In the news
Memphis women, SMU meet Wednesday: The University of Memphis women’s basketball team will be seeking its fifth consecutive win at the Elma Roane Field House at 7 p.m. Wednesday when the Tigers play host to SMU.
Memphis has won five of its past seven games and is led by Cheyenne Creighton, who has seven double-doubles and six 20-point games this season. Creighton earned American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll recognition Monday for the fourth time this season after averaging 20 points in two games last week.
SMU is 14-12 overall and 5-8 in the conference. Memphis is 13-13 an 6-7.
Ankiel says he drank vodka before starts to tame anxiety: Former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Rick Ankiel says he drank vodka before his first two starts in 2001 to quell anxiety after throwing five wild pitches in one inning during the previous season’s playoffs.
Ankiel detailed his experience during an interview with 590 The Fan on Monday.
Ankiel had a promising rookie season as a 20year-old with the Cardinals in 2000, but he lost his control in the postseason. He pitched the first game of an NL Division Series against Atlanta and became the first major leaguer with five wild pitches in one inning.
He said he was “scared to death” before his first start the next season against Randy Johnson and the Arizona Diamondbacks and turned to alcohol to suppress his nerves.
“I know I have no chance,” he said. “Feeling the pressure of all that, right before the game, I get a bottle of vodka. I just started drinking vodka. Lo and behold, it kind of tamed the monster, and I was able to do what I wanted.”
Ankiel pitched five innings and got the win against Arizona.
“I’m sitting on the bench feeling crazy, I have to drink vodka to pitch through this,” he added. “It worked for that game. I had never drank before a game before. It was one of those things like the yips, the monster, the disease … it didn’t fight fair, so I felt like I wasn’t going to fight fair either.”
Ankiel drank again before his next start against Houston. This time, “anxiety took over the alcohol,” and he walked five, hit a batter and threw a wild pitch. He said he didn’t drink before games after that.
Ankiel has co-written a book, “The Phenomenon: Pressure, the Yips and the Pitch that Changed My Life,” with Tim Brown, which is set for release April 18.
The left-hander finished second in rookie of the year voting in 2000 before falling apart in the playoffs. After his lousy start against the Braves, he made two more appearances that postseason, walking five and throwing four more wild pitches over 1 1/3 innings.
Ankiel never regained his form and made his final pitching appearance in 2004. He returned to the Cardinals in 2007 as an outfielder and played in the majors until 2013.
Wieters, Nationals agree to deal: Free-agent catcher Matt Wieters and the Washington Nationals have an agreement in principle on a $10.5 million contract for 2017, pending a physical, according to a person familiar with the deal.
The contract also includes a player option for 2018 worth $10.5 million, the person said, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity on Tuesday because nothing had been announced.
Wieters is a four-time All-Star who has played his entire career with the Baltimore Orioles after being taken with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2007 amateur draft.
The defending NL East champion Nationals had opened spring training — the first official fullsquad workout was Sunday — with Derek Norris, who batted .186 for the San Diego Padres last season, penciled in as their starting catcher. Wilson Ramos, an All-Star in 2016, left Washington as a free agent, signing with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Wieters, 30, is a switch-hitter known for his ability to work with a pitching staff. He has a .256 career batting average with 117 homers and 437 RBIs over eight seasons.
Last year, Wieters hit .244 with 17 homers and 66 RBIs in 124 games, playing on a $15.8 million qualifying offer. He was not given a $17.2 million qualifying offer this offseason by the Orioles and became a free agent.
Steelers’ Porter fined $300 over dispute at bar: Pittsburgh Steelers assistant coach Joey Porter has been fined $300 after pleading guilty to disorderly conduct stemming from a dispute with a bar bouncer and a police officer last month.
Porter entered the plea Tuesday in City Court in Pittsburgh, ending a case in which he faced a serious felony charge of aggravated assault for allegedly grabbing the officer’s wrists outside a bar after a bouncer denied him entrance Jan. 8.
Four days later, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr. said he’d reviewed surveillance video and announced plans to drop all but two citations against Porter — for disorderly conduct and public drunkenness — setting off a public relations tug of war involving Porter, police and the city’s Citizen Police Review Board. The public drunkenness citation was dropped Tuesday before Porter pleaded guilty to the remaining charge.