Former Soviet Union President MIKHAIL GORBACHEV "was flown to New York over the weekend" by NFL Cardinals President MICHAEL BIDWILL. Gorbachev "was in Phoenix for a speech" at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa. Thunderbird School of Global Management Interim President BARBARA BARRETT, who "helped arrange Gorbachev's speech," learned that both Bidwill and Gorbachev were headed to N.Y. and "asked the Cardinals executive if he would be willing to fly the former Russian leader" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 4/30).
SPECIAL CEREMONY: MLB.com's Evan Drellich noted approximately 500 people gathered at AT&T Park yesterday "for an hourlong memorial service to celebrate the life" of former Giants batgirl ALEXIS BUSCH, who lost her life in a yacht-racing accident at the Farallon Islands outside S.F. on April 14. Busch "served as the Major Leagues' first batgirl." Giants President & CEO LARRY BAER said, "Alex was a Giant for 26 years -- her entire life. ... The Giants were and will be Alexis' second family forever" (MLB.com, 4/30).
AWARDS & HONORS: An award has been established in the memory of late baseball researcher GREG SPIRA, who passed away in December. The Greg Spira Baseball Research Award will be "given annually in recognition of the best published original research by a person age 30 or younger" (MLB.com, 4/27)....NBC's BOB COSTAS will receive the '12 Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism. Costas "will become the 29th winner of the award" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 5/1).
CHARITY STRIPE: Grizzlies GM CHRIS WALLACE is auctioning off his four FedExForum tickets for tomorrow night's Clippers-Grizzlies NBA Western Conference First Round Game Two. The auction is to raise funds for Memphis-area high school football player TREY ERWIN, who has Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Wallace "wants to help with medical expenses so he's asking bidders to e-mail him directly." The minimum bid is $521 for all four seats, and Wallace said he would notify the winner by 6:00pm CT tonight (Memphis COMMERCIAL-APPEAL, 4/29)....IndyCar CEO RANDY BERNARD, along with Lucas Oil President & CEO FORREST LUCAS, his wife, CHARLOTTE, and musician GARTH BROOKS will host the Indy 500 Soiree on May 25. The event will be held at the Lucas' home in Carmel, Ind., and tickets are $300. Proceeds from the event will benefit Brooks' Teammates for Kids Foundation (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 5/1)....Angels 1B ALBERT PUJOLS' charity yesterday announced plans to expand beyond its St. Louis base. Within five years, 10 cities could be included in the Pujols Family Foundation's reach (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 5/1).
NAMES: A federal judge in Portland sentenced former adidas Senior Marketing Manager BRITNEY OBSTAR to 366 days in prison for "orchestrating a fraud scheme that caused losses of $366,000" to the company (OREGONLIVE.com, 4/30)....Magic Owner RICH DEVOS is putting his Lantana, Fla., estate up for sale with an asking price of $24.9M (SEARCHHOMESORLANDO.com, 4/25).
