BASEBALL PLAYERS REAFFIRM PAY STANCE, NO DEAL IN SIGHT
NEW YORK» Baseball players reaffirmed their stance for full prorated pay, leaving a huge gap with teams that could scuttle plans to start the coronavirus-delayed season around the Fourth of July and may leave owners focusing on a schedule as short as 50 games.
More than 100 players, including the union’s executive board, held a two-hour digital meeting with officials of the Major League Baseball Players Association on Thursday, a day after the union’s offer was rejected by Major League Baseball.
MLB last week proposed an 82game season with an additional sliding scale of pay cuts that would leave a player at the $563,500 minimum with 47% of his original salary and top stars Mike Trout and Gerrit Cole at less than 22% of the $36 million they had been set to earn. Players countered Sunday with a plan for a 114-game regular season with no pay cuts beyond the prorated salaries they agreed to on March 26. That would leave each player with about 70% of his original pay.
Bills rookie QB apologizes for racially insensitive comment.
BUFFALO, N.Y.» Buffalo Bills rookie quarterback Jake Fromm apologized for using the phrase “elite white people” in a text conversation from more than a year ago, and posted on social media early Thursday.
The former Georgia starter posted his apology on his Twitter account, in which he wrote: “I’m truly sorry for my words and actions and humbly ask for forgiveness.”
In saying he never meant to imply he was an elite white male, which he noted during the text conversation, Fromm added: “There’s no excuse for that word choice and sentiment. While it was poor, my heart is not.”
MLS allows teams to resume training.
A day after announcing a deal with its players’ association to resume the season with a tournament in Florida, Major League Soccer says teams may resume training. MLS says each player and staff member must complete two tests for the coronavirus 24 hours apart, 72 hours ahead of the start of training. Every player also must have a test for antibodies and a physical. Once training starts, players, coaches and some staff must be tested for the virus every other day.
NASCAR-IndyCar doubleheader will not have fans.
INDIANAPOLIS» Indianapolis Motor Speedway will host the IndyCar-NASCAR doubleheader on the July 4 weekend without fans.
Track officials had been optimistic IMS could be the first major sporting venue to have fans back in the stands this summer. Instead, the stands will be empty much like the rest of the tracks since major racing resumed in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
NASCAR announces another wave of races.
CHARLOTTE, N.C.» NASCAR is set to run its All-Star race on a Wednesday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway and added one more weeknight Cup Series race as part of its latest revised schedule through July.
NASCAR will keep its scheduled twinbill weekend later this month at Pocono Raceway on June 27-28. The rest of the Cup schedule includes a
July 5 race at Indianapolis, July 12 at Kentucky, the All-Star race on July 15 at Charlotte, July 19 at Texas and July 23 at Kansas. The new schedule wraps Aug. 2 at New Hampshire.
Court grants Williamson stay on improper-benefits inquiry.
MIAMI» A Florida appeals court has temporarily granted NBA rookie Zion Williamson’s attempt to block his former marketing agent’s effort to have the ex-Duke star answer questions about whether he received improper benefits before playing for the Blue Devils.The order y granted Williamson a stay and paused proceedings in the lawsuit from Prime Sports Marketing and company president Gina Ford, whose attorneys must respond within 10 days.