Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/66266
2B Daily News – Friday, May 18, 2012 NEW YORK (AP) — Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig says it's up to Lew Wolff to decide whether to con- sider additional sites for a new ballpark for the Athletics, and the Oakland owner maintains he's focused on San Jose rather than a move outside the Bay Area. owners' meeting, Selig said there's no timetable for resolving Oakland's dis- pute with the San Francisco Giants. The Giants are preventing the A's from building a ballpark about 40 miles south of Oakland in San Jose, which is part of the Giants' territory. Speaking Thursday after a quarterly approve relocations. When the Montre- al Expos became the Washington Nationals after the 2004 season, it was the first shift since the expansion Wash- ington Senators transformed into the Texas Rangers in 1972. Asked whether the A's would con- sider other relocation possibilities, Selig responded: ''You'd have to ask Lew Wolff. That's really his decision to make.'' Twenty-three teams have opened ballparks since 1989, and the A's and Tampa Bay are the only two teams still seeking new stadiums. Wolff is allowed to consider other sites within the A's territory — such as downtown Oakland — but approval from MLB would be needed for a move outside the territory. ''It depends where they'd be. They could be all over the world, for that matter,'' Selig said. ''They need approval. We have to go through an approval process. It just depends on where they're moving to.'' Baseball has been reluctant to examine the situation in March 2009 but appears reluctant to impose a deci- sion on either team. Wolff, a California real estate devel- Selig established a committee to oper, has said he does not plan to sell the team and has no regrets in buying the franchise despite the rundown Oak- land Coliseum. OAKLAND (AP) — Bob Myers slides into a booth at a swanky restau- rant on the second floor of the downtown Oakland Marriott, skims over the menu and smiles about his coming order. ''I'm going to surprise Selig: Oakland move might be considered A's ''Lew continues to be committed to A's and Giants would resolve the mat- ter themselves, but there's no indication that will happen. ''Both clubs yesterday made a pre- sentation to the executive council, but there's nothing new other than that,'' Selig said. moving to San Jose, following the pro- cedures and guidelines of the commis- sioner and the committee,'' team spokesman Ken Pries said. ''The focus has not changed in keeping the team in the Bay Area, and specifically San Jose. The focus is San Jose, No. 1, and keeping the team in the Bay Area.'' Selig said last month he hoped the 2012. With the Houston Astros switching to the American League next year, MLB also is working on a new sched- ule format that provides season-long interleague play. He said it's possible baseball could retain six interleague games between rivals, such as the New York Yankees and Mets, the Chicago Cubs and White Sox, the A's and the Giants, and the Los Angeles Dodgers and Angels. ''The fans like it,'' Selig said. ''When your fans like something, you have to be responsive to that and sensi- tive to it.'' He added that he can't provide a timetable and responded ''no'' when asked whether some kind of decision was approaching. Baseball also announced its new one-game wild-card playoffs will be televised Oct. 5 by TBS and that two division series games will shift from TBS to the MLB Network under a deal running through 2013. TBS Sports President David Levy said a rights fee was involved. The two division series games will be available in more than 30 million fewer homes on MLB Network than on TBS — that includes some home- town fans of the teams involved. Owners also approved having a 2-3 collective bargaining agreement with players within a few weeks. A memo- randum of understanding on the five- year deal was signed Nov. 22. Rob Manfred, MLB's executive vice president of labor relations, also gave MLB's first explanation for last week's decision to fire Shyam Das, the arbitrator who in February overturned a 50-game suspension for NL MVP Ryan Braun following a positive drug test. Braun's lawyers argued his urine sample wasn't handled as specified in baseball's drug agreement. ''Shyam served for 13 years. That's Baseball hopes to complete its new playoff format in this year's division series, deviating from the 2-2-1 that had been used since 1998. The change was made because the wild-card round was added after schedules were set with the regular season ending Oct. 3 and the World Series starting Oct. 24. Teams with home-field advantage will host Games 3, 4, 5, eliminating one travel day, and the wild-card playoff winners will start at home. Baseball could revert to a 2-2-1 for- mat in 2013, when the regular season is tentatively set to start on April 1, with a Sunday night game possible the previ- ous day. Baseball is shifting from the midweek start it used in 2011 and into a basketball empire, and meals often had to be squeezed in at the office. ''I think peanut butter a very long time,'' Manfred said. ''He's a very high-quality arbitrator. We made a decision to exercise our contractual right to make a change. There's noth- ing more to that.'' talk next week about selecting a new arbitrator, who would hear the union's grievance to overturn a 100-game sus- pension for Giants reliever Guillermo Mota. Management and the union are to and four strikeouts. Matt Harrison allowed (Continued from page 1B) Melvin ran from the dugout to argue, gesturing repeatedly at Diaz before he was finally thrown out. Replays were inconclu- sive. ''I threw the ball to third. Then he said I trapped it. I said, 'What?' and sort of flew off the handle,'' McCarthy said. ''I was pretty furious once the disbelief set in.'' Reliever Grant Balfour replaced McCarthy after the disputed bunt and did- n't give up a run even though the Rangers had men at second and third with one out. Oakland then tied the score again in the seventh on Josh Reddick's 10th home run. The shot into the Rangers bullpen in right-center field ended Texas reliever Alexi Ogan- do's scoreless streak at 15 1-3 innings. ''That was a huge momentum swing,'' Melvin said. ''They have the lead, with guys who have had a lot of success in the bullpen. It was a huge pick-me-up for us.'' The Rangers had run- Mark Walter and Stan Kasten, the Dodgers' new chairman and president, attended their first owners' meeting since buying the team from Frank McCourt on May 1 in a record $2 bil- lion deal. Owners approved a six-year extension of the major league constitu- tion and Baseball Advanced Media, the sport's Internet division. GM Bob Myers ready to mold Warriors into winners was our consensus first draft choice,'' you,'' he says. ''It's not on the menu.'' The new Golden State Warriors general manager asks the waiter for a most unusual dish at this venue: a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with boysenber- ry spread on toasted wheat bread, plus a side of pota- to chips. Told the kitchen might not have thing, Myers compromis- es on tortilla chips and creamy — instead of crunchy — peanut butter. This is Myers at his every- core. At 37 years old, little about Myers fits the mold of most NBA general managers. On this day, he has shed the suit and tie for black corduroy pants, a white-and-blue patterned shirt with the top three buttons open under a black sweater. He juggles table conversation between text messages and calls, plugging in his phone's ear piece while on the run. A member of the 1995 NCAA champion UCLA basketball team, Myers has gone from sports agent to assistant general manager to GM of his hometown franchise in only a year. He spends so much time on his job that, he says, ''I purposely don't try to keep track of how many hours we work. It's a lot.'' joked. ''Peanut butter was our Anthony Davis go-to food if we were on a deserted island.'' that he'd have to outwork and outsmart others to remain in basketball. The former star at Myers learned long ago Tellem got someone terrific for you, I thought he was set- ting me up with the next Reggie Miller as a client,'' Tellem said. ''And it was Bob.'' Myers moves so fast that meals are often the only reminder of home. Myers' wife, Kristen, a high school friend of his younger sister, Kelly, packs him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch almost every day. ''He has to have at least one a day. Sometimes two. It's insane,'' Kristen said. Myers shares the meal with their 2-year-old daughter, Kayla. The cou- ple is expecting a second daughter in July. The PB&J tradition started while he was working for renowned sports agent and mentor Arn Tellem. The two logged long hours to build the Wasserman Media Group's client list Monte Vista High School in San Francisco's East Bay walked on at UCLA under coach Jim Harrick before earning a scholar- ship. Myers, a 6-foot-7 forward, never played meaningful minutes until Feb. 1, 1996. ''Be ready this game,'' he recalled Harrick telling him before UCLA hosted Oregon that night his junior year. ''I'm like, 'OK, I'm pretty much ready every game. I've been ready for a couple years, apparently you're not ready for me,''' Myers said, chuckling. ''I remember he looked down the bench, I don't know how much time was left in the first half, and he said, 'Myers.' I'm like, 'You need a towel?' I said, 'What did I do? I didn't clap hard enough?' I think I'm watching the game. Evidently, I think he want- ed me to go in the game.'' Myers went from the 12th man Pauley Pavilion crowds cheered to see play during blowouts to a forward who showed so much heart and hustle that his minutes increased. Two days later, he had a career-high 20 points, five rebounds and two steals to spark UCLA past Oregon State 69-60. That was the height of his career as a player. So at the end of his senior year, Myers asked Harrick how he could stay involved in sports. Harrick introduced Myers to Tellem, even entering the conversation under false pretenses. ''I always kid him that when I first got the call from Jim Harrick that I've WNBA Today's game Los Angeles at Seattle, 7 p.m. Saturday's games Connecticut at New York, 1 p.m. Atlanta at Indiana, 4 p.m. Chicago at Washington, 4 p.m. San Antonio at Tulsa, 5 p.m. The meeting forged a fruitful friendship and booming business. In 1997, Tellem hired Myers as an intern while the young UCLA business and economics graduate worked on his next degree at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. Together, the two built the agency's basketball division into one of the world's strongest. for an eventual successor to general manager Larry Riley, who's now oversee- ing scouting, one of the first names Ainge recom- mended to his friend was Myers. Lacob was sold from the start. ''He's a very mature, professional guy with a lot of experience, certainly in negotiating contracts and dealing with players,'' Lacob said. ''He's got very good people skills.'' Myers' move up Gold- en State's management ladder didn't take long. A year after he was hired as assistant general manager, Lacob promoted Myers to GM the last week of the regular sea- son. At Golden State, Myers takes over basket- ball operations for the franchise he grew up root- ing for as a kid just down the road in Danville — a team with one playoff appearance since 1994. Myers has tried to stay Through Tellem, Myers met Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge, who was close with then- minority owner Joe Lacob. Lacob later pur- chased the Warriors for a record $450 million in 2010 along with movie mogul Peter Guber. When Lacob searched accomplished, but what you should've accom- plished with your ability,'' one reads. Myers applies that approach every day. As an agent, his job was to find the most money and best fit for his clients. Now it's to land the best players at the best price for the Warriors, who wrapped up a 23-43 season and are headed to the draft lottery, where Myers will represent the team. ''It's kind of flipping things on their head, to some degree, just turning around how you view things,'' Myers said. ''A lot of people believe it's just a fantasy basketball game where you're just making quick decisions. It's anything but. Every- thing you do is thought out and processed in months and months of work. What you realize is how much work goes into the decisions you don't make.'' knows he'll be judged by wins and losses and noth- ing more. The Warriors are hop- ing to make major strides next season behind a healthy Andrew Bogut, Stephen Curry and David Lee — all coming off surgeries — and promis- ing rookie Klay Thomp- son. Myers has watched enough of his predeces- sors offer the same hope — and fail to deliver — to make any promises. Still, overseeing the Ultimately, Myers ners at first and third with one out in the ninth but couldn't score off Ryan Cook (1-0), who picked up his first major league win and has 19 2-3 scoreless innings this season, most among AL relievers. Michael Young reached the first five batters to reach base in a three-run Oakland first inning before pitching four shutout frames. He allowed at least one hit in all five innings, then was replaced by Mark Lowe after striking out Ka'aihue to start the sixth. Harrison allowed eight hits and three runs in 5 1-3 innings. He walked three and struck out three. Kurt Suzuki had a two- run double in the first for Oakland after Gomes drove in the first run with a double. NOTES: Oakland put on a two-base error by Josh Donaldson and went to third on a groundout. Nelson Cruz struck out between intentional walks to David Murphy and Mike Napoli, then Bran- don Snyder grounded out with the bases loaded. Texas ended up stranding 14 runners. ''That situation with a man on second and nobody out in the bottom of the ninth, you just have to figure out a way to let nobody score,'' Cook said. Ka'aihue's winning hit off Mike Adams (0-2) drove in Jonny Gomes, who had three hits. Moreland pulled Texas to 3-2 with a two-run homer just over the left field fence in fourth and tied it with a deeper shot to right in the sixth. He has six homers. 3B Brandon Inge on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right groin. The move was retroactive to Sunday. He started the season on the DL when he was still with Detroit. That time it was a strained left groin. ... Inge's replacement, Adam Rosales, started at 1B after getting recalled from Triple-A Sacramento and reached base in all four at- bats, his first of the season. He had three walks and a single. ... Oakland's Jemile Weeks was caught stealing on Harrison's pickoff move in the first inning, ending Oakland's streak of 20 straight successful stolen bases. That was two shy of the club record. ... RHP Joe Nathan pitched on three consecutive days for the first time since joining the Rangers. He had a perfect ninth. MLB West Division Dodgers GIANTS Arizona Colorado Padres East Division Atlanta National League WL Pct GB 24 13 .649 — 19 19 .500 5.5 17 22 .436 8 15 22 .405 9 14 24 .368 10.5 WL Pct GB 24 15 .615 — Washington 23 15 .605 .5 New York Miami Philadelphia 20 19 .513 4 Central Division St. Louis WL Pct GB 22 16 .579 — Cincinnati 19 18 .514 2.5 Pittsburgh 18 20 .474 4 Houston Milwaukee 16 22 .421 6 Chicago West Division Texas A's Angels Seattle Josh Hamilton watched both of those from the dugout and was supposed to have the day off. He came on as a pinch-hitter and stayed in the game in center field. He made the first out in the eighth and 10th innings, ending his AL-best 16-game hitting streak. Moreland never got a chance for a third home run. Manager Ron Wash- ington decided to replace him in the seventh with Snyder when Oakland went to left-handed reliev- er Jordan Norberto. Sny- der flied out to right with the go-ahead run at second and ended up missing on two chances to give to the Rangers the lead. ''I always want to East Division Baltimore New York Boston 17 21 .447 5 15 23 .395 7 American League WL Pct GB 24 15 .615 — 20 19 .513 4 17 22 .436 7 16 24 .400 8.5 WL Pct GB 25 14 .641 — Tampa Bay 24 15 .615 1 Toronto Central Division Cleveland 22 16 .579 — Detroit Chicago WL Pct GB 18 20 .474 4 18 21 .462 4.5 Kansas City 15 22 .405 6.5 Minnesota 12 26 .316 10 —————————————————— Thursday's results Oakland 5,Texas 4, 10 innings San Francisco 7, St. Louis 5 Arizona 9, Colorado 7 Atlanta 7, Miami 0 Baltimore 5, Kansas City 3 Boston 5, Tampa Bay 3 Chicago White Sox 6, L.A. Angels 1 Cleveland 6, Seattle 5, 11 innings Houston 4, Milwaukee 0 Minnesota 4, Detroit 3 N.Y. Mets 9, Cincinnati 4 Philadelphia 8, Chicago Cubs 7 Pittsburgh 5, Washington 3 Toronto 4, N.Y.Yankees 1 L.A. Dodgers at San Diego, late Today's games Oakland (Parker 1-1) at San Francisco (Zito 2-1), 7:15 p.m. Chicago White Sox (Humber 1-2) at Chi. Cubs (Samardzija 4-1), 11:20 a.m. Baltimore (Arrieta 2-4) at Washington (E.Jackson 1-1), 4:05 p.m. Boston (Bard 3-4) at play,'' Moreland said. ''He's the manager. He makes the decision.'' McCarthy gave up eight hits and four runs in 5 1-3 innings, with three walks ARENA motivated and grounded through all his success. He saves quotes by UCLA coach John Wooden in his phone to keep life in per- spective. ''Don't measure yourself by what you've NHL PLAYOFFS CONFERENCE FINALS (Best-of-7) Thursday's result Phoenix at Los Angeles, late Los Angeles leads series 2-0 Other series New Jersey and N.Y. Rangers tied 1-1 watching the Warriors from the upper deck,'' Myers said. ''Better seat now, more pressure. A lot more pressure. Same enjoyment. A lot more pressure.'' NBA PLAYOFFS CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS (Best-of-7) Thursday's results Indiana 94, Miami 75 Indiana leads series 2-1 L.A. Clippers at San Antonio, late San Antonio leads series 1-0 Today's games Boston at Philadelphia, 5 p.m. Boston leads series 2-1 Oklahoma City at L.A. Lakers, 7:30 p.m. Oklahoma City leads series 2-0 Warriors from a courtside seat or luxury suite at the same arena where his bas- ketball love began is spe- cial, even if it comes with added responsibilities. ''A lot less pressure NATIONALCONFERENCE West Division WL T Pct PF PA CATS 72 0 .778 602 476 Arizona 6 3 0 .667 583 454 Utah 6 3 0 .667 576 554 Spokane 4 4 0 .500 458 475 Central Division WL T Pct PF PA San Antonio 6 3 0 .667 475 475 Chicago 6 3 0 .667 522 512 Iowa 4 5 0 .444 497 532 Kansas City 0 8 0 .000 289 441 AMERICAN CONFERENCE South Division WL T Pct PF PA Georgia 5 4 0 .556 419 451 Tampa Bay 5 4 0 .556 492 504 Jacksonville 3 5 0 .375 410 441 N. Orleans 3 5 0 .375 440 451 Orlando 1 7 0 .125 298 384 Eastern Division WL T Pct PF PA Philadelphia 7 2 0 .778 633 489 Cleveland 5 3 0 .625 421 380 Milwaukee 3 5 0 .375 450 465 Pittsburgh 2 7 0 .222 433 514 —————————————————— Today's games Georgia at Milwaukee, 5 p.m. Orlando at New Orleans, 5 p.m. Philadelphia at Spokane, 8 p.m. Saturday's games San Jose at San Antonio, 5 p.m. Iowa at Jacksonville, 4 p.m. Kansas City at Pittsburgh, 4:30 p.m. Tampa Bay at Cleveland, 4:30 p.m. Arizona at Utah, 6 p.m. Philadelphia (Hamels 5-1), 4:05 p.m. Cincinnati (Arroyo 2-1) at N.Y.Yankees (Pettitte 0-1), 4:05 p.m. Miami (Zambrano 1-2) at Cleveland (Masterson 1-3), 4:05 p.m. Pittsburgh (Morton 2-3) at Detroit (Verlander 4-1), 4:05 p.m. N.Y. Mets (Niese 2-1) at Toronto (R.Romero 4-1), 4:07 p.m. Atlanta (Hanson 4-3) at Tampa Bay (Shields 6-1), 4:10 p.m. Texas (Feliz 3-1) at Houston (W.Rodriguez 3-3), 5:05 p.m. Arizona (J.Saunders 2-3) at Kansas City (Mendoza 2-2), 5:10 p.m. Minnesota (Diamond 2-0) at Milwaukee (Estrada 0-2), 5:10 p.m. Seattle (Millwood 1-4) at Colorado (White 0-2), 5:40 p.m. L.A. Angels (Weaver 5-1) at San Diego (Suppan 2-1), 7:05 p.m. St. Louis (Lynn 6-1) at L.A. Dodgers (Lilly 5-0), 7:10 p.m. Saturday's games Oakland at San Francisco, 1:05 p.m. Cincinnati at N.Y.Yankees, 10:05 a.m. N.Y. Mets at Toronto, 10:07 a.m. Miami at Cleveland, 1:05 p.m. Pittsburgh at Detroit, 1:05 p.m. Atlanta at Tampa Bay, 1:10 p.m. Minnesota at Milwaukee, 1:10 p.m. Seattle at Colorado, 1:10 p.m. Arizona at Kansas City, 4:15 p.m. Baltimore at Washington, 4:15 p.m. Boston at Philadelphia, 4:15 p.m. Chi. White Sox at Chi. Cubs, 4:15 p.m. Texas at Houston, 4:15 p.m. L.A. Angels at San Diego, 7:05 p.m. St. Louis at L.A. Dodgers, 7:10 p.m. Sunday's games Oakland at San Francisco, 1:05 p.m. Cincinnati at N.Y.Yankees, 10:05 a.m. Miami at Cleveland, 10:05 a.m. Pittsburgh at Detroit, 10:05 a.m. N.Y. Mets at Toronto, 10:07 a.m. Baltimore at Washington, 10:35 a.m. Boston at Philadelphia, 10:35 a.m. Atlanta at Tampa Bay, 10:40 a.m. Texas at Houston, 11:05 a.m. Arizona at Kansas City, 11:10 a.m. Minnesota at Milwaukee, 11:10 a.m. Chi. White Sox at Chi. Cubs, 11:20 a.m. Seattle at Colorado, 12:10 p.m. L.A. Angels at San Diego, 1:05 p.m. St. Louis at L.A. Dodgers, 5:05 p.m. 21 18 .538 4 20 18 .526 4.5 18 20 .474 6.5 21 17 .553 2.5 20 18 .526 3.5