Major League Baseball
Grapefruit League notebook: Yankees best Sox again, 11-7

By Seattle Times news services

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FORT MYERS, Fla. — The A-Rod circus rolled into town, thrilling fans and leaving the Boston Red Sox with still another loss to the New York Yankees.

A sign-waving, sellout crowd watched the Yankees win 11-7 yesterday, 4-1/2 months after they beat the Red Sox in their last meeting in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series.

Commemorative pins for the game sold for $5.67, one spectator wore a shirt that said, "I don't brake for Yankee fans," and lines outside the ballpark were long hours before game time.

Alex Rodriguez, a former Mariner, had little impact on the much-hyped spring training game — a ground out and an infield single against the team he nearly joined in December.

"They're fun. They're easy to get up for," Rodriguez said of games between the rivals. "We look forward to an unbelievable summer."

Shortstop Derek Jeter hit one of New York's four homers but made a throwing error on Boston's first batter, Gabe Kapler, that led to three unearned runs in a four-run first.

Mariano Rivera, who pitched a perfect third inning, got the win just as he did in Game 7.

Fans booed when Rodriguez came to the plate in the first.

Williams' son dies at 35
 
BOSTON — John Henry Williams, the son of Hall of Famer Ted Williams who pushed to have his father's body frozen, died late Saturday of leukemia in a hospital in Los Angeles, an attorney for Ted Williams' family said. He was 35.

Peter Sutton said Williams died at UCLA Medical Center with family members at his bedside.

Williams made an attempt in the past two seasons to follow in his father's footsteps, playing for some low-level minor-league and independent baseball teams.

Sutton, the Williams family lawyer, declined comment when asked if John Henry Williams had intended to pursue cryonics for himself.

Notes

• The pizza-delivery man who had a confrontation with New York Mets outfielders Karim Garcia and Shane Spencer on Thursday believes the duo got away with a slap on the wrist. So Eric Vidal, 20, intends to pursue criminal and civil legal action.

According to a witness, Garcia exited adjacent Duffy's Sports Grille in Port St. Lucie and began urinating near the businesses. Pizzeria employees confronted Garcia, and he and Spencer began driving away in a light-colored Hummer.

Vidal, 18, returning from a delivery, chased the Hummer on foot, yelling, and eventually Garcia and Spencer stopped while still in the shopping center parking lot and got out of the vehicle. Vidal alleges he was then beat up. The players were each fined $500 by the Mets, according to the New York Post.

• Red Sox executive Mike Dee rejected an offer to become president of the Los Angeles Dodgers and will become Boston's chief operating officer.

• Yankees RF Gary Sheffield had an MRI exam on his sore right thumb. Result will not be available until today.

• Roger Clemens of the Houston Astros gave up two runs and five hits in two innings in a 15-8 win over Pittsburgh in Bradenton.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company