Sports

Willie Randolph was fired by the New York Mets on Tuesday after a poor season that caused the collapse of the team back in September. The bench coach Jerry Manuel will be taking over on an interim basis.

A preseason favorite to win the NL pennant, the $138 million Mets (34-35) had won two in a row when Randolph was dismissed early Tuesday morning. He is now officially the first big league manager to be fired this season – but he wasn’t the only ones to be let go. Rick Peterson – pitching coach – and Tom Nieto – first base coach – were also fired.

Ron Polk – the former Mississippi State coach – is furious with the school’s new athletic director and said that he is “utterly cruel” for bringing in Kentucky’s John Cohen. He told the school that he would be removing his name from the stadium and would be taking it out of his will.

During the most recent owner’s meetings Bud Selig – commissioner – brought up the issue of maple bats and the danger that they pose to both fans and players. More then a decade ago maple bats were hardly in use and many players didn’t even think to use them. It wasn’t until Barry Bond used a maple bat and earned for himself a record breaking season. Now more than 50% of the players are ditching the traditional bats and switching to maple bats.

Boston Red Sox teammates were lining up to congratulate Jon Lester on his no-hitter during the game against the Kansas City Royals’. The game ended in a 7-0 victory. The 24 year old played a great game on Monday. He threw his final pitch across the plate at 96 mph – which was the hardest he had thrown the entire game.

Roger Clemens is finally speaking out about the tabloid – which connected him to certain extramarital affairs as well as information that could potentially ruin his career. He did admit that he has made mistakes in his personal life concerning his wife – but he denied any claims against him that stated he had ever used human growth hormones or steroids.

The Boston Red Sox jersey that was buried underneath the brand new Yankee Stadium as a failed way to curse the team was sold in a charity auction for $175,100. The owner of Imperialcars.com - Kevin Meehan - was the winner of the No. 32 David Ortiz jersey. “I actually thought it was going to sell for more money,” said Meehan, who bid only in the final moments of the weeklong eBay auction that ended at 12:30 p.m. “I have three young boys that I take to the games and they would have killed me if I didn’t buy the shirt.”

Baseball officials scrutinized Jake Peavy of the San Diego Padres despite their win against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Many were suspicious of the dark and unknown substance that was seen on his right hand. Jake Peavy tried to clear the air by defending himself and denying the fact that has used any illegal and foreign substances.

The New York Mets are doing a bit of trading to make sure that they win the championships this year. In order to accomplish this goal they have decided to grab hold of Johan Santana –player of the Minnesota Twins. For now the deal is still pending till the Mets and Santana reach a decision on how long the contract should be; six or seven years. Also they are waiting for Santana to pass his physical.

Next year will be the final year that the Yankee’s will play in their current stadium. The stadium was built by the infamous Babe Ruth and has been standing since 1923 as home to the Yankees. After next year they will be moving to their new ballpark – which is being built in the Bronx right across the street.

The Yankees are known for beating the competition and staying ahead in the game. This year seems to be different for them and their owner is getting angry and Joe Torre, the manager, is afraid of being out of a job.