Advertisement

Baseball union boss has a brain tumor

Share via

Michael Weiner, the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Assn., has a brain tumor, the MLBPA announced Tuesday.

In a statement, the union said Weiner began treatment Monday. The treatments are expected to last for about a month, with Weiner expected to report to work daily during that time, according to the statement.

“He looks forward to making a full recovery,” the statement read.

Weiner, 50, succeeded Donald Fehr as leader of the players’ union in 2009 and negotiated a new collective bargaining agreement last year, helping baseball keep labor peace even as strife hit the NFL and NHL.

Weiner is extremely popular within the sport, even among his professional adversaries at the commissioner’s office.

—Bill Shaikin

The St. Louis Cardinals agreed to a one-year contract with pitcher Jake Westbrook with a mutual option for 2014.

The 34-year-old Westbrook is 12-9 with a 3.50 earned-run average in 24 starts this season, leaving him three shy of 100 victories in his career. The sinkerballer leads the National League with 22 double plays induced and is also the best in the league at getting ground balls at 73%.

Westbrook is in his second full season with the Cardinals, who acquired him in a deal with the Cleveland Indians at the 2010 trade deadline.

===

New York Yankees ace CC Sabathia threw a bullpen session and said he expects to return to the rotation Friday against the Indians.

TENNIS

Isner, Tsonga advance in Winston-Salem

Defending champion John Isner and top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France won Tuesday in the second round of the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Open.

The third-seeded Isner, the highest-ranked American (10th) in the world rankings, was pushed to three sets before beating Slovakia’s Martin Klizan, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Tsonga, the highest-ranked player (sixth) in the final hard-court tournament before the U.S. Open, beat Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2).

===

Top-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska bowed out of her opening match at the New Haven (Conn.) Open on Tuesday night, retiring in the second set against qualifier Olga Govortsova because of a sore shoulder.

The world’s second-ranked player, who received a bye in the first round, dropped the opening set 6-0 and was down 2-1 and a break in the second set when she ended the second-round match.

===

No. 4-seeded Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium lost to Casey Dellacqua of Australia, 6-4, 6-3, in the second round of the Texas Tennis Open at Grapevine.

The hard-court tournament serves as a warmup event for next week’s U.S. Open.

In other second-round matches, No. 3-seeded Roberta Vinci of Italy beat Polona Hercog of Slovenia, 6-2, 6-3; No. 6-seeded Peng Shuai of China defeated Pauline Parmentier of France, 6-4, 6-2; Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada ousted Eugenie Bouchard of Canada, 6-2, 6-2; and Bojana Jovanoski of Serbia topped Mirjana Lucico of Croatia, 7-6 (5), 6-2. Wozniak will play Dellacqua on Wednesday.

===

Two-time Grand Slam runner-up Vera Zvonareva has withdrawn from next week’s U.S. Open because of a viral illness.

The 16th-ranked Russian lost in the final at Flushing Meadows in 2010 to Kim Clijsters. She retired in her third-round match against Clijsters at Wimbledon this year because of illness, then was routed, 6-1, 6-0, by Serena Williams in the round of 16 at the Olympics.

HORSE RACING

Bodemeister is retired to stud in Kentucky

Bodemeister, runner-up in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, has been retired to stud at WinStar Farm in Kentucky because he has an injury to a muscle in his left shoulder. Trained by Bob Baffert, Bodemeister was considered a leading contender for the Breeders’ Cup Classic in November at Santa Anita.

—Eric Sondheimer

Advertisement