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STEVERUARK—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS From le , St. Louis Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr., MLB spokesman Pat Courtney, MLB Commissioner Allan H. "Bud" Selig and MLB COO Rob Manfred speak to reporters a er team owners elected Manfred as the next commissioner. ByRonaldBlum TheAssociatedPress BALTIMORE Kenesaw Mountain Landis is remembered for throw- ing out the Black Sox, Ford Frick for an asterisk, and Bowie Kuhn for squabbles with players and owners. A. Bartlett Giamatti ran Pete Rose out of baseball, Fay Vincent suspended George Steinbrenner, and Bud Selig presided over the cancellation of a World Series, su- persized Steroids Era sluggers, increasingly strong drug-testing agreements, and instant replay to aid umpires. Minutes after he was elected baseball's 10th commissioner, Rob Manfred didn't want to dis- cuss what great issues he expects to take on when he succeeds Selig on Jan. 25. "I really don't want to get too deeply today into agendas," he said Thursday after winning a three- way race. Others speculated the length of games will be a top priority. Some pitchers step on and off the rubber so much you'd think they were on a StairMaster, and hitters move in and out of the bat- ter's box as if they were rhythm gymnasts. All the pausing and preening — along with the expanded use of re- lief pitchers — has led to the av- erage time of a nine-inning game expanding 30 minutes since 1981 to 3:03. "That's going to be toward the top of his list, I would think," San Francisco Giants President Larry Baer said. "I'm not going to com- ment specifically on pitch clock. I think that's one of several ideas. Every candidate talked about it, and every owner wants it. Obvi- ously, there will need to be player input." Since taking over following Vin- cent's forced resignation in 1992, Selig mostly built consensus be- fore announcing decisions. BASEBALL ManfredtomanageMLBchanges The Associated Press SACRAMENTO Sim Bhullar be- came the first player of Indian de- scent to sign a contract with an NBA team Friday, inking a deal to join the Sacramento Kings in training camp. Terms of the contract were not disclosed. "I've long believed that India is the next great frontier for the NBA, and adding a talented player like Sim only underscores the ex- ponential growth basketball has experienced in that nation," said Kings owner Vivek Ranadive, the league's first Indian-born major- ity owner. "While Sim is the first player of Indian descent to sign with an NBA franchise, he represents one of many that will emerge from that region as the game contin- ues to garner more attention and generate ever-increasing passion among a new generation of In- dian fans." NBA Kingsmake NBA history by s ig ni ng Sim Bhullar By Noah Trister The Associated Press BROOKLYN, MICH. Even Jimmie Johnson has a temper — one that was on display before he became a six-time champion and one of NASCAR's most respected drivers. "I guess the one experience that comes to mind for me in Cup was maybe my rookie year at Bristol," he said. "Robby Gordon wrecked me on a restart, and I got out and shot him the bird." NASCAR has thrived for years thanks to the personalities of some of its biggest stars and that includes an occasional feud, ges- ture or angry encounter on the track. But less than a week after Kevin Ward Jr. was killed during a sprint car race in New York af- ter being struck by a car driven by Tony Stewart, NASCAR on Friday barred its drivers from approach- ing the track or moving cars after an incident during the race. RACING NASCAR bars drivers from exiting cars a er wrecks Philadelphia's Mo'ne Davis threw a two-hitter with eight strikeouts and didn't walk a single batter. She became the first girl to throw a shutout in Little League World Series history. LITTLE LEAGUE Femalepitchermakes World Series history FULLSTORYONPAGEB3 Heath Slocum needs a strong finish at the Wyndham Cham- pionship to earn a spot in the PGA Tour's postseason. Scott Langley might not be on the playoff bubble but he knows how his friend is feeling. GOLF ROUNDUP Slocum, Langley share lead at Wyndham FULL STORY ON PAGE B3 Newcommissionersayslittleaboutupcomingissuestobeaddressed The Red Bluff Derby Girls take on the visiting Southern Ore- gon Roller Girls Aug. 23at the Tehama District Fairgrounds. Tickets are $12at the door or $10in advance. Doors open at 5:30p.m. ROLLER DERBY Red Bluff Derby Girls to host Southern Oregon Clear Creek Sports Club at Rolling Hills Casino in Corning is registering for its Thursday evening fall sporting clays league. Teams consist of five members. For more informa- tion call Brad at 520-9464. SPORTING CLAYS Clear Creek to host autumn league NASCAR PAGE 2 MLB PAGE 2 Athlete is 1st player of Indian descent BHULLAR PAGE 3 By John Hickey Bay Area News Group ATLANTA The A's have given Ja- son Hammel seven starts since they picked him up, along with Jeff Samardzija, from the Cubs on July 4 by sending promising mi- nor leaguers Addison Russell and Billy McKinney to Chicago. Oakland has lost six of those, in- cluding Friday's 7-2 defeat in the first of a three-game set against the Atlanta Braves. And the ques- tion facing the A's is how much more rope will Hammel be given. After Hammel lasted four in- nings, giving up three homers and five runs, manager Bob Melvin wasn't saying. The right-handed starter came into the game hav- ing allowed one run over 12 in- nings in two prior August starts. "I would never make any com- ments about any player 10 min- utes after a ballgame regardless," Melvin said. "That's just not some- thing I would comment on ever." Oakland has options in Jesse Chavez, who was in the rotation until Jon Lester was picked up in a July 31 deal with the Red Sox, and Drew Pomeranz, who gave up two runs or fewer in six of seven starts between May 7 and June 10, when he broke his hand hitting a clubhouse chair. Chavez pitched in relief for the A's Friday and was stung for two unearned runs when he followed a two-out error by surrendering a home run. Pomeranz is 2-0 in six starts with a 3.12 ERA for Triple- A Sacramento. Solo homers from Justin Upton and Evan Gettis in the second and a three-run bomb from Freddie Freeman an inning later won't show up well on Hammel's ledger. "You've got to keep the ball in the yard," Hammel said. "That's the bottom line. Two fastballs on the outer third that we hittable and then slider to Freeman with guys on base. Three-run homers do some damage. Solo homers you can deal with." To be sure, this one wasn't all on Hammel. The A's made a cou- ple of brutal base-running er- rors, Jonny Gomes picked off sec- ond base in the first inning when there was a chance to do damage against Braves' lefty Alex Wood early, then Alberto Callaspo get- ting doubled off second base when he misread a fly ball off the bat of Andy Parrino. MLB A'S LEFT HANGING DAVID TULIS — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Oakland A's center fielder Coco Crisp jumps up the wall but can't field the two-RBI home run by Atlanta Braves' Phil Gosselin during the sixth inning Friday in Atlanta. BRAVES 7, A'S 2 Up Next: A's at Atlanta When: Saturday, 4:10 p.m. THESCORE Oakland, Hammel sunk by Braves 7-2 A'S PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, August 16, 2014 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1