Sherry, teammate of Koufax, dies at 89
>> Norm Sherry, whose suggestion to Los Angeles Dodgers teammate Sandy Koufax helped the future Hall of Fame pitcher reach his potential, has died. He was 89.
Sherry died Monday of natural causes at an assisted living facility in San Juan Capistrano, California, his son Mike told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
He played just five years in the majors, hitting .215 with 18 home runs and 69 RBIs. He was with the Dodgers from 1959-62 and finished his career with the Mets in 1963.
RANGERS IN LINE TO BE FIRST TEAM BACK TO FULL CAPACITY >> The Texas Rangers could have a full house for their home opener next month after opening their new 40,518-seat stadium without fans in the stands for their games last season.
On the same day that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s order took effect allowing businesses in the state to operate at 100% capacity, Rangers president of business operations and CEO Neil Leibman said that the team hopes to be at that for the April 5 opener against the Toronto Blue Jays.
NFL
NFL SETS SALARY CAP AT $182.5 MILLION, DOWN 8% FROM 2020 >> Like Lamar Jackson under pressure from the pass rush, let the scrambling begin.
The NFL’s salary cap will be $182.5 million per team in the upcoming season, a drop of 8% from 2020. The league’s loss of revenues due to the coronavirus pandemic caused the first decrease in the cap since 2011, which followed an uncapped season.
Free agency begins next Wednesday, though the “legal tampering” period starts Monday.
The NFL is close to agreement on extensions of its broadcast contracts, but those deals will not affect the 2021 season. At least the current cap is $2.5 million higher than projected last month. Last summer, the players’ union and league agreed to a cap minimum of $175 million, but that number jumped by $5 million in February and was set at $182.5 million on Wednesday.
The Rams currently are $41 million beyond the cap. The Eagles were over by about $35 million and the Saints by $33 million.
On the other side of the ledger, the Jets, Patriots and Jaguars had the most money available, ranging from $65 million to $67 million.
Nine players having been given franchise tags: receivers Chris Godwin (Tampa Bay) and Allen Robinson (Chicago); offensive linemen Taylor Moton (Carolina), Cam Robinson (Jacksonville) and All-Pro Brandon Scherff (Washington); safeties Marcus Maye (New York Jets), Marcus Williams (New Orleans) and Justin Simmons (Denver); and defensive tackle Leonard Williams (New York Giants). Their cap numbers are set by the tag designations.