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2B Daily News– Wednesday, April 11, 2012 BY TIM KAWAKAMI San Jose Mercury News (MCT) You want a spontaneous natural reaction from Yoenis Cespedes? Ask him if he is surprised that he is having so much success with the A's so soon. Just ask him. Cespedes helping to throw a bash SHARKS realize how big he really is." Cespedes isn't a giant; he is listed at 5-foot-10, 210 pounds, certainly not a Bash Triplet. "Noooooo," Cespedes said with a chuckle and a quizzical glance at trans- lator Ariel Prieto and me to make sure we weren't joking. FYI: Cespedes is absolutely not sur- prised by this. His answer and chuckle needed no translation, and neither does Cespedes' performance at this point. That epic 462-foot blast in the home opener Friday was crystal clear in all languages. So were his two other homers, giving him three in the A's first four games. Those three swings — plus count- less other details — proved that the recent Cuban defector belongs in the majors, only months after his arrival in the United States. himself, but this guy, he just moves around like a smaller player. "Then you stand next to him, you — twice. Continued from page 1B But big home runs have a way of making a player seem large in scale, no doubt. When I asked Cespedes before the game what was his favorite moment of this season, he had an instant answer. "When I hit the home run in Japan (against Seattle) to put the team ahead," Cespedes said via Prieto. That, eventually, will be the twin measure of Cespedes' debut season: Can he help the A's win games and can he liven up the Coliseum? Cespedes doesn't just belong, he could immediately dominate. For an A's team that has almost no other selling points and drew one of the sparsest crowds I've seen Monday against Kansas City, Cespedes' emer- gence happily wakes the echoes. "As far as the raw power, he's defi- nitely up there with the big boys we've seen come through here," said A's coach Mike Gallego, a teammate of Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco dur- ing the "Bash Brothers" days. "But actually, he's more of an ath- lete. Canseco was definitely athletic FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas fired coach Bobby Petrino on Tuesday and scathingly dressed him down for hir- ing his mistress and inten- tionally misleading his boss about their secret relation- ship that was laid bare by her presence at a motorcy- cle accident that ultimately cost him his job. over four years to do large portions of both. For his teammates, there is no ques- tion that Cespedes is a good player and will only get better as he adjusts to the culture, to the language and to the major leagues on the fly, without any time in the minors. The A's are paying him $36 million "When the lights go on, he comes on," second baseman Jemile Weeks said of Cespedes' power. "Glad to have that on our side. "You knew he was going to come with the power, he was going to come with the speed — things like that — or they wouldn't have done what they did for him. And it can only get better, because he can get more comfortable and feel like he's a part of this team." A's manager Bob Melvin said pitch- ers already have adjusted to Cespedes maintained an inappropri- ate relationship with 25- year-old Jessica Dorrell for a ''significant'' amount of time and at one point had given her $20,000, Long said. Athletic director Jeff Long announced his deci- sion at an evening news conference and laid out a stunning laundry list of misdeeds against the man he hired away from the Atlanta Falcons four years ago. Long would not disclose details of the payment, or when the money changed hands, but said both parties confirmed the ''gift.'' Kevin Trainor, a spokesman for Long, said the money came from Petrino, not university funds. First they saw Cespedes crank a homer in his first spring training at-bat, so they started throwing him more breaking balls. Then he rocketed a few breaking balls, and it's back to more fastballs. "It's not like they don't throw break- ing balls in Cuba," Melvin said. "He's seen breaking balls." Melvin wanted to ease Cespedes into the cleanup spot, but after the first two regular-season homers — includ- ing the 462-foot shot — Melvin went right to Cespedes batting fourth Satur- day. And he homered that day. "There's no doubt that his bat is electric," Gallego said. "I think you have to compare him to Canseco, no doubt. But he's got the ability and ath- leticism like a Kirby Puckett out there. Puck had some pop, too, as well. I'd say Kirby Puckett with a little more power — that's not a bad player at all." Cespedes struck out in his first at- bat Monday but had another Cespedes moment in batting practice when he knocked a ball to almost the exact spot as his 462-foot monster. Only this one was higher and far- ther. takes batting practice, still," Melvin said. "And we've seen him take batting practice many days. It's still a nice little show to watch." It's a great show, and it's not at all surprising. Well, it's not surprising to Cespedes, which is the largest sign of all that this show could get better and go on for while. "I know no one looks away when he Bobby Petrino fired at Arkansas after 4 seasons They included ignoring multiple chances over the past 10 days to come clean to Long about the relation- ship that had crossed the line from infidelity into workplace favoritism. ''He made the decision, a conscious decision, to mislead the public on Tues- day, and in doing so nega- tively and adversely affect- ed the reputation of the University of Arkansas and our football program,'' Long said, choking up at one point as he discussed telling players that their coach was gone. ''In short, coach Petrino engaged in a pattern of misleading and manipulative designed to deceive me and members of the athletic staff, both before and after the motorcycle accident.'' The 51-year-old Petrino, a married father of four, behavior Petrino issued a lengthy apology and said he was focused on trying to heal his family. ''All I have been able to think about is the number of people I've let down by making selfish decisions,'' he said. ''I chose to engage in an improper relationship. I also made several poor decisions following the end of that relationship and in the aftermath of the acci- dent. I accept full responsi- bility for what has hap- pened.'' backs volleyball player, worked for the Razorbacks Foundation before she was hired by Petrino on March 28, four days before their accident on a winding rural road. Long said she was one of three finalists out of 159 applicants and got the job after a time frame he said was shorter than usual. Petrino never disclosed his conflict of interest in hiring Dorrell or the pay- ment and she had an unfair Dorrell, a former Razor- advantage over the other candidates, Long said. ''Coach Petrino abused his authority when over the past few weeks he made a staff decision and personal choices that benefited him- self and jeopardized the integrity of the football pro- gram,'' Long said. Petrino has built Arkansas into a Southeast- ern Conference and nation- al power over four seasons, including a 21-5 record the past two years. But Long made it clear that the suc- cess on the field was over- shadowed by repeated deceptive acts and that no one was more important than the program itself. Long said Petrino was fired ''with cause'' — meaning he will not receive the $18 million buyout his contract called for — and there were no discussions about ways to keep Petrino at Arkansas. Long said he met with Petrino on Tuesday morn- ing to inform him there were grounds for termina- tion and that the coach was ''concerned'' about that. Long sent Petrino a letter Tuesday afternoon to for- mally notify him he had been fired. spoken with Petrino since sending the letter. ''I chose to do it in writ- ing because that's the terms of his contract,'' he said. Long declined comment Long said he has not when asked about Dorrell's job status. She was ''at one point'' engaged to Josh Morgan, the athletic department's director of swimming and diving operations, accord- ing to a person with knowl- edge of the situation who spoke only on condition of anonymity because the details have not been dis- closed. The person said Morgan was still employed at the university. Petrino finishes his tenure at Arkansas with a 34-17 record in four sea- sons, leading the Razor- backs to a No. 5 final rank- ing last season and a Cotton Bowl win over Kansas State. There was talk of Arkansas challenging the two powerhouses in the SEC West, national cham- pion Alabama and national runner-up LSU. And maybe the Hogs will. But they won't do it with Petrino. The beginning of the end came on Sunday, April 1, which Petrino at first described as a day spent with his wife at an area lake. Instead, he and Dorrell went for an evening ride and skidded off the road in an accident left him with four broken ribs, a cracked vertebra in his neck and numerous abrasions on his face. The avid motorcycle rider said the sun and wind caused him to lose control on the two-lane highway about 20 miles southeast of Fayetteville. Scoreboard MLB American League At A Glance By The Associated Press East Division WL Pct GB Baltimore 3 1 .750 — Tampa Bay 3 1 .750 — Toronto 3 2 .600 1/2 New York 1 3 .250 2 Boston 1 4 .200 2 1/2 Central Division WL Pct GB Detroit 4 0 1.000 — Chicago 2 2 .500 2 Kansas City 2 2 .500 2 Cleveland 1 3 .250 3 Minnesota 0 4 .000 4 West Division Texas WL Pct GB 4 1 .800 — Seattle 3 3 .500 1 1/2 Los Angeles 2 2 .500 1 1/2 Athletics 2 3 .400 2 ——— Monday's Games L.A. Angels 5, Minnesota 1 Chicago White Sox 4, Cleveland 2 N.Y.Yankees 6, Baltimore 2 Boston 4, Toronto 2 Texas 11, Seattle 5 Oakland 1, Kansas City 0 Tuesday's Games Detroit 5, Tampa Bay 2 Chicago White Sox at Cleveland, ppd., rain N.Y.Yankees at Baltimore, late Toronto 7, Boston 3 Texas 1, Seattle 0 Kansas City at Oakland, late Wednesday's Games Chicago White Sox (Danks 0-1) at Cleve- land (Masterson 0-0), 9:05 a.m. Boston (Lester 0-0) at Toronto (R.Romero 0-0), 9:37 a.m. Tampa Bay (Shields 0-0) at Detroit (Ver- lander 0-0), 10:05 a.m. Kansas City (Chen 0-0) at Oakland (McCarthy 0-1), 12:35 p.m. N.Y. Yankees (Sabathia 0-0) at Baltimore (Arrieta 1-0), 4:05 p.m. Seattle (Millwood 0-0) at Texas (Lewis 1- 0), 5:05 p.m. L.A. Angels (Weaver 1-0) at Minnesota (Pavano 0-1), 6:10 p.m. Thursday's Games Tampa Bay at Detroit, 10:05 a.m. L.A. Angels at Minnesota, 10:10 a.m. Seattle at Texas, 11:05 a.m. National League At A Glance By The Associated Press East Division WL Pct GB New York 4 1 .800 — Washington 3 2 .600 1 Miami 2 3 .400 2 Philadelphia 1 3 .250 2 1/2 Atlanta 1 4 .200 3 Central Division WL Pct GB St. Louis 5 1 .833 — Houston 3 2 .600 1 1/2 Milwaukee 3 2 .600 1 1/2 Pittsburgh 2 2 .500 2 Cincinnati 2 3 .400 2 1/2 Chicago 1 4 .200 3 1/2 West Division WL Pct GB Arizona 3 0 1.000 — Los Angeles 4 1 .800 — Colorado 1 3 .250 2 1/2 San Diego 1 3 .250 2 1/2 Giants 1 3 .250 2 1/2 ——— Monday's Games Miami 6, Philadelphia 2 San Francisco 7, Colorado 0 Milwaukee 7, Chicago Cubs 5 St. Louis 7, Cincinnati 1 N.Y. Mets 4, Washington 3 Houston 8, Atlanta 3 Tuesday's Games L.A. Dodgers 2, Pittsburgh 1 St. Louis 3, Cincinnati 1 Washington 6, N.Y.Mets 2 Atlanta 6, Houston 4 Milwaukee 7, Chicago Cubs 4 Arizona at San Diego, late Wednesday's Games St. Louis (Garcia 1-0) at Cincinnati (Cueto 1-0), 9:35 a.m. Washington (Strasburg 0-0) at N.Y. Mets (J.Santana 0-0), 10:10 a.m. Milwaukee (Gallardo 0-1) at Chicago Cubs (Dempster 0-0), 11:20 a.m. Arizona (Saunders 0-0) at San Diego (Luebke 0-1), 3:35 p.m. Miami (Jo.Johnson 0-1) at Philadelphia (Halladay 1-0), 4:05 p.m. Atlanta (Delgado 0-0) at Houston (W.Rodriguez 0-0), 5:05 p.m. San Francisco (Lincecum 0-1) at Col- orado (Guthrie 1-0), 5:40 p.m. Pittsburgh (Bedard 0-1) at L.A. Dodgers (Billingsley 1-0), 7:10 p.m. Thursday's Games Cincinnati at Washington, 10:05 a.m. Milwaukee at Chicago Cubs, 11:20 a.m. San Francisco at Colorado, 12:10 p.m. Miami at Philadelphia, 4:05 p.m. Arizona at San Diego, 7:05 p.m. Pittsburgh at L.A. Dodgers, 7:10 p.m. NBA Conference Glance By The Associated Press EASTERN CONFERENCE WL Pct GB x-Chicago 43 14 .754 — x-Miami 40 16 .714 2 1/2 Indiana 35 22 .614 8 d-Boston 33 24 .579 10 Atlanta 34 23 .596 9 Orlando 34 24 .586 9 1/2 Philadelphia30 27 .526 13 New York 29 27 .51813 1/2 Milwaukee 28 29 .491 15 Detroit 21 36 .368 22 New Jersey 21 38 .356 23 Cleveland 19 36 .345 23 Toronto 20 38 .34523 1/2 Washington 14 44 .24129 1/2 Charlotte 7 49 .12535 1/2 WESTERN CONFERENCE WL Pct GB y-Oklahoma City42 15 .737 — x-San Antonio 40 15 .727 1 d-L.A. Lakers36 22 .621 6 1/2 L.A. Clippers34 23 .596 8 Memphis 33 23 .589 8 1/2 Houston 32 25 .561 10 Dallas 32 26 .55210 1/2 Denver 31 26 .544 11 Phoenix 30 27 .526 12 Utah 30 28 .51712 1/2 Portland 27 31 .46615 1/2 Minnesota 25 33 .43117 1/2 Warriors 22 34 .39319 1/2 Kings 19 39 .32823 1/2 New Orleans15 42 .263 27 d-division leader x-clinched playoff spot y-clinched division ——— Monday's Games Washington 113, Charlotte 85 Indiana 103, Toronto 98 Orlando 119, Detroit 89 L.A. Lakers 93, New Orleans 91 Memphis 94, L.A. Clippers 85 Oklahoma City 109, Milwaukee 89 Denver 123, Golden State 84 Utah 91, San Antonio 84 Phoenix 114, Minnesota 90 Houston 94, Portland 89 Tuesday's Games Cleveland 103, Charlotte 90 Boston 115, Miami 107 Washington 93, Orlando 85 Philadelphia 107, New Jersey 88 Dallas 110, Sacramento 100 New York at Chicago, late Wednesday's Games Indiana at Cleveland, 4 p.m. Philadelphia at Toronto, 4 p.m. Utah at Houston, 5 p.m. L.A. Clippers at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m. Sacramento at New Orleans, 5 p.m. Phoenix at Memphis, 5 p.m. New York at Milwaukee, 5 p.m. Atlanta at Boston, 5 p.m. L.A. Lakers at San Antonio, 5:30 p.m. Minnesota at Denver, 6 p.m. Golden State at Portland, 7:30 p.m. Thursday's Games Detroit at Charlotte, 4 p.m. Miami at Chicago, 5 p.m. L.A. Clippers at Minnesota, 5 p.m. Memphis at San Antonio, 5:30 p.m. Dallas at Golden State, 7:30 p.m. Moves Tuesday's Sports Transactions By The Associated Press BASEBALL American League CHICAGO WHITE SOX—Acquired INF Jose Castro from Cincinnati for cash con- siderations. CLEVELAND INDIANS—Agreed to terms with C Carlos Santana on a five-year con- tract. National League ATLANTA BRAVES—Activated 3B Chip- per Jones from the 15-day DL. Optioned OF Jose Constanza to Gwinnett (IL). CINCINNATI REDS—Agreed to terms with 2B Brandon Phillips on a six-year contract. MIAMI MARLINS—Suspended manager Ozzie Guillen for five games because of his comments about Fidel Castro. BASKETBALL National Basketball Association GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS—Assigned F Chris Wright to Dakota (NBADL). FOOTBALL National Football League CAROLINA PANTHERS—Agreed to terms with WR Steve Smith on a three- year contract extension through the 2015 season. MIAMI DOLPHINS—Signed DL Phillip Merling and OT Lydon Murtha to their restricted free agent tenders. MINNESOTA VIKINGS—Signed LB Mar- vin Mitchell. PITTSBURGH STEELERS—Signed TE Leonard Pope to a one-year contract. ST. LOUIS RAMS—Named John Fassel special teams coach and Paul Boudreau Jr. assistant special teams coach. TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS—Terminated the contract (failed physical) of S Tanard Jackson. WASHINGTON REDSKINS—Re-signed DE Kedric Golston. Signed CB Leigh Tor- rence. Canadian Football League B.C. LIONS—Signed QB Travis Lulay to a contract extension. EDMONTON ESKIMOS—Signed QB Jeremiah Masoli. Arena Football League ORLANDO PREDATORS—Named Ben Bennett offensive coordinator. HOCKEY National Hockey League BOSTON BRUINS—Signed D Tommy Cross and assigned him to Providence (AHL). CAROLINA HURRICANES—Signed D Brian Dumoulin to a three-year contract and assigned him to Charlotte (AHL). NEW YORK RANGERS—Agreed to terms with F Chris Kreider. ST. LOUIS BLUES—Recalled G Jake Allen from Peoria (AHL). WASHINGTON CAPITALS—Recalled C Mattias Sjogren from Farjestad (Swedish Elite). SOCCER Major League Soccer MLS—Suspended New England MF Shal- rie Joseph one game and fined him an undisclosed amount for his reckless chal- lenge that endangered the safety of his opponent in an April 5 game against FC Dallas. LA GALAXY—Acquired D David Junior Lopes from Chivas USA for MF Paolo Car- dozo. TORONTO FC—Signed G Quillan Roberts. COLLEGE ARKANSAS—Fired football coach Bobby Petrino. CONNECTICUT—Announced sophomore G Jeremy Lamb is entering the NBA draft. DUQUESNE—Named Jim Ferry men's basketball coach. JUNIATA—Announced the resignation of softball coach John Houck. LIU—Promoted men's assistant basketball coach Jack Perri to men's basketball coach. MISSISSIPPI STATE—Named Chris Hol- lender men's assistant basketball coach and Adam Gordon men's director of bas- ketball operations. NORTH CAROLINA STATE—Named Pat Popolizio wrestling coach. TEXAS—Announced freshman basketball G Sterling Gibbs is transferring. WASHINGTON AND LEE—Promoted Garrett LeRose to special teams coordina- tor and defensive back coach, and assis- tant professor of physical education. among the more challeng- ing games to watch this season — but it does make for winning hockey. The Sharks point out that while they lost four games to the Blues this season, that 11-3 goal dif- ferential isn't as bad as it first appears. Three St. Louis goals came with a two-man advantage and two others with a one-man edge, so improved disci- pline alone would go a long way. Two other St. Louis goals went into an empty net. end, get through the neu- tral zone and then play in their end." Marc-Edouard Vlasic sees the need for the Sharks to apply the golden rule on ice. "They play a hard game — up and down the ice, physical, pucks to the net," the Sharks defense- man said. "We've got to match that. If they're going to do it to us, we've got to do it to them." ner, Dan Boyle, also men- tioned the need for physi- cal play. Vlasic's defense part- There are other reasons to think the outcome might be different when the teams meet in the play- offs. Top-six forward Marty Havlat, who missed three of the games with injuries, is healthy. And the Sharks have been play- ing some of their best hockey lately, going 7-2 over the final nine games of the regular season. But San Jose knows if it is to have any success, it must figure out a way to break that St. Louis forecheck that can pin a team in its own end by pressuring the Sharks defensemen against the end boards. Logan Couture makes it clear the responsibility goes beyond those on the blue line. "We have to break out well," he said. "Our 'd' are good at getting back to pucks. We've got to get the center and the two wings down there to support them, break out of our KINGS Continued from page 1B first public comments about Odom's departure. the first time he noticed Odom having such a demeanor, Cuban responded, ''No, but the first 17 times, I decided to try to help him and turn it into a positive.'' When asked if that was roster, but the Mavericks said he would be listed as inactive for the rest of their games and is no longer with the team. Odom is still on the Soon after missing a layup and then getting called for traveling when he tried to grab the rebound and shoot again, Carter had a powerful one- handed slam over 7-foot Hassan Whiteside. Carter went along the baseline for the dunk late in the third quarter for an 81-75 Dallas lead. Sacramento had an 8-0 run to get within 92-87 in the fourth quarter before West stole the ball from Cousins and got fouled. West hit both free throws and it never got closer. "They're a big, fast, physical team. We consid- er ourselves that, too, but we're going to have to earn our ice and our space out there. They're not going to give it to us," he said. "In any playoffs, you want to wear teams down. Your hits that you give out in games 1 and 2 will proba- bly be felt in games 5, 6 and 7." Like any team in its sit- uation, the Sharks note that when the playoffs begin, regular-season records mean nothing. "Everybody has zeros on the board now and everybody starts fresh," captain Joe Thornton said. "I think that's the way you've got to look at it." Still, in a perverse way, McLellan was able to find a little comfort in the way things went during the regular season. "We didn't play well against this team," he said, "and that could be a good thing for us. We haven't played to our capabilities against this team." The early 12-3 run over a 2 1/2-minute span came when Dallas had none of its starters on the floor Beaubouis' had his three-point play before Vince Carter's 3-pointer put Dallas up 31-29. Thornton made a 3- pointer for the Kings before Yi Jianlian had consecutive long jumpers that sandwiched a blocked shot by Carter before one of the highlight play of the night. Carter had a steal and pushed the ball ahead to Terry, who threw the ball up in the air over his shoulder to a flying Bran- dan Wright for a powerful dunk. NOTES: Jason Kidd returned for Dallas after missing four games with a strained right groin. The 39-year-old guard had seven points on 2-of-5 shooting with two air balls in his 1,310th career game, most among active players and 10th on the all-time list. ... Dallas had won 10 consecutive regu- lar-season games in the series before Sacramen- to's 110-97 win at home last month.