By the Associated Press

Major League Baseball

DETROIT-Bobby Higginson, the “blue-collar” slugger who seemed to be well on his way to free agency this year, agreed Sunday on a four-year contract extension with the Detroit Tigers through 2005.
Higginson, 30, gets $5.3 million this year and had been eligible for free agency following the season. The sides had been negotiating on an extension in the $35 million to $40 million range.
The team did not release terms of the deal. Messages were left Sunday for Higginson and his agent seeking comment. The Tigers were playing an exhibition game with their Double-A affiliate Erie on Sunday afternoon.
Higginson hit .300 last season with 30 homers and 102 RBIs. In the American League, he has led or has tied for the lead in assists in three of the past four seasons.
Despite a lackluster 1999 season, during which he hit .239 with 12 homers and 46 RBIs, he has averaged .281 with 22 homers and 73 RBIs in his six-year career.
“He’s a terrific fit for both the team and the city of Detroit,” said team spokesman Tyler Barnes.
The Tigers’ prospects of keeping Higginson looked bleak when his agent, Ed Hayes, rejected the team’s offer March 20.
Hayes had said that if a contract extension was not completed before the season began, negotiations would be stopped. Detroit opens the regular season at home on Tuesday against Minnesota.
Another sticking point was Higginson’s request for a no-trade clause for at least two years.
Higginson’s value to the team goes well beyond his skills on the field, Barnes said.
“He’s a guy who, since the day he was drafted, has worn the Tigers uniform. He has given a great deal of time and financial resources to his foundation.”
The Bobby Higginson Foundation supports a range of charitable programs, most notably local youth activities, Barnes said.
“He’s a blue-collar hero,” the spokesman said.
The Tigers have been criticized for cutting about $5 million from their payroll this season, one year after opening Comerica Park. Management has said looming possible labor problems and skyrocketing salaries are the reasons they are being cautious.
“This is certainly evidence that (owner) Mr. (Mike) Ilitch is committed to the team and building the team,” Barnes said.
Last month, Ilitch said he considers Higginson a key team member, on and off the field.
“He’s my blue-collar man,” Ilitch said. “He’s the kind of guy that I feel really represents our city.”

SNEADS, Fla. – Former Meridian high star Brian Cole, who had become a highly touted prospect in the New York Mets’ organization, died when he was ejected from his SUV after it crashed in the Florida Panhandle.
Cole, 22, was not wearing a seat belt when his Ford Explorer overturned as he drove home Saturday from spring training in Port St. Lucie to Meridian, with his cousin, Ryan Cole, a Florida Highway Patrol accident report said.
Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz said Cole was taking his Explorer home and was to fly Sunday to Binghamton, N.Y., to join the Mets’ Double-A team for its season opener.
The one-car accident occurred on Interstate 10 near State Highway 286, just south of the Georgia border and about 45 miles northwest of Tallahassee.
Witnesses traveling behind Cole said they watched as his Explorer veered into the median and re-entered the highway, said Cpl. Ricky Warden, an FHP homicide investigator. Cole apparently struggled to regain control of the truck before it turned over.
Cole, who was single and the youngest of five children, was pronounced dead at Jackson Memorial Hospital. Ryan Cole, 17, was treated and released.
Warden said there was no indication that alcohol or drugs were a factor in the crash and that the accident remained under investigation.
Explorers have been involved in several rollovers linked to faulty tires, but the FHP said there is no indication of a tire blowout on Cole’s vehicle.
“Seat belts are important, especially in rollover conditions, and we’ve got one person who remained in the vehicle and one who didn’t, so that’s an area we’re going to focus on,” Warden said.
The Mets were at a team dinner in Pittsburgh following an exhibition game Saturday against the Pirates when general manager Steve Phillips received a telephone call with the news.
Phillips told the team and some of the players, who knew Cole from spring training, started to cry.
Cole went to Meridian High School and was Baseball America’s junior college player of the year in 1998 at Navarro Junior College in Texas. He was selected by the Mets in the 18th round of the 1998 amateur draft and turned down a football scholarship to Florida State.
Cole had a combined 19 homers, 86 RBIs and 69 steals last year for Class A St. Lucie and Binghamton. He hit .312 with 54 steals for St. Lucie and .278 with 15 steals at Binghamton.
He had a .306 average in the minor leagues with 135 steals, 42 homers and 193 RBIs. Cole was 5-foot-9 and Baseball America wrote that “if Cole were a couple of inches taller, he would have been a much higher draft pick.”

National Basketball Association

PORTLAND, Ore.- Rasheed Wallace smashed his NBA season record for technical fouls Sunday, receiving his 39th and 40th and getting ejected during the third quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Wallace was tossed with 7:29 left in the period for arguing with the referees. Wallace thought he was fouled when the Blazers botched a 4-on-1 fast break that resulted in a lob pass being thrown over Wallace’s hand.
Wallace received a technical foul from referee Mike Callahan. Wallace flung his arm into the air in disgust, and after arguing with referee Bob Delaney walking down the court, Delaney ejected him. It was Wallace’s seventh ejection of the season. The Blazers have nine games left.
His 38 technicals last season broke the record of 32, shared by Charles Barkley and Dennis Rodman.

Popularity: unranked [?]

 Print This Post

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 3rd, 2001 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.