Author: David Shama

The Wolves’ Hoiberg is a younger look-a-like for movie star Harrison Ford of Indiana Jones fame.

If UCLA forward Kevin Love isn’t among the first 10 picks in the June 26 NBA draft some team is going to really luck into a special player.  Love is a phenomenal outlet passer, with ability to rebound and play unselfishly.

The daughter of former Gopher and Detroit Lions tight end Charlie Sanders will box in a 10 round main event for the International Female Boxing Association junior middleweight title on Friday night from Isleta Casino & Resort in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Holly “The Preacher’s Daughter” Holm and Mary Jo Sanders will headline the pay-per-view event.

Holm fights out of Albuquerque and has a record of 21-1-2, with six KO’s.  Sanders, from Detroit, is 25-0 with eight KO’s.  Holm is the IFBA welterweight champion and seven-time world title-holder in three different weight classes.  IBA middleweight title-holder Sanders is a four-time world champion in four divisions.

Cristie Kerr, about 5-3, 125 pounds, weighed 175 pounds in 1999, according to wikipedia.com.  Both of her parents are diabetics and Kerr lost 50 pounds by 2002, per wikipedia.  Kerr, 30, is the defending U.S. Women’s Open champion. The Open will be played June 23-29 at Interlachen Country Club in Edina.

Several local restaurants will offer the opportunity to photograph the U.S. Women’s Open trophy prior to June 23.  The trophy tour will begin Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. at Redstone in Eden Prairie and conclude on June 20at Via in Edina, also from 5 to 7 p.m.  The U.S. Women’s Open Championship Cup that will tour here is a replica of the original trophy housed in the USGA Museum.  Since 1992 the winner of the U.S. Women’s Open has been presented with the replica trophy to have until the following championship.  For more information visit www.2008uswomensopen.com.

Joel Maturi, who the South Bend Tribune Web site included on a list of possible candidates for the Notre Dame athletic directors job, told Sports Headliners on Monday that neither a search firm or representative of Notre Dame has contacted him about the vacant position.  (It’s believed that one of the most prominent candidates, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith, has said no to Notre Dame.)

Maturi said he’s working every day on final fund-raising for the TCF Bank Stadium opening in 2009.  The goal is $9 million but he hopes to push beyond that total.  He also said the new stadium will have 20,000 to 25,000 seats between the goal lines with the balance in the bowl end. The initial stadium capacity will be 50,000 with expansion to more than 70,000 possible.

Delmon Young’s minimal major league home run numbers are startling compared to what he did in the minor leagues.  Young has one home run so far this season, even though he is the team’s regular left fielder and has 241 at-bats.  He hit 13 last year for Tampa Bay before being traded here in the off-season.  His major league home run total is 17.  In 353 games in the minor leagues he hit 59 home runs with 273 RBI and a batting average of .317.   With the Twins he’s hitting .266 with 20 RBI.

Former Twins Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett, part of the Young trade, continue to impress with the surprising Rays (second in the East Division).  Garza is 4-3 with a 4.38 ERA.  He is tied for third in most wins on the staff.  Bartlett has been a contributor to the Rays’ defense playing shortstop and has seven errors in 61 games.

To use a Denny Green phrase, the Twins appear to be who we thought they were. A lot of opinion before the season had this team finishing at about .500.  Despite losing six consecutive games, the Twins are within three games of .500 with a record of 31-34.

Viable Twins’ candidates for the American League all-star team are closer Joe Nathan, catcher Joe Mauer and first baseman Justin Morneau.  No one else is close.

At least one local media report speculated earlier this spring that the Twins might trade Francisco Liriano.  He’s trying to work his way back to the major league.  At Rochester he has a 2-2 record, 3.94 ERA, walking 23 in 59.1 innings and striking out 47. Just two years ago, before he missed part of the 2006 season with his elbow injury, Liriano was better than Johan Santana or any other Twins pitcher.  The two might have pitched the Twins into the 2006 World Series.

The MIAC has hired Brittany Feser as the conference’s assistant director. A native of Springfield, Minnesota, Feser has spent the past two years as a graduate assistant at Wisconsin-La Crosse.  The assistant director position is available through the NCAA Ethnic Minority and Women’s Internship Grant. The grant is designed for Division III institutions and conference offices to hire a 10-month full-time individual for two years.

Tony Oliva has been around the Twins’ organization since the early 1960’s but he told Sports Headliners no player with the local team was faster than new center fielder Carlos Gomez.  He also said the 22-year-old’s base stealing potential is unlimited.

Oliva, whose roles with the Twins have included player and coach, is 66-years-old but he still spends time at the Metrodome with the players as a part-time coach.  The former Cuban star talks in Spanish with Gomez, the young Dominican Republic player who has dazzled fans with his fielding, hitting and base stealing.  “It’s good to remember where we came from,” Oliva said.  “How hard we worked to play this beautiful game. …”

In his first major league season last year, Gomez played in only 58 games for the New York Mets, hitting .232 with two home runs, 12 RBI and 12 stolen bases.  Since being traded to the Twins, the results have been dramatically different.  Gomez, who covers large areas of center field, ranks fourth among Twins regulars in hitting with a .279 average.  He is tied for third on the team in home runs with five and has 24 RBI despite batting leadoff.

On the bases he makes Twins’ hearts beat faster in anticipation, while jumping on the nerves of opposing teams.  He leads the Twins with 18 stolen bases, and is tied for fourth in the American League.

Chuck Knoblauch set the franchise record for most stolen bases in a single season, 62 in 1997.  In baseball history, players have stolen 100 bases or more in a season 20 times, according to www.baseball-reference.com. Rickey Henderson did that three times including 1982 when he stole 130 bases, second only to Hugh Nicol who had 138 in 1887.

Gomez stole 64 bases during a minor league season in 2005.  What about his base stealing potential in the major leagues?

“At least 40 to 50 bases a year,” Oliva said.  “I think it’s going to be better than that. …The more he plays, the more he learns about the pitchers.  Because most of the time, you steal the bases from the pitchers.  But if you don’t know the pitcher, it’s very hard to steal it from him.  He’s been doing a very good job so far.”

How about 100 stolen bases in one year for Gomez?  “I don’t say that,” Oliva said.  “There’s no limit.  There’s not too many people who steal 100.  But if he hits .300, he may be able to steal it (that many bases).  Who knows?  It’s very hard to set a limit. …”