BASEBALL
NEW YORK (AP) - Mariano Rivera has become baseball’s first unanimous Hall of Fame selection, elected along with Roy Halladay, Edgar Martinez and Mike Mussina.
Rivera received all 425 votes in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America announced Tuesday. The quartet will be enshrined in Cooperstown along with Today’s Game Era Committee selections Harold Baines and Lee Smith on July 21.
Rivera is baseball’s career saves leader with 652. Armed with his signature cut fastball, he won five World Series over 19 seasons with the New York Yankees.
Ken Griffey Jr. held the mark for top percentage at 99.32 when he was on 437 of 440 ballots two years ago.
DALLAS (AP) - The Texas Rangers have found a veteran to play third base after the retirement of Adrian Beltre.
Free agent Asdrubal Cabrera has agreed to a $3.5 million, one-year contract with the Rangers, according to a person familiar with the deal. That person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Tuesday because the deal was pending a successful physical for the 33-year-old infielder.
Texas also announced a $1 million, one-year contract with right-hander Zach McAllister, a deal that also includes performance bonuses.
ATLANTA (AP) - All-Star outfielder Nick Markakis took a significant pay cut to remain with the Atlanta Braves, even coming off one of the best seasons of his career.
Markakis and the Braves agreed Tuesday to a deal that is worth a guaranteed $6 million and includes a club option for 2020.
Markakis became a free agent after completing a $44 million, four-year deal that he signed with the Braves for the 2015 season when he left the Baltimore Orioles.
MILWAUKEE (AP) - The home of the Milwaukee Brewers will no longer be known as Miller Park after next year.
American Family Insurance will take over the naming rights to the stadium in 2021 under a 15-year agreement announced Tuesday.
The exact name of the stadium has not been chosen yet. Financial terms were not disclosed.
NFL
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - In the legal equivalent of a Hail Mary pass, two New Orleans Saints season ticket holders asked a judge on Tuesday to order the NFL commissioner to reverse the results of the NFC championship game that sent the Los Angeles Rams to the Super Bowl, or schedule a do-over.
Their lawsuit, filed in state court, says Commissioner Roger Goodell should implement a league rule governing “extraordinarily unfair acts.” Remedies include reversal of a game’s result or the rescheduling of a game - in its entirety or from the point when the act occurred.
At issue is the failure of officials to call interference or roughness penalties when a Rams player leveled a Saints receiver with a helmet-to-helmet hit at a crucial point in Sunday’s game. The NFL hasn’t yet responded. A hearing is tentatively set for Monday - six days before the Rams meet the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl in Atlanta.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - The Chiefs fired defensive coordinator Bob Sutton on Tuesday, just two days after Kansas City failed to stop Tom Brady and the New England Patriots on what turned out to be the only possession of overtime in a crushing 37-31 playoff defeat.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid announced the firing in a brief statement. It came one day after he said he would evaluate all aspects of the team but declined to address Sutton’s future specifically.
NBA
DALLAS (AP) - Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic has been fined $10,000 for kicking the ball into the stands, which led to his ejection from a game against Indiana.
Doncic kicked the ball after a basket by the Pacers late in the third quarter of their 111-99 victory over the Mavericks on Saturday night. The NBA announced the fine Tuesday.
CHICAGO (AP) - The Rockets and Bulls finalized a trade Tuesday that sends veteran forward Carmelo Anthony from Houston to Chicago.
The Bulls acquired the draft rights to Jon Diebler and cash considerations in exchange for the rights to Tadija Dragicevic. The Bulls have no plans to play Anthony and will look to either trade the 10-time All-Star before the Feb. 7 deadline or ultimately waive him and make him a free agent.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - A former top Sacramento Kings executive has pleaded guilty to siphoning $13.4 million from the team to buy Southern California beachfront properties, according to court records.
The records show former chief revenue officer Jeffrey David pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal charges of wire fraud and identity theft. He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison when he is sentenced April 15.
David was charged last year with forging the team president’s signature to divert sponsorship payments to a bank account he controlled.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Vanderbilt point guard Darius Garland says he’s leaving for the NBA draft after a knee injury ended his freshman season in November.
Garland announced his decision Tuesday to withdraw and start focusing on preparing for the draft on Twitter.
He says that the knee injury robbed him of his freshman season took an emotional toll on himself, family and teammates. Garland says he discussed his options with Vanderbilt coach Bryce Drew and his family and feels passing up the rest of his eligibility to focus on the NBA draft is the “right move at the right time.”
SOCCER
PARIS (AP) - The search for the missing plane taking Argentine soccer player Emiliano Sala to his new team in Wales was called off for the night on Tuesday with authorities not expecting to find any survivors in the English Channel.
Police said floating objects had been seen in the water but they were unable to confirm whether they were from the light aircraft that disappeared from radar Monday night off the coast of Guernsey as it made the journey from Nantes.
The 28-year-old Sala had spent the previous hours saying farewell to teammates at the French city’s soccer team after Cardiff signed him for a club-record fee last week.
MADRID (AP) - Cristiano Ronaldo smiled broadly after leaving court Tuesday despite the unwanted trip back to Madrid to plead guilty to tax fraud.
The Juventus forward, who was facing charges stemming from his days at Real Madrid, spent about 45 minutes in court to sign an agreement which cost him nearly 19 million euros ($21.6 million) in fines. He was also given a two-year suspended sentence.
Ronaldo will not have to serve time in prison because judges in Spain can suspend sentences for two years or less for first-time offenders.
NEW YORK (AP) - Colorado Rapids and former U.S. national team goalkeeper Tim Howard says this season will be his last in Major League Soccer.
Howard made the announcement on social media Tuesday, a day after the Rapids reported to training camp.
Over the course of his 21-year professional career, the 39-year-old spent 13 seasons in the English Premier League with Manchester United and Everton. He was Premier League Goalkeeper of the Year in 2004 while with Manchester United.
In addition to the Rapids, Howard also played with the MetroStars (1998-2003) in MLS.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Billionaire Ron Burkle has become the new lead investor in the Sacramento Republic soccer team.
Club CEO Kevin Nagle said Tuesday that Burkle’s investment will help the team in its quest to move from the second-tier United Soccer League into Major League Soccer.
OLYMPICS
MOSCOW (AP) - The World Anti-Doping Agency forgave Russia on Tuesday for its tardiness in turning over lab data, and then raised the specter of an Olympic ban if that data is found to have been tampered with.
Russia missed a Dec. 31 deadline to comply but WADA said it was satisfied that the files were eventually handed over last week.
WADA is still analyzing what it says are vast amounts of data from lab servers and equipment, data which until recently was sealed off by Russian law enforcement.
LAW
NEW YORK (AP) - Former University of Arizona assistant coach Emanuel “Book” Richardson on Tuesday became the latest person to plead guilty in a federal prosecution that exposed corruption in college basketball recruiting.
Richardson, 46, wiped tears from his eyes after telling the judge he accepted $20,000 in 2017 in exchange for a promise to steer student athletes potentially headed to the NBA to an aspiring business manager, Christian Dawkins. Prosecutors said Richardson planned to use $15,000 of the money to entice one prized recruit to attend Arizona.
___
https://apnews.com/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Please read our comment policy before commenting.