Originally published May 16, 2011 at 8:24 PM | Page modified May 16, 2011 at 9:21 PM

Houston Astros sold for $680 million | Baseball notebook

Houston businessman Jim Crane failed three times to realize his dream of buying a major-league baseball team, but Monday his determination paid off.

By The Associated Press

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Houston businessman Jim Crane failed three times to realize his dream of buying a major-league baseball team, but Monday his determination paid off.

Astros owner Drayton McLane announced that he had agreed to sell the team to a group led by Crane for $680 million — the second-highest price in major-league history if it is approved.

"Each time we tried it was a little difficult," Crane said of his efforts to buy the Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs and, yes, the Astros. "I'm accustomed to winning. So we set our sights on winning and we never gave up."

The sale is subject to approval by Major League Baseball, a process officials said could take at least 30 to 60 days. Upon approval, Crane's group will become the fifth ownership group in charge of a team founded in 1962.

Notes

• The Red Sox placed right-hander John Lackey on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right elbow.

• Grady Sizemore is back on Cleveland's disabled list. Sizemore, a graduate of Everett's Cascade High, was placed on the 15-day DL with a bruised right knee. In the 18 games he has been in the lineup this season, Sizemore has looked like his old self, batting .282 with six homers. The bruise is mild, a team trainer said.

• Paul Splittorff, 64, the winningest pitcher in Kansas City Royals history and a popular TV announcer for the team, entered a hospital with oral cancer and melanoma.

• The Phillies activated Roy Oswalt from the 15-day DL and the right-hander is scheduled to start Tuesday against St. Louis. Oswalt is 3-1 with a 3.33 ERA in five starts.

• Mets third baseman David Wright has a stress fracture in his lower back that is expected to keep him out a couple weeks, though the team is awaiting a second opinion before deciding whether to put him on the DL.

• Left-hander Aroldis Chapman had an MRI exam that found inflammation in his pitching shoulder, sending the Reds reliever to the 15-day DL.

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