I Dig Sports
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker left the team's split-squad game against the Washington Nationals with left knee pain Tuesday.
Walker departed from the game in the third inning. The team said he will undergo further evaluation.
The 22-year-old Walker, a former first-round pick, has long been considered one of the Cardinals' most talented prospects. But after hitting .276 with 16 homers and 51 RBIs in 117 games as a rookie, Walker substantially regressed last year, hitting just .202 with five homers and 20 RBIs in 51 games with the big-league club.
He wound up playing 85 games for Triple-A Memphis, hitting .263 with nine homers and 37 RBIs.
The Cardinals, who have missed the playoffs the past two season, are counting on players such as Walker to have bounce-back years after doing little to augment the roster in the offseason.
Walker's competing for a job alongside Lars Nootbaar and Michael Siani in an outfield that also includes Michael Helman, who was recently acquired from the Twins.
Pete Rose prior to death: I'll make HOF after I die
Baseball great Pete Rose, in what is thought to be his last interview before he died at the age of 83 on Sept. 30, 2024, said he believed "that I'll make the Hall of Fame after I die."
In a sit-down video interview with Dayton, Ohio, sportscaster John Condit on Sept. 20 for an undisclosed documentary, Rose questioned the point of getting into Cooperstown posthumously.
"I've come to the conclusion -- I hope I'm wrong -- that I'll make the Hall of Fame after I die,'' Rose said in the interview, which took place 10 days before his death. "Which I totally disagree with, because the Hall of Fame is for two reasons: your fans and your family. That's what the Hall of Fame is for. Your fans and your family. And it's for your family if you're here. It's for your fans if you're here. Not if you're 10 feet under. You understand what I'm saying?
"What good is it going to do me or my fans if they put me in the Hall of Fame couple years after I pass away? What's the point? What's the point? Because they'll make money over it?''
Rose was placed on baseball's permanently ineligible list by then-commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti in 1989 for gambling on baseball. Commissioner Rob Manfred in 2015 rejected Rose's bid for reinstatement, but sources told ESPN on Saturday that Manfred is reviewing a petition to posthumously remove MLB's career leader in hits from the ineligible list after meeting with Fawn Rose, the eldest daughter of Pete Rose, and Los Angeles lawyer Jeffrey Lenkov, who represented Rose prior to his death.
In 2020, ESPN reported that for all practical purposes, Manfred viewed baseball's banned list as punishing players during their lifetime but ending upon their death. A senior MLB source told ESPN then that after a banned player dies, MLB informally sees that the banning ends. In the past, Hall of Fame representatives have said that after a player dies -- and he is still on the banned list -- he still won't be eligible for consideration for the Hall of Fame.
Rose, who spent most of his 24-year career with the Cincinnati Reds, won the World Series three times and remains Major League Baseball's career leader in hits, games played, at-bats, singles and outs. His name has never appeared on a Hall of Fame ballot.
"I've come to the conclusion -- I hope I'm wrong -- that I'll make the Hall of Fame after I die. Which I totally disagree with, because the Hall of Fame is for two reasons: your fans and your family. ... What good is it going to do me or my fans if they put me in the Hall of Fame couple years after I pass away? What's the point? What's the point? Because they'll make money over it?" Pete Rose, in what is believed to be his last interview on Sept. 20 -- 10 days before he died.
In 2004, Rose admitted in a book that he gambled while he was manager of the Reds, but he insisted he bet only on his team to win. Years later, ESPN reported that Rose also placed bets as a player, but Rose wouldn't admit it.
"The Hall of Fame is for what you did on the field, not what you did off the field," Rose said in the interview with Condit. "You know, back in the '20s and '30s, there were some characters playing baseball. Ty Cobb was a character, OK. ... He got away with a lot of stuff. Babe Ruth drank a lot. But people didn't care as long as you played the game."
President Donald Trump last week said he would pardon Rose, though he did not say what the pardon would cover; Rose served five months in prison after pleading guilty to tax evasion charges in 1990.
Rose often said no player had won more major league games than him, and he echoed that in his interview with Condit.
"I'm not bitter about everything. I'm the one that f---ed up. Why am I going to be bitter?" Rose said. "When you make a mistake, don't be bitter to other people. I wish I hadn't made the mistake, but I did. It's history. Get over it. I didn't hurt you as a fan. ... I didn't hurt any of my fans by betting on the game of baseball -- and by the way, betting on the game of baseball to win. To win, OK?
"I wanted to win every game. ... I happened to win more than anybody else, but that's OK. Not bad."
ESPN's Don Van Natta Jr. contributed to this report.
Goosebumps: Squash at theatre marks a New Zealand first
World Squash has announced a new partnership with sports equipment specialists Head.
Head works with a number of the worlds best players, including mens former World No.1 Paul Coll and current womens World No.3 Hania El Hammamy.
The partnership will see World Squash and Head cooperate in the development of squash and will include the establishment of a global marketing strategy that will grow the sport in the lead up to squashs Olympic debut at LA28.
As a partner of World Squash, Head will assist the growth of squash worldwide from juniors to masters by providing equipment to Member National Federations and Continental Federations, with a particular focus on underserved territories.
World Squash CEO William Louis-Marie said: A warm welcome to our new partner. This cooperation marks a significant step forward for World Squash, benefiting our entire squash community and its stakeholders.
By working together and utilising Heads expertise and status as a market leader amongst racket sports, I am confident that we can continue to grow our sport by reaching new audiences, elevating the sports visibility and strengthening the future of squash worldwide.
For Pasquale Ruzicka, Heads Global Business Manager Indoor Court Sports, this cooperation is a milestone: As I have been a very ambitious squash player myself for decades, it makes me extremely proud to be working with the global association for this fascinating sport. Especially in this hot phase, in which squash will become an Olympic sport for the first time.
Ireland's French test a game 'you live for' - Hansen
Wing Mack Hansen says the Ireland squad are excited by the challenge of welcoming France to Dublin for Saturday's highly-anticipated Six Nations game (14:15 GMT).
The hosts top the championship table with 14 points, three ahead of the French, and are targeting a historic third outright title in succession.
The pair have developed a keen rivalry in recent seasons, finishing first and second in each of the previous three Six Nations campaigns, while Saturday's encounter will have the added emotion for Ireland of being a final home Test for retiring centurions Peter O'Mahony, Conor Murray and Cian Healy.
"One to 23 are world class players. It's a big challenge and we're excited for it," said Hansen.
"These are the sort of games that you live for, being able to send some guys off with their last home game and put a stamp on the Six Nations.
"It's really exciting and I think we're ready for the challenge."
The 26-year-old Connacht player, who signed a new contract this week through to 2027, added that the squad knew this was to be final Six Nations for Murray, Healy and O'Mahony before the announcement and that they have attempted to make "this whole campaign special" for the trio.
"They're such big parts of the team. Talking about it before, they bring so much experience on the field, but off the field as well. They bring so much craic, laughter and good times.
"It's more about making it as special for them as possible as a whole, the whole campaign.
"Obviously, yeah, we're going to try and get a win for them."
Jones believes this Wales team can win at Murrayfield and record a first international victory since October 2023.
"There's no point going up there and being in awe of them," said Jones.
"They've got a good side with some standout players. You've just got to rip into them as much as you can and I'm sure the boys will.
"I know I said they're the best Scottish team ever, but there's a bit of confidence and feel-good factor now with us.
"We want to get the monkey off our back, we're going up there to win. We're not going up there to make up the numbers."
Jones says Wales sides have previously enjoyed playing in the Scotland capital.
"It's a good place to play, so let's get one over on them," said Jones.
"The Welsh travel well. Max Boyce wrote a song about it so they always travel well up there. Traditionally we've done well against them, home and away.
"I played 12 games against them and lost one, although that was a long time ago now. We're not going to go up there daunted."
"I still think we're way off the potential of this team and let's just hope we start seeing that," added Carling, who had a part-time mentoring role with England under Borthwick's predecessor Eddie Jones.
England vice-captain Ellis Genge said last week former players such as Carling were "out of touch" in their criticism of the team, failing to give them due credit for turning around a run of six defeats in seven Tests earlier in the year.
"I wouldn't necessarily agree with him," Carling said. "A lot of ex-players are hugely experienced and have a lot of knowledge.
"But I understand that when you're a current player you're highly sensitive.
"You're trying as hard as you can to win games [and] they've had a tough run. Let's be honest, we're talking a tough run for three or four years now. That's where players have to understand people will have opinions.
"I remember all these times we had some very ugly wins and you watch the reaction of the media and the fans.
"It is a bit frustrating but you have to take a deep breath and accept that's part and parcel of it."
Carling captained England 59 times, leading them to three Grand Slams and a Rugby World Cup final during the 1990s.
Larson & Byron To Split Trio Of Truck Races With Spire
MOORESVILLE, N.C. Hendrick Motorsports drivers Kyle Larson and William Byron will split time behind the wheel of Spire Motorsports No. 07 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado in a trifecta of NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races this year.
Larson will race the No. 07 Chevy Silverado in the March 21 Baptist Health 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway and return to the cockpit two races later for the April 11 event at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
Byron, will thread the needle between Larsons two stints and handle the driving chores for the Allen Hart-led program March 28 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Byron returns the site of his most recent Craftsman Truck Series win where, ironically, he collected Spire Motorsports inaugural victory in the division.
Both Hendrick Motorsports drivers have picked up checkered flags in Truck Series competition for the Mooresville, N.C., organization over the last three seasons.
One of the coolest things of having a Craftsman Truck Series team is to have the crossover from Hendrick Motorsports and Hendrick Automotive Group, said Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson. Weve had all their drivers in our trucks from time to time, and to have two guys in William (Byron) and Kyle (Larson), who have won races with us back in the seat, certainly gives the team a little more pep in our step.
It also raises the bar for those races to win or bust. You dont show up with those guys to do anything else but win.
Larson and Byron will be part of a HendrickCars.com trio of Spire Motorsports-prepared entries at all three events. In addition to the No. 07 machine, Rajah Caruth will sport his traditional HendrickCars.com paint scheme aboard his No. 71 Chevy while Larsons fellow Hendrick Motorsports stablemate Corey Day will pilot the teams No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado, featuring an identical livery.
The 32-year-old Larson, often referred to as Yung Money, owns three Homestead Craftsman Truck Series starts where he tallied one pole and a pair of top fives, including a second-place finish in the 2014 season finale.
Larson made his lone Bristol start in Truck Series competition in 2021 when the famed half-mile was covered in dirt. Regrettably, he was saddled with a 35th-place after being collected in an incident just past the halfway mark of the 150-lap event.
I love racing at Homestead-Miami (Speedway) and Bristol (Motor Speedway), so Im excited to add those Truck races to my schedule, said Larson. Hopefully, we can put on a great show with HendrickCars.com on board and battle for the victories in the Spire truck.
In addition to his success in the Cup Series, Byron was highly accomplished on the Craftsman Truck Series side of the sport and lays claims to eight victories across 29 starts seven of which came during the 2016 season.
Meanwhile, the Charlotte, N.C., native owns two Martinsville wins on NASCAR grandest stage, where he secured the historic half-miles famed grandfather clock trophy in spring of 2022 and 2024.
Im excited to get back to the Truck Series, said Byron. Its been a couple years for me so Im ready to try it again. Plus, the last time I ran a truck at Martinsville we won. Hopefully, we can do that again because it really paid off for us on the Cup side of things. Spire is a great group, and Im excited to work with them again.
Appalachian Sucker Punch has been named the official title sponsor of the ASA STARS National Tour, the series revealed Tuesday morning.
This multi-year partnership marks a new era of growth and excitement for short-track racing across the United States.
The series will be officially branded as the Appalachian Sucker Punch ASA STARS National Tour.
We are thrilled to welcome Appalachian Sucker Punch and the entire Appalachian Heritage Distillery family as the title sponsor of the ASA STARS National Tour, said Marty Melo, Director of Operations & Sales of the ASA STARS National Tour.
Their passion and support for the motorsports community make them a perfect fit for our growing national tour. This partnership will enhance the experience for our fans, teams, and drivers alike.
As part of this collaboration, Appalachian Sucker Punch will be featured prominently throughout the ASA STARS National Tour, including trackside branding, broadcast integration, event title sponsorship and exclusive fan experiences.
Motorsports and the Appalachian Sucker Punch community share the same DNAthrill-seekers who arent afraid to push the limits, said Wade Lopez, Owner of Appalachian Sucker Punch. We couldnt be more excited to align our brand with the ASA STARS National Tour and its dedicated fan base.
This is more than a sponsorship, its a commitment to supporting the sport we love and bringing excitement to race events across the country.
The 2025 Appalachian Sucker Punch ASA STARS National Tour season continues at Floridas Five Flags Speedway on March 23 with the Sunshine State 200 presented by Appalachian Sucker Punch.
In life, we run into certain circumstances that are constants. Everybody knows about the death-and-taxes one. The sun coming up in the morning, hopefully, is another. And in Pennsylvania, another rock-solid given in this world is that Lance Dewease is going to be in the hot seat of a sprint car, up on the wheel, and winning races.
At age 59. You look at that number and youre startled for a minute when you realize how long Dewease has been a continuous, triumphant presence on the Pennsylvania scene.
How important is this guy? Dewease is enshrined in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Iowa, as a driver. Hes a three-time winner of the Williams Grove National Open. The Tuscarora 50 at Port Royal Speedway has been his seven times. He is a three-time champion of Pennsylvania Sprint Speedweek.
Twenty times, he has defeated the World of Outlaws, with another 46 victories scored against the All-Star Circuit of Champions. He has also claimed sprint car wins in Florida, Ohio, Michigan and even a weekly show at Knoxville Raceway. Based on his calculations, Deweases win total comes to 376 features in a career that began in the early 1980s. Incidentally, his first win aboard a sprint car came in yet another place, Hagerstown, Md., back in 1986.
By any measure, thats a Hall of Fame career. Which Dewease intends to continue, even if its on a necessarily reduced basis for a racer of his seniority.
Im with Barry Shearer now at Shearer Motorsports, he explained. Billy Dietrich was in the car before I got in it. I think well probably do 40 or 50 races this year, Port Royal, Williams Grove, and all the local big shows. I really dont think were going to be traveling much. Thats kind of what Id been doing the last six or seven years in Donald Kreitzs car, probably only running about 40 shows a year.
At my age, its hard to do 80 races a year, or 90. It just takes a toll on your body, and it doesnt recover like it used to. I can be at 40 or 50 races and stay fresh, so you dont get beat up as much. When you show up, youre ready to go.
One could make a strong argument that Dewease was born ready. Now living in Fayetteville, in south-central Pennsylvania, Dewease dates his career to the early 1980s when he started out driving 270cc micro sprints and by his own admission, never won a race. Undeterred, he did the same thing any number of young Keystone Staters have decided to try, moving up.
The options back then were super sportsman and sprint cars, he explained. The super sportsman are great but they can get 80 cars a night, so its really tough. We had a sprint car that my father, my brother and a friend or so could work on, and back then, you could still do it on a workingmans paycheck.
Dewease migrated to a smorgasbord of the very best sprint cars that the brutally competitive Pennsylvania circuit had to offer. He did a single race in the cattle car of Bob Weikert before spending time with the late Carl Harz, the late Al Hamilton and the Dietz family. In a real sense, Deweases Hall of Fame success can be traced to two rides: First, the famed Brickmobile of Hall of Fame car owner Walter Dyer, in which Dewease enjoyed years of dominance at Port Royal.
In his Hall of Fame induction, which came as part of Knoxvilles Class of 2018, Dewease singled out Dyer as one of the great influences on his life, and his career, stating that if it wasnt for him, I wouldnt be where Im at. He took a shot and gave me my first big break with a good car and a good owner. For seven and a half years, it was a good relationship and I owe everything to him.
The other was the robins egg-blue No. 69k of Kreitz, another Hall of Famer, with the Hall of Fame mechanic Davey Brown Sr. handling mechanical matters. Before he exited the ride, Dewease combined with Kreitz and Brown to form a powerhouse team that scarfed up victories across Pennsylvania despite the fact all three principals wanted to run a lighter schedule of 40 to 50 races a year. Its still a viable plan for a racer, even one approaching the eventual end of his driving days.
In Pennsylvania, you take someone like Anthony Macri or Danny Dietrich and they run 100 races a year, 85 percent of them in Pennsylvania, with a lot of good-paying, big shows, Dewease said. Youve got two at Port Royal paying 50-something and another one that pays $75,000 to win. The National Open pays $75,000 to win. Theres also six Outlaw shows here and another six or seven High Limit shows around Pennsylvania. Its always been a viable thing here because you can race so much and not really have to travel.
To achieve proper perspective on Deweases career, perhaps its best to ask another Hall of Famer. In this case, its Alan Kreitzer, who went from driving race cars to being an acclaimed promoter at Keystone tracks including the Grove and Silver Spring Speedway. Hes had a unique view of the entirety of Deweases exploits.
Lance is really one of the greats in Pennsylvania, Kreitzer said. The races hes won, the big races, is really what sets him apart. He kind of had a resurgence with Donald Kreitz, and when he got hooked up with them, it was like a whole new world.
I think the thing that makes Lance stand out is the fans, and the way they react to him, Kreitzer continued. A lot of guys, when they win a lot, people become polarized. You love em or hate em. Lance never got that. He was always extremely popular with the fans no matter how much he won. I think a lot of it is because of the way he represented our area in the big events against the invaders. Lance was truly one of Pennsylvanias chosen ones. The fans loved him, and they still do.
Dewease skipped the annual odyssey to Florida this year, just because. Hes beginning to get his son, Cole, acclimated to micros in anticipation of his eventual transition to sprint cars. Dewease is both satisfied and proud of owning one of central Pennsylvanias most historically successful driving careers.
Im a pretty laid-back guy but Im just always trying to win and be better, he said. Ive raced against some of the best drivers to have ever driven a sprint car: Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell, Fred Rahmer, Greg Hodnett.
Whats neat about my career is that I raced against Steve Kinser, best sprint car driver who ever lived, and against Kyle Larson, whos the best driver Ive ever seen. Ive raced against some of the best drivers to ever race sprint cars. Its been good.
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