Stottlemyre makes Hall ballot debut
Todd Stottlemyre delivered when the Blue Jays were in need of a lift. On Aug. 26, 1992, Stottlemyre took the mound in Chicago, trying to point Toronto back in the right direction after the club had piled up six losses in its past seven games.
The White Sox were helpless. Stottlemyre methodically sliced through Chicago's lineup, holding the Sox without a hit until Dan Pasqua doubled with one out in the eighth inning. Toronto's starter finished the job, completing a one-hit shutout victory that ignited a late-season surge for the Blue Jays.
Toronto racked up 25 wins over its final 36 games during that magical '92 campaign, when the Jays cruised all the way to their first World Series title in franchise history. Stottlemyre played an important role in helping the Blue Jays reach that plateau, and now he's being honored with a place on the Baseball Writers' Association of America Hall of Fame ballot for the first time.
Voting results for the Hall of Fame will be announced on Jan. 8, and candidates need to be named on five percent of the ballots to be considered again. Joining the hallowed halls in Cooperstown, N.Y., will be a tall task for Stottlemyre, but he enjoyed a memorable Major League career nonetheless.
Over 14 seasons in the big leagues, Stottlemyre compiled a 138-121 record, good enough for a .533 career winning percentage between stints with the Blue Jays, A's, Cardinals, Rangers and Diamondbacks. The 6-foot-3 right-hander spent seven of those seasons in Toronto, where he won World Series titles in 1992 over the Braves and in '93 against the Phillies.
Stottlemyre didn't retire without accumulating some hardware, either. In 2000, he was honored with both the Branch Rickey Award and the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award -- accolades that recognize character and efforts off the field. Stottlemyre was involved in community initiatives with the Caring for Kids organization.
On the field, Stottlemyre -- the son of Mel Stottlemyre, who won 164 games with the Yankees from 1964-74 -- finished his career with 1,587 strikeouts and had eight seasons with 10 or more wins. The Blue Jays selected Stottlemyre in the first round (third overall) during the secondary phase of the 1985 First-Year Player Draft, and he moved into Toronto's rotation on a full-time basis four years later.
In his career with the Jays, Stottlemyre finished with a 69-70 record. The righty enjoyed his best season in 1991, when he went 15-8 with a 3.78 ERA and 116 strikeouts across 34 starts. Stottlemyre left Toronto via free agency in 1995, when he elected to sign with Oakland. In his first tour with the A's, Stottlemyre went 14-7 with a 4.55 ERA and finished second in the American League with 205 strikeouts.
Beyond the two World Series runs with the Blue Jays, Stottlemyre also made playoff appearances for the Cardinals, Rangers and Diamondbacks. In 15 career postseason games over 10 series, Stottlemyre posted a 3-5 record with a 5.91 ERA and 48 strikeouts over 53 1/3 innings.
On June 16, 1995, Stottlemyre recorded a career-best 15 strikeouts in a 10-inning performance against the Royals. But the signature moment in Stottlemyre's career might be during that late-August outing in 1992 at Comiskey Park, where he helped the Blue Jays to a much-needed win en route to the Fall Classic.
2008 Candidates
The 2008 ballot features 25 candidates, with 14 returnees and 11 newcomers.
Brady Anderson
Harold Baines
Rod Beck
Bert Blyleven
Dave Concepcion
Andre Dawson
Shawon Dunston
Chuck Finley
Travis Fryman
Rich Gossage
Tommy John
David Justice
Chuck Knoblauch
Don Mattingly
Mark McGwire
Jack Morris
Dale Murphy
Robb Nen
Dave Parker
Tim Raines
Jim Rice
Jose Rijo
Lee Smith
Todd Stottlemyre
Alan Trammell
James Brown recordings locked in dispute
AUGUSTA, Ga. - The legal feud over the estate of James Brown is stalling the release of the soul legend's final recordings, his longtime adviser said.
Brown cut an album in Los Angeles the summer before he died in December 2006, but the songs are not being released because of courtroom disputes about who should benefit from his legacy and music royalties, said attorney Buddy Dallas. There are also between 50 and 60 other previously recorded songs in vaults, Dallas said.
Brown's fourth son, Daryl, is one of five heirs trying to have their father's will voided because they say his former advisers including Dallas used undue influence to get the singer to create charitable trusts from which the advisers would profit. The other advisers named in the lawsuit are Alford Bradley and David Cannon.
Dallas quit as an estate trustee in November but now is trying to retract his resignation.
Daryl Brown, who is lead guitarist for his father's backing band, the Soul Generals, says he is not aware of any recordings done in California in 2006. Brown and the Soul Generals were working on an album at a studio in Georgia, but they only finished two songs before the singer died, his son said.
But he said there are dozens of unreleased songs stored in vaults and on master tapes at Brown's Beech Island, S.C., estate.
Brown died on Christmas Day 2006 of heart failure. He was 73.
Actress Billie Piper marries actor Laurence Fox
LONDON (AFP) - Actress Billie Piper has tied the knot with fellow actor Laurence Fox in a Monday afternoon ceremony in a West Sussex village.
The 25-year old former Dr Who assistant and her new husband emerged from the Parish Church of St Mary's in Eastbourne after a 50-minute New Year's Eve ceremony.
Piper's ex-husband, radio presenter Chris Evans, and his new wife Natasha Shishmanian were among the wedding guests, as was Dr Who actor David Tennant.
It is believed that the wedding reception is being held at one of Evans's pubs.
At the age of 15, Piper became Britain's youngest female singer to have a number one single with 'Because we want to' in 1998.
She has since turned to acting and following a successful stint on Dr Who, Piper recently took up the role of Belle de Jour in the ITV2 series Secret Diary Of A Call Girl.
Fox, not quite as famous as his new wife, is best known for playing Kevin Whately's Lewis in the spin-off from Inspector Morse.
Mindy McCready is released from jail
FRANKLIN, Tenn. - Mindy McCready, who was sentenced in September for violating probation from a 2004 drug arrest, has been released from jail.
The 32-year-old country singer was released Sunday morning, said a clerk at the Williamson County jail.
The violation occurred in July when McCready was accused of scuffling with her mother and resisting arrest at her mother's home in Fort Myers, Fla.
She still must serve two years' probation.
Her attorney, Lee Ofman, said McCready has learned her lesson and will stay out of trouble.
She had a No. 1 single in 1996 with "Guys Do It All the Time."
NBC: Golden Globes Still a Go
Los Angeles (E! Online) - Will the ongoing writers' strike take some of the glow off this year's Golden Globes? Not if NBC has anything to say about it.
The Peacock confirmed Monday it will proceed with airing the 65th annual installment of the pre-Oscar kudofest live from Los Angeles as planned on Jan. 13despite the threat of picketing from the Writers Guild of America and fears that many of the nominated stars might not show up out of solidarity to striking scribes.
The latter possibility has sparked speculation that NBC and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association would scotch the ceremony to avoid damaging the show's credibility and the telecast's viability. The Globes' usual star-drawing power makes it a ratings success.
The WGA has refused to grant the Globes a strike waiver. Speaking to the New York Times over the weekend, WGA strike coordinator Jeff Hermanson said the guild would position strikers along the sidewalks around the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
"If the Globes is telecast and it is produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is a struck company, we will picket the show," Hermanson said.
Such actions, of course, would likely prevent A-listers from attending, concerned that an appearance might garner them negative publicity as strikebusters. Publicists for many stars say their clients have already signaled they wouldn't turn out for any struck productions.
Further complicating matters is the Screen Actors Guild's own potential work action against networks and studios. SAG's current deal expires in June, and actors have threatened to follow the WGA and strike if their demands for a larger share of payments related to new-media growth are not met.
The Times quoted several unnamed insiders saying the Foreign Press Association has begun exploring ways to ensure nominees such as Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Keira Knightley, Denzel Washington, Katherine Heigl and George Clooney make the scene without incurring any sort of public backlash or embarrassment.
Among the ideas bandied about: nixing the dinner and trophy fest in favor of a Webcast or a private affair, the organization's first since 1979.
Already, CBS and producers of the Jan. 8 People's Choice Awards have decided to tweak the format to avoid any hassles with picketing scribes
The network announced last week that instead of airing live this year, the People's Choice Awards will do away with the traditional red carpet and ceremony and instead tape segments ahead of time in a magazine format hosted by Queen Latifah.
But a rep for NBC told E! Online Monday that the Globes "show will go on" as scheduled and declined to talk contingency plans. The network continues to run promos for the event, touting the glittery nominee slate.
Jorge Camara, president of the HFPA, says there is no intention of canceling the event.
Globes organizers aren't the only ones with strike issues.
Producers for the late-night shows are scrambling to fill guest slots, as the shows are set to come back over the next few days.
NBC's Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night with Conan O'Brien, along with ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live will air fresh episodes starting Wednesday without the benefit of their writers. That means each show will likely depend on its host's improvisational skills, pretaped bits from the field (generated by producers, not scribes), more musical guests and extended interviews.
The same will apply to Comedy Central's Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, who'll be returning to their respective anchor desks on The Daily Show and The Colbert Report Jan. 7 sans scribes.
"I expect these shows to have a much harder time booking guests," WGA East spokesman Sherry Goldman told USA Today. "We'd hope they'd honor the picket line and respect the fact that it's a struck show."
Leno's first guest Wednesday will be a political figure, Republican presidential candidate and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. No word yet on guests for O'Brien and Kimmel's shows.
CBS will fare a bit better. Since David Letterman's Worldwide Pants Productions wholly owns The Late Show and The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson, he was able to strike a separate deal with the Writers Guild, allowing both of those programs to retain their writing staffs when they resume broadcasting this week.
Letterman not only gets to do a WGA-approved monologue Wednesday, he has lined up Robin Williams as well as country star Shooter Jennings. Bill Maher, Juno star Ellen Page and the cast of Broadway's Young Frankenstein will appear on Thursday's show, while Donald Trump and Lupe Fiasco will be the featured guests for Friday.