Drayton Mclane

Jason Leader, a young cancer patient who inspired a home run by Boston Red Sox slugger Mo Vaughn and later tossed out the first pitch at a game in Fenway Park, died at at his home near Albany, N.Y. Jason was being treated for neuroblastoma, a tumor affecting the adrenal glands and nervous system, when he got a phone call from Vaughn on April 23, 1993, the day before the youngster's 11th birthday. Vaughn promised to hit a homer on Jason's birthday, and kept his pledge - hitting a 3-1 pitch from Ken Patterson out in the seventh inning of a game against the Angels at California.

Jeff King got the pitch he was expecting from Xavier Hernandez in the top of the ninth inning and responded with his second grand slam of the season. "He threw me three hard fastballs when I faced him before and he got them by me, so I thought he would try to get ahead of me with a fastball," King said after hitting Hernandez's first pitch into the leftfield stands to lead the Pittsburgh to an 8-6 victory over the Houston Astros last night. The victory is only the Pirates' third in their last 13 games and came after Houston hit five solo home runs to tie a club record.

The Houston Oilers may be trying to turn a bump in the carpet into a reason to run to Nashville, Tenn., but landlords at the Astrodome won't be shaken so easily. Astrodome USA owner Drayton McLane insisted yesterday that the field was playable the night before when the exhibition game between the Oilers and San Diego Chargers was canceled by NFL officials because of problems with the Astrodome's artificial surface. The decision to cancel the game added another twist in the animosity between the Oilers and Astrodome USA, the parent company of the Houston Astros and manager of stadium.

Milwaukee's Ryan Braun won the NL Most Valuable Player Award after leading the Brewers to their first division title in nearly 30 years. Braun received 20 of 32 first-place votes and 388 points in voting announced by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Los Angeles centerfielder Matt Kemp, who came close to winning the Triple Crown, received 10 first-place votes and finished with 332 points. Braun's teammate Prince Fielder finished third with 229 points, and Arizona's Justin Upton finished fourth with 214 points.

The FBI has begun investigating whether Roger Clemens lied to Congress when he denied taking performance-enhancing drugs. FBI agents in Washington opened the case a little more than 2 weeks after Clemens and Brian McNamee, his former personal trainer, testified at a House committee hearing Feb. 13, each accusing the other of lying. The inquiry announcement came 1 day after two leaders of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee asked Attorney General Michael Mukasey to investigate Clemens.

Ed Wade, assistant to Phillies general manager Lee Thomas, was interviewed this week for the vacant general manager's job in Houston. Wade, 39, who previously worked with Astros president Tal Smith, spent Tuesday in Houston being interviewed by Smith, owner Drayton McLane and senior vice president Bob McClaren. The Astros are expected to make a decision before the general managers' meetings, which will begin on Nov. 13. Their former GM, Bob Watson, resigned abruptly during the World Series to take the same job with the Yankees.

The Houston Oilers and the Astrodome yesterday settled a dispute that should allow the NFL team to shortly head to Tennessee. Oilers owner Bud Adams and Astrodome manager Drayton McLane Jr. emerged from 14 hours of negotiations over two days and announced they had resolved the upcoming final year of the Oilers' lease and settled a lawsuit arising from a canceled preseason game two years ago. No details were released but Adams said the team...

A Houston television executive said Astros owner Drayton McLane told a group of people that the team doesn't market to Hispanics because of the complexity of the sport and that they only buy inexpensive seats. Marco Camacho, vice president and general manager of KTMD-TV, a Spanish-language station in Houston, said McLane made the remarks at a cocktail reception before a dinner honoring the Astros owner for winning an award for community service. McLane issued a statement yesterday denying the comments, which were later reported by KTMD.

Hope for the Nats The sad-sack Washington Nationals have the No. 1 pick in the draft, and there seems to be no doubt the best prospect is righthander Stephen Strasburg of San Diego State. Strasburg's fastball has been registered at more than 100 m.p.h. "He's supposed to be very special," Nats manager Manny Acta said in a story by CBSsports.com senior writer Danny Knobler. "I remember in spring training I got a message that he had struck out 18, and that 15 of them were swinging.

Alan Trammell, who played shortstop for the Tigers for 20 years, is close to accepting a 3-year contract to manage Detroit, the Detroit News reported last night. Trammell was one of three candidates to interview with general manager Dave Dombrowski for the job. "He's class personified, a very impressive individual," Dombrowski told the newspaper. Trammell said he and Dombrowski had a good meeting. "We're absolutely on the same page," Trammell said. "I felt very comfortable.

Milwaukee's Ryan Braun won the NL Most Valuable Player Award after leading the Brewers to their first division title in nearly 30 years. Braun received 20 of 32 first-place votes and 388 points in voting announced by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Los Angeles centerfielder Matt Kemp, who came close to winning the Triple Crown, received 10 first-place votes and finished with 332 points. Braun's teammate Prince Fielder finished third with 229 points, and Arizona's Justin Upton finished fourth with 214 points.

To the surprise of no one except for some Phillies fans, the Los Angeles Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw won the NL Cy Young Award in a runaway Thursday. Kershaw received 27 of 32 first-place votes, five seconds, and two thirds for 207 points in voting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. "I always dreamed about playing in the big leagues. I never dreamed about doing anything special in the big leagues. I don't think any kid ever does," he said. "The people I'm now associated with, just by having this award, is something that I never thought would ever happen.

NEW ASTROS owner Jim Crane is promising plenty of changes in addition to the club's move to the American League. Baseball owners unanimously approved the long-delayed sale of the team from Drayton McLane to Crane yesterday, a transaction that requires the franchise to move from the NL Central to the AL West in 2013. As part of the Astros' agreement to switch leagues, the sale price was cut from $680 million to $615 million, a person at the owners meetings in Milwaukee told the Associated Press . Crane said at a late-afternoon news conference at Minute Maid Park that the reported money totals were "fairly accurate.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig has asked prospective Houston Astros buyer Jim Crane to agree to move the team to the American League if he is approved as onwer, according to Fox 26 Sports in Houston. Major League Baseball sources told the station that the fact that Crane has yet to agree to the request has kept him from being approved as owner. That approval can only come from a vote of the game's owners. MLB cannot move a team from one league to the other without that team's consent.

Houston Astros owner Drayton McLane says he's retained the New York investment firm Allen and Company to help him sell the team he purchased in November 1992 for about $117 million, a move first reported by KRIV-TV. Steve Greenberg, the son of Hall of Fame slugger Hank Greenberg, is the firm's managing director. Greenberg said McLane has not settled on an asking price, nor does he have a specific buyer in mind. In August, an investment group led by former Astros pitcher Nolan Ryan purchased the Texas Rangers through an unusual bankruptcy auction for $593 million.

THE PHILLIES not only landed one of the best pitchers in baseball, they also got a player who is so country he makes Kevin Kolb look like a metrosexual. Roy Oswalt married his high school sweetheart, comes from a Mississippi town of about 500 and once used a spark plug to cure a shoulder injury. Here are some other things - a few that are actually relevant to the Phillies' chances this year - to know about the latest star pitcher acquired by Ruben Amaro: 1. Has an ugly 6-12 record this season, but the Astros have scored just 17 runs in his 12 losses.

LOS ANGELES - Jose Lima lived over the top on and off the baseball field. The free-spirited pitcher could deliver a song as well as a fastball, leaving a trail of fun and laughter known as "Lima Time" wherever he went. The All-Star righthander who spent 13 years in the major leagues died yesterday, according to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was 37. Lima, who pitched the Dodgers to their first playoff win in 16 years in 2004, was in full cardiac arrest when paramedics arrived at his Pasadena home early yesterday morning, police said in a statement.

Houston: Oswalt's got a problem Astros general manager Ed Wade - we think Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. may have met him once or twice - says Houston ace Roy Oswalt has asked to be traded. Wade says Oswalt's agent contacted Houston owner Drayton McLane earlier this week to make the request. The Astros went into Friday night's game against Tampa Bay with the worst record in the National League at 14-27. Oswalt is 2-6 despite a 2.66 ERA. He has gotten the lowest run support in the league.