GLENDALE, Ariz. — Cody Bellinger thinks Houston’s Jose Altuve stole the 2017 AL MVP award from the Yankees’ Aaron Judge and the Astros swiped that year’s World Series title from the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“These guys were cheating for three years,” Bellinger said Friday at the Dodgers spring training camp. “I think what people don’t realize is Altuve stole an MVP from Judge in ’17. Everyone knows they stole the ring from us.”
The reigning NL MVP, Bellinger criticized Astros owner Jim Crane’s attempt at an apology Thursday and called MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred’s punishment “weak.” Manager AJ Hinch and Jeff Luhnow were suspended for one season each, and the team was fined $5 million and stripped of its first- and second-round draft picks in 2020 and ’21. The Astros then fired Hinch and Luhnow.
MLB found the Astros guilty of using video to steal catchers’ signs in 2017 and 2018. Bellinger thinks the conduct continued throughout last season.
“One-hundred per cent,” Bellinger said. “I don’t know why they would stop.”
Bellinger wasn’t the only angry Dodgers player as formal spring training workouts started.
“It’s like ripping open a scab,” veteran infielder Justin Turner said. “Rip off the scab and you try to re-heal, I guess. But there’s no way to hit the re-set button. What’s done is done. Lucky for us, we don’t play them this season. Let everybody else deal with them.”
Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw said he has come to terms with the scandal, yet he also understands why his teammates are angry.
“You start talking about how it really affected people,” Kershaw said. “You’ve got guys who maybe got kicked out of the league because they got beaten by Houston in 2017. You got guys who maybe should have won MVP or whatever. Stats that are changed. It’s just a bad feeling, because you’re kind of helpless. I think guys don’t really know how to feel, because it’s never happened before.”
Alex Wood, who re-signed with the Dodgers after spending last season with Cincinnati, said fans don’t understand the impact of the Astros’ behaviour, citing pitchers whose ERAs were inflated by Houston batters. He said some may have loss $300,000 to $400,000 in salary.
“I’d rather face a guy on steroids than a guy who knows what’s coming,” Wood said. “This is your life. The trickle-down effect is huge.”
There has been speculation Astros batters might face on-field retaliation from opposing pitchers.
“My wife and I were just talking about that,” Wood said. “You’d be hard-pressed to say no. I mean, they messed with a lot of guys’ lives. I don’t condone that type of behaviour. We don’t play them.
“But it wouldn’t surprise me if something like that happened, just to be honest. It’s funny, because I’m pretty sure it probably will happen. Somebody will take it into their own hands, and they’ll get suspended more than any of those guys got for the biggest cheating scandal in 100 years. It’ll be pretty ironic when that happens, because I’m sure that’s how it will end up playing out.”
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
EDMONTON – The Edmonton Oilers signed defenceman Travis Dermott to a professional tryout on Friday.
Dermott, a 27-year-old from Newmarket, Ont., produced two goals, five assists and 26 penalty minutes in 50 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season.
The six-foot, 202-pound blueliner has also played for the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto drafted him in the second round, 34th overall, of the 2015 NHL draft.
Over seven NHL seasons, Dermott has 16 goals and 46 assists in 329 games while averaging 16:03 in ice time.
Before the NHL, Dermott played two seasons with Oilers captain Connor McDavid for the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters. The team was coached by current Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — Maria Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam singles champion, led the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan vote her first year on the ballot — an important part to possible selection to the hall’s next class.
The organization released the voting results on Friday. American doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan finished second with Canada’s Daniel Nestor third.
The Hall of Fame said tens of thousands of fans from 120 countries cast ballots. Fan voting is one of two steps in the hall’s selection process. The second is an official group of journalists, historians, and Hall of Famers from the sport who vote on the ballot for the hall’s class of 2025.
“I am incredibly grateful to the fans all around the world who supported me during the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan votes,” Sharapova said in a statement. “It is a tremendous honor to be considered for the Hall of Fame, and having the fans’ support makes it all the more special.”
Sharapova became the first Russian woman to reach No. 1 in the world. She won Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008. She also won the French Open twice, in 2012 and 2014.
Sharapova was also part of Russia’s championship Fed Cup team in 2008 and won a silver medal at the London Olympics in 2012.
To make the hall, candidates must receive 75% or higher on combined results of the official voting group and additional percentage from the fan vote. Sharapova will have an additional three percentage points from winning the fan vote.
The Bryans, who won 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, will have two additional percentage points and Nestor, who won eight Grand Slam doubles titles, will get one extra percentage point.
The hall’s next class will be announced late next month.
