Sat, Nov 05, 2011 page18

• SPORTS BRIEFS

  • Agencies
  • • 
    • 
    • 

  BASEBALL

  Matty Alou dies aged 72

  Matty Alou, once part of an all-Alou outfield for the San Francisco Giants with brothers Felipe and Jesus, died on Thursday in his native Dominican Republic. He was 72. He died of diabetes complications, according to his former Dominican Republic teammate, Leones del Escogido. The Giants also confirmed his death and said Alou had been sick for several years with a variety of health issues. A two-time All-Star, Alou became the 1966 National League batting champion with Pittsburgh when he hit .342. He spent his first six years with San Francisco from 1960 to 1965 and he also played for St Louis, Oakland, the New York Yankees and San Diego. Alou was a career .307 hitter with 31 home runs, 427 RBIs, 1,777 hits and 236 doubles in 15 seasons. The Alou brothers made history in 1963 when they appeared in the same outfield for several games.

  SOCCER

  Teens arrested for tweet

  British police have arrested two teenagers over a racist tweet sent to Newcastle United striker Sammy Ameobi. The 19-year-old, who broke into the first team at the end of last season, re-tweeted the abuse he received and his attacker’s account was closed down. Police said “two young men, both aged 17, [were arrested] on suspicion of malicious communication. The arrests come after reports of a racist tweet being sent to one of the region’s professional sportsmen.” Newcastle manager Alan Pardew said: “When something like this happens, we have to react strongly.” Pardew claimed that “with the austerity measures and everybody feeling a bit tight, everybody is feeling a bit narrow-minded and racism is coming to the fore, so maybe [the arrests] is not a bad thing.”

  RUGBY UNION

  Ospreys ban spray tans

  Welsh rugby side Ospreys have banned players from having spray tans and wearing colored boots as the club attempts to shed its tag of being “Galacticos,” it was reported on Thursday. The Daily Telegraph said Ospreys’ management were seeking to use the departure of high-profile players Gavin Henson and James Hook to mark the start of a new era at the Swansea-based side. “The fake tan and the colored boots, and the Galacticos label doesn’t interest us really,” Ospreys coach Sean Holley told the Telegraph. “We’ve banned the tan. It’s real tan only and you are only allowed to wear colored boots if you’ve played over 50 times for the Ospreys or over 15 times for your country. We feel that you have to earn the respect, you have to earn the right to do something.” The sober approach appears to have reaped dividends for Ospreys so far this season — they have won six of their seven Celtic League fixtures.

  ATHLETICS

  Miner to run marathon

  Edison Pena, one of the 33 miners pulled out alive after 69 days underground in Chile, will run in the New York City Marathon tomorrow, hoping the feat will help him overcome drug problems. “Last year has been very difficult,” Pena told reporters on Thursday, admitting to “many mistakes” that led him to seek help for drug addiction at a clinic. “I didn’t want to speak about this. I got help from a specialist clinic and a team of therapists has me in its hands, and now I am very well.” Pena became famous as “The Runner” last year when he kept up his jogging routine while trapped underground in a mine, awaiting rescue in a life-or-death saga. He became an instant celebrity at last year’s New York Marathon and also took part in the Tokyo Marathon in February.
• Most Popular

  • 1

    Napoli’s title hopes shaken by late Genoa equalizer

  • 2

    Privately owned city in Kenya taking on corrupt officials

  • 3

    MOE to encourage foreigners to work in Taiwan

  • 4

    Kane tastes first title as Bayern bid farewell to Mueller

  • 5

    Former president Tsai departs for Lithuania