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Sports
Barry Bonds Cleared
Bernie Williams Set To Officially Retire, Nearly 9 Years After Final Game
Bernie Williams is officially retiring nearly nine years after he last played for the Yankees.
NEW YORK -- There is no longer any need to worry that Bernie Williams' No. 51 jersey will be retired before he is.
The former New York Yankees center fielder, who has not played in a major league game since Oct. 1, 2006, will officially sign his retirement papers in a news conference at Yankee Sta- dium prior to Friday night's game against the New York Mets.
The decision by Williams to make his retirement official averts the potentially comi- cally awkward situation of the Yankees' retiring the number of a player who technically is still active; the club plans to honor Williams with a num- ber retirement ceremony and a plaque unveiling in Monu- ment Park on May 24.
In 16 seasons and 2,076 games with the Yankees, Williams batted .297, and ranks third in franchise his- tory in doubles (449), fifth in hits (2,336), sixth in games played and runs scored (1,366) and seventh in home runs (287) and RBIs (1,257). Williams was a five-time American League All-Star (1997-2001) and four-time Gold Glove winner (1997- 2000). He won the American League batting title in 1998 with a .339 batting average.
But it was in the postsea- son where Williams really shined. Never considered a member of the Yankees "Core Four," Williams contributed mightily to four Yankees world championship teams (1996, 1998-2000). Williams is the Yankees' all- time postseason leader in home runs (22) and RBIs (80), ranks second in playoff runs scored (83), hits (128) and doubles (29) and is third in games played (121).
FOX Sports Suspends Gary Payton
By Appeals Court After 11.5 Years Fight
Fox Sports 1 has suspended former NBA star Gary Pay- ton from his role as NBA ana- lyst.
Payton is allegedly being sued by a woman who claims he assaulted her three times at an event in January. Payton has denied the claims.
Though Fox Sports 1 con- firmed the suspension, they did not specify when the sus- pension began.
According to reports, Feb- ruary was the last time Pay-
NEW YORK — Barry Bonds has been cleared legally after 11 1/2 years in court. His reputation re- mains tainted in the mind of many baseball fans.
A federal court of appeals threw out the career home run leader’s obstruction of justice conviction on Wednesday, ruling 10-1 that his meandering answer be- fore a grand jury in 2003 was not material to the govern- ment’s investigation into ille- gal steroids distribution.
“Today’s news is some- thing that I have long hoped for,” Bonds said in a state- ment. “I am humbled and truly thankful for the out- come as well as the opportu- nity our judicial system affords to all individuals to seek justice.”
Now 50, Bonds said “I am excited about what the fu- ture holds for me as I embark on the next chapter.”
Bonds broke Hank Aaron’s long-standing ca- reer record of 755 homers in 2007, finished that season with 762 and was indicted
Former NBA star, Gary Payton
ton was on air in his analyst role. He has served as an NBA analyst for Fox Sports 1 since 2013 when the network de- buted.
Barry Bonds made a statement after the ruling on Wednesday.
that December for his testi- mony before a grand jury in- vestigating the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, when he answered a question about injections by saying he was “a celebrity child.”
He was convicted of the obstruction charge in 2011, and a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld the conviction in 2013.
But the larger group, which listened to arguments from prosecutors and Bonds’ lawyers last Septem- ber, concluded there was in- sufficient evidence his initial evasive answer was material to the grand jury’s probe.
Bengals Extend Marvin Lewis Through '16
CINCINNATI -- The Cincinnati Bengals on Wednesday signed Marvin Lewis to a one-year extension, ensuring the NFL's second- longest tenured head coach will be under contract through 2016.
Lewis' previous contract, signed last March, was set to expire at the end of the 2015 season.
"We have worked together with Marvin for many years. Things are going well for the team, and Marvin deserves credit for that," team president Mike Brown said. "The ex- tension reflects our confidence in him and how things look to us as we move forward. We are happy to have reached this agreement."
MARVIN LEWIS
Lewis, the winningest coach in Bengals history with 100 career victories, will begin his 13th season with the team when the Bengals visit Oakland for the season opener on Sept. 13.
"I appreciate the commit- ment by management to the direction of our team," Lewis said in a news release. "It's gratifying to our coaching staff and to me personally. The stakes get higher each and every year."
OKC Coach Fired
Scott Brooks is done in Oklahoma City and his dis- missal had nothing to do with the injured superstars who ru- ined the Thunder chances of making the playoffs. Brooks is done because OKC manage- ment soured quickly on him the last few seasons and looked for their first chance to dump him.
Is there any other explana- tion? Brooks had a con- tentious contract negotiation with GM Sam Presti three summers ago and that alone spoke volumes on what OKC thought of Brooks. After he was named Coach of the Year in 2010 and coached the Thunder to The Finals in 2012, Brooks had to grovel for cash and, in a sense, re-
SCOTT BROOKS
spectability from his own bosses.
OKC hasn’t reached The Finals since then and missed the playoffs altogether in 2015. Although, this was mainly due to injury circum- stances that went far beyond Brooks and his perceived in- ability to cook up a lethal of- fensive system, which was his biggest flaw. (Although stats- wise, he had some pretty great offenses in OKC).
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