The Yankees will retire the uniform numbers of former MLBers JORGE POSADA (20), ANDY PETTITTE (46), and BERNIE WILLIAMS (51), while WILLIE RANDOLPH also will be recognized with a Monument Park plaque (Yankees).
BELIEVE IN MAGIC: Magic CEO ALEX MARTINS will receive the Orlando Economic Development Commission's (EDC) James B. Greene Award at the EDC's annual award dinner on Thursday, April 9. The EDC also will honor Disney Vacation Club & Adventures by Disney Senior VP & GM KEN POTROCK with the Chairman's Award (Magic)....Basketball HOFer and Dodgers investor MAGIC JOHNSON, along with Dodgers Chair MARK WALTER and his wife KIMBRA, “are partners in Inner City Youth Empowerment LLC.” Their two-year, $10M gift to the city of Chicago “will triple the size of the program known as ‘One Summer Chicago Plus’ -- and provide 5,000 summer jobs for young people at risk of being exposed to violence.” It is “a costly but effective summer jobs program whose 16- to 19-year-old participants are drawn from high schools in high-crime areas” (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 2/17).
WATCH YOUR MOUTH: The Univ. of Kansas' football program this spring "will be among the first college football teams in the country to use impact-sensing mouthguards." Developed by Washington-based i1 Biometrics, the Vector MouthGuards "not only let trainers monitor hits taken by individual players in real-time, they also collect data to reveal trends across an entire season for the whole team" (K.C. STAR, 2/17).
NAMES: Colts LS MATT OVERTON last night tweeted that he would donate $1 to the Ball State Univ. Dance Marathon for "every new follower he got by midnight." He ended up with 39,528 followers, which was "roughly 3,200 more" than he had five hours earlier when he made the initial challenge. Saturday's dance marathon benefits Indianapolis-based Riley Hospital for Children (INDYSTAR.com, 2/17)....Northern Ohio Golf Charities named Golf HOFer JUDY RANKIN its '15 Ambassador of Golf, an honor given to somebody who has "fostered the ideals of the game on an international level and whose concern for others extends beyond the golf course" (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 2/17).
IN MEMORY: Former MLB coach WENDELL KIM died Sunday at age 64 "near his home in suburban Phoenix after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease." He coached four teams across 15 seasons (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 2/17).
