NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Former New York Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert, longtime umpire Hank O’Day and barehanded catcher Deacon White were elected to the Hall of Fame on Monday for their excellence through the first half of the 20th century. Ruppert,
Ruppert, O’Day, White
elected to baseball Hall
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Former New York Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert, longtime umpire Hank O’Day and barehanded catcher Deacon White were elected to the Hall of Fame on Monday for their excellence through the first half of the 20th century.
The trio was picked by the Hall’s pre-integration panel — part of what once was known as the Veterans Committee — and gave the shrine exactly 300 members.
The announcement was made at baseball’s winter meetings. Induction ceremonies will be held July 28 in Cooperstown, N.Y. They will be honored along with anyone chosen in January in voting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
Ruppert bought the Yankees in 1915 and soon transformed them into baseball’s most dominant team. He acquired Babe Ruth from the Boston Red Sox, built Yankee Stadium and presided over the club’s first six World Series championships.
O’Day umpired in 10 World Series, including the first one in 1903. He worked 35 years and made one of the most famous calls in the game’s history, ruling Fred Merkle out in a 1908 play that long lived in baseball lore. He is the 10th umpire to go into the Hall.
White played from 1871-1890, starting out as a catcher without a glove and later moving to third base. He was a three-time RBIs leader, once topping the league with 49 RBIs when baseball hardly resembled the game it is today.
Vilma’s testimony
ends latest bounty hearings
NEW ORLEANS — The latest round of appeal hearings in the NFL’s bounty investigation concluded Monday evening following witness appearances by former Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress, Saints assistant head coach Joe Vitt and linebacker Jonathan Vilma.
Now Vilma, Saints defensive end Will Smith and two other players await a ruling by former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue on whether player suspensions should be reduced. If they don’t like how that turns out, they could still get relief from a federal judge in New Orleans who has been presiding over lawsuits challenging the way the league has handled the probe and resulting discipline.
Vilma sounded hopeful that Tagliabue, who has been appointed to oversee the players’ latest appeals to the NFL, would bring the process to a fair resolution.
“I think it did go well,” Vilma, wearing a gray suit, said as he left a downtown high-rise where Monday’s hearing was held. Vilma added that Tagliabue “seems a little bit more receptive” to his version of events than Commissioner Roger Goodell did. The linebacker declined further comment, citing Tagliabue’s directive that the parties involved keep details of the hearings confidential.
There were also several days of witness appearances in Washington, D.C., last week.
The hearings were scheduled to conclude in New Orleans by today, but they ended Monday evening after about 10 hours of testimony from the three witnesses.
An Englishman gets
his card in the last Q-school
LA QUINTA, Calif. — Two years after playing for Europe on a winning Ryder Cup team, Ross Fisher of England endured six stressful days to earn a PGA Tour card.
In the final Q-school where players could go straight to the PGA Tour, Fisher easily finished among the top 25 on Monday to get his card. D.H. Lee of South Korea birdied his last three holes for a 67 to win Q-school, giving him the highest priority ranking for next year and a $50,000 check.
Erik Compton, who has gone through two heart transplants, made it back to the tour by tying for seventh.
The heartbreak this year belonged to Edward Loar, who started the final round two shots out of the lead. He finished double bogey-bogey and missed by two shots.
Eagles’ Reid names QB Foles starter rest of season
PHILADELPHIA — Nick Foles is the quarterback of the present for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Coach Andy Reid said Foles will remain the starter for the rest of the season, even when Michael Vick returns from a concussion. The Eagles (3-9) have lost eight straight games, a strong factor in Reid’s decision.
“No. 1, I just think he’s playing well enough to where I think he can win football games for us,” Reid said Monday. “And No. 2, I think where we sit at this position in the season, I think it’s the right thing to do.”
Reid made the announcement a day after Foles had his best performance in a 38-33 loss at Dallas on Sunday night. Foles, a third-round pick, has started the last three games since Vick was injured on Nov. 11.
Foles was 22 of 34 for 251 yards and one touchdown against the Cowboys. He has thrown for 793 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions and has a passer rating of 73.3.
Dykstra sentenced
in bankruptcy fraud case
LOS ANGELES — Former All-Star outfielder Lenny Dykstra was sentenced Monday to 6½ months in prison for hiding baseball gloves and other heirlooms from his playing days that were supposed to be part of his bankruptcy filing, capping a tumultuous year of legal woes.
U.S. District Judge Dean Pregerson weighed Dykstra’s battle with drugs and alcohol versus the crimes he committed and opted to give the ex-big leaguer a lenient prison term but saddled him with 500 hours of community service. He also ordered Dykstra to pay $200,000 in restitution.
Dykstra, 49, apologized for his actions and promised to turn his life around.
Pregerson initially issued a 14-month sentence, but revised his ruling after he noted Dykstra had already served seven months in federal custody awaiting sentencing. Dykstra was already behind bars after pleading no contest to grand theft auto and providing a false financial statement.
By wire sources
