Off the wire

BASEBALL Ryan rejoins Astros

Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan has rejoined the Houston Astros as the team’s executive advisor. Ryan worked as a special assistant to the general manager in Houston from 2004 until he became president of the Texas Rangers in 2008. He added CEO to his title with the Rangers in 2011 and remained in that position until he stepped down in October. Ryan will serve as an advisor to owner Jim Crane, general manager Jeff Luhnow and his son and president of business operations Reid Ryan. The elder Ryan, who played for the Astros for nine seasons, is major league baseball’s all-time strikeout leader and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1999. The team says Ryan will join the team at spring training in the next few weeks.

Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander said he threw about 20 pitches off a mound Monday. Verlander spoke with reporters Tuesday and said he didn’t have any pain in his groin and hip. The right hander had surgery on Jan. 9. The 30-year-old Verlander said he hurt his groin doing squats, and that he also had what was believed to be a pre-existing abdominal problem. Verlander says he would like to pitch in five spring training games, if possible, but there is also a plan if he is unable to do that. Verlander went 13-12 with a 3.46 ERA last year for the American League Central champions.

Radio host and former St. Louis Cardinals player Jack Clark has apologized for and retracted comments he made last year implying that Albert Pujols used steroids. Clark, who played for the Cardinals in 1985-87 and was a four-time All-Star, issued a public retraction Monday night for his comments made about Pujols, a nine-time All-Star, who played for the Cardinals from 2001-11 before signing a 10-year, $240 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels. Pujols sued Clark for defamation in October after Clark made the comments in August on the The King and the Ripper Show. Clark said then he knew that Pujols was “a juicer,” a term for a ballplayer who uses steroids or another banned performance-enhancing drug. In the lawsuit against Clark, Pujols, who has denied using performance enhancing drugs, described Clark’s assertions as “malicious, reckless and outrageous falsehoods.” Pujols sought unspecified damages that would be donated to charity and asked for a determination and declaration that Clark’s statements are false. Pujols said he has “accepted Jack Clark’s retraction and apology to resolve my lawsuit against him and clear my name.”

TENNIS

Sock, Baghdatis advance

American Jack Sock and Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus moved into the second round of the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships Tuesday at The Racquet Club of Memphis. Sock, who reached the quarterfinals of last year’s tournament, advanced with a 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (5) victory over France’s Adrian Mannarino. Baghdatis won his first match of the year in three tries by defeating American qualifier Rajeev Ram. Also advancing was No. 8 seed Mikhail Kukushkin and Croatian Ivo Karlovic. Japan’s Kei Nishikori, ranked 16th in the world, is the top seed in the tournament and will play his first match Wednesday.

Ninth-seeded Ana Ivanovic of Serbia advanced to the second round of the Qatar Open on Tuesday after Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova retired from their match with a right knee injury. Wildcard entrant Alisa Kleybanova of Russia also advanced after her opponent retired. At 5-5 in the first set, 10th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, the recent Australian Open finalist, retired from the match with a gastrointestinal illness. Karin Knapp, who led Italy to a 3-1 Fed Cup victory over the United States in Cleveland at the weekend, was told she had to be in Doha to play a first round match on Tuesday. Knapp started her journey early Monday morning and after going from Cleveland to Washington, D.C., and then to Dubai, she landed in Doha on Tuesday in time to play her afternoon match. Knapp played impressive tennis to defeat Caroline Garcia of France 6-4, 6-1 straight off the plane.

FOOTBALL Richt restructures

Georgia coach Mark Richt has given running backs coach Bryan McClendon the additional title of recruiting coordinator. McClendon was named national recruiter of the year this week by 247sports and Scout.com. McClendon, who played for Georgia in 2002-2005, joined the staff in 2009. Richt on Tuesday also announced he has restructured special teams duties into offensive and defensive segments. Tight ends coach John Lilly will coordinate the offensive special teams, including kickoff return, punt return and extra point/ field goal. Inside linebackers coach Mike Ekeler will handle the defensive special teams.

Vanderbilt has hired Brett Maxie as a defensive backs coach and Marc Lubick as a wide receivers coach. The school announced their hirings Tuesday in a university release. Maxie is a 16-year NFL coaching veteran who spent the past two years as the Tennessee Titans’ secondary coach. Maxie played 13 years as an NFL safety with New Orleans, Atlanta, Carolina and San Francisco. Lubick spent the past four years on the Houston Texans’ staff. Vanderbilt also announced that Gerry Gdowski, who joined the staff last month, will serve as tight ends coach. Tyler Barnes has been promoted to director of player personnel.

BASEBALL Tanaka’s introduction ‘Steinbrenner big’

NEW YORK - Masahiro Tanaka was introduced by the New York Yankees on Tuesday after chartering a Boeing 787 Dreamliner for his trip from Tokyo to New York.

The 25-year-old right hander agreed Jan. 22 to a $155 million, seven-year contract and stopped in New York for a news conference at Yankee Stadium en route to the team’s spring training complex in Tampa, Fla., where workouts start this weekend.

Tanaka put on his No. 19 jersey and, speaking in English, said “I’m very happy to be a Yankee.”

Tanaka charted the Japan Airlines plane, which seats about 200, at what was reported to be a cost of about $200,000 for a flight said to include five passengers and his poodle Haru.

New York held the news conference in its Legends Suite Club rather than its regular news conference room adjacent to the clubhouse. Yankees spokesman Jason Zillo said it was the team’s most-attended news conference since Hideki Matsui was introduced before the 2003 season.

“This is Yankee big,” General Manager Brian Cashman said. “This is Steinbrenner big.”

Tanaka was 24-0 with a 1.27 ERA last year, leading the Rakuten Golden Eagles to the Japan Series title.

He said his first meal in New York was sushi from a grocery store.

Tanaka spoke with Matsui and understands the Yankees’ win-or else mentality.

“I’ve heard that this place can be very harsh to you at times,” he said through a translator. “I just wanted to put myself in this environment and see where I could get to with my ability.”