Off the wire

LITTLE ROCK — BASEBALL Hosmer replaces Teixeira Kansas City Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer has been called upon to replace injured New York Yankees slugger Mark Teixeira on the United States team for the World Baseball Classic. Hosmer received a text message late Tuesday from Tony Clark of the players union, asking if he’d be interested in a spot on the roster. After getting a call from U.S. Manager Joe Torre and receiving the blessing of the Royals, Hosmer quickly agreed to join the Americans. “It’s agreat opportunity,” Hosmer told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “Any chance you get to represent your country, you’re going to jump at the opportunity. So I’m very excited.” Teixeira strained his right wrist while swinging off a tee Tuesday, shortly before the U.S. tied 4-4 with the Chicago White Sox in an exhibition game. Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman said Tuesday night in Tampa, Fla., that Teixeira would be out a minimum of 10 days. Hosmer left the Royals’ spring training complex to catch up with the U.S. team Wednesday, just in time for a team picture in Scottsdale, Ariz. The Americans open Pool D play against Mexico on Friday night in Phoenix.

FOOTBALL Fletcher has surgery

Washington Redskins linebacker London Fletcher underwent ankle surgery Wednesday and announced he intends to play the 2013 season. Fletcher wrote on Twitter that the “surgery went great.” He also wrote that “prep begins now for season 16!” The 15-year NFL veteran plans to play next season as long as he is convinced he can do so at his customary level, a person familiar with the situation said earlier Wednesday. Fletcher also is scheduled to undergo elbow surgery later this month, that person said. Speaking on the condition ofanonymity because the Redskins had not commented publicly on Fletcher’s surgeries or his plans for next season, the person said Fletcher is “not planning on retiring. ” Fletcher said last month he was undergoing what has become, for him, a standard off season evaluation process. Fletcher, who turns 38 in May, has played the last six seasons with the Redskins, without missing a game.

David Akers’ 49ers career is officially over after a two-year tenure that saw him go from a record-setting kicker to one who drew social-media death threats. The 49ers on Wednesday released Akers, who made only 69 percent of his field-goal attempts last season (29 of 42) yet retained his job through the 49ers’ run to Super Bowl XLVII. The 49ers, who gained some $3 million in salary-cap relief with Akers’ exit, can look for his successor in a well-stocked free-agent market.Among the veterans expected to become available next week are Phil Dawson, Rob Bironas, Jason Hanson, Mike Nugent and Lawrence Tynes. The 49ers also could turn back to Billy Cundiff, whom they signed Jan. 1 to compete with Akers. Cundiff failed to unseat Akers before their Jan. 12 playoff opener against Green Bay and was waived Jan. 18. Drafting a kicker is a seldom-used option for the 49ers, who are expected to enter the draft with 15 picks. The last time the 49ers drafted a kicker was in 2002, when they used a fourthround pick on Jeff Chandler. He was cut two games into the 2003 season. Although Akers’ 15th season was filled with frustrating misses, it followed a record-setting 2011 season in which he made 44 of 52 field-goal attempts, both NFL records, and scored 166 points, the most ever by a kicker.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league will continue to do “everything we can” to make football safer. Player safety in the NFL has been a frequent topic of conversation recently and Goodell discussed it again Wednesday during a lecture and question-and-answer session at the department of exercise and sport science at the University of North Carolina. “We know that in order to secure the future, we can and must do more to make the game safer, and in the process, we will make other sports safer as well,” Goodell said. He called for “a culture of safety for every sport” andsaid he welcomes the national conversation about player safety and the growing issue of concussions. The NFL is facing concussion-related lawsuits from thousands of former players. In a series of interviews about head injuries with The Associated Press in December 2011, 31 of 44 players said they wanted the league to have independent neurologists at games. Goodell said the league “will continue to make rule changes, invest in equipment and provide our medical staffs with the tools and authorities” to prevent injuries. “Medical decisions override everything else,” he said. “We know that our actions set an example.”

Two Syracuse players are among four university students charged with campus burglaries.Syracuse police said junior defensive end Markus Pierce-Brewster and junior defensive tackle Davon Walls were charged with felony burglary and misdemeanor petit larceny in the burglary of an apartment Feb. 23. Both players are accused of stealing a flat-screen television, an xBox video game system and games, and two iPods while students were asleep inside the apartments. “We are very disappointed and do not in any way condone the alleged behavior that resulted in these charges,” firstyear Syracuse Coach Scott Shafer said in a statement. “This does not represent the core values of our program or the conduct expected of student-athletes representing Syracuse football. We will be following the judicial process and will act accordingly.” The players did not enter pleas and were assigned attorneys.

GOLF McIlroy apologizes

Rory McIlroy offered another apology, a straightforward explanation and a pledge Wednesday that he will never again quit in the middle of a round. McIlroy faced members of the media for the first time since he abruptly walked off the course in the second round of the Honda Classic on Friday, telling reporters that his head was not in the right place and then issuing a statement that his sore wisdom tooth made it difficult to concentrate. Turns out the wisdom tooth wasn’t the whole truth, and the world’s No. 1 player said, “It will never happen again. I think it was a buildup of everything. I’ve beenputting a lot of pressure on myself to perform, and I’ve been working so hard and not really getting much out of it. That’s just been the frustrating thing, and that’s what happened. I just sort of let it all get to me.” McIlroy attributed his frustration to wanting to improve on his breakthrough season, when he won his second major at the PGA Championship, five tournaments around the world, money titles on the two biggest tours and established himself as the world’s best player. It was the first time McIlroy has been criticized, not only for quitting in the middle of the round but trying to disguise the reason. He did say Wednesday his lower right tooth has been bothering him, and that he would see his dentist in Belfast later this year. “It wasn’t bothering me enough to quit,” he said.

BASKETBALL

Lady Vol doubtful

Tennessee Coach Holly Warlick said sophomore center Isabelle Harrison is “doubtful” for this week’s women’s SEC Tournament because of an injured right knee. Harrison hurt her knee Thursday in an 82-72 victory over Texas A&M and sat out Tennessee’s 78-65 loss at Kentucky on Sunday. Harrison already missed six games this season with an injured left knee, which caused her to undergo surgery on Feb. 1. The 6-3 sophomore averages 9.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game for the ninth-ranked Lady Volunteers. The top-seeded Lady Vols (23-6) play a Friday quarterfinal against the winner of today’s game between Arkansas and Florida at Duluth, Ga.

Indiana Pacers forward Danny Granger could miss another week with a sore left knee. Granger missed the first 54 games of the season with the same injury and sat out the second half of Sunday night’s victory over Chicago after re-aggravating the knee injury. Just hours before Indiana and Boston were to meet Wednesday night, the team issued a statement saying an magnetic resonance imaging showed no new damage to Granger’s knee. The team says he will be re-evaluated next week. Granger has led the Pacers in scoring each of the past five seasons. The team did not make a move before the February trade deadline in hopes Granger would give it another outside shooting presence.