LITTLE ROCK — Let him eat cake, lots of it
Roberto Hernandez walked into the Cleveland Indians clubhouse at Progressive Field on Sunday for the first time this season.
The right-handed pitcher hadn’t been with the Indians since he was arrested in the Dominican Republic in January for falsifying his identity. He had pitched for the Indians for six seasons as Fausto Carmona, and had said he was 28 years old.
Turns out, he was three years older and his name wasn’t Carmona.
When he rejoined his teammates Sunday after obtaining a visa to return to the United States, he was welcomed with three birthday cakes - one for his 29th birthday, one for his 30th and another for his 31st.
Players shared a laugh with Hernandez, who apologized to his teammates and fans.
“I want to say I’m sorry,” he said through an interpreter. “I thank God I am here and have been given a new chance.”
Hernandez, who is suspended by Major League Baseball until Aug. 11, was caught holding a false identity in January, when he tried to renew a visa and was arrested outside the U.S. consulate. It was then that he admitted he was really Hernandez and not Carmona, who is actually a distant cousin.
“I want to forget the past,” he said. “I want to work hard and help my team on the field.” Adios, Ochocinco
Chad Ochocinco is no more, but Chad Johnson will be returning to the NFL this fall.
The wide receiver, who signed this off season with the Miami Dolphins, officially changed his name back to Chad Johnson on Monday in Broward County, Fla.
The former Cincinnati Bengals and New England Patriots receiver changed his last name from Johnson to Ochocinco in 2008.
An item on Ochocinco’s website said the name change was because of his marriage earlier this month to Evelyn Lozada. The website said the couple preferred Lozada’s “last name to be a real name and not the fun ‘Ochocinco’ character we have come to love.”
All for one?
The lead-up to the London Olympics hasn’t been all that complimentary to Michael Phelps.
A few weeks after fellow swimmer Tyler Clary criticized Phelps’ work ethic when he told a newspaper that in Phelps he “saw somebody that has been basically asking to get beat for the longest time,” bronze-medalist Ronda Rousey said Phelps disconnected himself from other U.S. team members during the 2008 Games in Beijing.
Rousey, talking to reporter Elie Seckbach, said Phelps sequestered himself from the rest of the American athletes during parties four years ago.
“These NBA players are a bigger deal than this guy, and they’re hanging out with us,” said Rousey, who has become an mixed martial arts champion since she won a bronze in judo in 2008. “We’re teammates. We’re not a bunch of groupies. Come hang out with us.”
Rousey said Phelps acted similarly when American athletes visited The Oprah Winfrey Show.
“I don’t like being somebody’s teammate and being treated like I’m a groupie,” Rousey said. “I didn’t even want to go out of my way to say hello to that guy. Get over yourself. All you do is swim.
“If somebody slapped you every time you jumped in the pool, I might have a little respect, but I was a swimmer before I did this stuff.”
Quote of the day “Football will never again be placed ahead of educating, nurturing and protecting young people.” NCAA President Mark Emmert on sanctions handed down to Penn State
Sports, Pages 16 on 07/24/2012