THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, MAY 1, 2009
SPORTS
5B
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Minnesota Twins' Joe Mauer watches his grounder that scored Carlos Gomez against the Chicago White Sox in a baseball game in Minneapolis. All-Star catcher Mauer will make his season debut on Friday night, against the Kansas City Royals.
Twins' catcher to play at Kansas City
MLB
BY JON KRAWCZYNSKI
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Twins have been treading water through the first month of the season, doing everything they can to keep pace with their AL Central rivals while
Joe Mauer recovered from a mysterious back injury.
"Obviously that guy in the lineup is going is going to make a huge difference."
Despite a tough early schedule and mediocre performances by top starters Scott Baker and
NICK BLACKBURN Minnesota Twins starter
Francisco Liriano, the Twins got through the month at 11-11 and just a half-game out of first place.
Now Mauer is finally ready to go. He is expected to play Friday night against Kansas City at the Metrodome, and the Twins hope the return of their All-Star catcher and reigning AI batting champion will be just the boost they need to get on a roll.
It's been a difficult five months for the pride of St. Paul. He had surgery in December to repair a painful blockage in his kidney, then developed back problems that caused him to miss all of spring training. The injury went through several diagnoses before team doctors settled on inflammation
"Obviously that guy in the lineup is going to make a huge difference," starter Nick Blackburn said. "I'm excited to see him out there and I think we're all looking forward to it."
in the sacroiliac joint, which connects the spine to the pelvis.
Mauer started the season on the disabled list, but has shown steady improvement while rehabbing in Florida. In five games with Class A Fort Myers, Mauer hit 400
in 15 at-bats with two doubles,
two walks and four RBIs.
Manager Ron Gardenhire said he will insert Mauer in his customary third spot in the batting order, which will allow slugger Justin Morneau to slide into his more natural cleanup role.
"He's a great player," Gardenhire said. "When you have that guy calling a game and controlling a running game, and the way he swings the bat in the middle of your lineup, he's a good player."
Mauer has won two of the American League's last three batting titles, but the Twins may
miss him even more on defense. Veteran backup Mike Redmond has been hampered by a groin injury and a sore shoulder, so the team has been using youngster Jose Morales, who has a good bat but has struggled defensively.
Twins catchers have thrown out only one base runner attempting
Mauer, the former Florida State quarterback recruit, threw out 36 percent of base stealers last season.
"He stops everything. He eliminates that," Gardenhire said. "If
the pitchers give him a chance,
he will throw them out. So there's
a lot of things he brings. It's not
just one area. That's why he's an
All-Star."
Mauer played his last rehab game on Tuesday and traveled up to the Twin Cities to meet with doctors on Wednesday. The Twins were off Thursday, giving him a day to rest up and prepare to take over when the Twins open a series against the Royals on Friday.
Rays manager Joe Maddon said Mauer's return will change the complexion of the Twins.
an entire organization, not having him there," Maddon said. "We're talking about offensively, defensively, just his presence."
"One man can really impact
But the Twins are cautioning fans not to view Mauer as a savior. At least not right away.
"One man can really impact an entire organization, not having him there."
"You just kind of plug Joe in there and not try to put too much
JOE MADDON Rays manager
pressure on him," Morneau said. "He hasn't had too many at-bats to get ready for the season. We let him get in, get settled. Hopefully we'll pick him up for a while and then he'll do what he can do."
Even without Mauer, the Twins are starting to show signs of improvement. After a disastrous trip to Boston — they were outscored 17-4 in a doubleheader sweep — the Twins took two of three from Cleveland and Tampa Bay to move to .500.
"As far as back injuries go, I think everyone in the world knows that those aren't fun and they can come back up." Gardenhire said. "We'll just have to play it by ear."
Gardenhire plans to take it easy with Mauer initially, fearing too much work too soon could cause the back injury to flare up again.
OLYMPICS
Track gold winner busted for doping
Fourth track and field competitor, Ramzi, stripped of medals
BY EDDIE PELLS Associated Press
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Bahrain's Rashid Ramzi, right, reacts after winning the men's 1500-meter at the National Stadium at the Beijing 2008 Olympics on Aug. 19. The Bahrain Olympic Committee said Wednesday that the gold medalist Rashid Ramzi tested positive for dooming at the Beijing Games.
With a gold medalist in one of its top events busted for doping at the Beijing Games, the troubled sport of track and field is once again at the center of an Olympic drug scandal.
Bahrain's Rashid Ramzi, the 1500-meter champion and his country's first gold medalist in track, was among three track athletes—and a half-dozen Olympians in all—snagged in the latest game of cat-and-mouse between cheaters and those who try to nail them.
The twist in the nabbing of Ramzi and the rest was their drug of choice. It's called CERA, a new form of EPO, which increases endurance by stimulating production of red blood cells.
Olympic drug testers recently came up with a way to detect CERA. They called for retesting of 948 samples taken from the Beijing Olympics; many of those retests were looking for CERA.
Six came back positive. One was from weightlifting, two from cycling — including a silver medalist — and three from track.
Of the four medals that have already been stripped for doping violations from Beijing, three were from track and field. Ramzi's would make it four. Granted, there are more athletes and more tests in track than other sports. Still, this is hardly the news that the sport hopes to generate after decades of continually trying to reinvent itself as clean.
"Honestly, track and field didn't need another blow like this," said Dee Dee Trotter, a 2004 American gold medalist who runs the antidoping Web site Test Me I'm Clean. "Our reputation is truly depleting and it doesn't help when fans who have long loved the sport begin to doubt what they see."
Though the 1,500-meter race isn't immensely popular in America, in international circles, it is considered right up there with the 100 meters as the most popular
race. It's the metric mile, a distance the common man runs for recreation and a long-standing test of both speed and endurance at the elite level.
The fact that Bahrain got its first Olympic track gold in the event made it that much more special. Calls to Ramzi and his coach seeking comment were unanswered. Accused women's weight-lifter Yudelquis Contreras of the Dominican Republic issued a strong denial, telling The Associated Press: "I know I am clean."
If Ramzi's positive test is upheld through the appeals process, the medal will go to Asbel Kipruto
Track and field medals have been stripped and redistributed for decades, though the scandals of the last decade have taken on more sinister elements of multilayered doping programs and attempts to cover them up.
"But that's one of the worst things about it, is that they'll send it to him in the mail," Trotter said. "You want your time to shine. You can't get that back. You never take that victory lap, never enjoy that moment the way it was designed for the winner to enjoy it."
Kiprop of Kenya, one of Africa's more traditional running powerhouses.
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MLB
Cardinals'infielder Ryan placed on disabled list
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The Cardinals also recalled infielder Tyler Greene from Triple-A Memphis before their game against the Washington Nationals on Thursday night. Greene was in the lineup at shortstop for his major league debut.
WASHINGTON — The St. Louis Cardinals have placed infielder Brendan Ryan on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring.
Ryan hurt himself running out a foul ball in the fifth inning
in Atlanta on Sunday. He was hitting .250 with three RBIs in 19 games.
Greene was hitting .296 with two home runs and nine RBIs for Memphis.
Denver hires Colorado almunus scouting director
NFL
785-864-4358
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Denver Broncos have hired Matt Russell as their college scouting director.
Russell, a first-team All American and Butkis Award winner as the nation's best linebacker
He spent the 2000 season as a graduate assistant coach at Colorado before beginning his scouting career.
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Associated Press
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