<strong>A rose for the rally </strong>
WNBA Finals MVP Cappie Pondexter attends a rally Tuesday in Phoenix to celebrate the Mercury's title with fans. Story, Page 6C
The 2008 University of Arizona baseball team should have strong pitching, but the Wildcats desperately need more arms for the 2009 season.
So then Wildcats are lining up commitments from pitchers Edgar Olmos of Van Nuys (Calif.) Birmingham High, Donn Roach of Las Vegas Bishop Gorman High and Anthony Gose of Bellflower (Calif.) High.
Arizona pitchers Preston Guilmet, Mike Colla, David Coulon, Ryan Perry, Daniel Schlereth and Eric Bergerare all possible draft choices after the 2008 season.
Olmos will bring an array of pitches.
“Coaches tell me I have a good upper 80s fastball with some good movement,” Olmos said. “The two-seam pitch is great. It can backdoor you and jam you. (UA assistant Mark Wasikowski) told me they really love my curve ball. They think it is really filthy and nasty. My slider is my out pitch.”
At the Area Code Games this summer, where the region’s top prospects played, Olmos said he pitched four innings, giving up one hit and striking out eight.
Olmos had a no-hitter this past season with 13 strikeouts against Carson High School.
“I am a starting pitcher and I know I will be starting at Arizona,” Olmos said.
Roach, a right-hander, is considered one of Nevada’s top pitchers, despite a 4.48 ERA heading into the state tourney last season. He had a 9-3 record with a 2.78 ERA with 70 strikeouts during his sophomore year.
Gose is coming in as a center fielder, but with a hard-throwing fastball he could quickly be asked to pitch.
The all-around athlete stood out at the Area Code Games as a hitter and a pitcher.
“Gose was the best all-around player here if we’re talking about ability,” RoyalBoard.com reports. “He can fly, taking two bases on errant throws and turning doubles into triples. He can throw, hitting 94 mph off the mound from the left side and showing a plus-plus arm in right (field). He has a good swing and should develop power.”
Gose choose UA over USC, Cal-Irvine and Long Beach State.
He may wind up as a high draft choice.
“I see myself playing for coach (Andy) Lopez,” Gose said. “The draft can do a lot of things. If the money is right, that might be hard to turn down. But getting a degree is one of the best investments you can make.”
Home-field edge for Tribe?
CLEVELAND – The Indians are focused on clinching their first American League Central title since 2001, and they have added incentive to keep winning: home-field advantage in October.
“It’d be awesome to be at our own house,” said pitcher C.C. Sabathia, whose Indians have a 6 1/2-game lead over Detroit. “But if we don’t, we will go on the road and take care of business.”
Travis Hafner hit a three-run homer, and Cleveland unloaded for four homers off Detroit ace Justin Verlander on Tuesday in a 7-4 victory over the Tigers.
The Boston Red Sox, first in the AL East, had the league’s best record (90-62) after losing Tuesday to Toronto. The Indians and Angels, atop the AL West, were each at 89-62.
In addition to home-field advantage in the Division Series and League Championship Series, the AL team with the best record will be given an hour after its final regular-season game to decide if it wants to open the playoffs Oct. 3 and play five games in eight days, or start Oct. 4 with five games in seven games. (The NL’s Division Series will each start Oct. 3.)
Of the three teams, the Angels have the best home record.
Through 75 home games, they lead the league with a .308 average and 438 runs scored, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Boston has scored 437 runs with a .295 average at home and Cleveland was at 401 and .275.
The Angels have the lowest home ERA, 3.90, with the Red Sox at 4.18 and Indians at 4.20.
Cleveland and the Angels each play the final week on the road. The Red Sox are at home.
USA TODAY
Public has say on ball
SAN FRANCISCO – The California entrepreneur who submitted the winning bid for Barry Bonds’ record-tying 755th home run ball said Tuesday he will let the public decide what to do with it.
Ben Padnos said he would follow the lead of fashion designer Mark Ecko, who bought Bonds’ No. 756 ball and let fans vote on whether he should give it to the Hall of Fame or destroy it.
Ecko said Monday he was taking votes on whether to give the ball to the Hall of Fame, brand it with an asterisk or blast it into space.
Padnos said he was surprised when he heard Monday that he wasn’t the only one with a voting plan.
“What are the odds?” Padnos asked. “I give him (Ecko) a lot of credit in all sincerity. I understood the potential value in this.”
Unlike Ecko, Padnos plans to make money by selling ads on his voting Web site, EndtheDebate.com.
The Associated Press
QUOTABLE
'Every game is a big game for us from here on out. It doesn't matter who we're playing.'
CONOR JACKSON,
Diamondbacks first baseman, on Arizona's one-game lead in the NL West.
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ON THIS DATE
2001: Roger Clemens becomes the first pitcher in major league history to go 20-1, pitching the New York Yankees to a 6-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox.
2004: Jerry Rice’s run of 274 straight games with a catch is ended in the Oakland Raiders’ 13-10 victory over the Buffalo Bills. The last time Rice didn’t catch a pass was Dec. 1, 1985, at Washington.
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SPORTS SOUND-OFF
Arrests of players show lack of self-control
Re: UA football players arrested on suspicion of underage drinking.
• The four players, like their coach, lack self-control and discipline.
RICHARD F.
• Are we all living in La-La land? What do you think most college kids do on a Thursday night?
JERRY L.
• Stoops’ comment that none of these players is “significant” ought to go down real well with all the second-team players.
RANDALL H.
• Maybe if “mommy and daddy” or scholarships weren’t paying these players’ way, immature, foolish and dangerous acts by “students” such as these would diminish.
MICHAEL C.
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NUMBER OF THE DAY
4
Triple-A titles by Pacific Coast League over International League in the last five years:
2007 Sacramento (PCL)
2006 Tucson (PCL)
2000 Indianapolis (IL)
1999 Vancouver (PCL)
1998 New Orleans (PCL)
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TRIVIA CORNER
How many of the 119 teams that play major-college football have given up more points than Notre Dame this season?
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Answer: Nineteen. After giving up 102 points in three games, the Irish are tied with Fresno State for 99th in scoring defense at 34 points a game.