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SPORTS
THAT’S RACIN’, 11C Former Nationwide Series crew chief Jason Ratcliff finds success on the Sprint Cup circuit with Joey Logano.
Sports Editor Daniel Shirley | dshirley@macon.com | (478) 744-4227
Sunday June 17, 2012
Furyk, McDowell lead Bill Shanks
Paying them to play elsewhere
W
e all know there is a lot of money in baseball. Players are paid enormous amounts of money, and even mediocre players are usually set for life. Perhaps the worst thing that can happen to a club is to pay a player who is no longer on the roster. The Atlanta Braves might be the leader in the clubhouse for that category, and it goes back a few decades. In November of 1979, then-Braves owner Ted Turner did something outrageous. He gave reliever Al Hrabosky a five-year contract. “The Mad Hungarian,” as Hrabosky was called, had been a pretty decent reliever for St. Louis and Kansas City. He was no Bruce Sutter, but Hrabosky was pretty good. That didn’t work out too well. Hrabosky, known for going behind the mound before he pitched and slamming the ball in his glove in a rage, pitched in exactly 100 games for the Braves. Hrabosky had just seven saves, and he had an ERA of 3.51. The Braves released him in the middle of the 1982 season. But Hrabosky’s contract called for payments to be spread out across 35 years. Turner reportedly promised Hrabosky that he would teach him all about television, but Hrabosky never appeared on a Braves telecast. He instead went back to St. Louis and is still on the Cardinals’ broadcast team to this day. Then, a few years later, Turner did it again. He desperately wanted to sign a free agent. The Braves had been spurned by Dave Winfield, Don Sutton, Reggie Jackson and Rich Gossage through the years. So in December of 1984 Turner signed Sutter, who at that time was the best reliever in the game. That was a six-year contract, worth a reported $4.8 million — $800,000 per year. After having a 2.72 ERA in four years for St. Louis, Sutter had a 4.55 ERA for the Braves in 112 games. His shoulder was ruined by the time he got to Atlanta. But his contract reportedly called for deferred payments that would pay Sutter $1.3 million a year for 30 years after the six-year deal was over. I could not verify if the Braves are still paying Hrabosky and/ or Sutter. That’s probably not something they would want to admit. My sources believe that money is somehow “off the books,” but there is no confirmation. If the reports were correct, Hrabosky would be paid through 2014 and Sutter through 2021. Why couldn’t Hrabosky or Sutter have earned some of that money by helping out SEE
SHANKS, 3C
By JOE JULIANO The Philadelphia Inquirer
SAN FRANCISCO — It was difficult to tell Saturday what was more help in bringing the best out of Jim Furyk in the third round of the U.S. Open at the diabolical Lake Course of the Olympic Club. It could have been the presence of Tiger Woods, who was considered to have the best chance to win of the three men tied for the lead at the start of the round. Or maybe it was the significance of the national championship, and the chance to win his second, nine years after capturing his first.
Whatever the case, Furyk hit a good share of fairways and greens, saved par four times after hitting his approach shot in bunkers, and finished 54 holes in a tie for the lead with Graeme McDowell, meaning two former Open champions will go off in the final pairing Sunday. Furyk, 42, checked in with an even-par 70, beating Woods by a whopping five strokes. He concluded three rounds at 1-under 209 where he tied with McDowell, who fired a 68. CHARLIE RIEDEL/Associated Press Woods’ 75 shocked a golf-crazed public Tiger Woods, left, caddie Mike “Fluff” Cowan and Jim Furyk SEE
OPEN, 3C
wait on the ninth tee during Saturday’s third round of the U.S. Open at The Olympic Club in San Francisco.
The game is here The
NUMBERS
The Telegraph looks at the all-time best athletes in the midstate by jersey number in a summer-long series.
Game
A look at Middle Georgia’s all-time greats
This week: The 90s. Page 8C. Battle forms at Brickyard
Hammel’s one-hitter gives Orioles victory By GEORGE HENRY Associated Press
By JOHN KOSATER sports@macon.com
Cole Tidwell Jr. quickly admits that he didn’t hit the golf ball great in the first round of the Macon-Middle Georgia Golf Championship. He did manage to hit it well enough to be in a fourway battle for the lead with a round of 69, leaving him tied for third with Lee Gerdes, two shots behind first-round leader Taylor Jernigan and BEAU CABELL/bcabell@macon.com one shot behind defending Cole Tidwell Jr. tees off on the first hole at the Brickyard at SEE
GOLF, 3C
Riverside on Saturday during the first round of the Macon-Middle Georgia Championship.
ATLANTA — Jason Hammel pitched a one-hitter for his first career shutout, allowing only Jason Heyward’s twoout single in the seventh inning, and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Atlanta Braves 5-0 on Saturday night. There have already been five no-hitters in the majors this season, including three this month, and Hammel made a strong bid to add to the list. Hammel struck out eight and walked two, throwing 65 of 102 pitches for strikes. Brandon Beachy (5-5) left the game with right elbow soreness in the fourth inning. The major leagues’ ERA leader allowed no hits and one run.
Orioles 5, Braves 0 Next: vs. Orioles, 1:35 p.m., Sunday (Fox Sports South)