Sports Log
Baseball
Yankees catcher Jorge Posada and Toronto pitcher Jesse Carlson each were suspended three games and fined by Major League Baseball for their roles in a bench-clearing brawl in the eighth inning Tuesday night. The pair were cited for “aggressive and inappropriate actions’’ by Bob Watson, MLB’s vice president for discipline, and started serving the penalties immediately. Yankees utilityman Shelley Duncan also was suspended for three games and appealed, delaying the start of any discipline. Toronto manager Cito Gaston said Carlson was fined $3,000 and catcher Rod Barajas was docked $1,000. Posada was fined $2,500, and Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long and pitcher Edwar Ramirez also were fined. Even before the suspension, Posada was not in the starting lineup for the series finale because of a stiff neck, which Yankees manager Joe Girardi said was sustained in the fight. “That is part of baseball, but that’s a part of baseball that I don’t like,’’ Girardi said. “No pun intended, but it’s a black eye for baseball to me whenever there’s a fight or an incident like that because someone can really get hurt and you can jeopardize someone’s career.’’ . . . Indians center fielder Grady Sizemore underwent surgery to repair a hernia, his second operation in a week. Sizemore, who is out for the season, had arthroscopic surgery on his left elbow last week.Colleges
Former NCAA president Brand dies
Myles Brand, who fired Bob Knight as Indiana University basketball coach and went on to become NCAA president, died of pancreatic cancer. He was 67. The first former university president to run college sports’ largest governing body, Brand worked to change the perception that wins supersede academics and earned accolades for his efforts. Obituary, B13 . . . The Southwestern Athletic Conference’s first female official in football will work a game Saturday. Yvonda Lewis will help officiate the Texas College-Texas Southern game in her native Houston . . . Dave Fuller, the winningest baseball coach in University of Florida history, died Tuesday at 94. Fuller guided the Florida program from 1948 to 1975, compiling a 557-354-6 record.Toman, Sherr honored by Gridiron Club
New Hampshire junior quarterback R.J. Toman and Massachusetts Maritime sophomore back Nathan Sherr received this week’s Gridiron Club of Greater Boston Gold Helmet Awards from the New England Football Writers. The 6-foot-1-inch, 195-pound Toman threw for 212 yards and one touchdown on 21 of 35 passing in the Wildcats’ 23-16 upset win at Ball State. He also rushed for 51 yards on 16 carries. In his second game as a collegian, Sherr rushed for a school-record 325 yards on 26 carries and scored three touchdowns in a 49-27 win over MIT. The Austin Prep grad ran into the record books with a 95-yard run, second longest in school history, for his third touchdown of the contest . . . The NCAA champion Boston University men’s hockey team will raise its title banner at Agganis Arena Oct. 10 prior to the squad’s 7 p.m. contest against the US National Under-18 Team. It had previously been scheduled for Oct. 20.basketball
Thompson ignites Sparks in opener
Tina Thompson hit a key 3-pointer with 5:44 remaining and the Sparks went on to a 70-63 victory over the Seattle Storm in Game 1 of their WNBA Western Conference playoff series at Los Angeles. Thompson led the third-seeded Sparks with 16 points. Lisa Leslie added 14 points and 10 rebounds in what might have been the final home game of her storied career before she retires at season’s end . . . Deanna Nolan scored 25 points as the host Shock rallied for a 94-89 victory over the Dream in the opener of their Eastern Conference first-round series.Golf
Spence retains lead in N.E. Open
Scott Spence of Carnegie Abbey Club had the only score in the 60s during the second round of the New England Open at Walpole Country Club, following up his first-round 65 with a 2-under-par 69 for an 8-under 134 that gave him a seven-stroke lead heading into today’s final round. He ended the day with an eagle on the tricky 416-yard par-4 18th hole. Four players are tied for second . . . Defending champion Brian Higgins of Franklin CC had an even better day yesterday than he had in the first round of the Mass. Mid-Amateur at Haverhill CC. Higgins followed his 66 with a 5-under 65 to take a seven-shot lead heading into today’s final round. Higgins had six birdies and one bogey. Philip Smith of Vesper CC (138) is second . . . James Becker of Bloomfield, Conn., captured the 2009 Cape Cod Senior Open at Hyannis GC with a two-day total of 2-under 140. Jim Ruschioni was the top amateur (147).Miscellany
Jones, 40, to fight Green in December
Eight-time world champion Roy Jones Jr. will fight Australia’s Danny Green in Sydney Dec. 2 in his first professional fight on foreign soil. The IBO world cruiserweight title will be on the line, with the 40-year-old Jones (54-5, 40 KOs) trying to add that belt to a career that includes titles in divisions ranging from middleweight to heavyweight . . . Defending champion Marilson Gomes dos Santos will go for his third New York City Marathon victory Nov. 1. The Brazilian, who also won in 2006, was one of six former winners to enter. On the men’s side: Hendrick Ramaala of South Africa (2004) and Kenyans Paul Tergat (2005) and Martin Lel (2003, 2007). Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia (2005, 2006) and Ludmila Petrova of Russia (2000) return for the women. The total guaranteed prize purse will be $800,000, the highest of any of the World Marathon Majors series races . . . Major League Soccer will take a two-week break during the group phase of the World Cup. MLS will not play from June 11-25 . . . Melvin Simon, who used to own the Indiana Pacers with his brother, died at age 82. Obituary, B14.
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