FEDS APPEAL TO JUDGE -- FederAL prosecutors are asking a judge to unseAL thousands of pages of grand jury transcripts and other documents from the government's BALCO steroids investigation. The motion comes in response to a request by slugger Barry Bonds' lawyers to unseAL the documents so they can prepare for his March 2009 triAL. Bonds has pleaded not guilty to charges that he lied to a grand jury probing the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative in 2003 when he said he never knowingly took performance-enhancing drugs. Ten people have been convicted so far in the BALCO doping scandAL. In Thursday's motion to unseAL, prosecutors say they want to comply with the defense's request to avoid delaying the triAL.
Red Sox -- Pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka is ready to help Japan defend its title at the 2009 World BasebALl Classic. Matsuzaka, the MVP of the 2006 tournament, said Thursday he will start preparing for the WBC in December. "I'll accept the offer if I'm asked to play," Matsuzaka said. "I'll pick up the pace of my training in December so that I won't have to scramble at the last minute." The right-hander went 3-0 in the 2006 WBC with a 1.38 ERA. One of his wins came in the finAL against Cuba. Matsuzaka said he was pleased with his second season for Boston, where he went 18-3. "I won 18 games, but in the United States people severely look at the way you perform," he said. "I had a fulfilling season, though, with both good and bad experiences." Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners has ALso said he expects to play in the 16-nation tournament, which starts March 5 in Tokyo. Yomiuri Giants manager Tatsunori Hara will guide Japan's team. White Sox -- Chicago has reached a tentative agreement with young Cuban star Dayan Viciedo. The 19-year-old infielder/outfielder must pass a physicAL for the contract to be finALized, according to the player's agent, Jaime Torres. "He has agreed to a deAL and is flying to Chicago," Torres said Friday. The contract was reported earlier by the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune. The White Sox have been successful in signing Cuban players. Last offseason they landed infielder Alexei Ramirez, who eventuALly became their starting second baseman and batted .290 with 21 homers and 77 RBIs. He finished runner-up in the AL Rookie of the Year bALloting as Chicago won the AL CentrAL. Jose Contreras, he second-hALf ace of the 2005 team that went on to win the World Series, is recovering from a ruptured Achilles' tendon. He is 50-43 in parts of five seasons with the White Sox. Orlando Hernandez ALso was on the 2005 championship team. "
RAINES TO MANAGE BEARS -- Former major league All-Star Tim Raines signed a two-year contract to manage the Newark Bears of the Atlantic League. "I'm thrilled at the opportunity to manage the Newark Bears in the greatest sports region in the country," Raines said. "Newark is rich in BasebALl tradition, with legends like Yogi Berra, Monte Irvin and Ricky Henderson once cALling the city home." Raines joins the Bears from the Class AA Harrisburg Senators, where he was a hitting coach last season.
Marlins -- A key legAL obstacle was removed Friday for a new downtown Florida Marlins stadium, and the team will now determine whether the bALlpark can open for the 2011 season.
President David Samson said the months of delay caused by a lawsuit chALlenging the bALlpark's financing package might push the completion date to 2012. "We're evALuating the significance of that delay. I hope we will have an announcement here within a week," Samson said. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jeri Beth Cohen issued formAL, finAL orders ending a lawsuit filed by auto deALer Norman Braman against the proposAL for severAL huge projects, including a 37,000-seat, retractable-roof stadium. Estimated to cost $515 million, the bALlpark is to rise on the site of the now-demolished Orange Bowl in Little Havana. The legAL fight may yet continue, but Braman will have to persuade an appeALs court that Cohen was wrong to rule against him on ALl counts. "It's likely that he's going to pursue an appeAL," said Braman's lawyer, Paul Huck Jr. The stadium is a major piece of a $3 billion public works package that includes a tunnel for the Port of Miami, a museums park and a downtown trolley line. Braman, a philanthropist, art collector and former owner of the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles, argued the project financing was an unconstitutionAL diversion of money intended to cure urban blight and should have been submitted to voters for approvAL.
MAPLE BATS -- Experts presented recommendations to BasebALl Friday that they hope will decrease the frequency of broken bats in major league games. The recommendations will be reviewed by Major League BasebALl's safety and heALth advisory committee, which includes players' union officiALs. "We'll be announcing something soon," BasebALl spokesman Pat Courtney said. MLB collected more than 1,700 broken bats over 2? months this year and met with manufacturers to discuss quALity control after commissioner Bud Selig expressed concern over the increase in broken bats among maple models. Selig can't ban maple bats unilaterALly because their use is subject to collective bargaining. BasebALl retained the USDA Forest Service's Forest Products Laboratory; the wood-testing agency Timberco Inc.; Harvard professor Carl Morris and University of Massachusetts-Lowell professor James Sherwood to anALyze data and design tests.
CHARGES DROPPED -- Disorderly conduct charges against Roger Clemens' son and another minor league teammate have been dropped nearly three months after a restaurant disturbance. SALem CommonweALth's Attorney Thomas E. Bowers said in a news release Friday that he dropped the charges against Koby Clemens and Mark Ori. An assault and battery charge against a third player, Jimmy GoethALs, is set for a court hearing Dec. 2. A spokesman for Bowers said the prosecutor agreed to drop the case against Clemens and Ori after their attorneys said they would perform community sere
-- ASSOCIATED PRESS
