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in 1947 and Satchel Paige being inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1971.
Among the more recent moments are Mark McGwire's 70-home run season in 1998, Barry Bonds breaking that record last season, and the game-winning hit by Luis Gonzalez in Game Seven of the 2001 World Series.
Royals GM gets contract extension
KANSAS CITY, July 9 (UPI) -- Despite being well on the way to an eighth straight losing season, the Kansas City Royals Tuesday signed General Manager Allard Baird to a two-year contract extension through 2004, which coincides with the length of the contract of new Manager Tony Pena.
Baird fired manager Tony Muser on April 29 and replaced him with Pena ahead of such candidates as Buck Showalter and Bucky Dent. Kansas City is 33-52 and just two games ahead of last place Detroit in the American League Central at the All-Star break.
Baird succeeded in signing All-Star first baseman Mike Sweeney to a five-year, $55 million contract before the season, but will be hard pressed to make improvements since team owner David Glass plans to cut the $50 million payroll.
"The payroll is going to decrease. Mr. Glass has said that," Baird said. "How much it will decrease will depend on what happens with the collective bargaining agreement. My job will be to make those decreases and win games."
Baird, 40, may regret two moves in the offseason: signing free agent second baseman Chuck Knoblauch to a one-year, $2 million contract, and acquiring outfielder Michael Tucker, who is making $2.25 million. Knoblauch has played in just 42 games because of injuries and is batting .167, while Tucker is hitting .234 with four homers and 23 RBI.
Bengals dump veteran WR Darnay Scott
CINCINNATI, July 9 (UPI) -- A week after signing Michael Westbrook, the Cincinnati Bengals Tuesday, in a bit of a surprise, waived wide receiver Darnay Scott, who has spent his entire eight-year NFL career with the Bengals.
Scott ranks fourth in club history with 386 receptions and fifth in yards with 5,975. He missed minicamp with a sore left leg and 14 on-field voluntary workouts, and when the team signed Westbrook, who played the last seven years with the Washington Redskins, his fate was essentially sealed.
By waiving Scott, the Bengals will save $3.2 million in salary cap space. That creates more room for the team to negotiate with linebackers Takeo Spikes and Brian Simmons, whose contracts expire after the 2002 season.
The release of Scott comes two days after his 30th birthday, but he will now have the opportunity to shop his services to any team. He had 57 catches for 819 yards and two touchdowns last season after spending the 2000 campaign on injured reserve with a broken leg. The 1994 second-round pick set career highs with 68 receptions for 1,022 yards and seven touchdowns in 1999.
Westbrook, who also recently turned 30, was released by the 'Skins after seven mostly unfulfilling seasons in Washington. He caught 57 passes for 664 yards and four touchdowns last season, making a complete comeback from a torn left ACL that sidelined him for most of the 2000 campaign.
UMBC gives men's hoops coach extension
BALTIMORE, July 9 (UPI) -- The University of Maryland-Baltimore County Tuesday signed men's basketball coach Tom Sullivan to a two-year extension through the 2006-07 season.
Entering his eighth season at UMBC, Sullivan previously had signed a six-year contract through the 2004-2005 season.
Under Sullivan, the Retrievers put together back-to-back winning records over the last two seasons for the first time in their Division I history. UMBC finished 20-9 in 2001-02 and tied for second in the Northeast Conference.
Sullivan, 52, started off 10-44 at UMBC, but is 82-61 over the last five years.
Caps sign free agent Kip Miller
WASHINGTON, July 9 (UPI) -- Free agent center Kip Miller Tuesday reunited with former coach, Bruce Cassidy, by signing a two-year contract with the Washington Capitals.
Miller, 33, played parts of the last two seasons for Cassidy in Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League and International Hockey League before signing with the New York Islanders last January.
In 37 games with the Islanders, Miller recorded seven goals and 17 assists. Despite playing just 41 games with Grand Rapids last season, Miller finished the season as the club's leading scorer with 21 goals and 35 assists.
Al Unser Jr. arrested after domestic spat
INDIANAPOLIS, July 9 (UPI) -- Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser Jr. early Tuesday was charged with domestic battery.
His 38-year-old girlfriend, Jena L. Soto of Albuquerque, N.M., accused the Indy car driver of hitting her and leaving her stranded on the side of Interstate 465. According to Indianapolis Police Department reports, Unser, 40, was arrested at his motor home in the infield at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
He was released from the Marion County jail after posting $30,000 bond and skirted away from reporters by using a tunnel to exit the jail.
According to Sheriff's Department Major Vincent Cascella, a court hearing is set for Wednesday.
Clemson SS wins Golden Spikes award
TUCSON, Ariz., July 9 (UPI) -- Clemson shortstop Khalil Greene, a first-round pick of the San Diego Padres in the June draft, Tuesday was named the winner of the 2002 Golden Spikes Award, honoring the top amateur baseball player in the country.
The presentation of the award, which is sponsored by the Major League Baseball Players Association, will be held at a date and time to be determined at Clemson.
Greene led the Tigers to a third-place finish in the College World Series, batting .470 with a school record 27 home runs and 91 RBI. He became just the second NCAA player to collect 400 hits and broke the NCAA career doubles record with 95.
