INSIDE: CLASSIFIEDS, MARKET RECAP & WEATHER
B
S PORTS
THE BULLETIN • SUNday, May 2, 2021
bendbulletin.com/sports
OLYMPICS
Torch is taking
another detour
TOKYO — The Tokyo
Olympics torch relay will
take another detour this
weekend when it enters
the southern island of
Okinawa.
A leg of the relay on
Okinawa’s resort island of
Miyakojima set for Sun-
day has been canceled al-
together with coronavirus
cases surging in Japan.
Other legs on Okinawa
will take place.
A 17-day state of
emergency went into ef-
fect on April 25 in some
areas in Japan, which has
shut down department
stores and bars in Tokyo
and the country’s sec-
ond largest metropolis of
Osaka.
“We don’t want people
from outside the island
coming in. Human life is
at stake,” Hayako Shimizu,
a teacher in Miyakojima,
told the Associated Press.
The relay, which will
involve 10,000 runners
from every corner of Ja-
pan, started six weeks
ago and has been mostly
on schedule despite ma-
jor rerouting in Osaka
and in Matsuyama City in
nearby Ehime prefecture.
Organizers on Satur-
day said that six people
helping with traffic con-
trol on April 27 in the
southern prefecture of
Kagoshima had tested
positive. Two were iden-
tified as men in their 20s
and 30s. No other infor-
mation was immediately
available. This brings the
total number of positive
tests on the relay to eight,
according to organizers.
The torch relay — like
planning for the post-
poned Olympics that are
to open on July 23 — is
filled with uncertainty,
constant changes, and
questions about why it is
taking place, and how it
will take place.
A six-day, on-and-off
diving event opened Sat-
urday in Tokyo with 225
athletes from from 46
countries — but no fans.
It was not immediately
clear where the athletes
were staying or under
what quarantine condi-
tions, if any, they entered
Japan. It’s also not clear
how many staff members
accompanied the divers.
The Japanese news
agency Kyodo, citing the
Japanese Swimming
Federation, said a coach
of the Egyptian diving
team tested positive for
COVID-19 upon arrival in
Japan. It said the rest of
the team tested negative.
The world governing
body of swimming FINA
listed one of divers in To-
kyo as former Olympic
bronze medalist Tom Da-
ley of Britain. But other
divers were from various
countries including Mex-
ico, Germany, Canada, Ro-
mania, Colombia, Japan,
Malaysia, Ukraine, and
Russia.
The diving event is
one of several tests this
month — all without
fans. Organizers say they
will be decide in June
how many fans — if any
— will be allowed for
the Olympics. Fans from
abroad have already been
banned.
In a briefing on Friday,
Hidemasa Nakamura, the
games delivery officer,
pushed back against re-
peated reports that the
venues will be empty.
“Of course we are
looking at the possibility
of letting spectators in,”
he said.
Nakamura also said
the focus was on “how
safely we can have the
games” and not on
whether they should take
place in the middle of a
pandemic.
— Associated Press
NFL
BALL
IS LIFE
Ex-Duck Penei Sewell on his
journey to the NFL after being
drafted by the Detroit Lions
BY JAMES CREPEA • The Oregonian
P
enei Sewell is headed
to Detroit. The former
Oregon left tackle was
drafted by the Detroit Lions with
the No. 7 pick in Thursday’s first
round of the NFL draft. Sewell
spoke on a Zoom conference with
reporters after he was selected.
Q: How familiar are you with the
current group of offensive linemen and
your fit in the offensive line?
A: I know a couple. Obviously I
know Taylor Decker, the left tackle,
Frank Ragnow, the center, and then
my boy Tyrell Crosby.
He actually was at Oregon and I
was there. To be a part of that room
and to be able to join them, it’s a bless-
ing. That’s a lot of knowledge and a lot
of years in the room so coming in I’m
going to soak it all up and be a sponge.
Q: How much contact did you have
with Brad (Holmes) and Dan (Camp-
bell) and Lions coaches in the pre-draft
Tony Dejak/AP
A Detroit Lions fan, left, who was chosen to be on stage, points to an image of the team’s first-round pick Penei Sewell, an offensive
lineman from Oregon, on the display on stage at the draft on Thursday night in Cleveland.
“I’m coming each and every day ready to run through the wall, ready
to do whatever it takes to accomplish my goals and the team goals. I’m
willing to do whatever it takes. I’m putting everything on the line, my
body and everything else. I’m ready to sacrifice everything for my goals
and my dreams.”
— Former Oregon Ducks offensive lineman Penei Sewell
process?
A: At the beginning it was not that
much until towards the end they
started showing more interest, con-
versations started to get more deeper.
Now he’s trying to get to know who I
am as a person and not as a football
player. The fit is awesome, the way
coach Campbell approaches the game
is the way I like to. I like to come real
physical each and every day and get
better that way.
where you’re from and how you
learned the game?
A: I’m from American Samoa. I
stayed in the small village of Ma-
laeimi. We all stayed at the shack
there, it’s just a beach. It’s an island
surrounded by nothing but water and
it’s probably you can hit the whole is-
land probably in a 40-minute drive. It
was real small, life was real simple. To
come from that to where I’m at today,
it’s nothing but blessing. Every time
I reflect upon that after this moment
on it makes me happy, it puts a smile
on my face and there’s more to do and
more to come.
Q: Can you tell your back story,
HORSE RACING
See Sewell / B3
COMMENTARY
Medina Spirit gives Bob Baffert Oregon’s pro sports franchises
record 7th Kentucky Derby win struggling to meet governor’s
restrictive COVID-19 guidelines
BY BETH HARRIS
AP Racing Writer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Me-
dina Spirit fought off three
challengers in the stretch to
win the Kentucky Derby by
a half-length on Saturday,
making Bob Baffert the win-
ningest trainer in the race’s
147-year history, with seven
victories.
Jockey John Velazquez
earned his fourth Derby vic-
tory on Saturday aboard the
dark brown colt that was pur-
chased as a yearling for $1,000
and cost current owner Amr
Zedan $35,000.
See Derby / B3
BY JOHN CANZANO
The Oregonian
Jeff Roberson/AP
John Velazquez riding Medina Spirit leads Florent Geroux on Man-
daloun and Flavien Prat riding Hot Rod Charlie to win the Kentucky
Derby at Churchill Downs on Saturday in Louisville, Kentucky.
The executives who run the
professional sports franchises
in our state found themselves
all wondering the same thing
last week.
Who in the world is in her
ear?
The “ear” belongs to Oregon
Gov. Kate Brown.
Those franchise executives
are pulling their hair out try-
ing to figure out where our
state’s top politician developed
her hardline stance when it
comes fan attendance at pro
sporting events.
“She was in sync with Wash-
ington and California at the
beginning of the pandemic,”
one team official said this
week.
“She was afraid to be on her
own. But now, she’s completely
alone. It’s baffling.
“It makes you wonder who is
in her ear.”
The Trail Blazers, for exam-
ple, are officially the only NBA
team in the country that won’t
be allowed to have fans at their
home arena this season.
See Commentary / B3
MLB
Offense down in season of slumping
BY RONALD BLUM
AP Baseball Writer
David Zalubowski/AP
New York Mets’ Francisco Lindor leaves his gear at home plate after
striking out against Colorado Rockies pitcher Antonio Senzatela on
April 18 in Denver.
NEW YORK — Don
Mattingly starred in the ac-
tion-packed 1980s.
Now the Miami Marlins
manager, Donnie Baseball
worries about a record lack of
hits — and not just from his
team’s bats.
“I don’t think it’s cyclical at
this point,” he said. “There’s
so much swing and miss, it’s
kind of off the charts. I think
it’s something that we have to
address.”
It’s the Season of the Slump,
even for All-Stars like Marcell
Ozuna (.202), Charlie Black-
mon (.184) and Francisco Lin-
dor (.189). Miguel Cabrera, the
only Triple Crown winner in a
half-century, is batting .140.
Major league batters are hit-
ting just .232 overall through
April, down from .252 two
years ago and under the record
low of .237 set in the infamous
1968 season that resulted in a
lower pitcher’s mound.
The Mendoza line may not
mean what it used to.
Strikeouts have averaged
9.06 per team per game, on
pace to set a record for the 13th
consecutive full season — up
from 8.81 two years ago and
nearly double the 4.77 in 1979.
Strikeouts already are 1,092
ahead of hits, just three years
after exceeding hits for the first
time over a full season.
Hits are averaging a re-
cord-low 7.63 after fluctuat-
ing from 8 to 10 from 1937
through last year, excepting
1968’s dip to 7.91.
While it’s a bear market for
batters, pitchers are on bull
runs.
Joe Musgrove of San Di-
ego and Carlos Rodón of the
Chicago White Sox became
the second pair of pitchers in
a half-century to throw April
no-hitters, the first since Atlan-
ta’s Kent Mercker and Minne-
sota’s Scott Erickson in 1994.
Arizona’s Madison Bumgarner
pitched another, but the short-
ened seven-inning gem in a
doubleheader was not recog-
nized by MLB.
Mattingly, a six-time All-
Star, never struck out more
than 43 times in a season
during a career from 1982-92.
Texas slugger Joey Gallo al-
ready has whiffed 40 times,
as has Cincinnati’s Eugenio
Suárez.
See MLB / B2