Monday Sports in Brief

Tue, Feb 2, 2021
By The Associated Press

MLB

NEW YORK (AP) - Major League Baseball players rejected a proposal to delay the start of spring training and the season due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, vowing Monday night to report under the original schedule.

MLB proposed to the players' association on Friday that the start of spring training be pushed back from Feb. 17 to March 22, that opening day be delayed from April 1 to April 28 and that each team's schedule be cut from 162 games to 154. MLB believes the virus situation would improve during the month delay.

"The MLBPA executive board and player leadership reviewed and discussed the owners' proposal throughout the weekend and today," the union said in a statement. "The clear-cut result of these deliberations is that players will not accept MLB's proposal, will instead continue preparations for an on-time start to the 2021 season, and will accept MLB's commitment to again direct its clubs to prepare for an on-time start."

NEW YORK (AP) - Los Angeles Angels pitching coach Mickey Callaway, former manager of the New York Mets, "aggressively pursued" several women who work in sports media and sent three of them inappropriate photos, The Athletic reported Monday night.

Callaway sent uninvited and sometimes unanswered messages to the women via email, text or social media and asked one to send nude photos in return, according to the report.

He often commented on their appearance and on one occasion "thrust his crotch near the face of a reporter" while she interviewed him, The Athletic said.

Five women spoke to The Athletic on condition of anonymity and they indicated Callaway's actions spanned at least five years and three teams, the outlet reported.

The 45-year-old Callaway told The Athletic, rather than rush to respond to the allegations, he looked forward to providing "more specific responses."

ST. LOUIS (AP) - The St. Louis Cardinals completed their blockbuster trade to acquire All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado from the Colorado Rockies on Monday night.

St. Louis dealt left-hander Austin Gomber and four minor leaguers to the Rockies: infielders Elehuris Montero and Mateo Gil along with right-handers Tony Locey and Jake Sommers.

As part of the trade, Colorado will send cash to St. Louis to offset part of the money Arenado is due in his contract.

ATLANTA (AP) - Hall of Famer Chipper Jones is returning to the Atlanta Braves in a part-time capacity as a hitting consultant.

The 48-year-old Jones played his full 19-year career with the Braves. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2018, his first year of eligibility.

The new role announced by the Braves on Monday gives Jones his best opportunity for an on-field role, if only in a part-time capacity, since his retirement following the 2012 season.

BOSTON (AP) - Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who was the 2007 Rookie of the Year and the AL MVP in his second season but played in a total of nine games in the last three years because of a knee injury, retired on Monday.

A four-time All-Star who spent all 17 of his professional seasons with the Red Sox organization, Pedroia played in two World Series and collected a third ring in 2018, when he was injured. In his career, he batted .299 with 140 homers and 725 RBIs.

Pedroia, 37, is the only player ever to earn Rookie of the Year, Gold Glove and MVP awards along with a World Series championship in his first two full seasons.

NFL

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - Tedy Bruschi is returning to Arizona football as a senior advisor to new coach Jedd Fisch.

Bruschi was a two-time consensus All-American and the Pac-12 Defensive player of the year during his four-year stint in Tucson from 1992-95. He went on to play 13 NFL seasons with the New England Patriots, winning three Super Bowls before retiring in 2009.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Texas has re-hired former Longhorns quarterback Vince Young as a special assistant in the athletic department, bringing the College Football Hall of Famer back to the program after he was fired in 2019.

He returns as the program is trying to build momentum behind new head coach Steve Sarkisian.

Young led the Longhorns to the 2005 season national championship with a last-minute touchdown against USC. Sarkisian was an assistant on that Trojans team.

WNBA

NEW YORK (AP) - Diana Taurasi is staying in Phoenix while Alysha Clark is heading across the country to join the Washington Mystics.

Both signed multiyear contracts on Monday, the first day WNBA free agents could officially ink deals. Candace Parker also signed with the Sky, returning home to Chicago after spending her entire career in Los Angeles since she was drafted first in 2008.

SOCCER

Alex Morgan is back with the U.S. national team for the SheBelieves Cup after a bout with COVID-19 over the holidays.

Morgan missed the team's January camp and a pair of exhibition games against Colombia because of the coronavirus. She is among 23 players coach Vlatko Andonovski called into camp ahead of the tournament later this month.

Morgan is coming off a stint with Tottenham, where she went last fall to get playing time after the birth of her daughter, Charlie.

MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) - Purdue's charter flight was diverted to Indianapolis on Monday night because of mechanical problems, the athletic department said.

The 24th-ranked Boilermakers left their campus in West Lafayette, bound for Maryland, where they were scheduled to take on the Terrapins on Tuesday. According to a statement issued by the team, Purdue was scheduled to change planes in Indy before resuming the trip.

BOXING

Former U.S. Olympic hopeful Keyshawn Davis will make his professional debut on the undercard of Saul "Canelo" Alvarez's next bout Feb. 27 in Florida.

Matchroom Boxing announced Davis' debut date Monday night. His opponent hasn't been selected.

Davis is turning pro instead of waiting for the chance to fight for an Olympic medal later this year in Tokyo, where the lightweight likely would have been the most likely candidate to end a 17-year gold medal drought for the U.S. men's team.

OBITUARY

OCEANPORT, N.J. (AP) - Long-time thoroughbred trainer and racing advocate John Forbes has died at 73.

Officials at Monmouth Park say he died Sunday. No cause was given.

Forbes was the president of the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association. He won more than 2,100 races as a trainer.

He gave up training on a daily bais in 2012. Born in Maryland, Forbes spent his entire career in the racing industry, following his parents into the training game.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Ryszard Szurkowski, a two-time Olympic cycling silver medalist from Poland, died Monday. He was 75.

Iwona Arkuszewska-Szurkowska said her husband died at a hospital in Radom, central Poland. He had been battling cancer.

Szurkowski won his Olympic medals in 1972 and 1976 as part of the Polish team in the road race. He also won three world championship titles, including one in the individual road race for amateurs in 1973.

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