■BASEBALL
Pujols takes NL MVP
Albert Pujols won his third National League (NL) Most Valuable Player award on Tuesday, having led the St Louis Cardinals to the Central Division title. The 29-year-old, who batted .327 with 47 home runs and 135 runs batted in, was a unanimous choice as he took the award for the second straight year. Pujols led the league in home runs for the first time in his career and was third in batting and RBI. He also topped the NL in runs, total bases and on-base percentage. An eight-time All-Star, Pujols totaled a perfect 448 points in voting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Florida Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez, who won the batting title with a .342 average, was second with 233 points.
■FOOTBALL
Packers sign Josh Bell
The injury-hit Green Bay Packers have signed former Denver Broncos cornerback Josh Bell, the team said in a statement on Tuesday. The Packers were dealt a double blow on Monday when cornerback Al Harris and linebacker Aaron Kampman were ruled out for the rest of the season because of knee surgery. Bell, 24, played in nine games including five starts for the Broncos last season, ending the campaign with 43 tackles and four pass breakups. He was cut by Denver before the start of this season. The Packers (6-4) are vying for the National Football Conference wildcard slot and next face the struggling Detroit Lions (2-8) today.
■FOOTBALL
Concussed ‘Big Ben’ to start
Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is expected to start on Sunday at Baltimore despite suffering a concussion in a 27-24 loss at Kansas City. Tomlin said on Tuesday that he plans to use “Big Ben” with only second-year backup Dennis Dixon in reserve for the reigning Super Bowl champions. Roethlisberger’s usual understudy, Charlie Batch, suffered a broken left wrist against the Chiefs. He was to have surgery yesterday. Roethlisberger’s status is contingent upon him continuing to pass the daily tests given NFL players who suffer concussions.
■CYCLING
Police crack doping ring
Spanish police have reportedly detained up to a dozen people after uncovering a doping ring. According to news agency Efe on Tuesday, Spain’s Guardia Civil raided homes, pharmacies and clinics linked to Walter Viru, the former Kelme cycling team doctor. Police discovered EPO and growth hormones in Valencia, Barcelona, Murcia and Granada. Reports said one of the homes raided belongs to race walker Francisco Fernandez, who took Olympic silver in 2004. Fernandez issued a statement denying any involvement, saying: “I have never worked with this doctor and I have never had anything to do with doping.”
■OLYMPICS
India to forgo bid
India will not bid for the Olympics in the near future even if it organizes a successful Commonwealth Games next year, sports minister Manohar Singh Gill said yesterday. “Some of my colleagues said casually that we should be bidding for Olympics. I’m not sure India should be,” Gill said in parliament. “Look at the poverty in this country, look at our infrastructure. China has spent US$50 billion for Olympics. Are you ready to spend that amount?” Gill said this was not just his personal view. “It’s policy,” he said.
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