Giants are primed for busy Cactus League

Oakland Tribune, Nov 26, 2008 by Anonymous

The Giants announced Wednesday a 2009 spring training schedule of 41 games, the most in club history.

The Cactus League schedule begins Feb. 25 with a road game against Cleveland. The Giants open a 21-game home schedule at Scottsdale Stadium on Feb. 26 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, marking the teams' first spring training meeting since 1981.

The Giants also will play four exhibition games in the Bay Area - - three against the A's (April 2-4) and one against the Dodgers (April 5).

Cactus League tickets may be purchased via phone at 1-877- 4SFGTIX, online at www.sfgiants.com or at the Giants box office at AT&T Park or all Giants Dugout Stores.

-- If the Los Angeles Angels deliver a competitive offer to CC Sabathia, a majority of the New York Yankees' decision-makers support the idea of going higher than the six-year, $140 million offer they've made to the free-agent pitcher, Newsday reported. The newspaper also said neither the Giants nor the Dodgers have expressed anything more than a cursory interest in the Vallejo native.

-- Tampa Bay outfielder Rocco Baldelli, who suffers from chronic muscle fatigue, won the Tony Conigliaro Award.

NFL

The league fined St. Louis coach Jim Haslett $20,000 for walking onto the field and swearing at officials during a 35-16 loss to the 49ers in Week 11, ESPN.com reported. Also, New England tackle Matt Light and Miami linebacker Channing Crowder were fined $15,000 each for what the league called "a verbal and physical altercation" Sunday.

-- New England quarterback Tom Brady said he's "doing well" in his recovery from season-ending knee surgery more than two months ago.

-- Cleveland quarterback Brady Quinn's season ended after just three starts, done in by a broken right index finger that he tried to play with last week against Houston and may now require surgery.

Washington's London Fletcher (foot injury) didn't practice, putting the linebacker's streak of 130 straight NFL starts in jeopardy against the New York Giants on Sunday.

-- Denver signed fullback Andrew Pinnock to shore up its injury- riddled backfield. He was released Sept. 1 by San Diego.

-- Atlanta put starting tight end Ben Hartsock (toe) on injured reserve.

-- New York Giants placekicker Lawrence Tynes has asked the Bush administration to commute a 27-year sentence given to his brother for distributing marijuana. Mark Tynes is at a federal facility in Arkansas.

NHL

Jason LaBarbera made 22 saves, and Anze Kopitar and Patrick O'Sullivan each had a goal and an assist in Los Angeles' 2-1 win over host Edmonton. ... Loui Eriksson had a goal and two assists and Dallas overcame a two-goal deficit to beat host Minnesota 4-3. ... Viktor Tikhonov's goal with 2:32 left helped visiting Phoenix beat Columbus 3-2. ... Alex Ovechkin had three goals and one assists, leading host Washington to a 5-3 win over Atlanta. ... Simon Gagne had two goals and an assist to lead visiting Philadelphia to a 3-1 win over Carolina. ... Derek Roy scored twice and host Buffalo beat Boston 3-2. ... Sidney Crosby scored a goal and set up two by Evgeni Malkin in a 5:35 span of the third period for Pittsburgh, which rallied for a 5-3 win against the host New York Islanders. ... Markus Naslund scored twice and had one of two New York goals in a shootout to lead the visiting Rangers past Tampa Bay 3-2. ... Johnny Oduya scored with 55.5 seconds left in overtime to give New Jersey a 3-2 win over host Florida. ... Maxim Lapierre, Tomas Plekanec and Christopher Higgins had second-period goals in Montreal's 3-1 win over host Detroit. ... Daniel Tjarnqvist had a goal and an assist to lift host Colorado to a 3-1 win over St. Louis.

-- Bep Guidolin, who at 16 became the youngest player to skate in an NHL game, died in Barrie, Ontario. He was 82. Guidolin made his NHL debut with the Boston Bruins on Nov. 12, 1942. He played nine NHL seasons.

Soccer

Steven Gerrard's goal secured a 1-0 win for Livermore against Marseille and a spot in the European Champions League's final 16.