Sports briefs
Garth Brooks at spring training with Pirates
Garth Brooks has come out of baseball retirement.
The country music legend will spend just more than a week participating in spring training with the Pittsburgh Pirates, reporting Monday with the pitchers and catchers.
The 57-year-old has previously been in the camps of the San Diego Padres (1999), New York Mets (2000) and Kansas City Royals (2004). His workouts start Thursday.
“As a celebrity, they haven’t cut me yet, so we’ll see,” Brooks said with a laugh after taking ground balls at third base and fly balls in the outfield. “You’ve got to use your advantages, you know. Before you could crowd the plate all you want because nobody wanted to hit you. You haven’t got speed. You haven’t got fielding. You haven’t got hitting. So, use the other thing you’ve got.”
Brooks is briefly returning to the sport to mark the 20th anniversary of the Garth Brooks Teammates for Kids Foundation, which has raised more than $100 million for children’s charities. The foundation pairs children with professional athletes.
Brooks was a Pirates fan despite growing up in Oklahoma.
The Pirates did not announce that Brooks would be in camp until Monday morning, making it a surprise for his “teammates.”
“I went out to take some fly balls and the guy didn’t look familiar,” left fielder Corey Dickerson said. “Then it hit me. It’s really cool. My brother and I grew up listening to his music and I’m looking forward to having a chance to talk with him.”
WVU dismisses 2 basketball starters
West Virginia starters Esa Ahmad and Wes Harris have been dismissed from the team for undisclosed violations of athletic department policies.
The Mountaineers announced the dismissals Monday night without elaboration.
Ahmad was the team’s third-leading scorer this season at 12 points per game and the third-leading rebounder at 5.8. Harris averaged 7.9 points and 4.5 rebounds.
Ahmad is a senior and four-year starter. Harris is a junior in his second year as a starter.
The dismissals come during a tumultuous season for the Mountaineers (2-9 Big 12, 10-14), who are in last place in the league and have lost 10 of their last 12 games.
West Virginia is coming off a 75-53 home loss to Texas and plays at No. 14 Kansas (7-4, 18-6) on Saturday.
Wild Things add outfielder
The Washington Wild Things signed outfielder Saige Jenco, who was drafted by the Boston Red Sox then Los Angeles dodgers.
Jenco did not sign with Boston after being taken in the 27th round of the 2015 draft. The Dodgers took him in the 24th round of the 2016 draft and spent three seasons in their organization.
Jenco split time between Ogden, Great Lakes and Rancho Cucamonga for the Dodgers. In his 205 games played, he collected 178 hits, 37 doubles, 56 RBI and stole 47 bases. Defensively, Jenco has played all three outfield spots but he is likely to be a center fielder in Washington.
“We have been very fortunate to have the caliber of outfield play we have had recently. Just within the past two years; four starters in the All-Star Game, two postseason All-Stars, a Fran Riordan Citizenship Award winner and a Frontier League MVP.” said Assistant GM Tony Buccilli.
“Saige knows he was brought in here to be a part of that standard. He has been very eager to take on that responsibility and we believe it will reflect in his play. We will look for his energy, speed to be the a constant factor offensively and defensively.”
A native of State College, Jenco played in the ACC at Virginia Tech. He hit over .300 in all of his years in Blacksburg, totaling 26 doubles, 66 RBI and stealing 42 bases.