Baseball Capsules: Ex-Hicks partner sues over Rangers property sale
FORT WORTH — Dallas businessman Tom Hicks is being sued by a former development partner as the Texas Rangers owner seeks to sell the team and some land.
The dispute involves 45 acres near Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, land that Steiner & Associates of Columbus, Ohio, claims it has the right to develop.
A planned shopping, hotel and entertainment district known as Glorypark never materialized.
The lawsuit was filed Jan. 21 in Fort Worth, two days before Hicks announced a deal to sell the Rangers.
Hicks, who has informed Major League Baseball and the partnership group buying the Rangers about the legal action, says the lawsuit has no merit.
Steiner seeks $14.5 million, plus its stake in Glorypark. Steiner spokesman Jason Stanford says Hicks "does not have the right to sell the land without dissolving the partnership."
Hall of Fame
Dawson to enter Hall of Fame as Expo, prefers Cubs
CHICAGO — Andre Dawson will be inducted into the Hall of Fame as a Montreal Expo, despite his preference to go in as a Chicago Cub.
The hall announced its decision Wednesday. Dawson told WMVP-AM in Chicago that he thought hall officials would discuss the issue with him in detail before the decision was made. He said he wanted a chance to tell them "what really catapulted me to Hall of Fame status and pretty much what my preference was but I think their decision had been made. It was a little gut-wrenching for me to hear that but it’s their decision."
"I’m disappointed," Dawson told the ESPN Radio affiliate. "I can proudly say that because Chicago was my preference."
Dawson’s official statement issued by the hall was more circumspect.
"I respect the Hall of Fame’s decision to put an Expos logo on my cap, and I understand their responsibility to make sure the logo represents the greatest impact in my career," Dawson said in Wednesday’s statement. "Cubs fans will always be incredibly important in my heart, and I owe them so much for making my time in Chicago memorable, as did the fans in Montreal, Boston and South Florida, my home. But knowing that I’m on the Hall of Fame team is what’s most important, as it is the highest honor I could imagine."
The induction ceremony in Cooperstown, N.Y., is July 25.
Dawson played his first 11 seasons with Montreal, batting .285 with 225 home runs and 838 RBIs. He was named an All-Star three times and won the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 1977. He played six seasons with the Cubs, where he won the 1987 NL MVP award after batting .287 with 49 home runs and 137 RBIs. He also played two years each for Boston and Florida before retiring in 1996.
Dawson told WMVP he thought he "would have a little bit more input or I would carry or merit some sort of weight" as to whether he would go into the hall as a Cub or Expo.
"It was to my understanding they would make the determination at the consent of sitting down and discussing it with you prior to making the determination and I just thought it would carry a little bit more weight than it did," he said.
Earlier this month, Hall president Jeff Idelson said "you want the logo to represent where this guy made his greatest impact. He was impactful in Montreal. He was impactful in Chicago, and to a much lesser extent Boston and Florida, but it’s more of a case sitting down and collectively make a decision."
The hall noted that Dawson had 1,575 of his 2,774 hits as an Expo, won six of his eight Gold Glove awards in Montreal and led the Expos to their only postseason series win with a five-game victory over the Phillies in 1981. Idelson also said it’s the museum’s responsibility to "properly interpret the game’s history."
"Every Hall of Fame plaque lists all of the teams where an electee played or managed," he said. "Fans of ‘The Hawk’ in every city in which he played should claim Andre as one of their own."
The Expos franchise, which played its first season in 1969, became the Washington Nationals before the 2005 season. Asked if he believed the hall wanted to preserve Expos history, Dawson said: "The hall clearly stated their major concern was the history of the game."
In 1999, there was a stir caused by reports that Tampa Bay would compensate the newly retired Wade Boggs if his Hall of Fame plaque bore a Devil Rays logo.
Boggs denied it, but the hall two years later revoked the right of a player to choose the logo on the cap on his plaque. Boggs was inducted in 2005 and his plaque sports a Boston Red Sox logo.
Dawson is the only player for 2010 to receive at least 75 percent of the vote to be inducted into the hall. He will be inducted along with manager Whitey Herzog and umpire Doug Harvey. Herzog’s plaque will feature a St. Louis Cardinals logo, and the Royals, Rangers and Angels will all be listed.
American League
Lofton: "I was not a cheater"
CLEVELAND — Kenny Lofton played fast, played hard and, perhaps most importantly, he insists he played clean in an era when steroids were baseball’s dirty little secret.
Lofton’s statistics earned him a place in Cleveland’s Hall of Fame.
One day, he hopes they get him into Cooperstown’s shrine.
"I just went out there and did what I had to do," Lofton said. "I was not a cheater."
The pre-eminent leadoff hitter and base stealer in franchise history, Lofton was picked Wednesday for the Indians’ Hall of Fame. He and Cy Slapnicka, a former general manager and scout who signed Hall of Fame pitchers Bob Feller and Bob Lemon, will be inducted on Aug. 7 before the Indians host Minnesota.
A five-time All-Star, Lofton played 10 seasons with Cleveland. He was the table-setter for the club’s powerful offense, which featured sluggers Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez and Albert Belle. Lofton also roamed center field, where he often turned potential extra-base hits into outs.
One of the most popular players in Indians history, Lofton finished with a .300 average, set the club mark for steals (452) and ranks third in career runs (975) and 10th in hits (1,512). Overall, he finished with more than 2,400 career hits, led the AL in steals five straight seasons and won four Gold Gloves over 17 years.
An argument could be made he belongs in baseball’s hallowed Hall.
Now more than ever.
In light of Mark McGwire’s admission to using steroids and human-growth hormone while setting home run records, and with other high-profile players being suspended for banned substances, Lofton’s statistics may be viewed differently by Hall of Fame voters once he becomes eligible for induction.
Lofton hopes so.
"I was a guy who never did it (steroids), never tried to do it, never wanted to do it but I played against guys who obviously were doing it," he said. "My competition level had to be at a certain level to be able to compete with those guys who were cheating.
"I was not a cheater, so hopefully they’ll take a look at that and see what I did under that period and hopefully they take that into account."
Former Indians catcher Sandy Alomar believes voters should take a long look at Lofton’s accomplishments before deciding on his Hall worthiness.
"Kenny was a complete player. He was a five-tool guy," Alomar said. "Kenny could go deep and he took pride on the leadoff spot and playing his role. I think the voters have to realize that and they have to reward players for their abilities, not just for power numbers or RBIs but for how well he played his role. For a time, he was the most dominant leadoff guy other than Rickey Henderson."
Lofton, who had three stints with the Indians from 1991-2007, said it was a constant challenge not to expose players who were not playing by the rules.
"I felt that I did it the right way and always felt like the good guys always lose," he said. "I just sat back and kept doing what I was doing. They always say things are going to come out in the light, and that’s what happened."
Lofton said his most memorable moment with the Indians came when he scored from second base on a passed ball in Game 6 of the 1995 ALCS, clinching Cleveland’s first World Series appearance since 1954. It was also the play Alomar said defined Lofton.
"He won the game by himself," Alomar said. "He was a winner and a postseason guy. The bigger the stage, the better he got. Everybody talks about home runs and things like that, but this guy was the igniter for this organization for many years."
-- Tom Withers
AP source: Yankees, Winn reach $2 million deal
NEW YORK — The New York Yankees and free agent outfielder Randy Winn agreed Wednesday to a $2 million, one-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.
The agreement, which all but eliminates any chance Johnny Damon has of returning to the World Series champions, is subject to a physical that is scheduled for Thursday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because a final agreement was not in place.
Winn hit .262 with two homers and 51 RBIs for the San Francisco Giants last year, but his on-base percentage was just .318. The 35-year-old was an All-Star in 2002, when he batted .298 with 14 homers and 75 RBIs for Tampa Bay.
New York figures to start Curtis Granderson in center field and Nick Swisher in right most of the time, with Winn and Brett Gardner sharing time in left.
Damon helped the Yankees win the World Series for the first time since 2000, hitting .282 with 23 homers and 82 RBIs, but he was coming off a $52 million, four-year contract and New York valued the 36-year-old at far less.
"The Yankees along all have said they had $2 million and that obviously removed them out of the marketplace of a lot of talented players. We really did not have a lot to talk about," said Damon’s agent, Scott Boras. "Johnny knew what their budget was, so there was never any expectancy. The Yankees could never make an offer because they knew Johnny’s performance value far exceeded what their budget was."
Despite repeatedly referring to budget constraints, the Yankees’ projected payroll for 18 players with agreements likely to make the opening-day roster is at $205 million following the deal with Winn.
-- Ronald Blum
National League
Cubs to keep spring training home in Arizona
PHOENIX — The Chicago Cubs announced Wednesday that they will keep their spring training home in Mesa, Ariz., a move that rebuffs suitors in Florida and keeps Arizona’s highest-drawing spring training team in town.
The deal requires the Arizona Legislature and voters in Mesa, a Phoenix suburb, to approve a funding mechanism for an $84 million stadium and training facility.
"We’ve been in Arizona for 57 years and we look forward to the next 57 years," said Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts.
Officials in Naples, Fla., have tried to woo the Cubs from Mesa, and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist told Ricketts he’s willing to go as far as possible to convince the team to move.
Cities are fighting over the Cubs because they consistently draw loyal fans from Chicago and around the country, even if they’re struggling on the field.
In the 2009 spring training season, an average Cubs home game drew 10,690 fans — nearly double the average for other teams that train in Arizona. And when the Cubs play on the road, they fill other ballparks as well.
The agreement with Mesa means the Cubs will stay for another 25 years.
The team will buy the land and donate it to the city, which plans to build a 15,000-seat stadium and a 50,000-square-foot clubhouse with locker rooms, a nutritional center and other amenities.
The team will manage the stadium, have naming rights and control of signage, and won’t have to share the facility with another team. Adjacent practice fields will be a public park when the Cubs aren’t training.
City officials hope the area will develop into what they’re calling "Wrigleyville West," an entertainment district with bars, restaurants and stores.
Funding details were sketchy Wednesday as officials said they were still making a plan. Rep. John McComish, a Chandler Republican who says he will introduce the legislation when it’s ready, said it will include a surcharge on spring training game ticket sales and will not draw from general fund revenue.
He declined to discuss other options being discussed.
The Cubs will be allowed to back out of the deal if legislation isn’t enacted by July 12 or if Mesa voters reject it in a November election.
The Mesa City Council unanimously approved the agreement on Monday.
-- Jonathan J. Cooper
Murphy first up for Mets at 1B; Delgado available
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Daniel Murphy is the first option at first base for the New York Mets. For now, anyway.
Murphy was the only position player to attend minicamp this week, giving the Mets’ staff a good look at what he may offer this season. The 14-player session ended Wednesday.
"I think Daniel Murphy can do enough that we can survive," manager Jerry Manuel said.
"He has some range at first base," Manuel said. "There are some things he can do, but I think the other pieces we have in place are going to have to perform to their offensive capabilities for us to get away with not relying solely on say what a Carlos Delgado would have brought."
Mets general manager Omar Minaya said this week the organization had been monitoring Delgado, who saw limited time on the field while playing in Puerto Rico this winter. Delgado and Fernando Tatis, who both spent some time at first base for the Mets last year, are free agents.
Murphy said his dad has been reading the papers and following what the Mets and others are saying about Delgado, but he hasn’t paid much attention himself.
He has spent the offseason working out at Jacksonville University in his hometown and preparing to play first base.
"These guys want to win, so if they bring someone in, they think they are going to help us win," Murphy said. "If they do that, it’s my job to find my role to help this team win. ... I think I’ve worked hard this offseason and put myself in position to have success in spring training and this season, and that’s all I can do."
Murphy is coming off his first full season in the majors, which he began in left field and ended at first base, where he made 97 starts and often struggled in the field.
Murphy had an up-and-down season at the plate, batting .266 with 12 home runs, 38 doubles and 63 RBIs. Manuel and hitting coach Howard Johnson expect big improvements this year, especially in the doubles category.
"He’s learning and he’s still developing, but after the beginning of last year, he started to turn the corner, and the way he finished there were a lot of lessons he learned in that period, and he retains well," Johnson said. "That’s why I feel like he’s on target to do some really big numbers."
Murphy sees room for improvement, too, and was anxious to get back to work with the Mets’ staff. That is what brought him to Port St. Lucie, a three-hour drive from home.
"It’s been a while," Murphy said. "This is the first year I haven’t played winter ball, so I haven’t gotten to light somebody up for a while, so I’ve got the itch."
The 24-year-old Murphy said it helps knowing his position going into spring training, and he has focused more on footwork and building strength, rather than speed this offseason. But he also remembers he had the same kind of clarity about playing left field last year at this time.
Though he said he can still play outfield, he is more confident in the infield, where he spent his three years in the minor leagues and throughout his college career as a third baseman.
"I spent more time in the dirt so I am going to be more comfortable," Murphy said. "I am just more comfortable seeing groundballs and reading them than I was popups."
Street and Rockies finalize $22.5 million deal
DENVER — Closer Huston Street and the Colorado Rockies have finalized a $22.5 million, three-year contract, a deal that could be worth $31 million over four season.
Street gets $7.2 million this year, $7.3 million in 2011 and $7.5 million 2012. The agreement, which avoided arbitration, includes a a $9 million mutual option for 2013 with a $500,000 buyout if the club declines to exercise.
Colorado also agreed Wednesday to a minor league contract with pitcher Tim Redding. The right-hander, who turns 32 on Feb. 12, went 3-6 with a 5.10 ERA in 17 starts and 13 relief appearances for the New York Mets last season.
-- Arnie Stapleton
Cairo agrees to minor league deal with Reds
CINCINNATI — Infielder Miguel Cairo has agreed to a minor league contract with the Cincinnati Reds, and the 35-year-old would get a $500,000, one-year contract if he’s added to the 40-man roster.
Cairo, who could earn $150,000 in performance bonuses, has played for Toronto, the Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay, St. Louis, the New York Yankees and Mets, Seattle and Philadelphia during a 14-year career. He hit .267 with one homer and two RBIs in 27 games for the Phillies last season, spending much of the year in Triple-A.
Cairo has played every infield position. The Reds are looking to add depth and experience to their roster.
With his deal, 86 of the 171 players who filed for free agency after the World Series have announced contracts.
Left-hander Sean Marshall, Cubs agree at $950,000
CHICAGO — Left-hander Sean Marshall and the Chicago Cubs have agreed to a $950,000, one-year contract and avoided arbitration.
Marshall was 3-7 with a 4.32 ERA in 55 appearances, including nine starts, for Chicago last season. In four major league seasons with the Cubs, Marshall is 19-29 with a 4.55 ERA. He has made 134 appearances, including 59 starts.
After making $450,000 last season, Marshall had asked for $1,175,000 in arbitration and had been offered $800,000.
Chicago also agreed to a minor league contract with infielder Chad Tracy, a .280 hitter with 78 homers and 318 RBIs in 704 games over six seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Mazeroski statue planned for Pittsburgh’s PNC Park
PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates plan to put a statue of Bill Mazeroski outside PNC Park to commemorate the Hall of Famer’s home run that won the World Series 50 years ago.
Statues of Honus Wagner, Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell are already in place outside the stadium, which opened in 2001.
Mazeroski’s ninth-inning homer ended Game 7 of the 1960 World Series, giving the Pirates a 10-9 win over the New York Yankees.
The Pirates have not said when they will unveil the statue honoring the second baseman. They plan to commemorate the World Series win during a weekend series against the Cleveland Indians June 18-20.
Elsewhere
Ex-MSG boss strikes out in Steinbrenner lawsuit
NEW YORK — A judge threw out a lawsuit accusing New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner of breaking a promise to make a former Madison Square Garden president a big part of the team’s television network.
Robert Gutkowski cannot under New York law rely on his claims that he and Steinbrenner had an oral agreement, U.S. District Judge Richard J. Sullivan said in a ruling Tuesday. The judge added that it was also too late to bring the claims.
Gutkowski sued Steinbrenner in August, saying he suggested creating the Yankees-operated television network more than a decade ago. He was seeking at least $43 million in damages.
Gutkowski’s lawyer, Neil Brickman, said: "We’re still reviewing and determining whether we have any realistic prospect of appealing the decision."
A spokesman for George Steinbrenner, Howard J. Rubenstein, said: "We said at the time the suit was filed that it was patently false and frivolous. We were proven correct."
Gutkowski’s lawsuit described him as the "conceptual architect" of the Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network, which was valued at $845 million when it debuted in March 2002.
The lawsuit said Gutkowski urged Steinbrenner in 1996 to create a Yankees television network and that his work helped lead to the creation of it.
In his ruling, Sullivan said Gutkowsky’s claims were inadequate in numerous respects.
He said the "purported oral agreement is unenforceable" under state law and the statute of limitations had expired because the lawsuit was filed more than six years after the YES Network debuted.
Under New York law, a contract must be sufficiently definite to be enforceable, the judge wrote.
He said Gutkowsky’s claims that Steinbrenner told him he would be "fairly compensated for his idea and efforts" lacked a specific amount to be paid or a time span over which it would occur.
Gutkowski was president of Madison Square Garden Corp., which owns and operates the arena, from 1991 through 1994.
MSG is owned by Cablevision Systems Corp., based in Bethpage, N.Y.
-- Larry Neumiester
Court dismisses case against Uecker, Brewers
MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin appeals court on Wednesday rejected a defamation lawsuit filed against the Milwaukee Brewers and the team’s radio announcer Bob Uecker.
The District 2 Court of Appeals dismissed the lawsuit filed by Ann Ladd of Prospect Heights, Ill., who claims she has been unfairly portrayed as Uecker’s stalker. In so doing, the court adopted a new legal standard in Wisconsin that will limit lawsuits over allegedly defamatory communications.
Uecker alleged in 2006 that Ladd had harassed and stalked him for years. He said she repeatedly sought his autograph, sent him unwanted gifts and appeared at ballparks to see him and even one hotel where he was staying for a road series.
Ladd was charged with felony stalking, but the case was dropped after a court commissioner granted a four-year restraining order requiring her to not contact him or attend games where he is working.
Ladd sued in 2008 alleging she was defamed by Uecker’s legal affidavit spelling out the stalking allegations and its publication on a Web site called The Smoking Gun, among other things. She has contended her behavior never rose to the level of criminal stalking, and the "stalker" label has damaged her reputation.
The Brewers and Uecker argued the case must be dismissed because Ladd waited past the two-year statute of limitations before she sued. She responded that, because the statements were still widely available on the Internet, the information is republished each time someone visits the site or others that contain them.
The three-judge appeals court rejected her argument, saying Uecker and the Brewers have no control over information once its on the Internet.
"We reject the notion that each ‘hit’ or viewing of the information should be considered a new publication that retriggers the statute of limitations," Judge Harry G. Snyder wrote for the panel, which did not consider the merits of Ladd’s claims.
With the ruling, the court adopted the "single-publication rule" that says people can sue for defamation only over an original publication but not each time something is republished. In other words, the statute of limitations starts running when an article is published or a statement is made and not each time they are reprinted or read.
The standard had been widely adopted across the country to govern lawsuits over traditional media publications, but never in Wisconsin, said Madison attorney Robert Dreps, who often represents news media clients. The court not only adopted the standard Wednesday but said it extended to the Internet.
"This is a wonderful decision. It’s very good for the press," Dreps said. "It’s surprising it’s taken this long to get adopted here, but it’s of good value."
Peter Fox, executive director of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association, said allowing defamation lawsuits each time an article was reprinted on the Internet would have "wreaked havoc." Because information spreads from site to site and is always available online, a statute of limitations never would have existed for defamation cases without the rule, he said.
"It would have created a nightmare," he said. "From our point of view, this is a good and timely recognition of modern technology and modern printing."
Ladd, who represented herself, did not immediately return a phone message. Neither did the attorney representing Uecker and the Brewers.
Last month, a separate Wisconsin appeals court upheld the restraining order against Ladd. She argued that preventing her from attending Brewers games violated her constitutional right to travel, but the court disagreed.
-- Ryan J. Foley
