Former Dodger slugger Howard dies
By The Associated Press
Frank Howard, a fourtime All-star who slugged 382 homers during a 16-year major league career that included a World Series title with the Dodgers in 1963, has died. He was 87.
A spokesperson for the Washington Nationals said the team was informed of Howard’s death by his family Monday. A cause of death was not provided.
At 6-foot-7 and 255 pounds, Howard was an imposing figure as an outfielder and first baseman.
He played in 17 total games for the Dodgers in 1958 and ’59 after being signed out of Ohio State.
Howard became the Dodgers’ regular right fielder in 1960 and batted .268 with 23 homers and 77 RBIS in 117 games, earning National League Rookie of the Year accolades.
He played four more seasons for the Dodgers, slugging 98 homers, before being traded in December 1964 to the Washington Senators in a seven-player deal that brought future two-time 20game winner Claude Osteen to Los Angeles.
Howard played seven seasons with the Senators and was with them when they relocated to Texas and became the Rangers in 1972. He finished his playing career with the Detroit Tigers in 1973.
He led the American League in home runs twice, in 1968 and ’70, sandwiched around his 48-homer season that remains the most in Washington baseball history.
■ New York Yankees star Aaron Judge won Major League Baseball’s Roberto Clemente Award for character, community involvement and philanthropy.
Judge was presented the award before Game 3 of the World Series.
A five-time All-star and the 2022 ALMVP, Judge established his All Rise Foundation in 2018. It supports youth in New York and in California’s San Joaquin and Fresno counties.
Messi wins another Ballon d'or honor
This list reads 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021, and now 2023.
Lionel Messi won the men’s Ballon d’or for a record-extending eighth time after fulfilling his life’s ambition by leading his country to the World Cup title in Qatar last year.
The 36-year-old Messi won ahead of Manchester City forward Erling Haaland and his former Paris Saint-germain teammate Kylian Mbappe.
Aitana Bonmati won the women’s award for guiding Spain to victory at the Women’s World Cup.
A year after missing out on the shortlist for the 2022 Ballon d’or, and despite leaving top-level European soccer behind, Messi has recovered his crown.
He won the sport’s biggest individual prize due to his tremendous World Cup. Messi was involved in 10 goals for Argentina, scoring seven and assisting three. He scored twice in the final against France.
■ The Spanish soccer official who provoked a players’ rebellion and reckoning on gender when he kissed an unwilling star player on the lips at the Women’s World Cup final trophy ceremony was banned for three years by the sport’s global governing body.
Luis Rubiales’ conduct at the Aug. 20 final in Australia — and his defiant refusal to resign as Spanish soccer federation president for three weeks — distracted many people from the women’s careerdefining title win.
Rubiales is now barred from working in soccer until after the men’s 2026 World Cup. His ban will expire before the next women’s tournament in 2027.
Spanish authorities have launched a criminal investigation against Rubiales for kissing Jenni Hermoso on the lips after the team’s 1-0 victory over England in Sydney, and his conduct in the fallout from the scandal.
Retton thankful for `love and support'
American gymnastics legend Mary Lou Retton says she is “overwhelmed with all the love and support” she has received and is slowly recovering with family after being hospitalized with a rare form of pneumonia earlier this month.
Retton, 55, posted a statement on Instagram in her first public comment since being in intensive care in a Texas hospital. Her daughter, Mckenna Kelley, said then that the first American woman to win the Olympic all-around title in 1984 was “fighting for her life.”
Retton said she was “beyond blessed for the chance to make this statement.”