RED SOX GREAT BOBBY DOERR DIES AT AGE 99
Bobby Doerr, the Hall of Fame second baseman dubbed the “Silent Captain” of the Boston Red Sox by longtime teammate and friend Ted Williams, has died. He was 99.
Doerr died on Monday in Junction City, Ore., the Red Sox said Tuesday in a statement. The Red Sox said Doerr had been the oldest living major-league player.
“Bobby Doerr was part of an era of baseball giants and still stood out as one himself,” Red Sox owner John Henry said. “And even with his Hall of Fame achievements at second base, his character and personality outshined it all.”
Signed out of the old Pacific Coast League on the same scouting trip that brought Williams to Fenway Park, Doerr played 14 seasons with the Red Sox and joined his fishing buddy in the Hall of Fame in 1986. Doerr had a .288 lifetime average and helped the Red Sox to the 1946 World Series.
The nine-time all-star often forgave his more accomplished friend for his storied anger and impatience.
“Ted couldn’t understand mediocre, see,” Doerr said on his 90th birthday in 2008, which the governor of Oregon declared Bobby Doerr Day. “And I was in that mediocre class.”
Doerr’s modesty was belied by his stats: He finished with 2,042 hits, 223 home runs and 1,247 RBIs and once went 414 games without an error — a record at the time. His six seasons with at least 100 RBIs was not matched by another second baseman for 25 years.
Fox Sports involved in bribes.
YORK» Fox Sports partnered with NEW a South American marketing firm to make millions of dollars in bribes to high-ranking soccer officials in exchange for lucrative broadcasting rights to major tournaments, the marketing company’s former CEO testified at a U.S. corruption trial.
Alejandro Burzaco, former CEO of the firm based in Argentina, testified that Fox and other broadcasters were involved in a scheme to pay bribes — concealed using offshore side entities and sham contracts — that secured rights for the Copa America and other events.
As evidence of the scheme, prosecutors at the trial at a federal court in New York City produced a 2008 agreement for the partnership to pay $3.7 million to a holding company in Turks and Caicos that was an alleged conduit for the bribes. They say it was signed by a former Fox executive.
Mountain West weighs options.
LARAMIE» The Mountain West has three years left on the TV contract that puts most of its members’ home football games on an ESPN channel or the CBS Sports Network. As conference officials ponder their next move, the Mountain West is experimenting with alternatives to traditional broadcasting and weighing whether filling all those late TV windows is worth the money its members are making.
A schedule loaded with late kickoffs and some weeknight games has been an annual source of complaints in the Pac-12 among fans, coaches and administrators.
Mountain West schools are facing a similar issue but with a major difference: The Pac-12’s television contract with ESPN and Fox is the major source of conference revenue that paid its members about $28 million apiece for fiscal year 2016, according to tax documents.
The Mountain West schools are making about $1.1 million from their deals with ESPN, CBS and AT&T Sports Net. Boise State’s membership agreement gives the school an additional $1.8 million, approximately, per year.
Federer, Sock win at ATP Finals.
Roger Federer defeated Alexander Zverev 7-6 (6), 5-7, 6-1 at the ATP Finals.
Jack Sock won for the first time at the ATP Finals, beating Wimbledon finalist Marin Cilic 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (4).