NFL NEWS

NFL NEWS

RAVENS AGREE TO 2-YEAR DEAL WITH FREE AGENT RB DERRICK HENRY, AP SOURCE SAYS The Baltimore Ravens agreed to a two-year contract with free agent running back Derrick Henry on Tuesday, according to a person with knowledge of the deal. The person spoke to The Associated...

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NFL NEWS

NFL NEWS

COLTS AGREE TO 3-YEAR, $70 MILLION DEAL WITH MICHAEL PITTMAN JR., AP SOURCE SAYS INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Two weeks ago, Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard promised that Michael Pittman Jr. would be on the team’s roster next fall. On Monday, he made sure of...

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1913      The Browns trade Buzzy Wares to the Montgomery Rebels for the rent-free use of the minor league’s team stadium during spring training. The Southern Association Class-A team will return the 26-year-old infielder to St. Louis later in the season.

1970      Commissioner Bowie Kuhn announces the return of the All-Star selection to the fans. The over-exposure of the Midsummer Classic, two games each season between 1959-1962, and the lack of fan input prompted the MLB Promotion Corporation to modernize the game’s marketing by restoring fan balloting for the starting eight position players.

1977      Upset about losing his second base job to Bump Wills, Ranger Lenny Randle attacks and fractures his manager Frank Lucchesi’s cheekbone. The Ranger skipper may have triggered the episode just before the team’s exhibition game against Minnesota by once again calling the usually even-tempered infielder a punk.

1978      Dick Allen’s fifteen-year career ends when the A’s release the aging superstar. The Wampum, Pennsylvania native finishes his stormy relationship with major league baseball with 351 HRs, 1,192 RBIs, and a .292 batting average.

1981      The White Sox trade southpaw Ken Kravec to the Cubs for Dennis Lamp, who will post a 25-21 (.543) record during his three seasons with the South Side club. With the departure of Kravec, the recently acquired Carlton Fisk has an opportunity to return to his iconic uniform #27 but chooses to stay with his new reverse digits of 72, which Chicago will retire in 1997.

1985      Sports Illustrated’s April 1st edition tricks the nation when author George Plimpton weaves a fictitious tale of The Curious Case Of Sidd Finch, a Mets rookie phenom who throws a 168 mph fastball. Staged photographs and quotes from current players help give the story a realistic edge.

1986      The Red Sox trade designated hitter Mike Easler to the Yankees for DH Don Baylor, who will provide valuable veteran leadership for the eventual AL champs while hitting only .238. Easler, known as the ‘Hit Man,’ will live up to his nickname, batting .302 in his only full season with the second-place Bronx Bombers.

1988      Four days shy of his 47th birthday, Phil Niekro’s 24-year Hall of Fame career ends when the Yankees put him on waivers at the end of spring training. The right-handed knuckleballer, best known for his tenure with the Braves, compiled a 318-274 record and a 3.35 ERA while hurling for four teams, including the Yankees, Indians, and Blue Jays.

1999      At Havana’s Estadio Latinoamericano, the Orioles edge the Cuban National team, 3-2, thanks to Harold Baines’ eventual game-winning hit in the 11th inning. The contest marks the first time a U.S. team had played in Cuba since 1959 when the Dodgers played the Reds in two exhibition games on the island.

2003      The commissioner’s office announces teams will pay tribute to the U.S. Armed Forces during the seventh-inning stretch of all home openers by having God Bless America performed. Although the song has been part of all games since the September 11th terrorist attacks, the fans will now hear the tune only in major league ballparks at the home openers, Sunday, and holidays games.

2003      Three days before Opening Day, the YES Network claims Cablevision has nixed a proposed deal signed 17 days ago that would have provided televised Yankee games to nearly three million cable subscribers in the NYC metropolitan area. According to a YES Network press release, the giant cable company failed to sign a finalized version of the hand-written document that both parties exchanged on March 12 when Cablevision president James L. Dolan took exception to unacceptable alterations in the typewritten draft.

2006      The insurance claim filed by the Astros in January to get back approximately $15.6 million of Jeff Bagwell’s $17 million guaranteed contract is denied by the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company. The insurers cite no adverse change in the 37-year-old first baseman’s condition between the end of last season and the Jan. 31, 2006 policy.

2008      The decision to have manager Manny Acta catch the ceremonial first pitch from President Bush at the Nationals’ home opener is reported not to have been made by the White House. Traditionally, the honor goes to the game’s starting catcher, today being Paul Lo Duca, cited in the Mitchell Report on drug use in baseball, who watches his manager catch the toss from the Commander-in-Chief.

2008      The 24,663 fans at Chase Field give opposing Rockies left-hander Doug Davis an ovation as he walks off the mound after appearing in an exhibition game against the Diamondbacks. Before the game, Colorado announces the very popular 32-year-old hurler will have his thyroid removed after a biopsy revealed a lump in his throat to be cancerous.

2013      Mets GM Sandy Alderson announces an MRI has revealed 34-year-old Johan Santana has re-torn his surgically repaired left shoulder capsule and indicates additional surgery is a “strong possibility” for the left-hander. The Venezuelan southpaw, who missed the entire 2011 season due to the injury, will probably never pitch again for the team, finishing his six-year, $137.5 million contract with the team, a deal he signed upon his trade to the team in early 2008, on the disabled list.

2014      Mike Trout and the Angels come to terms on a $144.5 million, six-year deal, keeping the 22-year-old outfielder on the team through 2020. The five-tool phenom from Millville, N.J., the American League’s MVP runner-up in his first two seasons in the majors, was the unanimous choice for the AL Rookie of the Year award in 2012.

2017      In the first year of his presidency, Donald Trump has declined the Nationals’ invitation to throw out the ceremonial first pitch on Opening Day at Nationals Park, citing a scheduling conflict according to club officials. Since William Taft’s toss in 1910, every President has participated in the tradition at some point in their term in office, except for Jimmy Carter, who tossed the CFP before Game 7 of the 1979 Fall Classic.

 Washington Post: Trump declines Nationals’ invitation to throw out first pitch on Opening Day.

2019      At Dodger Stadium, en route to a 12-5 victory over the Diamondbacks, Los Angeles slams eight home runs, surpassing the Opening Day record of six, previously shared by the 1998 Mets (vs. Expos) and 2018 White Sox (vs. Royals). The long ball barrage, which includes multiple dingers in three different innings, features round-trippers by Joc Peterson (2), Kike Hernandez (2), Austin Barnes, Corey Seaver, Max Muncy, and Cody Berlinger.

1939 — The barnstorming Renaissance Five beat the NBL champion Oshkosh All-Stars, 34-25, to win the first annual World Professional Basketball Tournament in Chicago. Sports reporters of the day make no mention of the fact that all the Rens are black and the All-Stars are all white.

1942 — Stanford beats Dartmouth 53-38 for the NCAA basketball championship.

1944 — Arnold Ferrin’s 22 points leads Utah to a 42-40 victory over Dartmouth for the NCAA basket championship.

1950 — CCNY beats Bradley 71-68 in the NCAA basketball final to become the only team to win the NIT and NCAA titles in the same year. CCNY beat Bradley 69-61 in the NIT on March 18.

1971 — Gail Goodrich of the Los Angeles Lakers sets an NBA playoff record for most free throws (17) without a miss in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals. Goodrich leads all scorers with 39 points in the 106-98 loss at Chicago.

1972 — Wilt Chamberlain plays his last pro basketball game.

1977 — Marquette beats North Carolina 67-59 for the NCAA basketball title.

1982 — Louisiana Tech beats Cheyney State 76-62 in the NCAA’s first women’s basketball championship. The tournament replaces the AIAW championship which had been held since 1972.

1989 — Southwestern Louisiana pitchers Cathy McAllister and Stefni Whitton pitch back-to-back perfect games against Southeastern Louisiana, a first in NCAA Division I softball history. McAllister strikes out 10 in a 5-0 victory and Whitton has 14 strikeouts in a 7-0 triumph.

1990 — Michael Jordan scores 69 points to help Chicago beat Cleveland 117-113 in overtime and clinch a playoff spot. 4th time he scores 60 pts in a game.

1992 — Christian Laettner hits a 15-foot turnaround jumper at the buzzer to give defending champion Duke a 104-103 overtime victory over Kentucky and a fifth consecutive trip to the Final Four.

1992 — Eric Forkel posts a 217-133 victory over Bob Vespi in the title match of the $300,000 PBA National Championship. Vespi’s 133 sets a record for the lowest in tournament final history.

1993 — Teemu Selanne of the Winnipeg Jets scores his 69th and 70th goals of the season in a 3-3 tie with Los Angeles Kings. Selanne is the eighth player, and first rookie, to have a 70-goal NHL season.

1995 — Michael Jordan, playing in his fifth game in 22 months, scores 55 points to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 113-111 victory over the New York Knicks.

2006 — Oklahoma center Courtney Paris is the first freshman selected for The Associated Press All-America team in women’s basketball. Paris averaged 21.4 points and led the nation in rebounding (15.1). She is the first NCAA women’s player with 700 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocks in a season.

2012 — The NFL’s new rule for postseason overtime is expanded to cover the regular season on a 30-2 vote by the NFL owners. All games that go into overtime cannot end on a field goal on the first possession.

2015 — Breanna Stewart has 31 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists to help UConn rout Texas 105-54, earning coach Geno Auriemma his 100th NCAA Tournament win. Auriemma is the second coach to reach the century mark, joining Pat Summitt, who finished with 112 victories in her career.

2015 — Kentucky escapes with a 68-66 win against Notre Dame to go to 38-0 and advance to the Final Four. Wisconsin tops Arizona 85-78 to reach consecutive Final Fours for the first time.

2016 — Rodney Hood scores 30 points and the Jazz turn Kobe Bryant’s last visit to Utah into the worst loss of his career with a 123-75 victory that matches the Lakers’ largest defeat in franchise history.

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