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2B – Daily News – Wednesday, February 16, 2011 Bumgarner confident as spring training begins San Francisco Giants SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — He was called up to the San Francisco Giants in the middle of the 2010 season and was a major contributor to the team’s drive to the World Series championship. Catcher Buster Posey had an amazing season. But the description also fits pitcher Madison Bumgarner. The left-hander was summoned from Triple-A Fresno on June 26, about a month after Posey, and went on to post a 7-6 record with a 3.00 earned-run average in 18 starts. He gave up three hits in eight shutout innings against Texas to win Game 4 of the World Series. Now he is back in the Giants’ camp. Part of him is the same as he was a year ago when he was a wide-eyed, 20- year-old, never taking anything for granted, and part of him is much more confident. ‘‘I still have the same attitude. I’m not expecting any- thing to be handed to me. I’m going to have to work for everything I get,’’ Bumgarner said before taking the field at Scottsdale Stadium on Tuesday, the team’s first day of workouts for pitchers and catchers. A year ago, Bumgarner threw amid much fanfare in camp and was thought to be a lock for the starting rotation. It didn’t happen. The death of his sister took an emotional toll and physically his velocity wasn’t where it needed to be. ‘‘Last spring, everybody expected him to make the club, but we decided he wasn’t quite ready,’’ said Giants manag- er Bruce Bochy. ‘‘But we brought him up and he was ready. ‘‘He did an incredible job, gave us a shot in the arm, par- ticularly down the stretch. He wasn’t even 21 (when he was called up), but he was mature way beyond his years.’’ Bumgarner is expected to be part of a rotation that could have Bochy using three left-handers in a row — Bumgar- ner, Jonathan Sanchez and Barry Zito. Bochy said Tuesday that he would have no problem with that. Even at this early stage, Bumgarner’s pitches are buzzing toward the plate with greater consistency. Part of that has come with fine-tuning his mechanics with pitching coach Dave Righetti and part of it has come through work- ing with Posey on a regular basis. Bumgarner also worked with Posey in Fresno, and the transition was smooth when he joined the big club. Posey, who went on to earn the National League Rook- 500 DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — It's hard to imagine anybody would have blamed Richard Chil- dress for just walking away, vowing never to set foot at another racetrack after los- ing his star driver and close friend, Dale Earnhardt. And for a few days after Earnhardt died in a crash at the Daytona 500 a decade ago, that was Childress' plan. "Probably all the way up until Tuesday," Childress said recently. "Sunday night, definitely. My wife and I talked about it. Monday I talked about it. I thought about a lot of things." The Tuesday after the accident, Childress was sit- ting by himself on the dock at then-NASCAR boss Bill France Jr.'s house. He thought back to a hunting trip he and Earnhardt once went on in New Mexico, when Earnhardt's horse slipped on ice in the moun- tains and pushed them dan- gerously close to what could have been a fatal fall. That night, each man agreed to go on racing if the other died. Painful as it might have been, Childress kept his promise. After a series of uneven performances in the decade since Earnhardt's death, Richard Childress Racing has reclaimed its place as one of the strongest in NASCAR. RCR driver Kevin Harvick came close to knocking Jimmie John- son off his championship perch last year, and is one of the favorites to do it this sea- son. That won't make this week's 10-year anniversary of Earnhardt's death any eas- ier for Childress. "I try to block that day out," Childress said. "When I go to Daytona, I always take a look over in Turn 4. We also lost Neil Bonnett over there, which was a cou- ple hundred feet away from there. I think about that every time I pull in there." Jeff Burton, who drives Childress' No. 31 car, knows how tough this year's Day- tona speedweeks are for his boss. "I think that it's hard for Richard — it's really hard for Richard," Burton said. "He really doesn't want to talk about it. He feels oblig- ated to talk about it for obvi- ous reasons. For Richard it means a great deal, so that means that it means a great deal for us." Burton said the relation- ship between Childress and Earnhardt went well beyond the typical bond between a team owner and a driver. "They supported each other through good and MCT file photo San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner hopes to improve on his rookie season. ie of the Year award, ‘‘has always been able to see what I am doing, good or bad and come and tell me if I need to make a change. We are almost always on the same page,’’ Bumgarner said. The memory of the World Series is fresh in Bumgarner’s mind. ‘‘At the time it was happening, it was really surreal,’’ he said. ‘‘To be a part of it as it was happening, experiencing it, was really amazing.’’ 10 years later, Childress keeps Earnhardt promise Daytona bad," Burton said. "We tend to glamorize. They had a lot of bad times, too. Richard tells a story of him saying, 'Look, man, I can't put you in the kind of cars you need in right now, you need to go drive somewhere else.' Dale is saying, 'No, I drive for you. We're going to work it out. I'm your driver.' He has so many stories of Dale doing things to make the company better. They respected each other." Although Harvick had an impressive 2001 season under difficult circum- stances replacing Earnhardt, Childress' team lost its way and wasn't a consistent con- tender. "There were definitely some times after that that RCR went the wrong way," Burton said. "I think they really missed Dale's leader- ship. They really missed some direction. They really missed Dale standing on the table and saying, 'Damn it, boys, we need to do this.'" Beyond that, the sport was passing them by. Chil- dress eventually saw the need to take on investors and spend what it took to adopt the technology that was dri- ving other teams. "It had to change," Bur- ton said. "Richard Childress Racing had to become something it wasn't in order to be successful. It's the thing that as you get older becomes harder to do. But Richard has adjusted. He's determined for that compa- ny to be part of NASCAR in a big way forever. For him, it's a legacy. It's not about just being successful today, it's about being successful 20 years from now." Childress driver Clint Bowyer says his boss is as enthusiastic and involved as ever going into the season. "I want somebody to bring that championship home," Bowyer said. "Obvi- ously I want it to be me. But he deserves another champi- onship. He's put his time in. He's saved a lot of jobs when he could have closed the doors, sold the place, got out of the place altogether." Things might have been different if not for the con- versation Childress had with Earnhardt on their hunting trip years ago. "I told him. 'You know, if I'd been killed on that moun- tain today, you would have had to race Phoenix,'" Chil- dress said, referring to an upcoming race that year. "We looked at each other and he said, 'If it ever hap- pens to me, you better race.' That helped make it a lot easier.” LOCAL Red Bluff Parks and Recreation Basketball Monday’s results Brewer’s Arena (52) Kling 0 0-0 0, Wagoner 2 0-0 4, Zazue- ta 5 0-0 11, Welch 1 0-0 2, Heading 4 0-2 8, Clement, 0 0-0 0, Kernaghan 0 0-0 0, Brewer 1 2-5 4, Badtista 2 0-0 4, Williams 8 0-2 17, Pitter 2 0-0 4. Dominicks (58) Dominick 4 3-5 12, Brownfield 6 2-4 14, Gormley 0 0-0 0, Vine 1 0-0 2, McDonald 3 6-9 13, Weibling 8 1-1 17, Bolts 0 0-0 0, Ram 0 0-0 0. Brewer’s Arena 19 31 2 —52 Dominicks 17 33 8 — 58 3-Point Goals — Brewer’s Arena 2 (Zazueta 1, Williams 1), Dominicks 2 (Dominick 1, McDonald 1). McGlynn (50) McGlynn 7 0-1 14, Jackson 5 4-4 18, Prest 0 0-0 0, Weber 5 0-0 10, Regnart 0 0-0 0, Bliss 0 0-0 0, Shilts 0 0-0 0, Barram 0 0-0 0, Clawson 4 0-2 8, Barton 0 0-0 0. Mt. Lassen (49) Watson 0 0-0 0, Hampton 0 2-2 2, Cor- nelius 0 0-0 0, Chafin 0 0-0 0, Sampson 7 0-2 16, Curtis 0 0-0 0, Stone 6 0-0 16, Muir 3 0-0 6, White 3 2-5 9. McGlynn 34 16 —50 Mt.Lassen 26 23 — 49 3-Point Goals — McGlynn 4 (Jackson 4), Mt. Lassen 7 (Stone 4, Sampson 2, White 1). NOTES: Posey’s magic carried over from 2010. In his first swing, he sent the ball over the fence.Bochy’s advice? ‘‘Don’t peak too early.’’ ... Infielder Pablo Sandoval has shown up early for work on his own and looks to be considerably lighter than the 260 or so pounds he played at last season. ... Outfielders Cody Ross, Pat Burrell and Nate Schierholtz are working on their own, as are infielders Freddy Sanchez, Travis Ishikawa and Emmanuel Burriss. Thunder tops Kings Kings 94 Okla. City 126 OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (AP) — Daequan Cook scored 20 points and Russell Westbrook added 10 points and 11 assists as the Oklahoma City Thunder set a season high for points and beat the Sacramento Kings 126-94 on Tuesday night. Oklahoma City scored 68 points in the first half, a season-high for a half, and led by as many 25 before leading by 18 at the halftime break as the Thunder topped the Kings for the second time in four days. Oklahoma City beat Sacramento 99-97 on Saturday. Kevin Durant went 5 for 18 from the field and scored 17 points, and Nenad Krstic had 16 for Oklahoma City as seven players finished in double figures in scoring. Eleven different players scored in the Thunder’s final game before the All-Star break. DeMarcus Cousins returned from a one-game suspension to lead Sacra- mento with 21 points and 13 rebounds off the bench. The Kings played without guard NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division WL Pct GB Lakers 38 18 .679 — Phoenix 27 26 .509 9.5 WARRIORS 24 29 .453 12.5 Clippers 20 35 .364 17.5 KINGS 13 39 .250 23 Southwest Division WL Pct GB San Antonio 46 9 .836 — Dallas 38 16 .704 7.5 New Orleans33 23 .589 13.5 Memphis 31 26 .544 16 Houston 26 30 .464 20.5 Northwest Division WL Pct GB Okla. City 35 19 .648 — Portland 31 24 .564 4.5 Denver 31 25 .554 5 Utah 31 25 .554 5 Minnesota 13 42 .236 22.5 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL Pct GB Boston 39 14 .736 — New York 27 26 .509 12 Philadelphia26 29 .473 14 New Jersey 17 39 .304 23.5 Toronto 15 40 .273 25 Southeast Division WL Pct GB 40 15 .727 — Miami Atlanta 34 20 .630 5.5 Orlando 35 21 .625 5.5 Charlotte 24 32 .429 16.5 Washington 15 38 .283 24 Central Division WL Pct GB NCAA Tuesday’s Top 25 results No. 2 Ohio State 71, Michigan State 61 No. 15 Villanova 60, Seton Hall 57 No.19 North Carolina 78, Wake Forest 64 No. 20 Missouri 92, Texas Tech 84 No.22 Kentucky 85, Mississippi State 79 Today’s Top 25 games No.3 Texas vs.Okla.St., 6 p.m., ESPN2 No. 4 Pittsburgh vs.South Florida, 4 p.m. No. 5 Duke at Virginia, 4 p.m., ESPN2 No.6 San Diego St.vs.N.Mexico, 7:30 p.m. No.9 Georgetown at No.13 UConn, 4 p.m. No.10 Wisconsin at No.11 Purdue, 3:30 p.m. No.16 Louisville at Cincinnati, 4 p.m., ESPN No. 18 Vanderbilt at Georgia, 4 p.m. No. 21 Texas A&M vs. Iowa State, 5 p.m. No.24 Xavier at Saint Joseph’s, 4 p.m. No.25 Utah St.vs.Mon-Western, 6:05 p.m. Today’s other televised game Saint Mary’s at San Diego, 8 p.m., ESPN2 Chicago 37 16 .698 — Indiana 24 29 .453 13 Milwaukee 21 33 .389 16.5 Detroit 20 36 .357 18.5 Cleveland 9 46 .164 29 ————————————————— Tuesday’s results Oklahoma City 126, Sacramento 96 New Orleans at Golden State, late Chicago 106, Charlotte 94 Memphis 102, Philadelphia 91 Miami 110, Indiana 103 Phoenix 102, Utah 101 Today’s games Sacramento at Dallas, 5:30 p.m.,CSNC Golden State at Utah, 6 p.m., CSNB Miami at Toronto, 4 p.m. Washington at Orlando, 4 p.m. Atlanta at New York, 4:30 p.m. Indiana at Detroit, 4:30 p.m. L.A. Lakers at Cleveland, 4:30 p.m. New Jersey at Boston, 4:30 p.m. L.A. Clippers at Minnesota, 5 p.m. Philadelphia at Houston, 5:30 p.m. Denver at Milwaukee, 6 p.m., ESPN New Orleans at Portland, 7 p.m. Tyreke Evans, who was scratched just before the game with plantar fasciitis. Omri Casspi added 14 points for the Kings, who had won three-straight road games before Tuesday. Oklahoma City, which had lost two of its last three games, scored 37 points in the first quarter after hitting its first seven shots. It was the third-most points scored in a single quarter all season and most since Oklahoma City scored 38 points in the first quarter against Miami on Jan. 30. Krstic scored seven straight points for the Thun- der midway through the third quarter as Oklahoma City took a 28-point lead. Cook knocked down a 30-footer as the shot-clock wound down to give Okla- homa City an 18-point lead. James Harden found Serge Ibaka for a dunk 39 seconds later, which gave the Thun- der a 20-point lead with 7:15 remaining in the first half. Cook then hit another 3- pointer on Oklahoma City’s next possession. NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division WL OT Pts GF GA Phoenix 30 19 9 69 165 162 Ducks 32 21 4 68 159 157 Dallas 31 20 6 68 160 162 SHARKS 31 21 6 68 160 152 Kings 31 22 3 65 156 132 Central Division WL OT Pts GF GA Detroit 34 16 6 74 187 163 Nashville 30 19 8 68 151 135 Chicago 28 22 6 62 177 158 Columbus 28 23 5 61 152 168 St. Louis 25 21 9 59 148 164 Northwest Division WL OT Pts GF GA Vancouver 37 12 9 83 196 137 Calgary 29 22 8 66 177 173 Minnesota 30 21 5 65 147 149 Colorado 25 26 6 56 171 195 Edmonton 17 32 8 42 141 194 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL OT Pts GF GA Philadelphia 37 14 5 79 186 142 Pittsburgh 35 19 4 74 173 141 N.Y. Rangers30 24 4 64 162 144 N.Y. Islanders21 29 7 49 155 189 New Jersey 22 30 4 48 120 158 Northeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Boston 31 19 7 69 175 139 Montreal 31 20 7 69 153 146 Buffalo 27 22 6 60 164 164 Toronto 24 27 6 54 148 177 Ottawa 18 30 9 45 129 190 Southeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Tampa Bay 34 17 6 74 175 176 Washington 29 18 10 68 153 143 Carolina 27 22 8 62 168 175 Atlanta 25 23 10 60 167 188 Florida 24 24 7 55 146 148 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. ————————————————— Tuesday’s results San Jose 2, Nashville 1, OT Buffalo 3, Montreal 2, SO Edmonton 4, Dallas 1 N.Y. Islanders 4, Ottawa 3, SO Philadelphia 4, Tampa Bay 3, SO Toronto 4, Boston 3 Vancouver 4, Minnesota 1 Today’s games Carolina at New Jersey, 4 p.m. Los Angeles at Columbus, 4 p.m. Toronto at Buffalo, 4 p.m. Philadelphia at Florida, 4:30 p.m. Minnesota at Chicago, 5 p.m., VS Pittsburgh at Colorado, 6 p.m. Dallas at Calgary, 6:30 p.m. Washington at Anaheim, 7 p.m. Monday’s late result Calgary 9, Colorado 1