MLB
Hirschbeck will crew chief his first All-Star game
NEW YORK – Veteran umpire John Hirschbeck will be behind the plate for next week’s All-Star game.
The 30-year veteran also will serve as crew chief for Tuesday night’s showcase at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets.
The Mets made the announcement Thursday.
Hirschbeck worked the 1989 and 2004 All-Star games, but this is his first as crew chief.
Also on the crew are Wally Bell (first base), Larry Vanover (second base), Paul Emmel (third base), Rob Drake (left field) and Chad Fairchild (right field).
Want your own Cy Young? Bid on Warren Spahn’s
ATLANTA – Warren Spahn’s son doesn’t want to choose a sole heir among his five children, so he has put his father’s 1957 Cy Young award on the market.
Greg Spahn, the only child to baseball’s career winningest left-hander, will have more than 800 items – most of Warren’s Spahn’s memorabilia collection – sold in 406 separate lots at a live auction that will begin Monday at the Javits Center in New York.
Hunt Auctions has a price range between $75,000 and $125,000 for the Cy Young Award. Other expensive items include a 1958 National League championship ring, 300th career victory ball and Spahn’s personal Hall of Fame ring.
NBA
Nuggets sign much-improved forward J.J. Hickson
DENVER – The Denver Nuggets bolstered their frontcourt Thursday by signing free agent forward J.J. Hickson to a three-year deal.
The 24-year-old bruiser is coming off his best season last year in Portland when he averaged 12.7 points and a career-high 10.4 rebounds. He joined Dwight Howard as the only players to average 12 points, 10 boards and shoot at least 55 percent from the field.
General manager Tim Connelly called Hickson “one of the most improved players in the league last year,” and he gives Denver a low-post option in the halfcourt, “and he’s a relentless rebounder who will help us get out and run.”
Hickson averaged 9.8 points and 6.8 rebounds in five NBA seasons with stops in Cleveland, Sacramento and Portland.
NFL
Patriots suffer a 2nd arrest in the last 15 days
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Alfonzo Dennard of the New England Patriots was arrested Thursday in Nebraska and accused of driving drunk in the state where he once starred as a defensive back.
It’s the second arrest of a Patriots player in 15 days. Tight end Aaron Hernandez was arrested June 26 and charged with murder in the killing of Boston semipro football player Odin Lloyd. Hernandez has pleaded not guilty. The Patriots cut Hernandez after he was arrested and before the charges were announced.
Dennard’s arrest is his second in 15 months. He hasn’t served a 30-day jail sentence for assaulting a police officer outside a Lincoln, Neb., bar April 21, 2012. That is scheduled to begin next March. He also was sentenced to two years of probation.
NHL
Kovalchuk abandons Devils and $77M by retiring
NEWARK, N.J. – New Jersey superstar forward Ilya Kovalchuk is retiring from the NHL and returning to Russia.
The Devils released the stunning news Thursday afternoon in a statement, saying the 30-year-old Kovalchuk alerted them earlier this year that he wanted to return home with his family after 11 seasons in the NHL.
The move is more surprising because Kovalchuk signed a $100-million, 15-year contract in 2010. He’ll be walking away from it and giving up the remaining $77 million in the deal.
Kovalchuk spent his last four seasons with the Devils, helping them reach the Stanley Cup finals in 2012. He scored 417 goals and 399 assists for 816 points in games with New Jersey and Atlanta, which traded him to New Jersey.
Associated Press
