After player input, MLB allows some pitch clock delays
Major League Baseball has clarified its new rules to allow umpires to delay the start of the pitch clock after big swings in which a hitter loses footing or when a pitcher covers first base, third or home, in addition to other clarifications announced Wednesday.
The commissioner’s office said in its memo that if a catcher ends an inning on base, at bat or on deck, an umpire may determine the catcher needs additional time and allow the pitcher another warmup throw and the catcher to throw to second base.
The MLB also said whether a defensive team violated the new shift restrictions will be subject to a video review only involving the first player to touch a ball after a pitch.
APPLE TV+ ANNOUNCES 2ND
SEASON OF ‘FRIDAY NIGHT BASEBALL’ >> Apple TV+ will begin its second season of “Friday Night Baseball” on April 7. The Chicago Cubs will host the Texas Rangers in a day game, followed by the San Diego Padres facing the Atlanta Braves.
Apple will carry twin bills over 25 weeks with no local blackout restrictions. In a change from last year, when there were doubleheaders on the East and West coasts, both games will be going on simultaneously most weeks.
NFL AP SOURCE: STEVE APOSTOLOPOULOS
JOINS BIDDING FOR COMMANDERS >> Canadian billionaire Steve Apostolopoulos has joined the bidding for the NFL’s Washington Commanders, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Wednesday because details of the sale process are not being publicized.
Apostolopoulos joins groups led by Josh Harris and Tilman Fertitta in getting approved by the league to bid on the team. Apostolopoulos is a Toronto native who went to Harvard and is the founder of a private equity venture company.
Tennis 2022 CHAMP IGA SWIATEK
OUT OF MIAMI OPEN WITH RIB INJURY >> Defending champion Iga Swiatek pulled out of the Miami Open on Wednesday because of a rib injury.
The No. 1-ranked Swiatek was supposed to face Claire Liu in the second round on Thursday.
As a seeded player, threetime Grand Slam champion
Swiatek received a firstround bye in the hard-court tournament that she won a year ago during a 37-match unbeaten run that was the longest in women’s tennis in a quarter of a century.
Figure skating
SAKAMOTO LEADS AFTER
SHORT PROGRAM AT FIGURE SKATING WORLDS >> Defending champion Kaori Sakamoto took the lead after the women’s short program at the world figure skating championships on Wednesday.
Aiming to become the first Japanese skater to win back-to-back world titles, Sakamoto received 79.24 points at Saitama Super Arena for a routine that featured a double axel, a triple lutz and a triple flip, triple toeloop combination.
Sakamoto is 5.62 points ahead of Lee Hae-in of South Korea going to Friday’s free skate. Mai Mihara of Japan was third with 73.46 points.
College football
DEPUTIES: ALABAMA PLAYER
DROVE 141 MPH TO EVADE TRAFFIC STOP >> Suspended Alabama freshman defensive back Tony Mitchell drove over 141 mph (227 kph) while trying to evade deputies before his arrest on drug charges in the Florida Panhandle last week, authorities said.
Mitchell and another man, who was a passenger in Mitchell’s car, were arrested last week and charged with possession of marijuana with the intent to sell or deliver, according to a Holmes County Sheriff’s Office arrest report. The other man also was charged with carrying a concealed gun without a permit. Holmes County is located about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Panama City and shares its northern border with Alabama.
According to the report, a deputy spotted Mitchell’s black Dodge Challenger traveling 78 mph (125 kph) in a 55 mph (88 kph) zone
on a rural highway north of Bonifay last Wednesday night and attempted to pull the vehicle over. The deputy reported that the Challenger accelerated to over 141 mph (227 kph), and the deputy discontinued pursuit after several miles. Less than 10 minutes later, the deputy spotted the Challenger again while sitting at an intersection in Bonifay. The deputy activated the patrol car’s lights and resumed pursuit. The Challenger eventually pulled into a residential area and stopped.
Boxing PROPOSED HEAVYWEIGHT
FIGHT BETWEEN FURY-USYK APPEARS OFF >> The proposed fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk to become the first undisputed world heavyweight champion since 2000 appears to be off.
Usyk’s promoter, Alex Krassyuk, said Wednesday the Ukrainian’s team ended negotiations because Fury was “putting so many obstacles in front of making the deal.”
Usyk, the WBA, WBO and IBF champion, went on social media last week to accept Fury’s terms for a proposed April 29 fight in London, notably a 70-30 split of earnings from the bout in favor of the WBC titleholder.
NBA MICHAEL JORDAN CONSIDERING
SALE OF NBA’S CHARLOTTE HORNETS >> Michael Jordan is considering selling the Charlotte Hornets.
The six-time NBA champion is in negotiations to sell at least a portion of the franchise to a group that includes Hornets minority owner Gabe Plotkin.
“Four years ago, Michael Jordan sold a stake in the Charlotte Hornets to a Gabe Plotkin-led group,” Jump Management, which is Michael Jordan’s family office, said in a statement to The Associated Press on Wednesday. “As a natural step in a process due to that transaction, Michael and Gabe are in discussions about his group potentially buying an additional stake.”
College basketball
WICHITA STATE HIRES ORU’S
PAUL MILLS TO LEAD HOOPS PROGRAM >> Wichita State hired Paul Mills away from Oral Roberts on Wednesday to turn around its languishing men’s basketball program, landing what has been one of the hottest names among mid-major coaches.
The 50-year-old Mills led the the Golden Eagles to two of the past three NCAA Tournaments, engineering upsets of Ohio State and Florida as a No. 15 seed in 2021 before going 30-5 this past season and losing to Duke as a No. 5 seed.
He replaces Isaac Brown, who was fired after three seasons as the Shockers slowly slipped toward mediocrity.
Women’s basketball
STUDY: MOST WOMEN’S NCAA
TEAMS ARE STILL COACHED BY MEN >> Women comprised less than half the head coaching positions and just over half of the assistant coaching spots for women’s college teams in the 2021-22 school year, according to a diversity study released Wednesday.
Women held just 42% of head coaching positions of women’s teams in NCAA Division I — a slight increase from the previous season — as well as 35.6% in Division II and 43.8% in Division III. For all three divisions combined, women filled 41.2% of head coaching positions and 50.3% of assistant coaching positions for women’s teams.
The annual report by the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) gave schools a “C” for overall racial and gender hiring practices. But TIDES director and report author Richard Lapchick called the representation of women coaches in women’s sports “the most depressing statistic that we report every year.”
Hockey RUSSIA, BELARUS BARRED
FROM NEXT SEASON’S ICE HOCKEY WORLDS >> Russia and Belarus teams were excluded by the International Ice Hockey Federation on Wednesday from all its world championships next season, including the women’s event in the United States.
The IIHF cited security concerns for players, competition staff and fans — because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — to extend the exclusion that will stretch beyond two years when the 2023-24 season is over.