In Daytona Beach, Sean Kernen notes Cubs Chair TOM RICKETTS yesterday spoke to the Single-A Florida State League Daytona Cubs before a home game. Daytona Cubs manager BRIAN HARPER said, "I've been in baseball for 35 years and I've seen an owner visit his minor league teams twice, and both times it was Tom" (Daytona Beach NEWS-JOURNAL, 8/8).
PITCHING IN: MLB made an undisclosed donation to the Baseball HOF's new education outreach program, BASE. An acronym for "Be A Superior Example," the HOF effort encourages youth athletes to sign a national pledge to participate without using performance-enhancing substances, and promotes healthy living. The league's contribution was not revealed, but the startup costs for the BASE program totaled nearly $450,000 (Eric Fisher, SportsBusiness Journal).
ON BROADWAY: In N.Y., Larry Rohter noted “Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth,” a one-man show featuring former world heavyweight champion MIKE TYSON, opened officially last Thursday for a limited run that ends next Sunday and "performed solidly, bringing in $624,496, or 78 percent of its potential gross" (NYTIMES.com, 8/7).
NAMES: Baseball HOFer CAL RIPKEN, JR. yesterday was inducted into the Triple-A Int'l League HOF (ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE, 8/8)....Former NHLer MIKE MODANO and his wife, WILLA FORD, "have decided to divorce" (PEOPLE.com, 8/7)....Boxing HOFer MUHAMMAD ALI "will be a special guest at the Norman Mailer Center benefit gala Oct. 4, where the first Ali Award for Writing on Ethics will be presented" (NYPOST.com, 8/8)....Clippers F BLAKE GRIFFIN, MLS Galaxy MF DAVID BECKHAM and Dodgers CF MATT KEMP were announced as guest hosts for upcoming episodes of PBS' "Sesame Street" (ESPN.com, 8/7).
PAYING RESPECTS: NFL Commissioner ROGER GOODELL, Browns President MIKE HOLMGREN and Patriots coach BILL BELICHICK yesterday "were among more than 900 people who packed a Mormon church for the funeral service of GARRET REID, son of Eagles coach ANDY REID" (AP, 8/7).
IN MEMORY: Former NBAer DAN ROUNDFIELD "drowned off the Caribbean island of Aruba while helping his wife as she struggled in rough water." Roundfield, who played 11 NBA seasons, died at the age of 59 (AP, 8/7).
