BASEBALL
Larry Gowell, an Edward Little High graduate who pitched briefly with the New York Yankees, died Monday at age 72, reportedly from a heart attack while playing golf, said his son, Chad.
Gowell, from Auburn, was drafted by the Yankees in the fourth round in 1967 and pitched in two games for New York at the end of the 1972 season. His only major league start was on Oct. 4, 1972 – the last day of the season. He hit a double off Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jim Lonborg – the last hit by an AL pitcher before the DH rule kicked in the following season.
That ball has been at the Baseball Hall of Fame since November 1996.
Gowell actually became just as well known for his singing, years after his last game. On July 6, 2014, he sang the national anthem at Fenway Park.
MAJORS: The Miami Marlins will temporarily furlough 90 to 100 baseball operations employees beginning June 1 because of the coronavirus pandemic, a person familiar with the decision said.
About 40 percent of the baseball operations staff will be affected, with the status of those furloughed to be evaluated monthly, the person said. Their health benefits will continue through the end of October.
HIGH SCHOOLS
Poland hires Jipson as girls’ basketball coach
Craig Jipson was named the new girls’ varsity basketball coach at Poland Regional High School.
Jipson replaces Tim Dolley, who went 23-33 in three seasons.
Jipson spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach for the Edward Little’s boys’ basketball team. Before that, he was head coach of EL’s girls’ basketball team for 12 seasons.
BASKETBALL
NBA now up to 10 teams back for voluntary workouts
With Miami reopening its doors, 10 of the league’s 30 teams have gone forward with on-court individual workouts – the first permitted sessions since the league ordered teams to close their training facilities as part of the coronavirus pandemic response about two months ago.
Besides the Heat, the other teams that have opened are: Portland, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Denver, Atlanta, Indiana, Sacramento, Toronto and Utah. More are expected in the coming days; among them, Orlando is close, and the Los Angeles Lakers are targeting Saturday.
• Wilson will begin manufacturing game balls for the NBA again starting with the 2021-22 season. Next season will be Spalding’s 37th and final season in the NBA.
OBIT: John McCarthy, who won an NBA title with the 1964 Boston Celtics and helped the Canisius Golden Griffins to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances in the 1950s, died Saturday of natural causes in the Buffalo suburbs. He was 86.
VIRUS
Florida willing to host teams for restart of sports
Florida is willing to be a restart site for professional sports leagues, just like Arizona, when play resumes following shutdowns caused by the new coronavirus.
“One thing I am going to do, probably this week, is all professional sports are welcome here for practicing and for playing,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a news conference. “Now, we’re not going to necessarily have fans.”
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