Orlando makes pitch
Magic Kingdom eyes MLB team, too
The man who helped bring an NBA team to Orlando said Wednesday that he wants to bring a Major League Baseball team to the theme park mecca.
Pat Williams, a former executive with the NBA’s Orlando Magic, said Orlando was more deserving than a halfdozen other cities that have been mentioned as homes to potential MLB expansion teams in the future. Those markets are Charlotte, Las Vegas, Montreal, Nashville, Portland and Vancouver.
With a population of 2.5 million, metro Orlando also gets 75 million tourists each year. In addition to pro basketball, the region has professional men’s and women’s soccer teams.
“Orlando keeps growing and sports needs to be a part of that,” Williams said. “Our resume here is much stronger than those other markets.”
Williams’ desire may be a pipedream since Florida already has two MLB teams with anemic attendance. The Marlins and the Rays respectively had the worst and second-to-worst attendance of Major League Baseball’s 30 teams this season.
ST. JOHN’S TOPS COLUMBIA
Rasheem Dunn registered 14 points as St. John’s beat Columbia, 82-63, on Wednesday night.
Mustapha Heron scored 15 points for St. John’s (4-1). Julian Champagnie added 14 points and seven rebounds. Marcellus Earlington collected eight rebounds for St. John’s. Josh Roberts led the team with 11 rebounds.
Mike Smith notched 20 points, nine rebounds and six assists for the Lions (1-4). Jake
Killingsworth added 11 points. Tai Bibbs had 10 points and six boards.
LEAFS FIRE BABCOCK
The Toronto Maple Leafs have fired head coach Mike Babcock and replaced him with Sheldon Keefe.
Babcock had a record of 910-4 in 2019-20 for the struggling Leafs, who are 0-5-1 in their last six games, including five straight losses in regulation.
NASCAR’S JOHNSON TO RETIRE
Seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson says 2020 will be his final season of full-time racing.
The winningest driver of his era will have a 19th season in the No. 48 Chevrolet and once again chase a record eighth championship. Johnson made the announcement in a video posted on social media.