Selig wins 2-yr. extension as commissioner
NEW YORK, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- Bud Selig has won an extension as Major League Baseball commissioner in a unanimous vote of team owners, MLB announced Monday.
The owners voted 30-0 -- during a 10-day balloting period that began at the Jan. 12 quarterly owners meetings -- to extend Selig's contract through the 2014 season.
Selig will be 80 when his term expires Dec. 31, 2014.
"It is a great honor to have the unanimous support of the clubs," he said. "I am thankful for their confidence, and I look forward to representing and continuing the remarkable growth of this great game in the years ahead."
Should the former Milwaukee Brewers owner complete a full term, he will have served as baseball commissioner for 22 years -- longer than any commissioner in history except the first one, Kennesaw Mountain Landis, who held the post for 24 years before his death in 1944.
Yanks, Mariners, finalize deal for Pineda
NEW YORK, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- The New York Yankees Monday finalized a deal to obtain all-star pitcher Michael Pineda from the Seattle Mariners for top catching prospect Jesus Montero.
The previously reported deal will send the 6-foot-7 Pineda and right-hander Jose Campos from Seattle to the Yankees for the highly touted Montero.
Right-hander Hector Noesi is also heading to the Mariners.
Pineda, 23, turned in a memorable rookie season for Seattle in 2011, finishing with a 9-10 record and a 3.74 earned run average over 28 starts.
Montero was ranked as the third-best prospect in baseball before last season. The 22-year-old hit .328 with four home runs in 18 games for the Yankees as a September call-up.
Ovechkin suspended 3 games for illegal hit
NEW YORK, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- Washington Capitals superstar forward Alex Ovechkin will miss three games after being suspended for making an illegal hit, the NHL announced Monday.
Brendan Shanahan, head of the NHL's department of player safety, said Ovechkin left his feet while targeting the head of Pittsburgh defenseman Zbynek Michalek in the second period of Sunday 's 4-3 overtime Capitals loss.
"Although Michalek's shoulder might have been the initial point of contact for this hit, the act of launching causes contact to Michalek's head," Shanahan said. "Often on big hits or collisions, a player's feet will come off slightly ... this, however, is not one of those occasions."
Shanahan said Ovechkin acted recklessly by driving upward and launching himself into the air -- overriding his claim that he didn't mean to make contact with Michalek's head.
Michalek suffered no apparent injury after the hit.
Ovechkin is having a rough season by his standards, notching 20 goals and 39 points in 47 games.
Bruins' Thomas skips White House event
WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas said Monday he skipped the Boston Bruins' celebratory visit to the White House due to his political beliefs.
Thomas, considered one of the best goalies in the game, was absent when President Barack Obama congratulated the Bruins on their 2010-11 NHL Stanley Cup championship.
Thomas, an avowed political conservative, said in a statement he made the move because of his view the U.S. government has "grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People."
The statement went on, "This is being done at the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial level. This is in direct opposition to the Constitution and the Founding Fathers vision for the Federal government."
The goalie didn't single out Obama in his statement, saying the move wasn't "about politics or party, as in my opinion both parties are responsible for the situation we are in as a country."
Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli told Yahoo! Sports he had tried without success to talk Thomas out of skipping the ceremonial event but said the team would not discipline him.
