THE UNIVERSITY DAILY GANSAN
WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 2009
SPORTS
29
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Senior pitcher Paul Smyth throws a pitch during practice. Smyth recently was drafted by the Oakland Athletics and plays for their minor league team, the Vancouver Canadians.
SMYTH (CONTINUED FROM 25)
school, Smyth became good friends with two teammates who were interested in playing for Kansas baseball. He ended up testing his luck with the coaches.
"I was aware that I was not one of the top players," Smyth said. "Still, I was told by a coach for KU to pitch for him, and I did. I continued to pitch for him for the next three days."
On the last day of tryouts, Smyth was wearing his friend's Kansas baseball jersey. One of the coaches said he thought it looked good on him, and asked if he wanted to join the team.
"I was so excited. I already knew some of the people, and they were very open." Smyth said, "Then Coach Ryan Graves came out to California to make me an offer, and that paved the way for me to come to Kansas."
His career at the University has been more than successful. Coach Ritch Price praises Smyth for his contribution to the team.
"He is obviously a tremendous young man," Price said, "He chased his dream and will go down as one of the greatest pitchers in Kansas baseball. I honestly never thought he would contribute the way he did."
Senior catcher Buck Afenir said he admired Smyth for his integrity and for his improvement from where he started to where he is today as a pitcher.
"The thing I know about Paul is that he has an iron will," Afenir said. "He is a super-hard worker and is one of those people who are always conscientious about what is going on."
Afenir recalls the past few months when Smyth injured his arm after he separated his shoulder during a workout.
"I didn't know what would happen with the draft," Afenir said. "He has a pretty bad injury. But I do know that he put in great numbers at KU, and he made a name for himself."
Smyth has not allowed his injury to hold him back. He said he planned on playing out the summer season with the Vancouver Canadians until September, and then returning to work an internship at the University until February.
Smyth said he hoped to see himself working up to the major leagues if he continued to play well. However, he knows he wouldn't be where he is today without his coaches giving him the confidence and drive to play
baseball.
"I have to thank my high school coach for convincing me to pitch, and KU's coaches for giving me the confidence I needed to improve," Smyth said. "I put in four great years at KU, and am thankful for the opportunity given to play."
Edited by Jason Baker
THE THIRD ANNUAL
Associated Press
BY CHERYL WITTENAUER
ST. LOUIS - St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa has quietly dropped his lawsuit against the social networking site Twitter Inc.
Cardinals manager drops lawsuit against Twitter
MLB
A one-paragraph statement filed June 26 with the U.S. District Court in San Francisco said La Russa had dropped all claims — and that San Francisco-based Twitter did not compensate him in exchange. It also said he could not refile the same complaint.
La Russa's lawsuit, originally filed in San Francisco Superior Court in May and transferred to federal court on June 5, alleged trademark infringement, "cyber-squatting" and misappropriation of his name. It claimed an unauthorized page that used his name caused emotional distress by making light of his DUI charge and the deaths of two Cardinals pitchers in recent seasons.
The impostor's Twitter account bearing La Russa's name is no longer active. The lawsuit included a screen shot of three tweets. One posted on April 19 said: "Lost 2 out of 3, but we made it out of Chicago without one drunk driving incident or dead pitcher."
In March 2007, La Russa was found sleeping behind the wheel of a running sport utility vehicle during spring training with a blood-alcohol level of 0.093 percent. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence.
Cardinals pitcher Darryl Kile died of a heart condition in his Chicago hotel room in 2002. Cardinals reliever Josh Hancock died in an auto accident in April 2007, and the medical examiner measured his blood-alcohol level at 0.157 — nearly twice the legal limit.
La Russa's lawsuit said the page bearing his name was hurtful to the 64-year-old manager, who has led the Cardinals since 1996 and managed the Chicago White Sox and Oakland A's during a 30-year managerial career.
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