Associated Press
NEW YORK ó Derek Jeter stepped out of the dugout and gazed up at those massive grandstands, five booming decks of blue-and-white splendor reaching high into a clear Bronx sky.
Welcome home. This is the new Yankee Stadium.
“It’s a lot better than I think anyone even expected,” Jeter said. “You know, I tried to come here, not ask too many questions about it, just wanted to experience it for the first time. But this is ó it’s pretty unbelievable.”
Jeter and his teammates moved into their fancy new digs Thursday, working out at the $1.5 billion ballpark before a dazzled crowd of 20,070.
Monument Park is now directly behind the center-field fence, beneath the Mohegan Sun Sports Bar. The famous frieze rings the upper deck, a replica of the original ballpark roof that was removed during the mid-1970s renovation.
“The stands, obviously, are a lot bigger than the old stadium, but I think they did a tremendous job incorporating qualities from the old stadium into this one,” Jeter said. “I think everyone was amazed at how big the stadium is.”
– BOSTON ó Four days before opening day, Fenway Park was a very busy place.
Crews were putting the finishing touches on major league baseball’s oldest stadium, the Boston Red Sox’s eighth straight offseason of improving the ballpark so it might last up to another 50 years.
The work on the 97-year-old park included repairing concrete and waterproofing the original lower seating area built in 1912, adding 191 seats and 100 standing room spaces atop the roof along the right-field foul line and repairing an adjacent building that houses club offices.
– SURPRISE, Ariz. ó Andruw Jones and the Texas Rangers seem to be on the same page.
Hoping to make the team as a backup, Jones went 2-for-2 with a double and go-ahead home run against the Angels to earn the final spot on the Rangers’ roster.
“There was a time earlier in the spring we didn’t think Andruw could help us,” Texas manager Ron Washington said. “But Andruw wanted to be here and came back and said maybe we misunderstood what he was trying to do. He’d accept any role that we had for him.”n FORT MYERS, Fla. ó Twins right-hander Scott Baker has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with shoulder stiffness and will miss at least his first two scheduled starts, including opening day.
Francisco Liriano will take the mound Monday against Seattle, and knuckleballer R.A. Dickey will replace Baker in the rotation.
– SARASOTA, Fla. ó Cincinnati has an interest in free agent Gary Sheffield, but only if he’ll accept a limited role.
– VIERA, Fla. ó Washington’s mitri Young (hip, back) will start the season on the disabled list.
NBAPHILADELPHIA ó Andre Iguodala scored 20 points, Louis Williams had 14 of his 21 in the second half and the 76ers rallied from a 13-point first-half deficit to defeat Milwaukee 105-95.
Andre Miller contributed 18 points and 11 assists for the Sixers (39-35), who vaulted past Miami into fifth place in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
– ORLANDO, Fla. ó Patrick Ewing has a theory on why Orlando center Dwight Howard isn’t mentioned as a leading MVP candidate: He’s a big man.
LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade lure voters with their “flash and dash,” said Ewing, quickly adding that when it comes to substance, Howard is equally dominant as that trio.
Howard and the Magic face James and Cleveland tonight in the final regular-season meeting between the Eastern Conference division leaders.
“I think it’s because he plays the center position,” said Ewing, a Hall of Fame center with the New York Knicks and now a Magic assistant coach. “You guys look for that flash and dash. All the other guys who are in the race are all small guys. He’s a big guy who should be in there.”
– PORTLAND, Ore. ó Former Trail Blazers star Maurice Lucas has undergone surgery for bladder cancer. The 57-year-old Lucas is now an assisant coach on the team he helped lead to the 1977 title.
– PORTLAND, Maine ó Maine’s new NBA Development League team has a name: the Maine Red Claws. The name is true to the state’s lobster tradition.
WOMEN’S HOOPS
LOS ANGELES ó Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris and Connecticut teammates Maya Moore and Renee Montgomery are among five players on the John R. Wooden women’s All-American team.
Joining them were Louisville’s Angel McCoughtry and Maryland’s Kristi Toliver.
GOLF
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. ó Michelle Wie watched her 20-foot birdie putt roll into the cup on her final hole, pumped her fist and waved to the gallery.
After spending all day scrambling to save par, Wie finished the opening round of the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the first LPGA major of the year, at 1-under 71.
Defending champ Lorena Ochoa got off to apoor start with a 1-over 73. Brittany Lincicome shot a 6-under 66 to take the lead and Angela Stanford was one stroke back, tied with Ji Young Oh and Brittany Lang.
TENNIS
KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. ó Juan Martin del Potro delighted a partisan crowd by upsetting top-ranked Rafael Nadal 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (3) in the quarterfinals at the Sony Ericsson Open.
“Wonderful for the crowd,” Nadal said. “Terrible for me.”
The No. 6-seeded del Potro’s opponent today will be Andy Murray, who beat Fernando Verdasco 6-1, 6-2.
Victoria Azarenka has earned a berth in the women’s final by beating Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 2-6, 7-5. Azarenka, 19, will play the winner of the semifinal between Serena and Venus Williams.
* LONDON ó The Swedish tennis federation was fined $25,000 and the city of Malmo banned from hosting Davis Cup matches for five years because of the decision to play Israel behind closed doors.
SOCCER
MEXICO CITY ó Mexico soccer coach Sven-Goran Eriksson was fired a day after a 3-1 loss to Honduras in a World Cup qualifier.
SKIING
PARK CITY, Utah ó Olympic gold medalist Ted Ligety will be in a brace for two weeks but is not expected to need surgery after injuring ligaments in his right knee at the U.S. Alpine Championships last weekend.
RACING
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia ó Defending Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton was disqualified from the Australian Grand Prix for giving misleading evidence to race stewards.
The McLaren driver was awarded third place after the season-opening race in Melbourne last weekend when stewards ruled Toyota’s Jarno Trulli breached regulations by passing Hamilton during a safety car period. Trulli was reinstated to his original third-place finish, while Hamilton and McLaren were excluded from the results and receive no points.
OLYMPICS
CHICAGO ó Chicago police officers unhappy with contract negotiations have picketed outside City Hall ó an action that coincides with a visit by an International Olympic Committee inspection team.
Chicago is one of four cities competing to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, along with Tokyo, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro.