"The Royals wanted this player badly. They were the most persistent and willing to do the most to get him." Indians general manager Mark Shapiro on pitcher Brian Anderson
2B the university daily kansan
off the bench
tuesday,august26,2003
Royals acquire Indians pitcher to strengthen starting rotation
The Associated Press
CLEVELAND - Brian Anderson deserved a break this season, and he got one yesterday.
one year later. Anderson was acquired for the pennant race by the Kansas City Royals, who sent the Cleveland Indians two minor leaguers and agreed to pay some of the left-hander's bonuses for 2003.
The 31-year-old Anderson went 9-10 with a 3.71 ERA for Cleveland, which signed him to a one-year free agent contract in December and may go after him again this winter.
Anderson has had a solid season in his second stint with the Indians, but has been unlucky in many of his 24 starts. Cleveland has given up a major league-high 27 uneared runs behind him.
He's hoping that trend changes with the Royals, who will start him tonight against Texas. Kansas City is one game behind first-place Chicago in the AL Central.
"He's had some success against the clubs we're going to be playing," Royals general manager Allard Baird said. "He has playoff experience and World Series experience."
Baird said the trade was not a reaction to Sunday's game, in which right-hander Kevin Appier left his start against Minnesota with tightness in his elbow.
"We tried to make this deal prior to the trade deadline, but it just did not work out." Baird said.
Appier, who has been pitching with a partial tear all season, is scheduled to see a doctor Tuesday.
Anderson, a native of Geneva, Ohio, said he had mixed emotions about leaving the Indians.
"It's been awesome here, getting to play at home," Anderson said. "But now I have the chance to get into a division race. I'm sure those (mixed) feelings will go away, but it's five weeks, and it's meaningful baseball."
For Anderson, who won a World Series title with Arizona, the Indians got first baseman-outfielder Trey Dyson and right-hander Kieran Mattison and cash considerations from the Royals.
"There was a lot of creativity with all three parties — the player and the two ballclubs," Baird said.
Indians general manager Mark Shapiro said those considerations were the Royals' willingness to pay bonuses Anderson was due if he made a certain number of starts this season.
Shapiro said Anderson drew interest from two teams before the July 31 trading deadline, and three more teams were aggressive in trying to sign Anderson before Aug. 31 when teams must have players on their roster to have them eligible for the postseason.
"The Royals wanted this player badly," Shapiro said. "They were the most persistent and willing to do the most to get him."
Anderson has playoff experience with
Cleveland and Arizona. As a reliever, he made three appearances in the 1997 ALCS with the Indians and pitched in three World Series games against Florida.
He was the Diamondbacks' starter for Game 3 of the 2001 World Series against the New York Yankees.
Anderson waived a $600,000 bonus he was due if he got traded so the Indians and Royals could complete the deal. He will be a free agent again this winter, and Anderson would prefer to return to Cleveland.
Shapiro said he would like to have Anderson back.
"I would still like to have one veteran in our rotation to provide us with stability." he said.
Kansas City needs wins. And after pitching against the Royals, Anderson is now eager to help the AL's surprise team cap its improbable season with a playoff appearance.
appearance. "They've stayed right in it," he said. "Everybody was waiting to see if they were for real and now they're doing that. It's going to be a fight until the end."
Dyson, 23, has spent this season Wilmington of the Class A Carolina League, where he batted .275 with 14 homers and 72 RBIs in 128 games.
homers Mattison, 23, went 8-5 with a 2.50 ERA in 17 starts for Burlington of the Class A Midwest League.
Shapiro said both players will report to the Indians' Kinston (A) affiliate.
Leg injury weakens Maurice Greene in 100-meter championship event
The Associated Press
SAINT-DENIS, France — Kansas City, Kan., native Maurice Greene's six-year reign as 100-meter world champion ended in pain Sunday when he hobbled across the finish line next-to-last in his semifinal heat.
Also dethroned was U.S. compatriot Stacy Dragila, who had won the only two previous world crowns in the women's pole vault but failed to win a medal this time.
In yet another disappointment for the American team at the World Championships, Raasin McIntosh fell on the eighth of the 10 hurdles in the women's 400-meter hurdles and didn't finish. She had to be helped off the track.
had to be same time, track and field's world governing body ordered U.S. team officials to punish spinner Jordan Drummond for his tantrum in Sunday's 100 quarterfinals by tonight.
And, adding insult to injury, some fans in the Stade de France crowd whistled in derision as "The Star-Spangled Banner" was played during the gold-medal ceremony for women's 100 champion Kelli White.
Greene's absence from the 100 final later yesterday wiped out a long-anticipated showdown with world-record holder Tim Montgomery, who sped into the final by finishing second to U.S. champion Bernard Williams in their semifinal heat.
Greene, who entered the world meet as a three-time defending champion, got off to a great start but slowed midway through the race. His face contorted in pain, and he fell far behind the leaders of the heat.
Greene grabbed his
Greene
left leg as soon as he crossed the finish line.
"I got a great start and from my start I just felt my quad muscle pop," Greene said. "I just kept trying to go through it, but it just kept getting worse and worse as I went down the track."
Greene had not competed in a sprint race for six weeks until the world championships, and has not won a race since June. He has struggled with injuries since winning his third straight world championship in August 2001 in Edmonton.
Also missing from the final will be Drummond, who was disqualified for a false start in Sunday's quarterfinals and then threw a tantrum that forced a 45-minute delay in the running of his heat.
Greene said he did not expect to run on the U.S. 400-meter relay team at the World Championships.
Drummond sprawled on the track, preventing the heat from resuming. Then
he returned to the starting line, even after being red-carded. He finally left, and wept on a practice track as the heat was rerun.
Yesterday, the International Association of Athletics Federation ruled Drummond's "behavior was improper, unsporting and has brought the sport of athletics into disrepute."
The IAAF gave USA Track & Field chief executive Craig Mashback until 8 p.m. Tuesday to carry out an investigation, give Drummond a hearing and announce a sanction.
"There must be some disciplinary action," IAAF general secretary Istvan Gyulai, IAFT the AP. "This is unpsportsmanlike and damaging behavior and should not happen again."
USATF spokeswoman Jill Geer said the federation would study its bylaws to determine "the proper disciplinary procedure under an expedited circumstance."
"I think more information will come out," he told the AP. "It's in everybody's interests that the dust settles."
Before the IAAF announced its decision, Masback said not all the facts were known.
Drummond was not available yesterday for comment.
If the IAAF is not satisfied with the U.S. action, the world body can impose its own sanctions against Drummond, Gyulai said.
Missouri basketball team accused of academic cheating
The Associated Press
COLUMBIA, Mo. — The entire Missouri men's basketball program will be investigated by a panel led by an electrical engineering professor because of allegations of academic cheating, university president Elson Floyd said yesterday.
Missouri's athletics department already was conducting its own investigation and is cooperating with an NCAA investigation. In a statement, Floyd said the athletic department would cooperate in a probe to be "elevated to a comprehensive investigation of the entire men's basketball program."
Floyd said the investigation would be a "continuation, extension and amplification of the work already done" by the athletic department and that Columbia
Chancellor Richard Wallace supported the expanded probe.
The investigation is to be led by Michael Devaney, a
professor of electrical engineering and immediate past chairman of the Faculty Council on the Columbia campus.
"This is going to be a thorough and objective investigation of the men's basketball program, especially because of the allegations that have touched on academic integrity. I can tell you this is an issue that faculty takes very, very seriously and needs to be assured that the athletes' work is truly their own work." Devaney, a professor at Columbia since 1969, said in a telephone interview yesterday evening.
Big 12 commissioners rule Baylor transfers OK
The Associated Press
DALLAS — Baylor basketball players who transfer because of the school's self-imposed probation will be exempt from a Big 12 Conference rule that they sit out a year, the conference ruled yesterday.
"The council was careful to clarify in its vote that the action was based upon the unique circumstances presented in the Baylor situation," Big 12 commissioner Kevin Weiberg said of the ruling by the league's Council of Faculty Athletics Representatives.
Baylor President Robert Sloan Jr. offered all players a release from their scholarships Aug. 8 when he announced major violations had been found in the basketball program and coach Dave Bliss resigned.
conference rules still applied.
The NCAA already waived its rule requiring transfers to sit out a year, but
The ruling means John Lucas III and Kenny Taylor, the Bears' second- and
tird-leading scorers, are eligible to play this season at different conference schools.
Lucas told KRIV-TV of Houston yesterday that he was transferring to Oklahoma State and expected to begin classes this week. Taylor said last week that he was transferring to Texas, which has a scholarship available.
Lawrence Roberts, Baylor's top scorer and rebounder last season, signed a letter of intent last week with Mississippi State and started classes at the SEC school
NFL Broncos fanatic 'Barrel Man' suffers undisclosed ailment
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Tim McKernan, known as the Denver Broncos Barrel Man, was in critical condition at St. Mary's Hospital Sunday.
McKernan was flown to Grand Junction from Gunnison on Thursday, hospital spokesman Dan Prinster said. The hospital didn't disclose what was wrong with McKernan, who has a history of heart problems.
McKernan wore a barrel to a Broncos game in 1977 on a bet with his brother. Since then, he has led cheers at games, wearing an orange barrel supported by suspenders, orange cowboy hat, boots and, reportedly, nothing else.
McKernan, an airlines mechanic, said before he was inducted that if he could keep fans interested in the game, "players are going to play that much harder for them." —The Associated Press
McKernan's devotion to the Broncos earned him a spot in the fan section of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1999. He attended Super Bowl XXXII, where the Broncos defeated the Green Bay Packers 31-24 in the first of back-to-back championships.
Kansas Athletics Calendar
friday
Vailleyball at Northern Illinois Tournament,
Debaji, Ill.
Soccer vs. northwestern, 5.p.m., SuperTarget Field
Volleyball vs. Western Kentucky
Football vs. Northwestern, 6 p.m., Memorial Stadium
saturday
Volleyball I at Northern Illinois Tournament,
Dakah, Ill.
Volleyball vs. Liberty
Soccer vs. Evansville, 1 p.m. SuperTarget Field
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