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Sports Briefs: Thomas, 3 others, will enroll at ASU
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Published: November 17, 2009
Updated: 11/17/2009 12:35 am
Anthony Thomas, a 6-6 guard from Winston-Salem Prep, is one of four players to have signed national letters of intent to play basketball at Appalachian State.
The other three are 6-4 guard Jonathan Frye of Northern Guilford, 6-6 forward Petey Hausley of McDowell County and Iowa Western Community College, 6-3 guard Mitch Woods of the Community School of Naples (Fla.).
"We are extremely excited for all four of these guys joining our family," Coach Buzz Peterson of ASU said. "This class accomplished a lot and we filled our needs. These guys wanted to be here and I am very happy for the future of the program and look for big things from them."
Thomas averaged 16 points a game for Quality Education Academy last season.
"Anthony can play three different positions and is a talented player from a strong local program. We are lucky to have him, as he had offers from ACC and SEC schools as well," Peterson said.
Baseball
■ Wally Backman was hired yesterday as manager of the New York Mets' Brooklyn Cyclones farm team in the New York-Penn League. A member of the Mets' 1986 World Series championship team, Backman was hired to manage the Arizona Diamondbacks in November 2004 but was fired four days later after The New York Times reported that he had been arrested twice and had financial problems.
Backman managed the South Georgia Peanuts of the independent South Coast League in 2007 but resigned that August after run-ins with umpires and a press-box argument with another team's radio announcer. There was also a forfeited game when his team refused to return to the field after a brawl with rival Macon. He managed the Joliet Jackhammers of the Northern League in 2008.
Backman managed the Winston-Salem Warthogs in 2001.
■ Catcher Ramon Hernandez agreed yesterday to a $3 million, one-year contract with the Cincinnati Reds after they declined his $8 million option.
The deal includes a $3.25 million option for 2011 that would become guaranteed if Hernandez plays in 120 games next season. If he plays in fewer, the Reds do not have the ability to exercise the option.
Hernandez played in 81 games last season because of a knee injury that required surgery in July. He hit .258 with 13 doubles, five homers and 37 RBIs. He also started at first base 18 times when Joey Votto was sidelined.
■ Utilityman Eric Bruntlett, who scored the winning run in the final game of the 2008 World Series, became a free agent after refusing a minor league assignment from the Philadelphia Phillies.
Bruntlett batted .171 (18 for 105) in this season after hitting .217 in 212 at-bats in 2008. Bruntlett got more playing time last year because of an ankle injury to shortstop Jimmy Rollins in April and because he was a late-inning defensive replacement for former left fielder Pat Burrell.
Bruntlett scored the go-ahead run in Game 5 of the World Series against Tampa Bay after entering as a pinch runner for Burrell in the eighth inning.
Recruiting
■ Kylie Hargreaves of Ladera Ranch, Calif., and Kristin Grissom of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., have signed to play volleyball at Wake Forest, Coach Heather Kahl Holmes of the Deacons announced yesterday. Hargreaves, a 6-0 outside hitter, was a Prepvolleyball.com and AVCA All-America last season and a first-team all-division selection by the California Interscholastic Federation.
■ Mike Dement, the men's basketball coach at UNC Greensboro, yesterday announcing the signing of four players -- 6-9 power forward Cody Henegar of Jasper, Tenn., 6-6 shooting guard Mike Liabo of Carbondale, Ill., 6-2 guard Drew Parker of Laporte, Texas, and 6-5 wing Trevis Simpson of Douglas, Ga. Henegar and Parker are ranked among the top 20 in their respective states, Liabo was honorable-mention all-state in Florida before moving back to Illinois with his family, and one recruiting service lists Simpson as a top-100 player in its national rankings.
Golf
■ Tom Watson's place in the next five British Opens is safe after the Royal & Ancient decided to change one of its exemption rules. Watson, 60 and a five-time British Open champion, was the runner-up this year but would have lost his exempt status because of the R&A's age rules. However, golf's governing body outside the United States said yesterday that it has amended one of its rules so that former champions who finish in the top 10 in the previous five Opens receive five-year exemptions.
That also applies to Greg Norman, a two-time champion who tied for third at the 2008 British Open. Next year's British Open will be July 15-18 at St. Andrews.
■ After losing at least seven tournaments since 2007, the LPGA is renewing its partnership with ShopRite, a New Jersey-based supermarket chain. The ShopRite Classic will return to the LPGA lineup next year with a $1.5 million purse. The tournament, off the LPGA Tour for three years, will be played at the Seaview Resort in Galloway Township outside Atlantic City the week of June 14-20.
Miscellaneous
■ Mercedes-Benz is taking over champion team Brawn GP to return to Formula One racing under its own name for the first time in 55 years. At the same time, Mercedes plans to sell its stake in McLaren, but a partnership with the British team since the mid-1990s will continue, with Mercedes supplying engines until 2015.
While some leading car makers have pulled out of the sport at the time of the economic downturn, such as Honda, Toyota and BMW, Mercedes is trying to enhance its brand name. Mercedes raced under its own name until one of its cars plunged into the crowd at Le Mans and killed more than 80 people in 1955, causing Mercedes to pull out. It returned in the early 1990s and then formed its partnership with McLaren in 1995, becoming the second most successful Formula One team after Ferrari.
■ Bobby Frankel, a Hall of Fame horse trainer who won the 2003 Belmont Stakes with Empire Maker, died yesterday in Pacific Palisades, Calif., after a long bout with cancer. He was 68.
Frankel began his training career by turning lowly claiming horses into stakes winners and wound up with earnings of more than $200 million.
Frankel had his greatest success this decade, winning four consecutive Eclipse Awards as the nation's leading trainer (2000-03) and five overall.
Other winning horses he trained for Juddmonte Farms included Aptitude, Intercontinental, First Defence, Sightseek and Ventura.
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