Court upholds $1.5M award to ‘Wild Thing’

An appeals court in New Jersey upheld a $1.5 million jury award to former Phillies reliever Mitch ‘‘Wild Thing’’ Williams stemming from his firing by the MLB Network in 2014 after the sports website Deadspin alleged he swore at umpires and ordered one of his pitchers to throw at an opposing batter during a youth baseball tournament.

The network put Williams on leave and asked him to sign an agreement saying he would refrain from attending or coaching youth games and not post on social media without it approval. Williams declined, and he was terminated in June 2014.

♦ Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said righthander Michael Fulmer will not pitch in any games in the near future and will focus instead on refining his lower-body mechanics. There is no timetable for him to pitch again.

♦ The Brewers chose right-hander Jhoulys Chacin (15-8, 3.50 ERA last season) to start their season opener March 28 against the Cardinals.