Sports in Brief
BASEBALL
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Bruce Bochy has always managed with his gut. Those same instincts told him it’s nearly time to retire.
Bochy announced Monday this will be his last season managing the San Francisco Giants, his 25th as a big league manager.
He told the team before Monday’s spring training workout at Scottsdale Stadium.
Bochy, who turns 64 on April 16, had offseason hip replacement surgery that has him moving more swiftly. He came to San Francisco from the San Diego Padres before the 2007 season, in time to watch Barry Bonds break Hank Aaron’s career home run record that August.
Bochy begins his 13th season with the Giants. He led the club to World Series titles in 2010, ’12 and ’14.
Every other manager with three or more titles has been inducted into the Hall of Fame.
NEW YORK (AP) — Players’ union head Tony Clark took the extraordinary step of saying baseball fans should question whether it makes sense to purchase tickets for some teams, responding to Commissioner Rob Manfred’s assertion that free-agent players have failed to adjust their economic demands in a market upended by analytics.
Top free agents Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Craig Kimbrel and Dallas Keuchel remain unsigned with spring training underway, creating tension during negotiations on management’s proposals for a pitch clock and new limitations on relief pitchers. The union responded with a wider list of plans that include economic initiatives such as expanding the designated hitter to the National League and altering the amateur draft to make rebuilding less appealing.
Clark led negotiations in 2016 for a five-year labor deal. Players have increasingly been outspoken about their unhappiness during a second straight slow free-agent market, one that has seen many veterans take significant pay cuts and others remain without deals.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Duke keeps finding its way back to No. 1.
The Blue Devils reclaimed the top spot in Monday’s AP Top 25, the third time this season they’ve reached No. 1. Duke earned 58 of 64 first-place votes to climb one spot and replace Tennessee, which had spent four weeks at No. 1 but fell to fifth after Saturday’s loss at Kentucky.
Duke has now spent nearly half of the season’s polls (seven of 16) at No. 1, and hasn’t been ranked lower than fourth since the preseason. The Blue Devils (23-2) — who start four talented freshmen in RJ Barrett, Zion Williamson, Cam Reddish and Tre Jones — also haven’t lost a game at full strength since falling to Gonzaga in the Maui Invitational championship game.
Barrett (22.7 points per game) and Williamson (22.4) are the Atlantic Coast Conference’s top two scorers, while Jones is second in the league in assists (5.4) while also being one of the nation’s best on-ball defenders.
NEW YORK (AP) — Buoyed by the second-longest winning streak in the country, Rice has entered The Associated Press women’s basketball poll for the first time in school history.
The Owls have won 15 straight games and are ranked 25th in Monday’s poll.
Baylor remained the top team in the country, garnering 26 of the 28 first-place votes from the national media panel. Oregon moved up to second, getting the other two No. 1 ballots. UConn was third, while Louisville slipped to fourth after losing to Miami on Sunday. The Hurricanes made the biggest jump, moving up six spots to 14th.
Notre Dame was fifth. Mississippi State, Stanford, Maryland, North Carolina State and Iowa rounded out the top 10.
Drake joined the rankings at No. 24, while Rutgers and Michigan State fell out.
FOOTBALL
AURORA, Colo. (AP) — A man fatally shot in a dispute over a parking space was an assistant principal for Aurora Public Schools and a former football player at the University of Colorado who was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks.
Arapahoe County sheriff’s office spokeswoman Deborah Sherman says 46-year-old Anthony “T.J.” Cunningham died Monday.
Authorities say 31-year-old Marcus Johnson is being held on a first-degree murder charge. They say Johnson shot Cunningham Sunday in a parking lot between two schools.
Hinkley High School’s website lists Cunningham as an assistant principal.
Cunningham was a receiver and defensive back in college. He was on the Seahawks in 1996 before injuries ended his playing career.
University of Colorado athletic director Rick George said Cunningham was an active alum and his death is a tragic loss.
