LITTLE ROCK — BASEBALL A-Rod could miss season
New York Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman said Friday it’s possible third baseman Alex Rodriguez could miss the entire season while recovering from hip surgery. The 37-year-old Rodriguez had surgery on his left hip last week. The team said the rehabilitation time was expected to be six months, which would sideline the star slugger until the All-Star break, but Cashman said a year is possible. “Yeah,” Cashman told WFAN radio. “I think because [of] the serious nature of the surgery and the condition that he’s trying to recover from, you know, there is that chance.” A 14-time All-Star, Rodriguez hit .272 with 18 home runs and 57 RBI in 122 games last year.
The Chicago White Sox say they have agreed to a one-year contract with reliever Matt Lindstrom that includes a club option for 2014. The deal was announced Friday. Lindstrom will receive $2.3 million next season. The White Sox can then pay him $4 million in 2014 or buy him out for $500,000. The 32-year-old right-hander was 1-0 with a 2.68 ERA and 40 strikeouts over 46 games with Baltimore and Arizona last season. He was traded to the Diamondbacks on Aug. 26 for left-handed pitcher Joe Saunders and a player to be named later.
Infielder Joaquin Arias has agreed to a $925,000, one-year contract with the San Francisco Giants to avoid salary arbitration. Arias made $525,000 last season and the deal was reached at the midpoint between what the Giants had offered and Arias had requested in salary arbitration. Arias batted .270 with 5 home runs and 34 RBI in 112 games last season when he played mostly at shortstop and third base.
HOCKEY Flyers sign Knuble
The Philadelphia Flyers officially signed right wing Mike Knuble to a one-year contract Friday, and the veteran will be available for today’s game at the Florida Panthers. Knuble, 40, returns to the Flyers after spending the past three seasons with the Washington Capitals. He played for the Flyers for four seasons (2005-2009) after signing as a free agent July 3, 2004. Knuble appeared in 310 games for Philadelphia, recording 114 goals and 221 points.
FIGURE SKATING Abbott leads
With just about everyone else stumbling, bumbling or worse, Jeremy Abbott’s clean but conservative short program was more than enough to give him the lead at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Friday night in Omaha, Neb. The three-time champion finished with 84.10 points, three points ahead of Ross Miner. Joshua Farris, the silver medalist at last year’s junior world championships, was third. The free skate is Sunday. Earlier Friday, Olympic silver medalists Meryl Davis and Charlie White won the short dance with a career-best 79.02 points.
FOOTBALL Cowboy take Bisaccia
The Dallas Cowboys have hired Rich Bisaccia as special teams coach three weeks after he joined the Auburn staff in a similar capacity. New Auburn Coach Gus Malzahn said Friday that Bisaccia had “an offer that he felt he could not turn down” after the Tigers hired him to coach running backs and special teams Jan. 3. The Cowboys reported their hiring on the team’s website. Bisaccia was special teams coach at Tampa Bay from 2002-10 and worked alongside new Dallas defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin and defensive line coach Rod Marinelli. Bisaccia spent the past two seasons as special teams coach in San Diego. He replaces Joe DeCamillis, who went to Chicago as assistant head coach in charge of special teams.
The Cincinnati Bengals signed linebacker Aaron Maybin to a reserve/future contract Friday. Maybin, a 2009 first-round pick of Buffalo out of Penn State, has played for the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets, leading the Jets in sacks (six) and forced fumbles (four) in 2011. Maybin has appeared in 47 career games, and was released by the Jets on Nov. 13 last year.
Minnesota Vikings rookie left tackle Matt Kalil is headed to Hawaii after all. Kalil was added to the NFC’s Pro Bowl roster Friday to replace Washington Redskins tackle Trent Williams, who is injured. Williams was hurt in a brawl at a Honolulu nightclub. The fight injured three men, sending two to the hospital. Police say one man was arrested and five others are being investigated for assault, but not Williams.
TRACK AND FIELD 4 injured in crash
Police say a bus carrying the Murray State women’s track team rolled over on icy Interstate 69 in southwest Indiana, injuring four people. Murray State spokesman Sherry McClain said the team was traveling in two minibuses from the college in Murray, Ky., to a meet at Indiana in Bloomington on Friday morning when one of the buses hit a patch of ice and turned on its side. She said four students had minor injuries and two were taken to a nearby hospital for observation. Murray State Athletics Director Allen Ward said the bus was carrying nine members of the track team.
TENNIS Murray has major breakthrough against Federer
MELBOURNE, Australia - Andy Murray was sucking in deep breaths, trying to recover from his exhausting victory over Roger Federer. Pain was very much on his mind.
The U.S. Open champion defeated Federer 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-2 in a four-hour Australian Open semifinal Friday. It was Murray’s first victory against the 17-time major winner at a Grand Slam event.
But Murray already was thinking about Sunday’s final against two-time defending champion Novak Djokovic, who is on a 20-match winning streak at Melbourne Park. This will be a rematch of their U.S. Open final.
“Every time we play each other it’s normally a very physical match,” Murray said. “I’ll need to be ready for the pain. I hope it’s a painful match - that’ll mean it’s a good one.”
Murray had a 10-9 record against Federer, but had lost his three previous major matches to the Swiss star. One of those defeats came at Wimbledon last year. Murray says the disappointment of that loss triggered his run to the gold medal at the London Olympics, and then his drought-breaking triumph at the U.S. Open.
“You know, I’ve obviously lost some tough matches against him in Slams,” Murray said. “So to win one, especially the way that it went tonight, yeah, was obviously nice.”
Murray ended a 76-year drought for British men at the majors when he beat Djokovic in five sets in the final at Flushing Meadows.
The first title of the 2013 Australian Open, women’s doubles, was decided when top-seeded Sara Errani and Roberta Vinciof Italy beat unseeded Australians Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.
That was a prelude to the men’s semifinal, where 15,000 people packed Rod Laver Arena, including Rod Laver himself, to see if Federer could reach a sixth Australian final.
The 31-year-old Swiss has won four of his 17 titles at Melbourne Park.
He showed flashes of his customary play, but also rare bursts of anger. Murray showed his frustration as well. The crowd started to turn on him after he challenged a call in the eighth game of the fourth set, booing each time he complained to the umpire. His unforced error into the net on the next point prompted a huge cheer.
In the 12th game of the fourth set, Federer appeared to yell across the net after Murray stopped momentarily behind the baseline during the rally.
Murray shrugged it off and seemed to dig in. He’d won that point but lost the game and was taken to another tiebreaker, which he lost.
“We were just checking each other out for bit,” Federer said. “That wasn’t a big deal for me - I hope not for him.”
Sports, Pages 24 on 01/26/2013