Budzinski child died in tubing accident

The 17-year-old daughter of Blue Jays first base coach and former Captains manager Mark Budzinski died in a boating accident in Virginia over the weekend, authorities said.

Julia Budzinski was one of two girls who fell off a tube being pulled behind a boat on the James River in Richmond on July 2, Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources spokesperson Paige Pearson said.

As the boat operator returned to get the girls out of the water, the boat hit a wave, causing it to be pushed on top of Budzinski and striking her with the propeller, Pearson said. The boat driver and the operator of another passing boat jumped into the water to try to rescue Budzinski, who was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Pearson said no foul play is suspected and alcohol was not a factor. “It was a terrible accident,” she said.

As news of the accident spread, a vigil was held July 3 at Glen Allen High School, where Budzinski was a rising senior and played soccer and other sports.

“It was a very happy, fun last day on Earth for her,” her mother, Monica Budzinski, said at the vigil. “She was happy, laughing, having a good time and that’s the way I’m going to remember her.”

Mark Budzinski left the Blue Jays in the third inning of the second game of the team’s doubleheader against the Rays on Saturday after learning of his daughter’s death.

The Blue Jays later issued a statement saying he would take some time away from the team to grieve with his family.

There was a moment of silence for Julia Budzinski before July 3’s series finale.

WNBA

GRINER PENS PLEA TO BIDEN » Brittney Griner has made an appeal to President Joe Biden in a letter passed to the White House through her representatives saying she feared she might never return home and asking that he not “forget about me and the other American Detainees.”

Griner’s agent Lindsay Kagawa Colas said the letter was delivered on July 4. Most of the letter’s contents to President Biden remain private, though Griner’s representatives shared a few lines from the handwritten note.

“…As I sit here in a Russian prison, alone with my thoughts and without the protection of my wife, family, friends, Olympic jersey, or any accomplishments, I’m terrified I might be here forever,” Griner wrote.

“On the 4th of July, our family normally honors the service of those who fought for our freedom, including my father who is a Vietnam War Veteran,” the Phoenix Mercury center added. “It hurts thinking about how I usually celebrate this day because freedom means something completely different to me this year.”

The two-time Olympic gold medalist is in the midst of a trial in Russia that began last week after she was arrested on Feb. 17 on charges of possessing cannabis oil while returning to play for her Russian team. The trial will resume July 7. Fewer than 1% of defendants in Russian criminal cases are acquitted, and unlike in U.S. courts, acquittals can be overturned.

Griner pleaded with Biden in the letter to use his powers to ensure her return.

“Please do all you can to bring us home. I voted for the first time in 2020 and I voted for you. I believe in you. I still have so much good to do with my freedom that you can help restore,” Griner said “I miss my wife! I miss my family! I miss my teammates! It kills me to know they are suffering so much right now. I am grateful for whatever you can do at this moment to get me home.”

MLB

SOTO RELIEVED AFTER MRI » Juan Soto said an MRI on his left calf showed no damage after he left the Nationals game July 3 against the Marlins because of tightness, and he plans to take the situation day by day.

“Everything was fine,” Soto said.

“We gonna be good. They said it’s just a little tight, so just going to take a couple days and see how it goes.”

Soto was not in Washington’s lineup July 4, but he pinch hit in the eighth and drew a walk.