Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 15, 2015)
SPORTS Saturday, August 15, 2015 East Oregonian Page 3B Red Sox manager steps away to battle lymphoma By KEN POWTAK Associated Press BOSTON — Fighting back tears, Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell said Friday that he had a “highly curable” form of cancer and has taken a medical leave for the rest of the season to deal with lymphoma. The 53-year-old Farrell said bench coach Torey Lovullo will run the team in his absence. Farrell said he planned on being back with the team for spring training. Farrell said the cancer of the lymphatic system was discovered when he had hernia surgery in Detroit earlier this week. “I know we usually start out with the injury report. I’ll start out with myself on this one. Monday’s surgery for the hernia revealed that I have lymphoma,” he said before Friday night’s game at Fenway Park against Seattle. “Thankfully, it was detected in the hernia surgery. I can honestly tell you I’m extremely fortunate that it was found. Treatment will begin in the coming days,” he said. Farrell said a mass was completely removed during the procedure and no additional surgery was necessary. He said chemo- BRIEFLY Local ties to LLWS This year’s Little League World Series could have some local ties to the Pendleton area. Saturday at noon Little League teams from Eagle, Idaho and Portland will take part in the Northwest 5HJLRQDO¿QDOLQ6DQ Bernardino, Calif. The Idaho team, the West Valley All-Stars, are coached by former Pendleton High School teacher and varsity football coach Tony Hilde. Tony’s son Chase is one of the team’s star players. Tony left Pendleton almost eight years ago, but his extended family still calls Pendleton home. The game will be televised on ESPN. Mid-Amateur Golf Tournament at Wildhorse The 27th annual Oregon Golf Association’s Mid-Amateur Championship begins on Saturday at Wildhorse Resort in Pendleton. 2YHURIWKH¿QHVW mid-amateur golfers, aged 25 or older, in Oregon and Washington will be playing in the two-day tournament. The last time that the OGA held a championship tournament at Wildhorse was in 2010 for the 13th Public Links Tournament. –East Oregonian therapy would start early next week. Red Sox stars David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia stood along a wall to Farrell’s left when he made the announcement. Vice President Sam Kennedy, general manager Ben Cherington and Lovullo also were in the room. “A little bit of a shocker to be told later that afternoon that this was going on. Farrell Like I said, I’m fortunate,” Farrell said. “Stage 1. It’s localized. It’s highly curable. I’m extremely fortunate to not only be with people with the Red Sox, but access to MGH (Massachusetts General Hospital) and world class talent that can handle this.” The Red Sox are in last place in the AL East with a 50-64 record. In February, Farrell’s contract was extended through 2017 with a club option for 2018. “When they mentioned the word ‘cancer,’ it’s something that it doesn’t matter where it comes from, it kind of impacts you,” Ortiz said. Farrell guided Boston to the World Series championship in his ¿UVWVHDVRQLQ+HSUHYLRXVO\ managed the Toronto Blue Jays for two years. “Sending you best wishes for a speedy recovery. Stay Strong and look forward to seeing you at the ballpark soon,” the Blue Jays tweeted. On Tuesday, Minnesota Timber- wolves coach Flip Saunders said he is being treated for Hodgkin lymphoma, and his doctors consider it “very treatable and curable.” His plans were to remain coach and team president while being treated. Cherington said Farrell told him Thursday when the GM was WUDYHOLQJ EHWZHHQ ÀLJKWV HQ URXWH to Greenville, South Carolina, to visit one of the team’s Single-A DI¿OLDWHV “He called me on a quick layover,” Cherington said. “I was sort of in shock. A few minutes to VLQN LQ DQG , ¿JXUHG , KDG WR JHW back to Boston last night. I’ve been talking to him yesterday and this morning.” “There’s a lot of respect for him, not just in the Red Sox orga- nization, but throughout baseball,” he said. “There’s a lot of people already reaching out. He’s someone that spent his whole life in baseball. He’s played, he’s coached, worked LQ WKH IURQW RI¿FH DQG REYLRXVO\ he’s managed now.” Red Sox chairman Tom Werner spoke about Farrell during the pregame TV telecast. “We all love John,” he said. “We said the most important thing is get back soon.” Cleveland manager Terry Francona is one of Farrell’s closest friends. Farrell was the pitching coach under Francona when the Red Sox won the 2007 World Series. “He’s such a tough guy and he has so many people that care about him that I just honestly feel like he ZLOO FRPH WKURXJK WKLV ZLWK À\LQJ colors,” he said before the Indians played at Minnesota. “I’m glad we’re going to go through there in a couple days because I’d like to see him. But he sounded really good,” Francona said. New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi wished Farrell well. “It’s not what you want to see. Say some prayers for him and his family, hope everything goes well,” he said before a game in Toronto. “Just get healthy, that’s most important. He’s a good man, a good baseball man, you want to see him get healthy.” Los Angeles Angels manager Mike Scioscia echoed that senti- ment. “It’s awful. We heard the prog- nosis is very good, that’s encour- aging,” he said before a game in Kansas City. “But it’s scary when- ever you hear of something like that happening. He’s a young man.” Farrell, a former major league pitcher, was coaching for the Red Sox in 2007 when ace Jon Lester returned from lymphoma in late July. Farrell said he never had any V\PSWRPEHIRUHWKHQRWL¿FDWLRQRI the cancer discovery. Ortiz said he heard about Farrell’s condition from teammate Hanley Ramirez, who was crying when he delivered the news. “We have a big family around KHUH DQG GH¿QLWHO\ ZKHQ LW FRPHV down to health issues, you want to be sure that everything goes OK. The organization is taking a lot of responsibility on that to make sure that John gets through it the way it’s supposed to be,” Ortiz said. Farrell was touched by his players’ support. “In a way, you live vicariously through their careers,” he said. “Yours is over, you try to help when you can with them, and when they show that support, it’s meaningful.” NFL NFL debuting ‘Next Gen’ stats during preseason League hopes to bring fans even closer to the game By NOAH TRISTER Associated Press DETROIT — As Richard Sherman sprints side-by- side with Calvin Johnson, who is running faster? When Luke Kuechly collides with DeMarco Murray, who has more momentum? And which NFL players run slower in the fourth quarter than they did at the start of the game? Thanks to nickel-sized transmitters on each players’ uniform and high-tech tracking systems at all NFL stadiums, fans will have a vast new set of statistics to study this season. It’s all part of the league’s “Next Gen Stats” venture, which could eventually change the way teams scout opponents and design game plans. “How fast does a running back get to the hole? How fast did he get through the hole?” said Nick Stamm, director of marketing and communications for Sportradar, the NFL’s data distributor. “There’s going to be really a lot of analysis that comes out of this.” Speed in the NFL is generally measured in 40-yard dash times. Now, AP Photo/Paul Sancya A monitor above Ford Field shows statistics and move- ment for players and officials during warmups before a preseason game between the New York Jets and De- troit Lions Thursday. It’s all part of the league’s “Next Gen Stats” venture, which could eventually change the way teams scout opponents and design game plans. fans will see who has “game speed” and who uses it every play. The signals from the 5DGLR )UHTXHQF\ ,GHQWL¿- cation (RFID) chips each player wears are sent to small receivers positioned around the stadium. Zebra Technologies Corporation is in charge of gathering all this informa- tion for the NFL, and Spor- tradar works to distribute it. Last season, over half the stadiums in the league were equipped for this type of tracking, and broadcasters occasionally mentioned these new stats. Now the data will be available on every play in every game. “This season is about rapid expansion to all the stadiums as well as the availability of more information from a consumer standpoint,” said Eric Petrosinelli, Zebra’s general manager for sports solutions. “This whole area of player tracking, we’re in the infancy stages.” Similar “heat-mapping” technology has been used for years in soccer, providing stats on how far players run, how their speed changes throughout the game what DUHDVRIWKH¿HOGWKH\VSHQG the most time in. Petrosinelli and Stamm spent Thursday night’s exhibition game between the Detroit Lions and New York Jets in a box high above the ¿HOG ZDWFKLQJ D FRPSXWHU screen that tracked player movements even during pregame warmups. The system can measure speed, distance covered and how much space between players at a given moment. “The challenge is to make sense of these data points and put it into context,” Stamm said. “There’s going to be a lot of ways to commercialize this and get a different perspective of the game, and eventually it all will get to the fans.” Microsoft’s NFL app will offer animated replays during games, giving fans an instant high-tech perspective on how plays unfolded. “There’s a lot going on with 22 players during a play,” said Jeff Tran, director of sports and alliances at Microsoft. As fans become more familiar with these Next Gen Stats, the question is what teams might be able to do with them. Fantasy players and gamblers will undoubt- edly analyze the stats to try to get an edge. Tech-savvy coaching staffs would also be eager to get the data, and the league is VWLOOWU\LQJWR¿JXUHRXWKRZ and when to allow teams to access it. Teams can already use player tracking services during practice. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy says there’s no timeline yet for offering the game data to teams. “We will continue to evaluate its use in conjunc- tion with the competition committee,” he said. The New Orleans Saints have been using the practice data. “For us it is distance, workload, travel, all of those things. Zebra has been great to work with. We think it is helpful for us to monitor workload,” Saints coach Sean Payton said. “You are able to look for the exceptions when you are studying numbers. You are able to study and see maybe something that is unusual to stand out.” As the technology evolves, it’s easy to brainstorm other possible applications. Perhaps a chip in the football could track its location, rendering the ¿UVWGRZQ FKDLQV REVROHWH Or how about a way of measuring the force of hits, to help with research on concussions? Even more basic metrics like a player’s speed or distance traveled can SURYLGH VLJQL¿FDQW LQVLJKWV If someone is coming back from an injury, it would be useful to compare his speed before and after getting hurt. And these new stats can also help fans look at a great play- er’s talent from a different perspective — such as when a player turns a broken play into positive yardage. SCOREBOARD National League East Division Baseball American League East Division New York Toronto Baltimore Tampa Bay Boston Central Division Kansas City Minnesota Detroit Chicago Cleveland West Division Houston Los Angeles Texas Seattle Oakland ——— W 63 64 58 58 51 L 51 53 56 57 64 Pct GB .553 — .547 ½ .504 5 .504 5½ .443 12½ W 69 57 55 54 54 L 46 58 60 59 60 Pct GB .600 — .496 12 .478 14 .478 14 .474 14½ W 63 60 57 54 51 L 53 55 57 62 66 Pct GB .543 — .522 2 .500 4½ .466 8½ .440 12 Friday’s Games Chicago Cubs 6, Chicago White Sox 5 Baltimore 8, Oakland 6 N.Y. Yankees 4, Toronto 3 Boston 15, Seattle 1 Texas 5, Tampa Bay 3 Cleveland 6, Minnesota 1 Kansas City 4, L.A. Angels 1 Houston 5, Detroit 1 Saturday’s Games N.Y. Yankees (Tanaka 8-5) at Toronto (Estrada 10-6), 10:07 a.m. Seattle (F.Hernandez 14-6) at Boston (Miley 8-9), 10:35 a.m. Oakland (Bassitt 1-4) at Baltimore (Mi. Gonzalez 9-8), 4:05 p.m. Chicago Cubs (Arrieta 13-6) at Chicago White Sox (Quintana 6-9), 4:10 p.m. Cleveland (Tomlin 0-0) at Minnesota (Duffey 0-1), 4:10 p.m. Detroit (Verlander 1-5) at Houston (McHugh 13-6), 4:10 p.m. L.A. Angels (Shoemaker 5-8) at Kansas City (Cueto 1-1), 4:10 p.m. Tampa Bay (Archer 10-8) at Texas (Lewis 12-5), 5:05 p.m. Sunday’s Games N.Y. Yankees at Toronto, 10:07 a.m. Oakland at Baltimore, 10:35 a.m. Seattle at Boston, 10:35 a.m. Chicago Cubs at Chicago White Sox, 11:10 a.m. Cleveland at Minnesota, 11:10 a.m. Detroit at Houston, 11:10 a.m. Tampa Bay at Texas, 12:05 p.m. L.A. Angels at Kansas City, 5:10 p.m. Monday’s Games Minnesota at N.Y. Yankees, 4:05 p.m. Oakland at Baltimore, 4:05 p.m. Cleveland at Boston, 4:10 p.m. Seattle at Texas, 5:05 p.m. Tampa Bay at Houston, 5:10 p.m. Chicago White Sox at L.A. Angels, 7:05 p.m. New York Washington Atlanta Miami Philadelphia Central Division St. Louis Pittsburgh Chicago Cincinnati Milwaukee West Division Los Angeles San Francisco Arizona San Diego Colorado ——— W 63 58 52 46 46 L 53 57 63 69 70 Pct .543 .509 .452 .400 .397 GB — 4½ 10½ 16½ 17 W 74 67 66 51 49 L 41 46 48 63 68 Pct GB .643 — .593 6 .579 7½ .447 22½ .419 26 W 65 62 56 55 47 L 51 53 58 61 67 Pct GB .560 — .535 2 .491 7½ .474 10 .412 17 Friday’s Games Chicago Cubs 6, Chicago White Sox 5 Pittsburgh 3, N.Y. Mets 2, 10 innings Atlanta 3, Arizona 2 Milwaukee 3, Philadelphia 1 St. Louis 3, Miami 1 San Diego 9, Colorado 5 L.A. Dodgers 5, Cincinnati 3 San Francisco 8, Washington 5 Saturday’s Games Arizona (Corbin 2-3) at Atlanta (Foltyne- wicz 4-3), 1:10 p.m. Chicago Cubs (Arrieta 13-6) at Chicago White Sox (Quintana 6-9), 1:10 p.m. Philadelphia (J.Williams 4-8) at Milwaukee (Nelson 9-9), 1:10 p.m. Pittsburgh (Morton 7-4) at N.Y. Mets (Niese 7-9), 1:10 p.m. Miami (B.Hand 2-2) at St. Louis (Lackey 9-7), 1:15 p.m. San Diego (Cashner 4-12) at Colorado (J.Gray 0-0), 2:10 p.m. Cincinnati (Holmberg 1-1) at L.A. Dodgers (B.Anderson 6-7), 3:10 p.m. Washington (G.Gonzalez 9-4) at San Francisco (Peavy 2-5), 4:05 p.m. Sunday’s Games Pittsburgh at N.Y. Mets, 10:10 a.m. Arizona at Atlanta, 10:35 a.m. Chicago Cubs at Chicago White Sox, 11:10 a.m. Philadelphia at Milwaukee, 11:10 a.m. Miami at St. Louis, 11:15 a.m. Washington at San Francisco, 1:05 p.m. Cincinnati at L.A. Dodgers, 1:10 p.m. San Diego at Colorado, 1:10 p.m. Monday’s Games Arizona at Pittsburgh, 4:05 p.m. Miami at Milwaukee, 5:10 p.m. San Francisco at St. Louis, 5:15 p.m. Atlanta at San Diego, 7:10 p.m Pacific Coast League American North Division W L Oklahoma City 72 47 Omaha 66 54 Iowa 65 54 Colorado Springs 50 69 Pct. GB .605 — .550 6½ .546 7 .420 22 American South Division W L Pct. GB Round Rock 68 52 .567 — Memphis 62 58 .517 6 Nashville 55 65 .458 13 New Orleans 51 69 .425 17 Pacific North Division W L Fresno 71 48 Reno 57 61 Sacramento 56 63 Tacoma 56 63 Pacific South Division W L Las Vegas 66 54 El Paso 62 57 Albuquerque 51 69 Salt Lake 47 72 ——— Pct. GB .597 — .483 13½ .471 15 .471 15 Jacksonville Houston Indianapolis Tennessee North Baltimore Cincinnati Cleveland Pittsburgh W 1 0 0 0 L 0 0 0 1 T Pct 0 1.000 0 .000 0 .000 0 .000 W 1 1 0 0 L 0 0 1 2 T Pct 0 1.000 0 1.000 0 .000 0 .000 W 1 1 1 0 L 0 0 0 0 T Pct 0 1.000 0 1.000 0 1.000 0 .000 W 1 0 0 0 L 0 0 1 1 T Pct 0 1.000 0 .000 0 .000 0 .000 W 1 1 0 0 L 0 0 0 1 T Pct 0 1.000 0 1.000 0 .000 0 .000 W 1 1 1 1 L 0 0 0 0 T Pct 0 1.000 0 1.000 0 1.000 0 1.000 W 0 0 0 0 L 0 0 1 1 T 0 0 0 0 West Pct. GB .550 — .521 3½ .425 15 .395 18½ Friday’s Games Oklahoma City 6, New Orleans 4 Nashville 9, Iowa 2 Omaha 4, Memphis 2 Colorado Springs 8, Round Rock 5 Fresno 8, Albuquerque 6 El Paso 3, Las Vegas 2 Salt Lake 3, Reno 2 Sacramento at Tacoma, Late Saturday’s Games Albuquerque at Memphis, 4:05 p.m. El Paso at Nashville, 4:35 p.m. Tacoma at Oklahoma City, 5:05 p.m. Reno at Colorado Springs, 5:05 p.m. Omaha at Salt Lake, 6:05 p.m. New Orleans at Fresno, 7:05 p.m. Iowa at Las Vegas, 7:05 p.m. Round Rock at Sacramento, 7:05 p.m. Northwest League North Division W L Pct. GB Everett 9 6 .600 — x-Tri-City 7 8 .467 2 Vancouver 7 9 .438 2½ Spokane 6 9 .400 3 South Division W L Pct. GB x-Hillsboro 10 5 .667 — Salem-Keizer 10 6 .625 ½ Eugene 8 7 .533 2 Boise 4 11 .267 6 x-clinched first half ——— Friday’s Games Everett 6, Eugene 3 Vancouver 3, Hillsboro 0 Salem-Keizer at Spokane, Late Boise at Tri-City, Late Saturday’s Games Vancouver at Hillsboro, 5:03 p.m. Everett at Eugene, 6:05 p.m. Salem-Keizer at Spokane, 6:30 p.m. Boise at Tri-City, 7:15 p.m. Football National Football League AFC East W L Buffalo 0 1 Miami 0 1 New England 0 1 N.Y. Jets 0 1 South T 0 0 0 0 Pct .000 .000 .000 .000 San Diego Oakland Denver Kansas City NFC East Washington Philadelphia N.Y. Giants Dallas South Atlanta Carolina Tampa Bay New Orleans North Chicago Detroit Green Bay Minnesota West Arizona San Francisco Seattle St. Louis ——— Pct .000 .000 .000 .000 Friday’s Games Carolina 25, Buffalo 24 Atlanta 31, Tennessee 24 Jacksonville 23, Pittsburgh 21 Cincinnati 23, N.Y. Giants 10 Oakland 18, St. Louis 3 Denver 22, Seattle 20 Saturday’s Games Tampa Bay at Minnesota, 5 p.m. San Francisco at Houston, 5 p.m. Kansas City at Arizona, 6 p.m. Sunday’s Game Indianapolis at Philadelphia, 10 a.m. Soccer MLS EASTERN CONFERENCE W L D.C. United 13 8 New York 10 6 Columbus 9 8 Toronto FC 9 9 New England 8 9 Montreal 8 9 Orlando City 7 10 New York City FC 7 11 Philadelphia 6 13 Chicago 6 12 T Pts 5 44 6 36 7 34 4 31 7 31 4 28 7 28 6 27 5 23 4 22 WESTERN CONFERENCE W L Vancouver 13 8 Los Angeles 11 7 FC Dallas 11 6 Sporting Kansas City 10 4 Portland 10 8 Seattle 10 12 Houston 8 8 Real Salt Lake 7 9 San Jose 7 10 Colorado 5 8 T Pts 3 42 7 40 5 38 7 37 6 36 2 32 7 31 8 29 5 26 9 24 ——— Friday’s Games Colorado at San Jose, 8 p.m. Saturday’s Games Toronto FC at New York, 4 p.m. Houston at New England, 4:30 p.m. Los Angeles at FC Dallas, 6 p.m. Vancouver at Sporting Kansas City, 6 p.m. Portland at Real Salt Lake, 7 p.m. Sunday’s Games Orlando City at Seattle, 2 p.m. Chicago at Philadelphia, 4 p.m . Basketball WNBA EASTERN CONFERENCE W L New York 16 6 Indiana 13 9 Washington 13 9 Chicago 14 10 Connecticut 12 11 Atlanta 8 15 Pct GB .727 — .591 3 .591 3 .583 3 .522 4½ .348 8½ WESTERN CONFERENCE W L Pct GB x-Minnesota 18 6 .750 — Phoenix 15 8 .652 2½ Tulsa 10 14 .417 8 Los Angeles 7 16 .304 10½ San Antonio 7 17 .292 11 Seattle 6 18 .250 12 x-clinched playoff spot ——— Friday’s Games New York 90, Connecticut 78 Minnesota 84, Atlanta 82 Chicago at Seattle, 10 p.m. Saturday’s Games Tulsa at New York, 4 p.m. Sunday’s Games Connecticut at Atlanta, 12 p.m. Minnesota at Washington, 1 p.m. Chicago at Los Angeles,25 p.m. Indiana at Phoenix, 5 p.m. San Antonio at Seattle, 6 p.m. Transactions BASEBALL American League BOSTON RED SOX — Announced man- ager John Farrell will take a medical leave. Named Torey Lovullo interim manager. CHICAGO WHITE SOX — Reinstated INF Emilio Bonifacio from the 15-day DL. Optioned INF Leury Garcia to Charlotte (IL). MINNESOTA TWINS — Placed RHP Blaine Boyer on the 15-day DL. Recalled RHP Michael Tonkin from Rochester (IL). American Association KANSAS CITY T-BONES — Released RHP Steven Sarcone. WICHITA WINGNUTS — Signed INF Kori Melo. Released RHP Nestor Molina. Can-Am League OTTAWA CHAMPIONS — Released C Nick Lecompte. SUSSEX COUNTY MINERS — Signed RHP Brandon Shimo. Released LHP Jordan Remer. TROIS-RIVIERES AIGLES — Signed LHP Andrew Taylor. FOOTBALL National Football League MINNESOTA VIKINGS — Waived/injured WR Gavin Lutman. Signed DT Greg Hickman. NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS — Signed DL Casey Walker. SEATTLE SEAHAWKS — Released WR Deshon Foxx. Signed LB Alex Singleton. TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS — Signed DB Derrick Wells. WASHINGTON — Waived/injured LB Trev- ardo Williams. Signed LB Sage Harold. HOCKEY National Hockey League ANAHEIM DUCKS — Signed F Carl Hagelin to a four-year contract. American Hockey League CHICAGO WOLVES — Signed D Scooter Vaughan to a one-year contract. ECHL SOUTH CAROLINA STINGRAYS — Signed G David Jacobson to a tryout agreement. COLLEGE ILLINOIS — Announced men’s graduate basketball G Khalid Lewis has transferred from La Salle. IPFW — Named Matt Zedrick women’s golf coach. MASSACHUSETTS-DARTMOUTH — Pro- moted Jack Holleran to associate director of athletics. Named Linee Mello-Frost field hockey coach. MINNESOTA — Agreed to terms with football coach Jerry Kill on a one-year con- tract extension, through the 2019 season. RADFORD — Named Hope Creasy assistant softball coach. WELLS — Named Melissa Jaworski women<s lacrosse coach. YESHIVA — Named Dennis Mente men’s volleyball coach.