Indians Sign Former Angel Fielder to Provide Power Down the Stretch

With All-Star first baseman Jim Thome on the disabled list, the Cleveland Indians needed a new power hitter.

Enter Cecil Fielder.

The Indians signed the 34-year-old Thursday after he cleared waivers. Fielder batted .241 with 17 homers and 68 RBIs in 103 games for the Angels before being designated for assignment on Aug. 5.

Fielder will join the Indians at Jacobs Field for tonight’s game against the Baltimore Orioles.

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The final game of their series against Atlanta wasn’t the only thing the San Diego Padres lost. Tony Gwynn was put on the 15-day disabled list with an inflamed left Achilles tendon.

Gwynn, batting .323, strained the tendon against Philadelphia on Aug. 5. He played in Tuesday’s series opener against the Braves, but hurt it again when he doubled off Greg Maddux on Wednesday night and pushed off out of the batter’s box and rounding first.

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Left fielder Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants dropped his appeal of a three-game suspension for his part in a bench-clearing incident Aug. 2 in Philadelphia, the team said.

He will sit out this weekend’s series against the Florida Marlins.

Bonds also was fined an undisclosed amount for charging the mound after being hit by a pitch from right-hander Ricky Bottalico, who received a four-game suspension.

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The adopted daughter and daughter-in-law of Ewing Kauffman, the late founder of the Kansas City Royals, have joined New York lawyer Miles Prentice III in his bid to purchase the team, sources told The Associated Press. The club has been in ownership limbo since Kauffman’s death in 1993.