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1B Sports Thursday January 9, 2014 Maddux, Glavine, Thomas to Hall of Fame NEW YORK (AP) — Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas were elected to baseball's Hall of Fame on Wednesday, while Craig Biggio fell two votes short and tainted stars of the Steroids Era remained a long way from Cooperstown. Maddux was picked on 555 of 571 ballots by senior members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. His 97.2 percentage was the eighth-highest in the history of voting. Glavine, Maddux's longtime teammate in the Atlanta rotation, appeared on 525 ballots and received 91.9 percent. Thomas, the first Hall of Famer who spent the majority of his career as a designated hitter, was at 483 and 83.7 percent. Thomas said he accepts the view of many Hall of Famers that players whose accomplishments are muddied by accusations of steroid use, such as Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, don't belong in the Hall. ''I've got to take the right stance, too. No, they shouldn't get in,'' he said. ''There shouldn't be cheating allowed to get into the Hall of Fame.'' The trio will be inducted July 27 along with managers Bobby Cox, Joe Torre and Tony La Russa, elected last month by the expansion-era committee. Maddux and Glavine, who played under Cox for most of their careers, will become the first pair of 300-game winners to be inducted in the same year. ''It's exciting for me to go in with my teammate,'' Maddux said. The only other time three players were elected together in their first appearances was in 1999 with Nolan Ryan, George Brett and Robin Yount. Biggio received 427 votes and 74.8 percent, matching Nellie Fox in 1985 and Pie Traynor in 1947 for the smallest margin to just miss. Traynor made it the following year, and Fox was elected by the old Veterans Committee in 1997. Biggio, who spent his entire career with the Houston Astros, appeared on 388 ballots last year in his initial appearance — when writers failed to elect anyone — and appears to be on track to gain election next year. ''Obviously, I'm disappointed to come that close,'' he said in a statement. ''I feel for my family, the organization and the fans. Hopefully, next year.'' Mike Piazza was next with 62.2 percent, up from 57.8 last year. Jack Morris was 78 votes short at 61.5 percent in his 15th and final appearance on the writers' ballot, a drop from 67.7 percent. Morris replaces Gil Hodges (63 percent in 1983) as the player with the highest-percentage of the vote not in the Hall. Jeff Bagwell dropped to 54.3 percent from 59.6, and Tim Raines to 46.1 from 52.2. Controversy over how to evaluate stars tainted by the Steroids Era continued to impact the vote totals of players with stellar statistics. In their second appearances on the ballot, Roger Clemens dropped from 37.6 percent to 35.4, Barry Bonds from 36.2 to 34.7 and Sammy Sosa from 12.5 to 7.2. Bonds, baseball's career home run leader, is the only seven-time MVP in major league history. Clemens is the lone seven-time Cy Young Award winner. ''As for what they did, I don't think any of us will ever really know,'' Thomas said. ''But I can just tell you, what I did was real and that's why I've got this smile on my face right now because the writers, they definitely got it right.'' Mark McGwire, appearing for the eighth time, fell from 16.9 to 11 percent — down from a peak of 25.6 in 2008. Rafael Palmeiro will be dropped from future ballots after falling to 25 votes and 4.4 percent — below the 5 percent threshold necessary to remain eligible. One voter submitted a blank ballot. ''I can go home and sleep at night and rest,'' Thomas said, ''so I don't have to worry about all the nonsense that the other people are going through, because I know I won't be getting a call in the middle of the night from someone saying, oh, he did this or he did that.'' AP photo San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) runs against Green Bay Packers cornerback Davon House (31) during the second half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game Sunday in Green Bay, Wis. The 49ers won 23-20. With Crabtree, 49ers have options against Carolina SANTA CLARA (AP) — There's a far different dynamic for Colin Kaepernick and the San Francisco 49ers' offense this time around against Carolina. His name is Michael Crabtree. Kaepernick had his least-productive game as a pro in a 10-9 loss to the Panthers on Nov. 10 at Candlestick Park, and the Niners had also lost tight end Vernon Davis to a first-half concussion that day. Now, with two of Kaepernick's top targets at full strength to complement Anquan Boldin, San Francisco (13-4) is riding a seven-game winning streak and ready for a different outcome in the NFC divisional playoffs Sunday at Charlotte. ''I didn't perform well enough,'' Kaepernick said Wednesday. ''A variety of things, it really depends on the play, but we have to play better this week. It was me. It was something that the first game we didn't play very well, we didn't execute the way we should have.'' It didn't help Kaepernick's cause getting sacked six times. He went 11 for 22 for 91 yards and an interception with a dismal 42.0 passer rating, his second-lowest of the season after a 20.1 rating in a 29-3 Week 2 loss at Seattle. Add Crabtree and Davis to the mix and the Panthers have a lot more to deal with on defense other than focusing to slow down Frank Gore, who ran for 82 yards in the first meeting. Crabtree caught eight passes for 125 yards Sunday in a 23-20 wild-card win at Green Bay. He returned for the final five games of the regular season following May surgery on a torn right Achilles tendon, making 19 receptions for 284 yards and a touchdown. His season debut came Dec. 1 against St. Louis. ''Offensively, they've got Michael Crabtree back 100 percent,'' Carolina coach Ron Rivera said Wednesday. ''What it does is it gives them another weapon with a guy that has the ability to get open and make plays happen.'' Coach Jim Harbaugh has taken his praise of Crabtree much further, saying he has never seen a player who can catch the ball as well as San Francisco's fifth-year wideout who produced a career season a year ago pre-injury. ''I just have never personally seen anybody catch the ball better than Michael Crabtree does,'' Harbaugh said about San Francisco's 10th overall pick in 2009. ''He's a highly competitive individual. It's important for him to be good. It's important for him to make plays. He's got a lot of pride about his own personal performance and the team's performance. And, he's one of those guys that can really get his engine revved up for games and big games.'' When asked Wednesday if he agrees with his coach on this one, Kaepernick said, ''There are not too many people who can catch the football like him.'' Crabtree insists he is still making strides each week, though he has looked nothing short of his old dominant self from the moment he stepped back on the field. ''We're just on a different level right now, especially with Crabtree and Anquan Boldin,'' Davis said. ''Crabtree, he's been doing a tremendous job for us. He's helped us out so much.'' While Carolina's stout defense has successfully contained mobile quarterbacks this year — such as Seattle's Russell Wilson in a 12-7 season-opening loss for the Panthers — Kaepernick is on quite a roll with his speedy, long legs. He ran seven times for 98 yards and also passed for 227 yards against the Packers. Kaepernick has ample motivation this week, aside from getting his team one step closer to a Super Bowl return after falling just short last year. He was selected in the second round of the 2011 draft as the sixth quarterback taken, with the Panthers' Cam Newton going No. 1 overall. ''It's not something I'll forget,'' Kaepernick said. Crabtree just adds a dimension to an offense eager to prove something after settling for three field goals by Phil Dawson last time against Carolina. Did Kaepernick ever doubt Crabtree would be back this season making clutch catches? ''No, not at all.'' ''Just another guy for him to throw the ball to,'' Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly said. ''Obviously, Crabtree had a great game last week. He's a guy that gets open, got strong hands, catches the ball. So he's another guy we just have to know where he is.'' Notes: Harbaugh said he expects to have his team healthy for the most part. CB Carlos Rogers, who sat out the win at Green Bay with an injured right hamstring, didn't practice Wednesday during the open portion of the workout. ''I think we'll be close to full strength,'' Harbaugh said. ''Carlos, still healing, it's a process.'' Allen to return for 3rd go as Raiders coach AP photo Chicago White Sox slugger Frank Thomas was selected to the MLB Baseball Hall Of Fame. Tehama Tracker Today's schedule BOYS BASKETBALL Red Bluff at Oroville Tournament Corning Shootout GIRLS BASKETBALL Red Bluff at West Valley Tournament BOYS SOCCER Red Bluff at Los Molinos, 4:30 p.m. Corning at Anderson, 6 p.m. GIRLS SOCCER Corning at Anderson, 6 p.m. NHL Detroit at San Jose, 7:30 p.m. Sports on TV GOLF 8 a.m. TGC — European PGA Tour, Volvo Champions, first round, at Durban, South Africa (same-day tape) 4 p.m. TGC — PGA Tour, Sony Open, first round, at Honolulu MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL 4 p.m. ESPN — Memphis at Louisville ESPN2 — Auburn at Mississippi FS1 — DePaul at Butler 5 p.m. NBCSN — George Washington at La Salle 6 p.m. ESPN — Arizona at UCLA ESPN2 — Michigan at Nebraska FS1 — Marquette at Xavier 8 p.m. FS1 — California at Oregon NBA 5 p.m. TNT — Miami at New York 7:30 p.m. TNT — Oklahoma City at Denver WOMEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL 6 p.m. FSN — Tulane at Marshall ALAMEDA (AP) — Coach Dennis Allen will be part of the reconstruction of the Oakland Raiders after spending his first two years overseeing the deconstruction. Allen is scheduled to meet Wednesday with owner Mark Davis and general manager Reggie McKenzie to map out plans for how to rebuild the struggling franchise after consecutive four-win seasons to begin his tenure. Allen said after the season that he had been given an indication that he would be back for a third season but he still needed to talk with Davis. That meeting happened Tuesday night and now the Raiders can start planning for 2014. Oakland has gone 11 straight sea- sons without a playoff berth or winning record and has an NFL-worst 123 losses since the start of 2003. The team has had seven coaches in that span with Allen becoming the first to get the chance to coach three full seasons as Mark Davis is showing more patience than his demanding father, Al, did before his death in 2011. Allen is the eighth coach since the 1970 merger to be brought back for a third season after losing at least 24 games their first two years. The results of the seven previous are mixed. Bill Walsh won three Super Bowl titles in San Francisco and Jimmy Johnson won two in Dallas after being retained following two tough seasons. John McKay stayed with the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers and led them to the NFC championship in his fourth year and two more playoff appearances. Jim Schwartz led Detroit to the playoffs in his third season. But not all the coaches were successful. Tom Flores got fired in Seattle and Steve Spagnuolo got let go in St. Louis after posting a third straight losing season. David Shula had two more losing seasons in Cincinnati before being fired midway through his fifth year with the Bengals. The only one of those seven coaches to be brought back despite showing no increase in win total in the second year was Shula. PREP ROUNDUP BASKETBALL Red Bluff High's girls basketball team nabbed a couple of road victories Monday and Tuesday against Chico and Corning, improving its record to 8-3 on the season. The Lady Spartans beat Chico 63-37 with the help of 17 points from Samantha Winning and 14 points from Daisy Brose. In the Lady Spartans' 51-33 win against county rival Corning (10-5) on Tuesday, Brose notched 19 points. Katie Gallagher had nine points and Payten McKerras had six. Los Molinos High's girls basketball team (6-4, 0-1 Five Star League) fell at home to Hayfork, 46-32 on Tuesday. The Lady Bulldogs' Clarivel Castillo led the team in scoring with 14 points. Crystal Sanchez had eight and Justine Yarbrough had six. Los Molinos High's boys basketball team came away with a 60-34 home win against Hayfork on Tuesday. The Bulldogs improved to 9-5 on the season.