NSAN
2009
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2009
SPORTS
3B
Bill Kostroun/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Press
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New York Yankees' Derek Jeter tips his cap after hitting a single during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday at Yankee Stadium in New York. The hit tied Jeter with Lou Gehrig for most hits by a Yankee.
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MLB
Yankees player breaks his slump and delivers big hits
Jeter ties batting record with former New York player Lou Gherig
BY MIKE FITZPATRICK
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Derek Jeter peeked down at third base and saw a huge patch of green grass. So, he took advantage of it. Jeter began the night with a surprising bunt single — and didn't stop hitting until he tied Lou Gehrig.
With three hits on Wednesday, Jeter matched the New York Yankees record of 2,721, a mark Gehrig held by himself for more than 70 years.
"It's just kind of mind-boggling to have my name next to his," jersey said on the field during a postgame television interview pumped over the Yankee Stadium public address system.
New York rallied past the Tampa Bay Rays 4-2 on a three-run homer by pinch-hitter Jorge Posada in the eighth inning. The comeback victory made it easier for Jeter to enjoy his accomplishment — he tied Gehrig with a seventh-inning single off rookie starter Jeff Niemann.
"I'm happy that I was able to do it here at home," Jeter said. "We had so many special moments across the street. Hopefully this is the first of many memorable moments here at the new stadium."
Moments after Posada's homer, Jeter received a booming ovation as he stepped to the plate in the eighth with a chance to break the record. He walked against reliever Grant Balfour, bringing a loud chorus of boos from the crowd.
The Yankees are off Thursday.
"I wish we were playing tomorrow," he said.
Jeter gets his next chance to set the mark Friday night at home against Baltimore.
Shut down by Niemann most of the night, the
"He carries himself in a manner that's worthy of passing Gherig."
"I'm very happy for him," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. "He carries himself in a manner that's worthy of passing Gehrig."
JOE MADDON
Tampa Bay manager
Yankees finished a four-game sweep and sent the AL champion Rays to their eighth consecutive loss. It's their longest skid since dropping eight straight in July 2007.
Jeter's parents, watching from an upstairs box between home plate and first base, raised their arms and exclaimed in excitement. The ball was saved for Jeter as a souvenir.
"I felt proud. I got goose bumps," said Posada, one of Jeter's best buddies. "It was a perfect moment."
Jeter took off his helmet and twice waved it to the crowd of 45,848 during an ovation that lasted about 2 minutes. Rays players and coaches clapped as Jeter stood at first base.
Jeter entered the game in an 4-for-
12 slide, his longest hitless stretch this
season, but ended the skid right away.
He noticed that third baseman Evan Longoria was playing
deep, so later
dropped down a beautiful bunt single leading off the bottom of the first. He beat the play without a throw, prompting the first of several standing ovations.
"He was smart. He took what they gave him tonight. That's the type of player he has been his whole career," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "When you put his name next to Lou Gehrig, it's amazing. It was emotional for me because I wanted it so bad for him tonight."
On his first chance to tie Gehrig, Jeter came through in fitting fashion — with an opposite-field hit on the first pitch.
"You don't want to say it was a relief, but afterwards I was pretty excited that I was able to do it tonight." Jeter said. "I'd be lying
to you if I said I wasn't thinking about it because pretty much everywhere I've gone this entire homestand I've been hearing on the street, in cabs, at the stadium,
'When you gonna get a hit, when you gonna get a hit? I kept telling them, 'I'm trying'"
"He starts the game off, dropping the bunt down just to get a hit. I mean, nobody else thinks about that except Derek. He shocked the world up there doing that," long-time teammate Andy Pettitte said. "I'm just excited to see him break it and get it over with and now he can head on toward 3,000."
In the middle of the eighth, the large video board in center field showed a replay and flashed "Congratulations Derek!"
Gehrig's final hit came on April 29, 1939, a single against the Washington Senators. The Iron Horse had held the club record for hits since Sept. 6, 1937, when he passed Babe Ruth.
"I know a lot about the history," Jeter said. "What he stood for, being a captain, he's probably one of the classiest people to ever play the game."
Gehrig's Hall of Fame career ended suddenly in 1939 because of illness. Two years later, he died at 37 from the disease that would later bear his name.
FOOTBALL
Team hits the road to test secondary against offense
BY JAYSON JENKS jjenks@kansan.com
Right now, the lajayhaws are saying all the right things.
They're talking about the difficulties of playing away from home, the importance of snagging a road win and, most importantly, they're talking about the talented, passhappy UTEP team that waits in El Paso this Saturday.
So what if UTEP lost 23-17 at home to Buffalo last week? The Jayhawks insist the Miners pose a tougher-than-expected challenge early in the season.
"They're going to be a lot better than they played against Buffalo," junior linebacker Justin Springer said. "I can promise you that. They're confident. They're real confident they can beat us."
"We will find out a lot about ourselves," coach Mark Mangino said.
Perhaps the greatest test will come from UTEP's spread offense.
The Miners ranked 25th in the nation in scoring offense last season, averaging 32.9 points per game. Quarterback Trevor Vittatoe threw for a school-record 33 touchdowns as a sophomore.
Follow Kansan football writer Jayson Jenks at twitter.com/jijens
And returning wide receivers Jeff Moturi and Kris Adams combined for 23 touchdowns last season. UTEP presents an early-
season gauge for a Kansas defense that ranked 10th in the Big 12 against the pass last year.
"You might as well get it over with, you know what I mean?" junior defensive back Chris Harris
"It's good to go out there and know that they're going to try and attack us and attack the secondary."
said. "It's good to go out there and know that they're going to try and attack us and attack the second-ary"
Still, UTEP scored only 17 points in an opening season loss to Buffalo and the offense showed signs of being sluggish.
CHRIS HARRISE Kansas defensive back
But defensive coordinator Clint Bowen said that UTPE is a team
capable of scoring against any team in the country.
Last season, Kansas played its first road game at South Florida on national television. The Jayhawks held a 20-10 lead at halftime be-
"They've put together a nice bunch and they proved that last year." Bowen said. "They scored a lot of points against a lot of people. That's not by accident."
the game.
fore the Bulls kicked a game-winning field goal in the final seconds.
While quarterback Todd Reeves said the South Florida game was too far in the rearview mirror to reflect on, others said similar lessons could be carried over from
"We sewed it up too early and didn't manage to hold on there at the end," senior safety Darrell Stuckey said. "But we're going to go down there this year and fine-tune all of our wrinkles before we get there."
Edited by Megan Morriss
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Athletes compete with swine flu College football players have been ordered to keep clean to avoid
BY RALPH D. RUSSO
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Helmets and shoulder pads — and hand sanitizer.
College football players are protecting themselves from more than bruising hits and tackles this season. Swine flu can flatten them, too.
With outbreaks reported at the universities of Mississippi and Wisconsin, players are under orders to wash their hands and cover their mouths when they cough or sneeze, lest their teams join those who have been hit hard by the bug.
"After the first couple of cases, when people got sick on campus, me and my roommates, we went and got a big bottle of disinfectant," said Ole Miss running back Brandon Bolden, who lives with two teammates. "And as soon as we walk into our house, we have hand sanitizer."
Coaches are fretting the possibility of having to play games short-handed.
"It scares us to death." Texas coach Mack Brown said.
Swine flu hasn't been a problem for the Longhorns so far, but the
list of teams affected has been growing steadily.
Washington State had 16 players get sick before its home opener Saturday — a loss to Stanford — amid a larger flu outbreak at the school. The university placed hand sanitizers at
At Duke, in Durham, N.C., one player had a confirmed case of swine flu in early August, about a month before the season started last weekend. School officials said two or three dozen players experienced flu symptoms and it took about 10 days to get healthy.
"And as soon as we walk into our house,we have hand sanitizer."
other people or touching objects. People inhale the virus or pick it up by touching an infected person or object and then putting their hands to their own nose or mouth.
BRANDON BOLDEN Ole Miss running back
concession stands for the game, which drew just 22,386 fans about 5,500 fewer than last year's opener.
In Oxford, Miss., the number of Rebels to miss practice with flu symptoms was up to 27 by Tuesday night, coach Houston Nutt said.
Mississippi and Wisconsin have been dealing with seriously depleted rosters at practice this week as player after player has come down with the fever, coughing, body aches and sore throats that are symptoms of the H1N1 virus.
Swine flu spreads the same way seasonal flu does, from an infected person sneezing or coughing near
That includes star quarterback Jevan Snead and top running back Dexter McCluster. The number of cases among the entire student body was approaching 400.
In Madison, Wis. at least 10 players were
players are dealing with flu symptoms, and university officials say about 200 students sought medical attention the first week of school. Coaches have been tightlipped about which players have been affected and if any will miss Saturday's home game against Fresno State.
In Tuscaloosa, Ala., Stillman College, which plays Division II football, had to cancel its opener last week against Clark Atlanta because 37 players had flu-like symptoms.
Johnson County Clin-Trials
H1N1 FLU VACCINE STUDY
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Coaches, meanwhile, are just hoping that an All-American won't fall ill for the big game.
"That's all half-luck," Kentucky coach Rich Brooks said, "and we just hope that if we do get a case or two that it will be isolated — and at this point, knock on wood, we're among the fortunate ones that haven't gone through it — and hope that it doesn't happen at the worst time with the wrong players."