NEW YORK — Former Chicago White Sox player Adam LaRoche says he has no regrets walking away from baseball and $13 million in salary after a dispute with the team over the presence of his young son at the ballpark.
LaRoche told ABC News it hasn’t been the end of the world for him. The 36-year-old did not rule out a return to baseball someday if a team wants him.
LaRoche retired last month and said White Sox executive Kenny Williams had asked him to cut the amount of time his 14-year-old son, Drake, was spending around the team. The incident sparked anger from players across the major leagues and prompted questions about the balance between work and parenting.
MILT PAPPAS, who came within a disputed pitch of throwing a perfect game for the Chicago Cubs in 1972 and was part of the lopsided trade that brought Frank Robinson to Baltimore, died Tuesday. He was 76.
Pappas died of natural causes at his home in the northern Illinois community of Beecher, said his widow, Judi Pappas.
The 6-foot-3 right-hander was part of the Baby Birds staff in Baltimore in 1964, a young rotation with great promise. He was an All-Star by 1962 and started the game in 1965, months before he and two other players were dealt to Cincinnati for future Hall of Famer Frank Robinson in one of the most lopsided trades in baseball history. He was sent to Atlanta two years later and to Chicago in 1970.
His best year with the Cubs was in 1972. Pappas went 17-7 and came within one disputed pitch of throwing a perfect game when he walked a San Diego batter with two outs in the bottom of the ninth before finishing with a no-hitter. He disputed the calls by umpire Bruce Froemming for years.
TWINS: Minnesota placed third baseman Trevor Plouffe on the 15-day disabled list with a right intercostal strain.
Plouffe left Sunday’s win over the Angels in the 11th inning after feeling some discomfort near his ribcage.
YANKEES: Jacoby Ellsbury was out of the starting lineup against Oakland on Tuesday night after making four defensive mistakes during the first two weeks of the season and with New York facing left-hander Eric Surkamp.
“I don’t think he’s played as well as he’s capable of playing. It just seems like he’s misjudged the ball a couple times,” Manager Joe Girardi said.
BRAVES: Outfielder Hector Olivera’s paid administrative leave was extended through May 3 in an agreement between Major League Baseball and the players’ association.
Olivera was arrested on April 13 and charged with assaulting a woman at a hotel outside Washington, D.C.
ROYALS: Kansas City reinstated outfielder Jarrod Dyson from the disabled list and recalled right-hander Miguel Almonte from Triple-A Omaha.
The team also optioned outfielder Reymond Fuentes to Omaha and placed right-hander Dillon Gee on the paternity list.
Dyson strained his oblique in the spring training opener.
REDS: Cincinnati scratched right-hander Alfredo Simon from his scheduled start against Colorado on Tuesday because of biceps tendinitis.
MARLINS: Miami placed right-hander Edwin Jackson on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right triceps
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