Ryu Hyun-jin confident of winning rotation spot in first big-league season

HOUSTON (AP) ― The Houston Astros have a grand total of five players with more than two years of major league experience on the 40-man roster, a first-year manager and a move to the American League to deal with, too.They also have a payroll projected to be the lowest in baseball since the Florida Marlins spent just under $22 million in 2008.So why are they so optimistic they can avoid becoming the first team in a half-century to lose 106 games in three consecutive seasons?General manager Jeff Lu

In a Super Bowl that went from blowout to blackout to shootout, the Baltimore Ravens held on to edge the San Francisco 49ers 34-31 on Sunday in one of the most thrilling NFL deciders ever.A power outage at the Superdome early in the second half stopped America's biggest sporting event for more than half an hour and seemed to rob the Ravens of their momentum, having just established a 22-point lead.After the interruption, the 49ers stormed back, cutting the deficit to just two points but Baltimor

NEW ORLEANS (AP) ― Ray Lewis is “agitated.”Not because the Baltimore Ravens linebacker thinks the magazine report linking him to a company that purports to make performance-enhancers will affect his play or that of his teammates against the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl ― the final game of a 17-year NFL career that most assume will earn him a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.Rather, Lewis did not want to spend time discussing the subject in private with his head coach or in public w

Alex Rodriguez and other players implicated in PED use again as MLB probes

INCHEON (Yonhap News) ― South Korean pitcher Lim Chang-yong, who recently signed with the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball, said Monday he will try to land a full-time big-league job next year.The 36-year-old right-hander left for Arizona to begin rehabbing his surgically repaired right elbow. He signed a two-year split contract last year that could be worth up to $5 million, with different salary rates for the time he spends in the majors and the minors.“I am going to put in a lot of work

Park Jae-hong, one of the best all-around players in South Korean baseball, announced his retirement on Friday, saying he felt it was “the right time” to leave the game.Park, 39, played 17 seasons in the Korea Baseball Organization for three different clubs. The outfielder spent his final eight years with the SK Wyverns, winning three KBO championships.Park said the Wyverns offered him an opportunity to receive coaching training after last season, but he turned it down so that he could return fo

CHICAGO (AP) ― Sammy Sosa says he and fellow steroid-tainted star Mark McGwire belong in the Hall of Fame.Slammin’ Sammy also says the Chicago Cubs should retire his number, and he left open the possibility of running for president of the Dominican Republic during an interview Wednesday on the website Ustream.com.Asked if he thinks he or McGwire belong in the Hall, Sosa said: “I think so.” He also said he won’t say anything that will “jeopardize my future” and that time “will determine everythin

A time-worn baseball adage says pitching and defense win championships. Kim In-sik, the former South Korean manager of two World Baseball Classic tournaments, said Wednesday that pitching will be crucial for South Korea at the third WBC scheduled for March 2-19.“Comparing this roster to the national teams of the previous two WBCs, I don’t see much difference in offense and fielding,” Kim said. “I think it will ultimately come down to pitching.” Kim managed South Korea to the semifinals at the in

Telecom giant approved as owner of expansion baseball club