2B THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
TUESDAY. MAY 10, 2005
CORRECTION
- Yesterday's University Daily Kansan contained an error. The article, "Hawks back in the hunt," stated the Kansas baseball team was tied with Texas Tech for sixth place in the Big 12 conference. The Jayhawks are in eighth place, one half game behind Oklahoma and Texas Tech.
ATHLETICS CALENDAR
Editor's note: The results of the Big 12 Conference Tournament, a double-elimination competition, will determine the softball team's opponents and game times on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
- Baseball vs. Southwest Missouri State, 7 p.m.
Hoglund Ballpark
Regional Bullpen
+ Track and field at Kansas State, all day.
+ Softball vs. Texas, 11 a.m., Oklahoma City
+ Softball vs. Oklahoma, Nebraska or Iowa State, 2 p.m., or 7 p.m., Oklahoma City
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
- Baseball at Missouri, 6:30 p.m., Columbia, Mo.
* Rowing at NCAA South-Central Regional, all day,
Oak Ridge, Tenn.
- Softball at Big 12 Conference Tournament, TBA,
Oklahoma City
- Track and field at Big 12 Conference Outdoor Championships, all day, Manhattan
+ Rowing at NCAA South-Central Regional, all day,
Oak Ridge, Tenn.
SATURDAY
B. Parksell at Missouri 2 p.m., Columbia, Mo.
- Softball at Big 12 Conference Tournament, TBA,
Oklahoma City
FOOTBALL
Former KU football players sign deals with NFL teams
Two former Kansas football players signed professional contracts last week with teams in the National Football League.
Wide receiver Brandon Rideau signed a contract with the Cleveland Browns, where he will join defensive end David McMillan, McMillan was drafted by the Browns in the fifth round of the NFL Draft.
Former Kansas punter Curtis Ansel also signed a contract, as he signed with the Houston Texans. Ansel completed his eligibility in 2003 and signed with a team last season. He failed to impress the coaches enough to maintain a spot at that time.
— Ryan Colaianni
Home run totals decrease
BY RONALD BLUM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — In the first year of toughened steroid testing, home runs are down in the major leagues for the first time since 2002.
Florida Marlins pitcher Todd Jones doesn't think it's a coinidence. He's convinced there's a connection.
"I think five weeks is too short a statistical sample to draw any conclusions," said Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer. "There are a myriad of factors that could influence that, including the cold and wet spring training we had in Florida, the weather in the first few weeks of the season"
"Unfortunately, I do. I hate it, but there has been a correction made in the system, and the numbers are going to suffer for a couple of years," he said yesterday. "I hate to admit it because I didn't want to. I'm as disappointed as any fan would be that it's going to end up showing to be the truth. But it's got to be good for the game to get back to an even playing field. I just didn't realize deep it was."
An average of 1.97 home runs were hit in games through Sunday, down 8.8 percent from the 2.16 average in the first five weeks of last season, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. It's the lowest level for the first five weeks since 2002's .193 average and below the 2.14 average of the last decade.
"I don't know exactly to what extent, but you see people maybe not as big as they had been in the past or don't look as strong as maybe they had been in the past," he said. "Some balls are hit pretty well, but they're not carrying like maybe they had in the past couple of years. So, just being a thinking person, and you know what's been going on, you have to tie them together a little bit."
But Los Angeles Angels bench coach Joe Maddon, who has been in professional baseball since 1975, thinks testing "could be tied to it somehow."
Runs per game are down 5 percent, from 9.72 to 9.23, and hits declined 3.1 percent, from 18.37 per game to 17.80. The major league batting aver-
some balls are hit pretty well, but they're not carrying like maybe they had in the past couple of years
Joe Maddon Los Angeles Angels bench coach
years."
"I think if Barry were playing, you'd probably have that nine percent," Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said.
sarah.
"The best hitter in baseball is on the DL," added Florida Marlins third baseman Mike Lowell. "I can't say it's steroids or the pitching. It might be a combination. If it was down 30 percent, I would say, 'Whoa, we've got to look at something.' Nine percent is a minimal variation."
"I don't think that's necessarily the cause," Tigers closer Troy Percival said of steroids. "And I only say that because being in Detroit, I've never seen weather being this cold day in and day out all the way through the central part of the country and the East Coast."
age dropped from .265 to .261.
"I don't know how much steroids had to do with it," Reds reliever Kent Mercker said. "Maybe the pitching got better."
There have been exceptions. Pitchers on the Cincinnati Reds gave up a major league-high 49 homers in their first 30 games. They are on pace to break the team record of 236 they set last year, which was three short of the NL record.
Minnesota outfielder Shannon Stewart was among those who cited better pitching as the cause for the drop.
Several players and managers cited the absence of San Francisco's Barry Bonds.
"There are guys that know how to make the ball move a little bit. To me,guys don't throw straight balls
Home runs per game through the first five weeks of the major league baseball season, as compiled by the Elias Sports Bureau.
POWER OUTAGE
thinks pitching is a big part where we saw guys coming up to the big leagues who were throwing 87, 88, 89 mph. Now I see a bunch of guys coming up throwing 92, 94, 95," he said. "There might have been a drop in legal supplements, too. ... I'm seeing smaller players. It's unfair and wrong to assume that guy was on steroids, because supplementation can help too, and it's all legal."
Year G HR HR/G
2005 460 908 1.97
2004 459 990 2.16
2003 461 953 2.07
2002 456 878 1.93
2001 454 1,047 2.31
2000 457 1,183 2.59
1999 457 1,016 2.22
1998 437 862 1.97
1997 398 742 1.86
1996 423 989 2.34
Totals 4,462 9,568 2.14
MLB
Houston manager Phil Garner thinks pitching is a big part of it.
anymore, so it's a little tougher to hit the baseball," he said. "All it takes is a big swing and the ball's going to be out of the yard. That's all it takes, a good swing on that ball. That has nothing to do with steroids."
Washington Nationals outfielder Jose Guillen judges by his own experience
"At this time last year, I had fewer home runs than I have right now," said Guillen, who connected for No. 8 Sunday. "I had two or three at this time last year."
- The Associated Press
— AP Sports Writers David Ginsburg in Baltimore, Joe Kav in Cincinnati, Janie McCauley in San Francisco and Steven Wine in Miami contributed to this report
Cardinals call up relief for Molina
ST.LOUIS — Short a catcher after Yadier Molina sprained his left ankle running to first, the St. Louis Cardinals yesterday recalled Mike Mahoney from Triple-A Memphis.
The team designated reliever Bill Pulsipher for assignment. Pulsipher, 0-0 with a 6.75 ERA in five games, cleared waivers and said he would accept the assignment.
Medical tests showed only a sprain for Molina, who was batting. 200 with five RBIs and strong defensive skills in his first year as the full-time starter, and the team is hopeful he'll be sidelined only a few days. In the meantime, the team needed protection behind the plate.
Molina was injured when he stepped awkwardly on first base running out a ground ball in the seventh inning Sunday.
The Associated Press
KC admirer to play Nicklaus course
LEAWOOD — Since two of his nine Champions Tour victories have come in the Kansas City area, Allen Doyle is happy to be coming back in a couple weeks.
"We're not thinking about moving here, but Kansas City's been great to me," said Doyle, who won the Champions Tour stop in the Kansas City area in 1999 and again last year.
But this year's Bayer Advantage Classic will be at a new venue designed by one of the sport's most famous names.
The tournament will be June 10 to 12 at the 54-hole. $1,650,000 Nicklaus Golf Club at LionsGate. The suburban Kansas City venue was designed by Jack Nicklaus.
— Doug Tucker/The Associated Press
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13 GOURMET VEGGIE CLUB™
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