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SPORTSThursday 28 December 2017
Yankees president Levine excited about offseason moves
By DAN GELSTON This Oct. 21, 2017, file photo shows New York Yankees starting pitcher CC Sabathia throwing “This team has a lot of
AP Sports Writer personality,” Levine said.
NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees during the first inning of Game 7 of baseball’s American League Championship Series in Houston. “There’s a lot of great, great
president Randy Levine de- young players that really
fended Yankee Stadium Associated Press came together. We’ve got
as a proper home for the a great manager.
Pinstripe Bowl as he rattled stuff to be done before over the final decade of his long ball and box-office I think Giancarlo Stanton
off the list of great col- will fit in really well with ev-
lege football moments at spring training and open- record $325 million, 13-year smash: Stanton should form erybody.”
both versions of the venue. The Stanton deal had some
Knute Rockne coached in ing day.” contract. a potent 1-2 punch with AL in baseball ready to re-
the old one. Notre Dame suscitate the “Evil Empire”
played in the new one. The Yankees acquired “I think he’s been a huge Rookie of the Year Aaron moniker that was slapped
“This bowl is a part of the on them in 2002. Levine
holiday season now in New Stanton from the payroll- addition. He’s the MVP Judge in the middle of the laughed off the idea that
York,” Levine said. it’s fun to hate the Yankees
So are temperatures in the shedding Marlins and new of the National League,” lineup. The retooled Yan- again.
low 20s at kickoff. “As long as we’re relevant
But even with the field CEO Derek Jeter. He led Levine said. “He’s a great kees went 91-71 this sea- and people are thinking
chalked with hash marks in- about us, that’s the best
stead of foul lines as Boston the majors with 59 home player and our fan base is son, their best record since part,” he said.
College and Iowa played The Yankees are already
Wednesday night, Yankees runs and 132 RBIs last sea- excited. We’re doing very 2012, and reached the planning for 2019.
general manager Brian Owner Hal Steinbrenner re-
Cashman was in his office son, numbers dwarfed by well, selling a lot of tickets.” ALCS before losing to Hous- peatedly has said New York
working on 2018. The off- intends to get under next
season haul so far has been the $295 million he’s owed The Yankees could be a ton in seven games. year’s tax threshold of $197
pretty good: the NL MVP million, which would reset
in Giancarlo Stanton and the team’s base tax rate
a new manager in Aaron from 50 percent to 20 per-
Boone. cent in 2019, the first sea-
“I think Cash and the base- son after Bryce Harper and
ball people did a great Manny Machado poten-
job,” Levine said Wednes- tially become free agents.
day. “I know he’s upstairs “We’re the Yankees,”
working. He’s not finished. Levine said. “We always
We’re hopeful there’s more want to get better.”q
Letters describe slugger Ted
Williams’ service in Korean War
By DAVID SHARP a period in which Williams Yet another alluded to a In this 1953 file photo, Capt. Ted Williams, former Boston Red Sox
Associated Press trained in the U.S. and military radioman sabo- slugger, poses atop an airplane at a Marine air base in Korea
BIDDEFORD, Maine (AP) — served in Korea as a Ma- taging his plane to keep it after he crash landed his thunder jet at an advance airbase Feb.
Thirty-eight letters penned rine combat pilot. During grounded for repairs in Flori- 15, 1953, on his first combat mission over North Korea against
by Hall of Fame baseball the time, Williams served da so he could spend extra enemy targets.
player Ted Williams, in- as wing man for future time with Turner.
cluding one in which he NASA astronaut and U.S. The letters and other items Associated Press
described crash-landing Sen. John Glenn. He wrote from Turner’s estate will be
a fighter jet with “holes all to Turner the day after he auctioned Jan. 3 along Their relationship is re- lady’s man, certainly,” he
over” it, are going up for crash-landed his burning with other baseball and ce- counted in Ben Bradlee’s said. This isn’t the first auc-
auction. The letters writ- F9F Panther after a mission. lebrity memorabilia. Includ- book, “The Kid.” Williams tion of Williams’ love let-
ten to his mistress show an- He only sprained an ankle, ed are photos of Williams in met her on a flight when ters. Six letters to another
other side to Williams, who but it could’ve been far Turner’s home, along with she worked for the now- mistress, Norma Williamson,
played for the Boston Red worse. newspaper clippings and defunct National Airlines. fetched several thousand
Sox, describing his second “I had holes all over the Turner’s writings about Wil- Williams’ flings come as no dollars in 2011, accord-
hiatus from baseball for plane and I was riding on liams. surprise, said Dick John- ing to Chris Ivy, director of
military service, his bomb- all the prayers people say Williams was married to son from the New England sports collectibles at Dallas-
ing missions in Korea and for me ‘cause I was awfully his first wife, Doris Soule, Sports Museum. “Ted was a based Heritage Auction.q
his feelings on war and his lucky. My plane was burn- during the romance with
father’s death. ing like hell when I crash Turner. Their affair lasted a
“They’re his innermost landed. Everybody around decade, said Turner’s son,
thoughts during the Ko- here now is calling me Al Christiano. Williams and
rean conflict,” said Troy lucky. Anyway, I’m missing Soule divorced in 1954.
Thibodeau, of Saco River you,” he wrote . Turner and Williams broke
Auction, which is putting Another letter written af- up after he told her that
the letters up for auction. ter his father’s death de- she’d take third place —
The letters were written to scribed Williams’ anguish behind baseball and fish-
Evelyn Turner, a flight at- and regret over having not ing — if they were to marry,
tendant, from 1952 to 1954, spent more time with him. Christiano said.
