News briefs: Yanks apologize for leak of ticket holders info
NEW YORK -- The New York Yankees are sending letters to all their season-ticket holders informing them that the team accidentally distributed some of their personal information in a mass email this week.
The Yankees say an employee sent an email to several hundred season-ticket holders Monday and mistakenly attached an internal spreadsheet that contained names, addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers and email addresses for about 17,000 holders of partial and full-season ticket plans.
The leak was first reported by Deadspin.com.
The team said Wednesday that no other personal or financial information, such as social security numbers, credit card data or banking records, was included in the document.
Premium account holders, such as celebrities, were not affected.
The Yankees say they immediately took measures to make sure a similar mistake won't happen again.
The team says the letter will be posted on its website as well. The letter says the Yankees "deeply regret this incident, and any inconvenience that it might cause."
"A mistake was made. We are being as transparent as possible and have already taken measures and steps to ensure this never happens again," team spokesman Jason Zillo said. Full Story
Lawyer: Don't blame plane maker in Lidle case
NEW YORK -- A lawyer for the manufacturer of the small plane that New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle and a flight instructor were piloting when they crashed into a Manhattan apartment building in 2006 told a jury that the victims, not the company, were to blame for their deaths.
The jury heard opening statements in a lawsuit brought by Lidle's wife and the family of Lidle's instructor, Tyler Stanger, that blames Cirrus Design Corp. for the crash. Lidle, who was 34, died just days after his baseball season ended.
The Duluth, Minn.-based company is "genuinely sorry" that its Cirrus SR-20 was involved in the "terrible tragedy" that instantly killed Lidle and Stanger, Attorney Patrick Bradley said in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. But it "is wrong and unfair to blame someone for something they didn't do," Bradley said.
Bradley spoke after California attorney Todd Macaluso told jurors that he would prove that the company rushed the plane into production a decade ago with an inferior control system. Lidle and Stanger desperately tried to re-engage a jammed steering system as the plane went out of control, rolling and dropping altitude in the last 45 seconds before the crash, Macaluso said.
Rays' Longoria to start rehab
MINNEAPOLIS -- Tampa Bay Rays star third baseman Evan Longoria did some hitting on and then left the team in Minneapolis to start a rehabilitation assignment with Double-A Montgomery.
Manager Joe Maddon says the plan is for Longoria to play four games in five days and rejoin the Rays at home on Tuesday. Longoria has been on the disabled list since April 3 with a strained left oblique muscle.
Longoria left the second game of the season and went on the disabled list the following day.
The Rays have struggled without their All-Star hitter. They hit .163 in the first nine games of the season, but have since started to swing the bats a little better to rebound from an 0-6 start. They're still hitting an AL-worst .227.
ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Texas Rangers put relief pitcher Darren O'Day on the 60-day disabled list with a partially torn labrum in his left hip that will require surgery.
O'Day pitched a scoreless ninth inning in Tuesday night's 10-3 loss to Toronto, but the decision was made after the game to shut down O'Day, one of the primary setup relievers in the Rangers' run to the AL championship last season.
O'Day was in Nashville, Tenn., on Wednesday to be examined by Dr. Tom Byrd. He is scheduled for surgery on Thursday and will go on the disabled list for the first time in his career.
Texas purchased the contract of right-hander Ryan Tucker from Triple-A Round Rock.
Indians' Carrasco headed for DL
CLEVELAND -- Indians starter Carlos Carrasco is headed for the disabled list with a sore elbow.
Carrasco was unable to throw a bullpen session on Wednesday after feeling tightness in his arm while playing long toss. Manager Manny Acta said the right-hander will be placed on the 15-day DL and the club will call up a pitcher to take his start on Saturday against Detroit.
Acta said he will announce the move following tonight's game against Kansas City.
One of the possibilities to be recalled is right-hander Alex White, a former first-round pick who is currently at Triple-A Columbus.
Brewers' Almonte under supervision after concussion
MILWAUKEE -- Brewers utility man Erick Almonte went home to sleep under supervision after becoming the first major-leaguer placed on the new seven-day disabled list for concussions.
Brewers manager Ron Roenicke says the decision to have someone with Almonte through Wednesday morning was only a precaution.
Almonte was hit in the forehead by a ball thrown by third baseman Craig Counsell during batting practice Tuesday. Almonte spent several minutes on the field, walked gingerly to the clubhouse and became nauseous.
He was diagnosed with a Grade 1 concussion. Symptoms generally clear in five to seven days, part of the reason the new DL was established.
MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Twins put Delmon Young on disabled list on Wednesday night with a rib injury that caused him to pull himself from the lineup against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Young has missed the past six games with that injury and a bout with the flu that has been circulating the clubhouse. He was scheduled to return to the lineup on Wednesday night, but took himself out after warmups because he couldn't get loose on a chilly night at Target Field.
Jim Thome also was unavailable with strained oblique and outfielder Jason Repko was out with a sore quad. That left Gardenhire with backup catcher Steve Holm as the only healthy bench player.
The flu spread to Carl Pavano, who was scheduled to start on Friday at Kansas City. The Twins pushed him back to Sunday.
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Athletics catcher Kurt Suzuki has gone on the paternity leave list to be in the Bay Area for the birth of his first child.
Suzuki left Anaheim, Calif., to be with wife, Renee, to welcome their baby girl. The A's recalled catcher Josh Donaldson from Triple-A Sacramento to fill in for Suzuki, who is likely to rejoin the team Friday night when it opens a four-game series with Texas at the Coliseum.
Suzuki can stay on the paternity leave list for one to three days. He batting .243 with a home run and three RBI this season.
Donaldson was one of the team's final cuts before opening day. He is batting .158 with one home run and six RBI in 15 games with Sacramento.
Nats put Gaudin on DL, reinstate H. Rodriguez
WASHINGTON -- Right-handed reliever Chad Gaudin was put on the 15-day disabled list by the Washington Nationals on Wednesday with an inflamed right shoulder, and the team reinstated right-hander Henry Rodriguez from the DL.
The moves came before Washington hosted the New York Mets on Wednesday night, and manager Jim Riggleman said Rodriguez would be available.
Riggleman also said starting shortstop Ian Desmond will return to the Nationals and be in the starting lineup Thursday against New York. Desmond was away from the Nationals on Tuesday and Wednesday while on baseball's new paternity leave list. Desmond's wife, Chelsey, gave birth Tuesday to the couple's first son, Grayson Wesley Desmond.
Gaudin's move is retroactive to Tuesday. He is 1-1 with a 6.48 ERA in 10 appearances in 2011.
Judge tosses Mets fan's broken-bat lawsuit
NEW YORK -- A judge has thrown out a New York Mets fan's lawsuit against the team and Major League Baseball over a bat that broke and flew into his face when he was in the stands of the now-demolished Shea Stadium.
James Falzon sued last summer over the August 2007 incident. A judge dismissed the case.
Falzon's lawyer says he plans to appeal. A lawyer for the team and league had no immediate comment.
Falzon has a separate lawsuit that's still ongoing against the bat's makers.
Play on Harwell's life set to premiere
DETROIT -- Ernie Harwell's life and legacy is about to take the stage.
Mitch Albom wrote "Ernie" as a love letter he hopes does justice to the late Detroit Tigers broadcaster.
The 90-minute play will make its premiere Thursday night at the City Theatre, a block from the home of the Tigers. Albom said the production he is funding is employing about a dozen people from Michigan.
Will Young, a 71-year-old Milford resident, stars as Harwell in the two-person play with 24-year-old St. Clair Shores native TJ Corbett.
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