Beckham gets a one-game suspension for yellow card
In his first two seasons in Major League Soccer, David Beckham has played in every MLS city but one. Houston will have to wait until 2009.
Beckham was yellow-carded in the Galaxy’s 1-0 loss at Columbus on Saturday night and must serve a one-game suspension, meaning he will miss the team’s Oct. 18 road game against the defending league champion Houston Dynamo.
Beckham will also miss Sunday’s home game against the Colorado Rapids because he has been called up for England’s next two World Cup qualifying matches.
That means that unless the Galaxy qualifies for the playoffs, the league’s highest-paid and highest-profile player has only one MLS game left this season -- the Oct. 26 regular-season finale against FC Dallas in Carson.
-- Grahame L. Jones
BASEBALL
Padres part ways with Bard and Estes
The San Diego Padres opened space on their 40-man roster when catcher Josh Bard and left-hander Shawn Estes cleared outright waivers and chose to become free agents.
Bard was limited to 57 games because of injuries, batting .202 with one home run and 16 runs batted in. Estes was 2-3 with a 4.74 earned-run average in nine appearances, including eight starts. Estes was sidelined for more than two months because of a broken left thumb.
The Padres, meanwhile, are pursuing a grievance against shortstop Khalil Greene for breaking his left hand when he punched a storage chest out of frustration.
The Padres are trying to recoup a prorated portion of Greene’s $4.5-million salary. He sat out the final 52 games.
Former Cincinnati Reds broadcaster Joe Nuxhall was selected as a finalist for the baseball Hall of Fame’s Ford Frick Award.
Nuxhall, who died in 2007, led fan balloting and was followed by former Montreal Expos broadcaster Jacques Doucet and Toronto’s Tom Cheek, who also will appear on the ballot. They join seven broadcasters selected by a Hall of Fame committee: Billy Berroa, Ken Coleman, Dizzy Dean, Lanny Frattare, Tony Kubek, Graham McNamee and Dave Van Horne.
Voting will be conducted by the 15 living winners of the award, given for excellence in baseball broadcasting, and five broadcast historians/columnists. The winner will be announced Dec. 9 at the winter meetings in Las Vegas.
JURISPRUDENCE
Judge moves Henry’s trial to Montana
Former Denver Broncos running back Travis Henry’s trial over an alleged cocaine deal will take place in Montana after a U.S. magistrate judge ordered the case moved.
The judge also set bail for the once-promising running back at $400,000. Henry faces one count of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
If convicted, Henry could face up to life in prison and a $4-million fine.
Henry signed a five-year, $22.5-million contract with the Broncos before the 2007 season but was released by the Broncos on June 2, when Coach Mike Shanahan said his commitment was lacking.
Houston Astros pitcher Brandon Backe was among 10 people arrested during a brawl with police at a weekend wedding reception in a Galveston, Texas, hotel bar.
Backe was charged with interfering with a police officer and resisting arrest.
“We are aware of an incident involving Brandon. We have spoken with him regarding his version of the event. Since this is a legal matter, any further comment on our part would be inappropriate,” Astros spokesman Jimmy Stanton said.
MISCELLANY
Pac-10 Conference reprimands Harbaugh
The Pacific 10 Conference reprimanded Stanford Coach Jim Harbaugh for criticizing officials after his team’s loss to Notre Dame.
Harbaugh disagreed with a second-quarter call in which Stanford recovered a muffed punt but officials ruled the Cardinal had impeded a Notre Dame player trying to catch the ball. Pac-10 Commissioner Tom Hansen said replays confirmed the call.
-- David Wharton
Former NBA head coach Paul Westphal was hired as the Dallas Mavericks’ executive vice president of basketball operations. Westphal, who was a Dallas assistant coach last season, will assist General Manager Donnie Nelson and work in scouting.
Italian cyclist Leonardo Piepoli twice tested positive for a blood booster during the last Tour de France, officials said, and German cyclist Stefan Schumacher’s team suspended him for suspected use of the same substance.
The two became the second and third riders to test positive for CERA, an advanced version of the blood booster EPO, during the July Tour. Italian cyclist Riccardo Ricco has already admitted using CERA.
The three riders combined to win five of the 21 stages in cycling’s premier race, which has struggled to maintain its credibility after being rocked by doping scandals.
The French Anti-Doping Agency has been retesting blood samples from the race in a bid to catch more cyclists they suspect may have used CERA.
Golfer Seve Ballesteros, the winner of three British Opens and two Masters, was admitted to a hospital in La Paz, Spain, after feeling dizzy and fainting. Ballesteros’ condition was stable, and he was undergoing diagnostic tests.
