LITTLE ROCK — Old-timers still quick with quips
Fireballer Bob Feller’s ceremonial first pitch bounced before it reached home plate.
That’s OK, though. The 91-year-old Hall of Fame pitcher still received the only standing ovation at the Hall of Fame Classic on Sunday in Cooperstown, N.Y.
“I think I joined the politicians.
They always bounce it,” Feller said.
Feller and former Minnesota Twins slugger Harmon Killebrew served as honorary captains and were joined by fellow Hall of Famers Gary Carter, Goose Gossage, Phil Niekro, Rollie Fingers, and Ozzie Smith, along with 20 other former major league players in a seven-inning game.
In his first game at Doubleday Field, Mark Whiten hit a pair of home runs to lead the Fellers past the Killebrews 9-0.
Fingers, the 1981 American League Cy Young and Most Valuable Player Award winner, still wears his familiar handlebar mustache, though it’s now mostly gray.
“I just hope nobody gets hurt,” Fingers said before the game.
“Lots of these guys, you put on some weight after you get out of the game, but mine [uniform] still fits. It’s OK. I throw just as hard, it just doesn’t get there as fast.” Lack of class
A top public university in Bangladesh closed indefinitely after students clashed over whether to cancel classes to watch the World Cup.
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology asked students to leave dormitories by Sunday to calm the situation, said Habibur Rahman, pro-vice chancellor of the university.
The decision was made late Saturday after at least five students were injured in violence between two groups of students.
One group demanded an early summer vacation so they could watch soccer on television without any tension. They asked other students not to attend classes or take tests and locked the university’s main gate, prompting confrontations with senior students who wanted classes to continue.
No date has been set for when the university will reopen.
Horn buzz
It might not go into the books with the same infamy as 10-cent beer night did in Cleveland in 1974, or the giveaway baseballs that turned into giveaway projectiles and prompted a Los Angeles Dodgers forfeit in 1995, or Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park in 1979.
But the Florida Marlins’ 9-8, 11-inning loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday will be remembered for the overwhelming din created by 15,000 vuvuzelas distributed to fans in a World Cup-themed giveaway.
Marlins President David Samson called the promotion “absolutely outstanding,” but not everyone was as excited, as both players and umpires quickly popped in ear plugs.
“They’re annoying,” said Rays Manager Joe Maddon, who thinks the horns should be banned.
“There’s cool things and there’s very noncool things. That’s a noncool thing.”
Others had different opinions.
“I never knew anybody complained about the field being loud,” White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen said in Washington on Sunday. “They’re not Tiger Woods. ... Baseball is supposed to be played with a lot of noise.”Easy drive
American tennis player Andy Roddick has no qualms about taking advantage of World Cup soccer excitement in London, especially when the home team is playing.
“I decided to take advantage of no traffic and go into the city and have some dinner,” Roddick said.
“You’d be amazed how quickly you can get down there when an England game is on.”Quote of the day “This is sort of a lot of
goals in one day for me.” Chris Kirk, who won the Fort Smith Classic, took over No. 1 on the Nationwide Tour Money list and likely secured a PGA Tour card with Sunday’s victory
Sports, Pages 14 on 06/21/2010