BASEBALL
Piersall, 87, dies
Former major leaguer Jim Piersall, who bared his soul about his struggles with mental illness in his book Fear Strikes Out, has died. He was 87. The Boston Red Sox, for whom Piersall played for seven of his 17 seasons in the majors, say Piersall died Saturday at a care facility in Wheaton, Ill., after a monthslong illness. Piersall played 56 games in the majors in 1952 before being admitted to a mental hospital with what was later diagnosed as bipolar disorder. He wrote in his book that he had almost no memory of the season or his time in the hospital. He returned to the majors the next year, going public to shatter society's stereotypes of the mentally ill. An outfielder known more for his fielding skills than his bat, he played in the majors until 1967 for the Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators, New York Mets and Los Angeles/California Angels. He compiled a lifetime .272 average, played in two All-Star Games and won two Gold Gloves. Following his playing career, he tried his hand at broadcasting. He was fired from the Chicago White Sox radio crew in 1983 for being too critical of the players and manager Tony LaRussa on air.
Manfra calls last game
Longtime Baltimore Orioles radio announcer Fred Manfra has called his final game. Sunday's game between the Orioles and the Red Sox was Manfra's last game. He had previously announced he was stepping down from full-time broadcasting duties because of health problems. The Baltimore Sun reported Manfra plans to move to Florida to be closer to his daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren. Manfra said he plans to attend Orioles games when the team travels to Tampa. Manfra started in the full-time broadcast role for the Orioles in 1993, though he held a fill-in play-by-play role for WBAL's broadcasts in the 1970s. "I'm gonna miss him," said Orioles Manager Buck Showalter.
ATHLETICS
Seattle group: No arena
One of two groups that submitted plans for a possible renovation of KeyArena is withdrawing from the process, citing issues with how the city has conducted the process. Seattle Partners -- a group that combined arena giant AEG and Hudson Pacific Properties -- announced Sunday it is pulling out of the process after submitting plans in April for a proposed $521 million renovation of KeyArena. Seattle Partners was one of two groups to submit proposals for renovation of the arena. Oak View Group was the other group to submit a proposal -- a $564 million plan -- and has appeared to be the favorite in the process. In a letter to Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, Seattle Partners said it believes it has the best plan, but the city has "failed to conduct a sufficiently thorough, objective and transparent process to properly evaluate the respective strengths and weaknesses of the two proposals."
MOTOR SPORTS
Rahal completes sweep
Graham Rahal completed a doubleheader sweep in the Detroit Grand Prix on Sunday to become IndyCar's first two-time winner this season. Rahal's Honda-power car finished 1.17 seconds ahead of Josef Newgarden's Chevrolet, a day after getting to the checkered flag six-plus seconds ahead of the competition. The Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver pulled away for the victory after a single-file final restart with two laps to go in the 70-lap race on Belle Isle course. Rahal became the first to sweep in Detroit since it began hosting doubleheaders in 2013. He became the first to win two IndyCar races in a weekend since Scott Dixon pulled off the feat four years ago in Toronto. A red flag stopped the race for 18 minutes after 67 laps because Spencer Pigot's car had a mechanical failure. The Ed Carpenter Racing driver got out of his smoke-filled car after a yellow flag came out because James Hinchcliffe's car stalled. On Saturday, Rahal, from New Albany, Ohio, became the first American to win in Detroit since Michael Andretti in 1996. He has six career victories, five in two-plus seasons. Will Power of Team Penske was third Sunday, giving Chevy a better showing than on Saturday when Honda swept the podium near General Motors' world headquarters.
Force tops in New England
Brittany Force won the NHRA New England Nationals in Epping, N.H., on Sunday for her first Top Fuel victory of the season and fourth overall. The daughter of Funny Car star John Force, she beat Antron Brown in the final with a 3.716-second pass at 328.62 mph. "We figured things out in Topeka [in the last event] and I felt like we had our team back so we knew our first win would be right around the corner for us," Force said. "The key to it all is our team sticking together and not giving up, and it definitely paid dividends today." Brown had a 3.728 at 327.98. Matt Hagan won in Funny Car, and Erica Enders topped the Pro Stock field. Hagan raced to his third victory of the season and 25th overall, beating Courtney Force -- Brittany Force's sister -- with a 3.897 at 332.59 in a Dodge Charger. Enders won for the first time this season and 22nd time overall. She had a 6.534 at 213.16 in a Chevrolet Camaro to edge Tanner Gray.
HORSE RACING
Santa Anita cancels card
A shortage of entries has forced Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., to cancel racing Thursday. Track officials said Sunday that live racing will resume Friday with a nine-race card. There will be at least 11 races Saturday and possibly 10 next Sunday. It's the second time the track has canceled racing because of a lack of entries. The same thing happened on April 27. The spring-summer meet runs through July 4.
Dovizioso wins in Italy
Andrea Dovizioso won the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday for the third MotoGP victory of his career. Having started on the front row at the Mugello circuit, it was Dovizioso's first podium finish before his home fans since joining the Italian Ducati team in 2013. Championship leader and pole sitter Maverick Vinales finished second and Danilo Petrucci came in third after starting ninth. Seven-time world champion Valentino Rossi finished fourth. Vinales and Rossi traded the lead early on then Dovizioso passed Vinales with nine laps to go and led the rest of the way. Dani Pedrosa and Cal Crutchlow crashed on the final lap. Vinales leads the standings with 105 points, 26 ahead of Dovizioso and 30 ahead of Rossi.
SOCCER
U.S. out of Under-20
Venezuela scored twice in extra time to defeat the United States 2-1 in an Under-20 World Cup quarterfinal in Jeonju, South Korea, on Sunday. With the teams deadlocked in a scoreless tie after 90 minutes, late goals from Adalberto Penaranda and Nahuel Ferraresi put the South Americans ahead. Jeremy Ebobisse made it close with a goal with three minutes remaining but the comeback bid fell short. The defeat condemned the U.S. to a second successive last-eight exit from the tournament following the loss to Serbia in 2015 at the same stage. The U.S. team had Jonathan Klinsmann to thank for denying the South Americans during regulation time with the goalkeeper making a number of good saves to keep the game scoreless. The deadlock was finally broken after 98 minutes with a swift Venezuela attack down the left side. Samuel Sosa sent a low cross into middle of the area for Penaranda to shoot home from close range. Five minutes from the end, Ferraresi secured the victory and a spot in the semis with a header from a left-sided corner. Two minutes later Ebobisse gave the U.S. hope by heading home a Brooks Lennon free-kick but it proved too little too late.
BASKETBALL
Fisher arrested on suspicion of drunken driving
LOS ANGELES — Derek Fisher was arrested Sunday on suspicion of drunken driving after the former NBA player and coach flipped his vehicle on a California freeway.
Fisher (Little Rock Parkview, University of Arkansas at Little Rock) and his passenger, girlfriend and former Basketball Wives reality star Gloria Govan, were not injured in the early morning crash, the California Highway Patrol said.
The former Los Angeles Lakers player and ex-New York Knicks coach was driving on U.S. 101 in the Sherman Oaks area of Los Angeles when his 2015 Cadillac veered onto the right shoulder while approaching an interchange. The car hit the shoulder’s concrete curb and guardrail, overturned and came to a rest on its roof, blocking two lanes of the freeway, the highway patrol said.
Officers discovered that Fisher, 42, had been drinking and arrested him on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol after a DUI test, authorities said.
“We are beyond grateful that we are both OK and no one else was involved,” Fisher and Govan said in a joint statement Sunday. The statement also thanked supporters for their thoughts and prayers, but it did not address the drunken driving arrest.
Fisher, a father of four, has been dating Govan, the ex-wife of Matt Barnes, his former Lakers teammate. In October 2015, the two men got into an altercation at Govan’s Los Angeles home. Barnes was suspended two games without pay by the NBA for his part in it.
After his playing career ended, Fisher was hired in June 2014 to be the first coach for Knicks president of basketball operations Phil Jackson, under whom Fisher won five championships with the Lakers.
Fisher’s first season was the worst in franchise history with a 17-65 record, but the team played better early in Fisher’s second season before Jackson fired him in February 2016 with the Knicks in a 1-9 tailspin.
He has been working as an analyst for TNT as well as for Spectrum SportsNet’s Lakers coverage this season.
Sports on 06/05/2017