■BASEBALL
Henderson, Rice inducted
Rickey Henderson, baseball’s greatest thief, and slugger Jim Rice were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday. While Henderson enters the hall in his first year of eligibility, Rice waited 15 years before securing his place in Cooperstown on his last appearance on the Baseball Writers Association of America ballot. Henderson, who holds the record for most stolen bases (1,406) and runs scored (2,295) tormented opposing pitchers and catchers for 25 seasons with his sprinter’s speed and slugger’s power. Rice spent his entire career in a Boston Red Sox uniform. The eight-time all-star pounded out 2,452 hits and 382 home runs over 16 seasons capturing AL MVP honors in 1978. “It’s like being welcomed at home plate after hitting a walk-off home run,” Rice said. “I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be than right here, right now.”
■BOXING
Former champion murdered
Former world boxing champion Vernon Forrest was shot dead in Atlanta, the victim of an apparent robbery, city authorities and local media said on Sunday. Forrest was best known for causing an upset in 2001 against then-WBC welterweight champion Shane Mosley — regarded by many as the world’s best fighter at the time — and beating him again six months later. Forrest, who was based in Atlanta, was a world champion in the welterweight and light middleweight divisions and also fought for the US at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. “The cause of death is multiple gunshot wounds involving the torso and thigh, and the manner of death is homicide,” the chief medical examiner of Georgia’s Fulton county said in a statement. Forrest was shot on Saturday as he attempted to prevent people from stealing his car at a gas station in southwest Atlanta. His girlfriend’s son was in the car at the time. The case is being investigated by the Atlanta police, the medical examiner and local media said.
■BASKETBALL
Greece defeat France
Greece defeated France 90-85 to win the men’s under-20 European championship on Sunday. Forward Costas Papanikolaou top-scored with 15 points for Greece, with six other teammates scoring in double figures. Guard Edwin Jackson scored 32 points for France, which had defeated Greece in group play in the tournament. France led 59-50 early in the third quarter, but Greece used a 21-2 run to build a double-digit lead which it held until the final seconds, when France scored successive three-pointers in a desperate comeback attempt. Seven players in Greece’s 12-member squad were part of the team that took silver at the under-19 world championships in New Zealand earlier this month, losing to the US in the final. The same players also formed the core of the Greek team that won the under-18 European Championship in 2008. Earlier Sunday, Spain defeated Italy 75-72 to capture third place.
■WATER POLO
Germany beat Montenegro
Marko Savic scored three goals, including the winner in extra time, and Alexander Tchigir made 16 saves to give Germany a 9-8 win over Montenegro in water polo at the world championships. Andreas Schlotterbeck added two goals for Germany (2-1-1) on Sunday, which will face the United States in the quarter-finals Tuesday. Also, Aaron Feltham scored three times and five teammates chipped in with goals to lead Canada past China 9-5. Robin Randall made 14 saves for the Canadians (3-1), who advanced to face Spain in the quarter-finals.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB