Times wires
Friday, April 1, 2011
ST. LOUIS — Cardinals LF Matt Holliday had an appendectomy Friday and is out indefinitely. GM John Mozeliak said the team will know more today.
Holliday was 3-for-4 and hit a go-ahead home run during Thursday's 5-3, 11-inning loss to the Padres. But he left Busch Stadium complaining of stomach discomfort.
"I think they caught it early, so I think that's good news," Mozeliak said. "I don't think it's that bad of a blow to the team."
Holliday is in the second season of a seven-year, $120 million deal. He hit .312 with 28 homers and 103 RBIs last year.
Jon Jay and Allen Craig likely will share playing time in his place.
Winn ends his career
OF Randy Winn, who played for the Rays during their inaugural season of 1998, retired after 13 seasons. Winn, 36, signed a minor-league deal with the Orioles but did not make the team.
The Rays chose the switch-hitter from the Marlins in the expansion draft. He made the All-Star team in 2002. The following offseason, he was sent to Seattle as part of compensation for the hiring of manager Lou Piniella.
Winn also played for the Giants, Yankees and Cardinals. Overall in 1,717 games, he hit .284 with 110 homers, 662 RBIs and 215 stolen bases.
"Coming from somebody who didn't get any scholarship (offers) to play baseball in college and wasn't drafted out of high school, I wasn't sure I would make it," Winn said. "Once I made it to the big leagues and had a little bit of success, I thought, 'Huh, maybe I can make it.' It was a fun ride."
Diamondbacks: SS Stephen Drew did not start because of a strained abdominal muscle but was available to pinch hit.
Giants: 2B Freddy Sanchez signed a one-year, $6 million extension through 2012. Sanchez, who will make $6 million this year, hit .292 with seven homers and 47 RBIs in 111 games last year.
Rockies: 3B Ian Stewart, who avoided beginning the season on the DL, did not start because of his tight left hamstring and is day to day.
International game: MLB said 234 players of the 846 on the 25-man rosters or DL are foreign born. That's 27.7 percent, about the same as last year and down from the high of 29.2 in 2005. The players represent 14 countries and territories. The Dominican Republic (86) leads followed by Venezuela (62).
Spring attendance up: MLB said spring games drew 3,513,720, a slight increase from last year and the third-most ever.
Tickets: Prices increased slightly for the second straight year. Team Marketing Report found the average went up 1.2 percent to $26.91, the smallest increase since the survey began in 1991. It was 1.5 percent from 2009 to 2010. The Red Sox ($53.38) have the most expensive average followed by the Yankees ($51.83). The Pirates ($15.30) have the cheapest.
Obituary: Lou Gorman, the architect of the Red Sox team that came within a strike of winning the 1986 World Series, died in Boston of congestive heart failure. He was 82. Mr. Gorman helped launch the expansion Mariners in 1976 and also worked for the Orioles, Royals and Mets. His biggest success came while GM of the Red Sox from 1984-93.
