Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig calls for stiffer drug penalties

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig called for tougher penalties for major leaguers who violate the sport’s drug agreement, a move the players’ union is willing to consider but not for the 2013 season.

Speaking at a news conference Saturday at the Arizona Diamondbacks’ spring training ballpark in Scottsdale, Ariz., Selig said last year’s positive drug test for All-Star game most valuable player Melky Cabrera and allegations players received banned substances from a now-closed Florida anti-aging clinic helped lead him to seek stiffer penalties as quickly as possible.

He declined to give specifics, saying MLB Executive Vice President Rob Manfred and players’ union head Michael Weiner will meet.

Weiner said Monday that some players have expressed support for tougher penalties. Selig said he was encouraged by Weiner’s comments.

“The players have been discussing whether changes in the penalties are warranted since the offseason,” Weiner said Saturday during a telephone interview. “As I’ve said throughout spring training, there’s a variety of player views on this subject. In fact, during the offseason we suggested to the commissioner’s office the possibility of differential penalties, namely advanced penalties for certain intentional violations but reduced penalties for negligent violations.

ETC.

Spurs’ Tony Parker to miss a month

San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker will be out for about a month with a left ankle sprain.

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Juwan Howard was on the floor for the final moments of the win that clinched last season’s NBA championship for the Miami Heat.

Turns out, that might not have been his last game as a pro.

The Heat brought Howard back on Saturday, signing the 40-year-old power forward to a 10-day contract. It will be his 19th NBA season, and he’s expected to be with the team on Sunday when Miami visits the New York Knicks.

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Stacy Lewis shared the lead with Na Yeon Choi at the HSBC Women’s Champions after the South Korean birdied the 18th hole in a rain-delayed third round in Singapore

Paula Creamer, who injured her shoulder in a car accident after a tournament in Thailand last weekend, shot 69 to trail the leaders by two shots.

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Tina Maze of Slovenia broke the record for points in a World Cup season on Saturday by winning a downhill at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, which also made her only the third woman to win a race in all five disciplines in a single campaign.

Laurenne Ross of the United States was second and Maria-Hoefl Riesch of Germany took third.

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Rafael Nadal blasted past top seed and defending champion David Ferrer, 6-0, 6-2, in Saturday’s final of the Mexican Open at Acapulco in a powerful performance that indicated he has quickly returned to near his best after a long-term knee injury.

Ferrer was a three-time defending champion and had won 19 straight matches in this event, but he could find no answer to Nadal, losing to his Spanish compatriot in just one hour and five minutes.

The women’s final was similarly one-sided with Italy’s Sara Errani beating Carla Suarez-Navarro of Spain, 6-0, 6-4.

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In the United Arab Emirates, Novak Djokovic rallied from a break down in the first set to win his fourth Dubai Championships title in five years, downing third-seeded Tomas Berdych, 7-5, 6-3.

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Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the United States defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia at the Malaysian Open at Kuala Lumpur to reach her first WTA singles final in two years.

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Mattek-Sands won the first set 6-4 Saturday before the semifinal match was suspended for an hour because of rain. When play resumed the wild card quickly took the second set 6-1 to set up a final against Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic.

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Jenn Suhr set a women’s pole vault indoor record by clearing 16 feet, 51/2 inches Saturday at the USA Track & Field Indoor National Championships in Albuquerque.

Suhr cleared the bar with plenty to spare on her first attempt. Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia set the previous record last year at 16-51/4.

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Vyjack remained unbeaten on his way to the Kentucky Derby, rallying for a 21/4 length victory in the $400,000 Gotham Stakes for 3-year-olds at Aqueduct in New York.

Owner David Wilkenfeld said Vyjack will make one more start before the Derby, Aqueduct’s Wood Memorial on April 6.