LITTLE ROCK — Field grows by one for prez races
The Washington Nationals’ newest racing president may have to drop a few pounds to be competitive.
The team said Saturday that William Howard Taft will join George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt this season for the fourth-inning race by 12-foot mascots at Nationals Park.
Taft was the portliest president at more than 300 pounds. He became the first president to throw out a ceremonial first pitch, at Washington’s Griffith Stadium on April 14, 1910.
After losing more than 500 times since the team began the races in 2006, Teddy won for the first time on the final day of last year’s regular season and then won again during the National League division series against St. Louis.
Bat-ter up
A bat caused some anxious moments during Saturday’s basketball game between Providence and Marquette, sending coaches, players and referees scrambling and delaying the game on a number of occasions.
The bat first appeared with about 11 minutes left, as it began flying near the court and circling over the crowd. At several points, it swooped near the court, sending referees and players scrambling - while the original Batman theme played on the loudspeaker.
The game resumed following an initial 4-minute delay, but play was stopped again seconds later as the bat nearly flew into the side of Providence center Sidiki Johnson’s head, sending him to the court.
The bat continued to circle the court for the next few minutes. At one point, Providence Coach Ed Cooley menacingly held up his clipboard waiting to swat it out of the air, and Marquette’s Jamil Wilson threw a towel in the air trying to trap it.
The bat appeared several more times during the game. With 8:52 left, it flew towards a group of players near the Marquette bench, and they jumped out of the way.
With 7:36 left, arena officials turned off the lights to try and “get rid of the bat,” public address announcer Bob Brainerd told the crowd. The lights stayed out for several minutes, and hundreds in the crowd waved their lit mobile phones in air, like a concert, as Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” played over the sound system. That seemed to do the trick, as the bat was not immediately seen again.
Missing in action
New York Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman thinks there’s “a chance” Alex Rodriguez could miss the whole season.
And if he’s not careful, Rodriguez could go from being known as A-Rod to AWOL.
Going postal
NBC’s Jay Leno, on speculation the U.S. Postal Service will sue to get its cycling sponsorship money back: “Lance Armstrong could end up as broke as the post office.”
Quote of the day
“We’ve got to play with heart. If we don’t have heart, no matter what we do or no matter where we go, we’re just going to be homebodies.” Arkansas forward Marshawn Powell on the Razorbacks’ troubles on the road
Sports, Pages 22 on 01/27/2013