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Cape Cod, Mass Newspaper Headlines
Cape Cod Times | Sports
Keller, Boden Seagulls champs
It was like watching two heavyweight champions going toe-to-toe for 19 rounds. In the end, Joe Keller and Mike Boden were the last men standing as they successfully defended their Seagulls Fourball title yesterday.
MMA women's crew a perfect 2-0
The Massachusetts Maritime Academy women's crew team improved to 2-0 with a victory yesterday at Lake Quinsigamond.
Sweep success for Sox
The Boston Red Sox hit four straight homers to match a major-league record and finished a satisfying sweep of the New York Yankees.
Bonds, 42, inches toward milestone
Barry Bonds is beginning to close in on Hank Aaron - fast.
Tigers turn tables, top ChiSox in extra innings
Marcus Thames hit a tying homer with two outs in the ninth inning, Placido Polanco singled home the winning run in the 12th and the Detroit Tigers rallied to beat the Chicago White Sox 6-5 yesterday.
Boston Weather, Breaking News and Sports from WBZ-TV
Weakened Earl Brings Little Damage To Mass.
A State of Emergency was lifted in Massachusetts Saturday morning as the remnants of Hurricane Earl took aim at Nova Scotia. The storm's brush with the Northeast was far less intense than feared, dumping heavy, wind-driven rain on Cape Cod cottages and fishing villages accustomed to nor'easters.
3 Arrested In Hyde Park Delivery Man Slaying
Boston police say they have three suspects in custody in the slaying of a pizza delivery man. Police have been searching for the suspects since Thursday after 58-year-old Richel Nova of Boston was called to a vacant home in the Hyde Park section of Boston and stabbed to death.
Elderly Man Missing In Raynham
An 83-year-old man from Raynham is missing.
Manny Blames Himself For Sour Ending In Boston
White Sox slugger Manny Ramirez took the blame Friday for his rocky departure from Boston and said he would have joined the Red Sox if they had claimed him when he was placed on waivers this month.
Rainfall Totals From Tropical Storm Earl
By the time Earl passed about 100 miles off of New England, it was downgraded to a Tropical Storm. Here are the rainfall totals, courtesy of the SKYWARN weather spotters:
Boston Weather, Breaking News and Sports from WBZ-TV
Elderly Man Missing In Raynham
An 83-year-old man from Raynham is missing.
3 Arrested In Hyde Park Delivery Man Slaying
Boston police say they have three suspects in custody in the slaying of a pizza delivery man. Police have been searching for the suspects since Thursday after 58-year-old Richel Nova of Boston was called to a vacant home in the Hyde Park section of Boston and stabbed to death.
Weakened Earl Brings Little Damage To Mass.
A State of Emergency was lifted in Massachusetts Saturday morning as the remnants of Hurricane Earl took aim at Nova Scotia. The storm's brush with the Northeast was far less intense than feared, dumping heavy, wind-driven rain on Cape Cod cottages and fishing villages accustomed to nor'easters.
Dangerous Surf, Currents Remain From Earl
Tropical Storm Earl passed by New England leaving very little damage in its wake. Dangerous surf and rip currents, however, remain.
Rainfall Totals From Tropical Storm Earl
By the time Earl passed about 100 miles off of New England, it was downgraded to a Tropical Storm. Here are the rainfall totals, courtesy of the SKYWARN weather spotters:
WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire: Local News Briefs
Red Sox Win Their Way To World Series
Daisuke Matsuzaka, Dustin Pedroia and these Boston Red Sox are taking a sweet streak into the World Series, too.
Boston charged to its third straight win, completing yet another October comeback by overpowering the Cleveland Indians 11-2 Sunday night in Game 7 of the AL championship series.
A pair of rookie Red Sox helped finish off their rally from a 3-1 deficit and reach the Series for the second time in four years. Matsuzaka pitched five solid innings, Pedroia drove in five runs and Boston got some help by a key blunder by an Indians base coach.
"The season is almost over we were down 3-1, you get that sense of urgency," said Pedroia, who hit his first postseason homer and doubled with the bases loaded. "Nobody wanted to go home, nobody wanted to say goodbye to each other. Once we got that win in Cleveland, we started to believe."
Having ended their 86-year title drought in 2004 after digging out of a 3-0 hole against the Yankees in the ALCS, the Red Sox earned a chance to play Colorado in the World Series. The Rockies, who have won 10 in a row and 21 of 22, will come back from a record eight days off for Game 1 at Fenway Park on Wednesday night.
"The Rockies are on a magical run and we are going to have our hands full. We're going to try and represent the American League the best we can," general manager Theo Epstein said. "We haven't grown up any since '04. That's part of what keeps these guys so good. It keeps us all loose and we never stop believing."
Colorado outscored Boston 20-5 in winning two of three during an interleague series at Fenway in June. The Red Sox did even better in winning the last three games against Indians, outscoring them 30-5 in that span.
While Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz and ALCS MVP Josh Beckett helped the Red Sox win their 12th pennant, the Indians only added more misery to a city that hasn't celebrated a World Series championship since 1948.
The Indians were a double-play grounder from winning the crown at Florida in 1997. They appeared to take control of this series with three consecutive victories, but aces C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona couldn't win a single game between them.
"We won three games in a row and they won three in a row," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "I'm disappointed, obviously, we weren't able to finish it off."
Jake Westbrook settled down to offer a solid outing in Game 7, and still the Indians came up short. They had a chance to tie it at 3 in the seventh inning, but third-base coach Joel Skinner mistakenly held up speedy Kenny Lofton as he rounded the bag.
With runners at the corners, Casey Blake grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Then, the Red Sox blew it open. Pedroia, who homered earlier, hit a three-run double and Kevin Youkilis launched a bottle rocket, a two-run drive off the giant Coke bottle above the Green Monster.
Jonathan Papelbon pitched two innings for the save, finishing things off when center fielder Coco Crisp raced back into the center-field triangle, crashing into the wall to catch Blake's drive.
Crisp was still on the ground when Papelbon chucked his glove into the air and then waited, crouching, for catcher Jason Varitek to leap into his arms.
The Red Sox poured out of the dugout for their first playoff clinching celebration at home since the first round in 2004.
"The champagne tastes sweeter at home," they chanted in the clubhouse later.
Boston kept the bases busy early against Westbrook, but three double plays in the first four innings kept the Indians in the game while their starter settled down. The Red Sox scored once in each of the first three innings, and Matsuzaka retired the first eight batters he faced.
Cleveland cut the deficit to 3-2 through five, then had a chance to tie it in the seventh when Red Sox shortstop Julio Lugo dropped Lofton's seemingly harmless popup in shallow left. Lugo drifted back, tracking the ball with his glove in the air and holding off incoming left fielder Ramirez with his right hand.
But the shortstop let the ball bounce off his glove, and Lofton was safe on second.
Franklin Gutierrez hit a sharp grounder over third base that bounced off the photographer's box in front of the grandstand and into shallow left. But Skinner held up both hands for the speedy Lofton, and the 40-year-old outfielder skidded to a stop.
Lofton looked back for the ball and, seeing it in no man's land in shallow left, snapped his head back to stare at Skinner.
A star in big games throughout his career in Japan, Matsuzaka followed two sub-par playoff outings with his first American postseason victory. He allowed two runs on six hits in five innings, striking out three and walking none.
"I thought he pitched his heart out," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "Those were some tough innings. He gave us what we needed."
Fellow Japanese rookie Hideki Okajima pitched two innings of shutout ball. Papelbon closed, sending the sold-out Fenway into a frenzy.
Westbrook settled down after spotting Boston a 3-0 lead, retiring seven consecutive batters before Jacoby Ellsbury -- another rookie -- bounced a chopper through third baseman Blake for an error. After Lugo's sacrifice bunt, Pedroia was up.
The diminutive second baseman, with eight major league homers to his credit, hit an 0-1 pitch into the first row of the Monster Seats to make it 5-2. He also doubled to clear the bases after Boston loaded them in the eighth against Rafael Betancourt.
Youkilis, who was a rookie when Boston won it all in '04, followed with a two-run homer to make it 11-2.
Cleveland's Game 4 starter, Paul Byrd, was forced to defend himself before the finale when the San Francisco Chronicle reported that he bought nearly $25,000 worth of human growth hormone and syringes from 2002-05. Byrd said he took HGH under a doctor's prescription.
"I do not want the fans of Cleveland or honest, caring people to think that I cheated," Byrd told a throng of reporters before the game. "Because I didn't."
Notes:@ Boston is 5-5 all-time in decisive Game 7s. ... The Red Sox were already the only team to have rallied twice from a 3-1 deficit to win the LCS, in 1986 and '04. It was the first winner-take-all in the baseball postseason since the 2006 NLCS. ... Boston Game 4 starter Tim Wakefield was unavailable to come out of the bullpen.
Billboard Ads Gain Appeal As Athletic Fees Soar
Playing sports can be a big part of a kid's high school experience.
But it's an experience that's becoming too expensive for many families in Massachusetts.
"Pay to play" policies in local schools are costing more than just money.
In Saugus, athletic fees are rising and can hit $350 per player per sport.
"It's hard, it's very hard. I know parents that have four children, single parents," said one resident. "I mean, it's impossible."
Joe Diorio is the principal of Saugus High School. He said he can't keep the athletic program afloat without the fees.
"We had a budget cut of approximately $3 million," he said.
Even though Saugus, like most communities, will waive the fee based on a family's income, Diorio said he's worried.
"There are kids that have hardship cases that are afraid to come forward and just don't participate," he said.
The story is the same across Massachusetts. In Arlington, fees can reach $350.
Towns now charge athletic fees as low as $10 in a few communities to a high of $1,600. And the trend is up.
"That's why we're responding because we feel like it's getting to the point where it can be prohibitive for a family with multiple children," said Franklin Schools Superintendent Wayne Ogden.
In Franklin, they're looking at selling advertising on a field as a way of limiting their fees, which already stand at a $125 per sport.
"I don't want this field decorated with advertising billboards really, but if that's the step that we have to take to protect programs and kids, then I'm willing to make that compromise," Ogden said.
While some in the communities do not favor ads, educators are concerned about the negatives if some kids are priced out.
In some schools, the price of participating in things like band and drama is going up as well.
"If the kids aren't here playing, practicing, they're out someplace else, more likely to be involved in things we don't want them to be involved in," Ogden said.
The options aren't great. Tax increases at the state or local levels are never popular. And schools don't want to cut other programs in favor of athletics. So for now, "pay to play" is the new school motto.
State Police Blame Pedestrian Clipped By Cycle
A state police lieutenant claimed in an official report that a Framingham woman stepped in front of a trooper's motorcycle during April's Boston Marathon when event video shows the officer bashes into her with his vehicle and then drives away, leaving her injured on the ground, the I-Team has learned.
"A pedestrian entered the road after the lead runners passed, not seeing the oncoming escort vehicle #1," the report, filed with the Registry of Motor Vehicles on May 10, states. "The pedestrian had her back to oncoming traffic and as a result struck vehicle 1 on the front fairing,"
But Marathon video shows 61-year-old Norma Shulman clearly standing behind the white line separating the crowd from marathon runners on Route 135 in Natick, the same spot where Shulman has cheered the athletes on for the past 27 years.
Shulman is facing the runners clapping and does not have her back to traffic, as the report states.
Shulman went flying onto her back after being struck by Trooper Dennis M. Bertulli, 63, of Chelmsford, the video shows. Bertulli drives off without stopping while others in the crowd rush to Shulman's aid, the video shows. Bertulli, a veteran member of the force's motorcycle unit, was assigned to escort the runners when he struck Shulman.
"I remember seeing a wheel aimed at me and hitting my leg. That's the first I really realized that something was wrong," she said.
But Bertulli's boss, Lt. William Cederquist, filed the official report contradicting the footage and Shulman's own account.
 Read the State Police Report (pdf)
A diagram accompanying the report shows Shulman, identified as the pedestrian, in the street stepping into the path of Bertulli's motorcycle.
"I'm dismayed that an official report could say something that was so far from what happened. That shouldn't be," Shulman said.
The report also states Shulman declined medical treatment and no action was taken against Bertulli.
Other spectators rushed to Shulman's aid as Bertulli drove off, the video shows. Shulman was taken to Metro West Medical Center in Framingham where doctors diagnosed a chest contusion. Six weeks later Shulman said she was still experiencing sharp spasms in her back as well as rib pain. She has run up more than $1,000 in medical bills.
State police officials told Shulman following the accident they would investigate but have never interviewed two eyewitnesses - her daughters, Shulman said. Cederquist told her in late April she would be contacted once the investigation was complete.
Citing "negligence and unresponsiveness" on the part of the State Police, Shulman's lawyer, Peter L. Mello, sent a letter to the Executive Office of Public Safety July 3 warning of a possible lawsuit.
Bertulli told the I-Team last week he has never seen the police report his boss filed.
Cederquist did not respond to a request for comment.
Late in the afternoon of July 5, State Police spokesman Lt. William Powers said corrective action has been taken against Bertulli but declined to provide further details. Powers also said on June 20, a state police major disagreed with Cederquist's report, finding both Bertulli and Shulman were at fault. Powers said two other commanders reached the same conclusion on July 3. Powers declined to immediately provide those new reports.
Contact Mass. State Police
Contact the Mass. Executive Office of Public Safety
Bush Sr., Clinton To Speak At UNH Graduation
Two former presidents will give the commencement address at the University of New Hampshire's graduation in May.
Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton are scheduled to speak at the May 19 event, the university announced Tuesday.
"The world as we know it has changed remarkably since these two world leaders visited the Granite State, and in the ways it has changed for the better, both President Bush and President Clinton are largely responsible for the good," said UNH Interim President J. Bonnie Newman.
Then-Vice President Bush gave the keynote address at UNH's 1987 commencement. Clinton campaigned on campus during his two presidential runs.
The two ex-presidents, who ran against each other in 1992, have worked together since Clinton left office in 2000. They helped raise funds for recovery from 2004's Asian tsunami and 2005's Hurricane Katrina.
"In today's political climate, these two men remind all of us of what people can accomplish to promote tolerance and bipartisanship, and they lead by example," Newman said in a statement. "It is a deep privilege for our students and their families and the campus community to hear a message of hope, partnership and action."
Rose Kennedy Exhibit Opens At JFK Library
For the first time ever, the personal papers of Kennedy family matriarch Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy are opening to the public today.
The John F. Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston has completed the task of sorting and cataloguing 185,000 items, including letters, diary entries and photographs.
Rose Kennedy died in 1995 at the age of 104. She began moving some of her papers to the presidential library in the 1970’s, but until now the collection has not been available to researchers or the general public.
Most of the items will be kept in the library archives and can be viewed only by appointment. But some will be on display in a small exhibit in the museum called "Rose Kennedy: In Her Own Words."
Born in Boston's North End in 1890 she was the daughter of John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, a congressman and mayor of Boston.
Rose and Joseph Kennedy married in 1914 and had nine children.
For more information visit the Kennedy Library web site .
Boston Weather, Breaking News and Sports from WBZ-TV
Pedroia Likely Done For Season; Foot Surgery Fri.
A source confirmed to WBZ's Dan Roche that Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia's season is likely over. Pedroia is expected to have surgery Friday to insert a screw in his broken left foot.
Red Sox Trade Reliever Delcarmen To Rockies
The Boston Red Sox have traded reliever Manny Delcarmen and cash to the
Colorado Rockies for minor league pitcher Chris Balcom-Miller.
Clemens Pleads Not Guilty To Perjury Charges
Roger Clemens pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of lying to Congress about whether he used steroids or human growth hormone.
Manny Expected To Join White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are hoping Manny Ramirez has one more playoff push left.
Source: Pedroia's Season In "Serious Jeopardy"
A story that is not exactly surprising, but WBZ-TV has confirmed through a source that Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia's season is in "serious jeopardy" as he continues to deal with problems stemming from a broken left foot.
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