vendredi 29 juin 2012

Larsen to auction off Yankees uniform from perfect game

Being the kind of grandfather that he is, New York Yankees legend Don Larsen is taking one for the team.

The former pitcher announced Thursday that he's paying for his grandchildren's college education by auctioning off his most prized possession - the baseball uniform he wore when he pitched the only perfect game in World Series history.

Steiner Sports Memorabilia will conduct the auction beginning Oct. 8, the 56th anniversary of Larsen's masterful pitching performance against the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1956 World Series. Baseball enthusiasts worldwide will have the opportunity to place bids online or via phone for 56 days afterward.

The off-white uniform with faded Yankee pinstripes is in excellent condition, Larsen said.

When asked how much he'd like to get for the uniform - which includes both the jersey and pants - Larsen, 82, didn't miss a beat.

"A million," he said. "Why go cheap?"

Larsen's expectations aren't out of line, either. In May, a jersey worn by Babe Ruth sold for more than $4.4 million.

Steiner Executive Vice President Brett Schissler estimated that Larsen's uniform could sell for as high as $2 million and that the company had already received several seven-figure offers.

Larsen, who excelled in baseball and basketball while attending San Diego's Point Loma High School, originally loaned the uniform to the San Diego Hall of Champions when he was inducted in 1964. This spring, Larsen decided to auction it off and drove from his home in Hayden Lake, Idaho, to the West Coast to retrieve it.

At a news conference about the auction, announcer Bob Wolff played a grainy audio recording of his broadcast from Larsen's perfect game. Listening to the 56-year-old play-by-play of Wolff calling out after out, Larsen stared off into the distance as his wife, Corrine, held his hand under the table and smiled.

Larsen said that after he struck out Dodgers pinch-hitter Dale Mitchell on a called third strike, "it felt like the world left my shoulders then."

"When Yogi jumped on me, I probably still haven't woken up yet," Larsen said, recalling the iconic moment after the game when Yankees catcher Yogi Berra leapt into his arms.

But Larsen told reporters he initially thought he had pitched a no-hitter. He didn't even know he had tossed a perfect game - meaning no opposing player even reached first base - until someone told him later in the clubhouse.

Matt Burcaw, 66, who attended the game in 1956 with his father and brother, said he'll never forget the silence among the 64,519 spectators packed into Yankee Stadium that day.

"The silence got louder and louder," he said. "It was uncanny."

Regardless of what happens at auction, Larsen said, he'll always feel a sense of proud ownership over the uniform.

"It's still mine," he said. "I'm still inside it."

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Brewster goes for $98M

headshotLois Weiss

BETWEEN THE BRICKS

The Brewster has landed a buyer. The 144-unit building at 21 W. 86th St. just traded for $98 million to Cornerstone with Adellco as the operating partner. Cornerstone is a division of Mass Mutual.

The building was marketed by Darcy Stacom and Paul Liebowitz at CBRE on behalf of the seller, Rambleside Holdings, a Cohen family company.

The price equates to $850 a foot for its 116,000 rentable square feet. The building has plenty of light and air, as well as Central Park views.

A four-bedroom penthouse with terraces became available earlier this year and will be rented for more than $20,000 per month.

The building also has more than 10,000 square feet of professional space, with Columbia University as the majority tenant.

A Federal Home Loan mortgage is being transferred.

“They have had many offers through the years, but to get the best price decided to go with a broker,” said Stacom. The family expects to reinvest the money around the country, she added.

Stacom is just beginning to market the 113-unit 393 West End Ave. that was purchased in March by Douglas Eisenberg in a three-building portfolio that went for $145 million.

“We are already getting offers for well above what they paid for it in a portfolio,” said Stacom. That building has 110,000 rentable square feet and could be a great buy with pricing in the $600s-plus per square foot.

***

A handful of city agencies located at 75 Park Place aren’t going anywhere after signing a significant 207,812 square-foot renewal at the 14-story, Class-A property developed in 1986 by Jack Resnick & Sons. The building is still owned and managed by the firm, which also owns several other buildings downtown.

The Office of Management and Budget, the Office of the Actuary and the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications occupy the majority of the sixth through ninth floors.

Dennis Brady and Brett Greenberg represented the Resnicks in the 15-year, six-month lease renewal that had an asking rent in the mid-$40s per square foot. The city did not use a broker.

Other tenants in the building include RR Donnelley and Sons, Tradition North America and the Borough of Manhattan Community College.

***

Amazon has expanded by 24,707 square feet at 1350 Ave. of the Americas, for a total 92,493 square feet.

The Web retail giant now occupies three and a half of the 35 floors at the 585,156 square-foot tower at West 55th Street. According to Steve Durels of SL Green Realty Corp., the expansion required the relocation and/or consolidation of six separate spaces.

Justin Halpern and Marcus Reyner of Cresa Partners represented the tenant, while Howard J. Tenenbaum and Gary M. Rosen represented SL Green.

***

Jeff Sutton just orchestrated the purchase of the shares for a duplex co-op at 30 E. 65th St. for $2.6 million that will be amalgamated into the street retail in the base of the building that is already owed by his venture with SL Green.

The move entailed finding the owner another apartment, sources said. SLG referred us to Sutton, who declined to comment.

To get dramatic high ceilings, the retail space with the address of 747 Madison Ave. broke through to incorporate another apartment at the corner.

But this could allow Sutton and SLG to break up the space, which is now occupied by Escada on a short-term lease, and create two Madison Avenue storefronts, both with high ceilings.

The space includes 6,700 square feet on the first floor and a 3,100 square-foot lower level. The original purchase price added up to $66.25 million and with this becomes a $68.85 million investment.

***

When President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama were wandering around 1 World Trade center earlier this month, they spent some private time with building owner Douglas Durst, as well as with Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Govs. Andrew Cuomo and Chris Christie.

After the beam-signing event, the Obamas also spent private “face time” with the Port Authority board, which includes real estate executive Scott Rechler and Mintz Levin attorney Jeffrey Moerdler.

*

For those of you who scour real-estate news for sport, a free service dubbed The News Funnel will send an e-mail each morning with links to news about only the companies and word searches that you target, and also act as your continuous targeted news feed when you check in during the day.

Started by New Jersey-based p.r. executive Michael Beckerman, along with investors who include Stephen Siegel and Scott Landis, many of the 500 news sources and 195 available companies so far are based in New Jersey and the overall tri-state area.

Companies in New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia can also join for free and upload their own press releases, news, blogs and job openings.

Beckerman will be rolling it out to both other markets and other industries over the coming year.

Your hardest job will be to take the 10 minutes to set up the initial service.

Lois@BetweentheBricks.com

Darcy Stacom, rentable square feet, square feet, square feet, Cornerstone, Paul Liebowitz, SL Green Realty Corp., Stacom, President Barack Obama

Nypost.com

jeudi 28 juin 2012

Yankees tiring of Wade-ing

No longer is Cory Wade either effective or reliable.

Wade has emerged as a problematic issue for the Yankees, who saw their right-handed reliever enter last night’s game against the Indians and nearly cough up a six-run lead. He surrendered four runs in two-thirds of an inning, forcing Rafael Soriano to save the eventual 6-4 victory.

BOX SCORE

After being terrific throughout his Yankees tenure last year and the first two months of this season, Wade has served up runs in six of his last 10 appearances, allowing nine earned runs through 6 2/3 innings during that time for a 12.15 ERA.

“I’m sure he’s gone through this before. Everyone’s going to go through it. We saw a guy with 3200 hits go through it for two months last year,” manager Joe Girardi said, referring to Derek Jeter. “We’ve got to get [Wade] right.”

Girardi believes Wade is healthy, reasoning that the 29-year-old’s velocity is unchanged. Catcher Chris Stewart said Wade’s issue is his location.

“He’s missing over the plate,” Stewart said.

Wade had been a revelation after the Yankees picked him up in mid-season last year, pitching in 40 games and posting a sparkling 2.04 ERA. Then, for his first 22 games this season through June 1, Wade had a 2.28 ERA.

Through his first 62 games as a Yankee, Wade’s ERA was 2.13. In his last 10 games, it has been almost six times that.

Wade has become an important component of the bullpen, but right now it’s difficult to imagine the Yankees can trust him in important situations. If Wade doesn’t start pitching better, it’s also possible his role could be further diminished with rehabbing righty relievers Joba Chamberlain and David Aardsma potentially returning later this season.

Last night, Wade began the ninth inning with the Yankees up 6-0, thanks to Phil Hughes’ eight innings of work. Wade allowed Jason Kipnis’ leadoff double to center, then after getting the next two outs, surrendered Johnny Damon’s RBI bloop single and Casey Kotchman’s single. Jose Lopez then followed with a three-run homer to left, making it a 6-4 game. At that point, Girardi brought in Soriano to close it.

— Additional reporting by Dan Martin.

mark.hale@nypost.com

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lundi 25 juin 2012

Yankees' Cano disagrees with error call

Robinson Cano wanted to get one thing straight before he left Citi Field late last night.

“That was not an error,” he said. “If you want to make an error, make it the right error.’’

The Yankees second baseman, who had a ball hit by Justin Turner glance off his glove for an error that helped the Mets to a game-tying, three-run sixth inning, atoned for his miscue with a long, tie-breaking home run leading off the eighth as the Yankees beat the Mets 6-5 in the final game of the Subway Series.

But the home run — his 16th of the season — did little to soothe the slick-fielding Cano’s wounded pride.

YANKS ALOT: Robinson Cano (24) gets an excited congratulations from Nick Swisher after his solo homer in the eighth inning — on the heels of a sixth-inning error — lifted the Yankees to a 6-5 win over the Mets.

Anthony J. Causi

YANKS ALOT: Robinson Cano (24) gets an excited congratulations from Nick Swisher after his solo homer in the eighth inning — on the heels of a sixth-inning error — lifted the Yankees to a 6-5 win over the Mets.

“I don’t want to make an error, but that’s not an error,” he said. “That’s not right. I was playing [Turner] up the middle. I had to run to my left for that ball and it took a bad hop. That’s not an error.”

Cano was not the only Yankee to commit an error last night. His was just the most glaring.

YANKEES-METS BOX SCORE

PHOTOS: SUBWAY SERIES MOMENTS

Catcher Chris Stewart had a throwing error in the first inning and another in the third when the Mets scored their first run. And first baseman Mark Teixeira got screened by base runner Vinny Rottino on Andres Torres’ game-tying, two-run single in the sixth. It’s a play Teixeira usually makes in his sleep.

It was not the finest defensive effort of the season for the Yankees, who entered the night with the fewest errors in the American League (29). Only one of the five runs allowed by Yankees starter CC Sabathia was earned.

“Errors are gonna happen,” Sabathia said after getting the no-decision. “I was the one who made it tough on myself. They’ve played great defense all year ... and it was up to me to pick those guys up.”

“We had some miscues,” said manager Joe Girardi. “[Stewart] usually makes outstanding throws. If he makes decent ones there, things are different. Robbie is so sure-handed. That led to a big inning for them, but we were able to overcome it.’’

Thanks to Cano’s homer that barely missed landing in the big apple in dead center field, where Alex Rodriguez had deposited a ball earlier in the series.

“Robbie didn’t try to do too much,” Girardi said. “When he drives the ball to center field like that it tells me he’s not overswinging.’’

“I wasn’t trying to hit a homer,” said Cano, who went deep against Mets reliever Miguel Batista, a right-hander. “I was trying to get a pitch to hit, get a single or a double. Get into scoring position so that Tex or one of the other guys can get a single and I can score. I never had it in mind that I wanted to hit it out or anything like that.”

dburke@nypost.com

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The Ideas Man With a Plan for Germany

Joachim "Jogi" Loew does not look like a soccer coach, certainly not one of a powerhouse like Germany.

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Reuters

Germany coach Joachim Loew made critical tactical moves in a win over Greece on Friday in Euro 2012.

His hair, suspiciously thick and jet black, is a bit too perfect in a Sam Malone kind of way to the point where he was asked a while back if he wore a wig (no) or if he at least dyed it (again, no). His penchant for tight, sometimes shiny, monochrome shirts—both collarless and button-down—suggest his natural habitat might be an art gallery rather than a soccer pitch. And his jaunty, affable demeanor set him apart from soccer's standard ex-jocks, who tend to range from curmudgeonly and paranoid to crowd-pleasing and populist.

Loew is decidedly different, which might be the reason for his unlikely rise.

A former striker—which in itself is somewhat unusual, as most coaches tend to be former central defenders or midfielders—who never quite broke into the higher echelons as a player, Loew lasted less than a year in four of his five coaching jobs. Then his old friend Jurgen Klinsmann, now the U.S. coach, called on him to join Germany's staff as an assistant in 2004. Loew flourished under Klinsmann, developing a reputation as the ideas man, and he was handed the job after the 2006 World Cup.

Now Germany, with four wins in Euro 2012, looks to be on a collision course to meet Spain in the tournament's final next Sunday. On Wednesday, Spain takes on Portugal in the first semifinal, while Germany faces either England or Italy the following day.

Should the two uber-favorites reach the final in Kiev, it promises to be something of a grudge match. Spain, the reigning World Cup and Euro champions, knocked Germany out of the semifinal of the last World Cup and beat the Germans in the Euro 2008 final.

One of the things that stands out about Loew is his flexibility and willingness to make tweaks even when things are going well. Take Friday's quarterfinal with Greece as an excellent example. Germany had rolled through the group stage with three wins in what looked like the toughest group on paper. It was also the only team to have won all three games and had scored the second-most goals in the tournament.

More Euro 2012

Still The Reign of Spain

Germany Kicks Greece Out of Euro 2012

Euro 2012 Stream

So what did Loew do?

He benched three of his front four—Mario Gomez and wingers Thomas Mueller and Lukas Podolski—against the Greeks. That trio, which had started every game until that point, was replaced by veteran striker Miroslav Klose and attacking midfielders Marco Reus and Andreas Schurrle.

So much for the old coaching mantra of sticking with the guys who got you there.

"I wanted to freshen up the team a bit," Loew said. "Plus Marco [Reus] and Andreas [Schurrle] are a bit better at playing between the lines, and they are a bit more creative, and that's important against a team like Greece, who we knew would be defending deep. For the same reason I thought Miro [Klose's] movement could be important."

The logic was faultless. Podolski and Mueller, mainstays of the team that made the 2010 World Cup semifinals, are at their best when they have space in which to operate. That makes them exceptional counterattackers. Gomez, a big, powerful target man, is prolific but static: He needs someone to get him the ball, and he would've been double-teamed by the Greeks.

Yet the move still took a lot of courage. Between them, Reus and Schurrle have 23 international appearances; Mueller and Podolski have 131. Gomez was the Euro's leading scorer, whereas Klose had not scored in his previous six games.

Germany won 4-2, but it was the kind of decision that could have blown up in Loew's face and make him look like a fool. True, Greece wasn't the best matchup for the three incumbents. And realistically, there was a greater chance of Greece's creditors saying they would write off the country's national debt overnight than there was of an upset.

But had the three newcomers not played well, Loew could have faced turmoil and second-guessing in the locker room. Then again, he made a similar bold choice in 2008, switching from a 4-4-2 formation to a 4-2-3-1 midway through the tournament—a decision prompted not by results but by performance.

More than most, Loew is a big-picture guy. In 2010, his team's emphasis was on speed and exploiting the counterattack, something Germany did with devastating effect. Over the past two years, he has tried to make the team more adept at keeping possession and creating chances against opponents who defend in numbers. To make a basketball analogy, he has turned a run-and-gun team into one that loves half-court offense.

It makes sense: Opponents fear Germany much more than they did before. They sit deep and look to snatch something on the break, as was evident in the group games against Portugal and Denmark.

It would have been easy for Loew to stick with the tried-and-tested. But it's his desire to innovate and change—even making radical changes, like Friday's—that sets him apart. And ultimately, that could be the key to Germany winning the Euro. Or at least giving Spain a run for its money.

—Gabriele Marcotti is the world soccer columnist for The Times of London and a regular broadcaster for the BBC.

Joachim Loew, Joachim Jogi Loew, Germany, Germany, Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski, Spain, Marco Reus, Thomas Mueller

Online.wsj.com

dimanche 24 juin 2012

Frank's comments add Subway Series spice, but do they qualify as trash talk?

headshotMike Vaccaro
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Nothing ever happens in a vacuum around the Mets, so you knew Frank Francisco was going to come trotting out of the bullpen in the top of the ninth inning, seeking to protect a two-run lead on the day he helped land Derek Jeter on the front page of this newspaper in a chicken suit.

You knew Francisco wasn’t going to get out of it 1-2-3, either, because he it goes against his code to do things 1-2-3, and so when it was two on, one out, with Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez awaiting …

Well, that figured, too.

YANKEES-METS BOX SCORE

PHOTOS: SUBWAY SERIES MOMENTS

And even after he blew a fastball past the startled Curtis Granderson for the second out, you knew there had to be something extra, something excruciating, so there it was: a towering ball off the bat of Teixeira, Raul Ibanez and Derek Jeter roaring around the basepaths, the ball hovering over the infield, a million Mets fans enduring a million instant flashbacks …

And faster than you could say “Luisbleepincastillo,” the ball was in Omar Quintanilla’s glove, and it was over, and for a day at least Frank Francisco had called the mighty New York Yankees chicken and lived to tell about it.

And even quasi-apologize for it.

“I didn’t mean to hurt anyone’s feelings,” Francisco said.

Mets pitcher Frank Francisco reacts after the final out of his team's 6-4 win Friday against the Yankees.

Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post

Mets pitcher Frank Francisco reacts after the final out of his team's 6-4 win Friday against the Yankees.

Of course, because he apparently can’t help himself, a few seconds later, asked again if he thought the Yankees might be a bit too quick to complain about calls – the genesis of his poultry proposition in the first place – he smiled a half smile, half-nodded in the vicinity of the visitor’s clubhouse, and said, “They may be complaining right now.”

And, of course, because he clearly knows that he can’t help himself, a few seconds after that, he said, “I’ve got a lot of respect for those guys. There’s a lot of winners in that room.”

And thus ended another chapter in the wonderfully unpredictable and entirely unscripted world of Frank Frank, the Mets closer who not only enjoys turning the ninth innings of baseball games into something straight out of a Six Flags, he has now become the first participant in this 15-year Subway Series to dare to engage in a little bit of trash talk.

Sure, you can ask: does calling someone a “chicken” actually qualify as trash talk? Do six-year-olds called chicken in sandboxes even get their feelings hurt over that kind of thing anymore? Do you even need to summon the sticks and stones to salve those wounds?

And, yes: in the long history of intramural New York baseball, this hardly qualifies as a ripple. Hell, back in the day, back before there was even a name for it, the Giants and the Dodgers used to engage in epic spasms of trash talk.

Let’s rewind things almost 80 years, OK? It was 1934 when Bill Terry, managing the defending-champion Giants, was asked about his team’s most bitter rival and the odds they’d be heard from that season. Terry’s reply? “Is Brooklyn still in the league?” [ital] That’s [ital] quality trash talk, especially if you consider the Dodgers, managed by Casey Stengel, wound up knocking the Giants out of the pennant by winning two of three from the Terrymen in the season’s final week.

Not that anyone learned from that (thankfully for all). For it was 17 years later when, after his Dodgers stretched their lead in the National League to 13 ½ games, Brooklyn’s manager, Charlie Dressen, famously declared, “The Giants is dead!”

Which they wasn’t, as it turned out.

THAT is quality trash talk.

Maybe this is the start of something. Maybe today, we’ll show up at the ballpark and Ike Davis will want to declare that his father could beat up Derek Jeter’s father. Maybe the Yankees, unwilling to take it any longer, will tell the Post exclusively that the Mets suffer from an unrelenting case of cooties.

It could get ugly. You have to be ready for anything.

michael.vaccaro@nypost.com

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Ex-execs in AIG settlement

Five former insurance executives accused of engineering a fraudulent reinsurance transaction to mask a drop of reserves at American International Group reached a deal with the government to avoid prosecution on criminal charges, according to a court filing.

The former execs agreed to pay fines of between $100,000 and $250,000, and in exchange federal prosecutors will agree to dismiss the charges against them in one year, according to the filing.

The agreement is still subject to a judge’s approval.

Under the agreement filed yesterday, former General Re CEO Ronald Ferguson agreed to a fine of $200,000, which has already been paid.

Ex-AIG Vice-President Christian Milton agreed to a $200,000 fine, also already paid. Former General Re exec Chris Garand agreed to pay a $150,000 fine, ex-General Re exec Elizabeth Monrad agreed to a $250,000 fine and former General Re exec Robert Graham signed off on a $100,000 fine.

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samedi 23 juin 2012

Liberty pounded by Lynx

MINNEAPOLIS — It took a quarter to get going, but once they did, the Minnesota Lynx showed that they can recover from a loss just fine.

Seimone Augustus scored a season-high 26 points, rookie Devereaux Peters added a career-best 18, and the Lynx got back on track by beating the Liberty 102-70 on Thursday night.

Taj McWilliams-Franklin added 15 points for Minnesota (11-1), which started the season a WNBA-best 10-0 before losing to Seattle on Sunday.

“We wanted to see how we’d bounce back. I think everybody wanted to see it,” Augustus said. “We had a lack of aggression, but in the second quarter, we showed what we can do.”

Cappie Pondexter scored a season-high 30 points to lead the Liberty (4-8). Nicole Powell scored 16 and made all four 3-point attempts as New York lost for the third time in four games.

“This is the hardest team in the WNBA to defend because they have so many offensive weapons,” Liberty coach John Whisenant said. “They just spanked us. They played like a WNBA champion.”

Six of the Liberty’s losses this season have been by at least 15 points — four by at least 23, including a franchise-worst 97-55 defeat at Connecticut last Friday.

The Lynx have won 12 straight at home since a loss to New York on Sept. 2 last season. The Liberty hit 13 of 26 3-pointers in that game, and it looked like they might have a repeat performance here again.

The Liberty made five of their first six from long distance and jumped to a 28-17 lead early in the second quarter.

Augustus then scored seven points during a 13-0 run that gave the Lynx the lead for good.

“We started flying around, getting deflections and turned the tide a little bit,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. “We really wanted to respond to that loss in Seattle. We were trying hard. Maybe too hard in the beginning.”

The 32-point win for the defending WNBA champs was their largest margin of victory this season and the fourth time they have beat an opponent by 20 or more points.

Leilani Mitchell swished a half-court shot that cut Minnesota’s lead to 45-42 at halftime. Nevertheless, despite Pondexter’s best efforts, the Liberty never got closer.

Whenever Pondexter made a shot, Augustus usually answered.

Augustus’ 3-pointer capped a 9-0 run that stretched the Lynx’s lead to 56-44 with 6:22 left in the third. She had a fall-away baseline hook that rolled around and in and resulted in a three-point play late in the third to increase the lead to 16.

It was also a bounce-back game for Augustus, who made just 17 of her last 44 shots before Thursday.

“She just has that gift to put it in the hole,” Reeve said. “She’s very prideful. If you slow her down for a few games, she’s not going to let it happen again.”

Minnesota also scored the first 10 points of the fourth to push the advantage to 91-63 with 7¹/ minutes to go.

Minnesota outrebounded the Liberty 49-31 and had assists on 26 of its 36 field goals.

“They had 16 offensive rebounds,” Whisenant said. “It’s been our nemesis all year. We can play good defense, but if we let the other team get the offensive rebound, it doesn’t do us much good.”

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‘Vision’ wins at Ascot

ASCOT, England — Colour Vision edged out Opinion Poll to win the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot yesterday in a 1-2 for the Dubai-based Godolphin stable.

Colour Vision was ridden by Italian rider Frankie Dettori, who had earlier this week switched mounts from Opinion Poll.

Fame and Glory, the 4-5 favorite and last year’s winner of the race, finished back in the field.

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vendredi 22 juin 2012

No soup for you!

EXCLUSIVE

The retail chain made famous by the Soup Nazi more than 15 years ago on “Seinfeld” is now simmering in a savory and textured legal battle, The Post has learned.

Al Yeganeh, the eccentric New York soup maker whose autocratic style inspired the popular sitcom character — and gave rise to the “No soup for you!” catchphrase — is caught in the middle of a bitter courtroom feud pitting the current owners of “The Original Soup Man” chain against the creditors of the bankrupt Soup Kitchen International, the operation that originally owned the trademark.

The creditors of the now-bankrupt company claim they were forced out of business by a group of the owners who, after spilling $20 million in red ink over four years, formed a new outfit and bought at bargain-basement prices all the key rights and assets from the original concern, including Yeganeh’s recipes.

HOT TOPIC:That’s <a href=Al Yeganeh (above) who started it all — first as inspiration for the Soup Nazi character on “Seinfeld”. The chain of soup stores founded by Yeganeh is embroiled in a nasty legal dispute over a licensing contract." title="HOT TOPIC:That’s Al Yeganeh (above) who started it all — first as inspiration for the Soup Nazi character on “Seinfeld”. The chain of soup stores founded by Yeganeh is embroiled in a nasty legal dispute over a licensing contract." width="300" height="300" src="/rw/nypost/2012/06/22/business/web_photos/22.1f029.soup1.c--300x300.jpg" />

HOT TOPIC:That’s Al Yeganeh (above) who started it all — first as inspiration for the Soup Nazi character on “Seinfeld”. The chain of soup stores founded by Yeganeh is embroiled in a nasty legal dispute over a licensing contract.

At the center of the dispute is Sebastian “Seb” Rametta, who was convicted of securities fraud in 2001 on a separate matter. Rametta, who first convinced Yeganeh in 2004 to license the brand to SKI, now helps run Soup Man, according to a lawsuit filed by SKI’s court-appointed trustee.

Rametta, who previously ran Ranch 1, a once-thriving grilled chicken fast-food chain, mismanaged SKI and improperly “dominated and controlled” the company, the trustee, Robert Geltzer, said in the complaint.

Geltzer alleges Rametta then improperly seized the licensing deal from SKI in 2009. The transfer was made without the knowledge of some SKI shareholders, according to court papers.

Rametta, through Soup Man, denies the allegations.

The two sides have been ordered to mediate the matter and are scheduled for a meeting next week.

The creditors’ group includes John Bello, creator of the SoBe brand of drinks, who was chairman and CEO of SKI a few years before it filed for bankruptcy in 2010.

Bob Bertrand, chief financial officer of Soup Man and a named defendant in the case, told The Post that SKI shareholders received $100,000 cash for the licensing agreement, which he deemed sufficient “for a company that had negative cash flow.”

The new company — which recently signed former “Seinfeld” co-star Jason Alexander as a spokesman for the chain, where large soups sell for up to $9 — also took on $3.6 million in SKI debt and gave SKI the licensing rights to Mexico, Bertrand said.

Bertrand told The Post he is confident the matter will “get settled next week or the week after,” and said he does not believe Soup Man’s ownership of the licenses are at risk.

Publicly-traded Soup Man operates 10 locations in New York state, with five others dotted across the country, according to the company’s website.

But Bill McCreery, one of SKI’s disgruntled shareholders and a former officer, says he can’t see how the licensing agreement can remain with the Staten Island-based Soup Man, “even if they write a check for a gazillion dollars.”

Meanwhile, Yeganeh’s position on the matter remains a mystery.

People associated with SKI said the eccentric chef stepped away from Rametta years ago and has refused to help his new company promote its products.

Bertrand said Yeganeh “doesn’t like controversy so he’s laying low.” The Soup Man CFO, perhaps looking to downplay any possible schism between Yeganeh and the Soup Man brass, said Yeganeh has been “to every opening when we opened a new restaurant.”

However, Yeganeh, who sold his 55th Street shop in 2010 after 26 years, was a no-show at the store’s relaunch two years ago — much to the disappointment of soup-loving New Yorkers, according to press reports at the time.

Soup Man shares closed yesterday down 2.4 percent at 83 cents, and are down 16 percent this year.

Yeganeh, whose “Seinfeld” counterpart would famously shout “No soup for you!” to anyone who violated his strict rules on ordering his soups, didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment.

kwhitehouse@nypost.com

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jeudi 21 juin 2012

Buy-and-fold beats buy-and-hold

Stocks for the long run — wrong.

That’s the view of two business professors whose research into the stock market blew away conventional wisdom that investing in stocks over the long haul — the so-called buy-and-hold theory — lowers volatility.

Not so, say the professors, whose research paper yesterday won them the first Whitebox prize — awarded to outstanding financial research.

“Their paper serves as a bold, bright neon sign proclaiming ‘investors beware,’” Whitebox CEO Andrew Redleaf said in awarding the prize to Lubos Pastor of the University of Chicago and Robert Stambaugh of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

“Our basic message is that stocks should look a little riskier than they did before,” said Stambaugh.

The new research shows that uncertainty about the future increases the potential for more volatility in equities over the long run.

That might seem like common sense to investors who lived through the 2008 crash.

If the new view were to become mainstream, Stambaugh said, “relative values would drop and the expected rewards would be higher.”

Oddly, the view of the two academics contradicts that of Stambaugh’s more famous Wharton colleague, Jeremy Siegel, whose famous tome, “Stocks for the Long Run,” popularized stock investing.

Siegel helped propel a generation of baby boomers — and their 401(k)s — into the stock market during the 1990s.

Siegel, along with hordes of financial advisers and brokers, have argued that investors should hold on to stocks during volatile periods because over time, the rewards are worth it.

But research doesn’t bear that out, said Stambaugh. He added that his and Pastor’s research throws cold water on the target-dated funds that have become the latest fad among 401(k) investments.

mcelarier@nypost.com

Robert Stambaugh, stock market, research paper, Lubos Pastor, University of Chicago, Jeremy Siegel, Andrew Redleaf, investors, business professors, the Wharton School

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mercredi 20 juin 2012

Giants’ Manning wants at-bat against Dickey

Eli wants an AB vs. R.A.

No one at the moment can get a sniff of a hit against the remarkable R.A. Dickey but Eli Manning, who lately can do no wrong himself, wants to step into the batters’ box to see that amazing knuckleball up close.

“I asked him if I could get up there and he could throw me a few knuckleballs,’’ Manning said Tuesday after a quick shift at the drive-thru window at a Dunkin’ Donuts in Secaucus, N.J., recounting his Father’s Day conversation with Dickey at Citi Field. “I just want to see what it looked like but we didn’t quite have enough time.’’

Probably better for Eli that he never picked up a bat and took some swings against Dickey, who is coming off back-to-back complete-game one-hitters.

Manning paid a visit to the Mets this past Sunday to throw out the first pitch, a Father’s Day honor he shared with his toddler daughter, Ava. “I was hoping she’d be able to throw it out there but I didn’t want her to get booed if she didn’t make it to the plate,’’ Eli said. “I thought I made a wise decision.’’

As a two-time Super Bowl MVP, Manning knows all about being a sensation. He’s got more than a few connections with Dickey, who attended the University of Tennessee the same time Eli’s older brother Peyton. Dickey, like Eli’s wife, Abby, is from Nashville, so there were several conversation starters when they chatted over the weekend.

“I talked to him a few years ago, he was having some issues with plantar fasciitis, I’ve become an expert on that, having dealt with it,’’ said Manning after the announcement that he’s partnered with Dunkin’ Donuts for a three-year promotional deal that will have him appearing in advertisements in the New York area. “It’s been fun watching him this season, got to watch a little bit of the game last night when he was on the mound.’’

As for his day job, Manning said he made sure to get a workout in earlier in the morning before heading over to the Dunkin’ Donuts appearance just a long completion away from MetLife Stadium and the Giants’ practice facility.

“Try to manage my time well,’’ Manning said. “The off-season is a time to get some things done , do some things like you want to do, like “Saturday Night Live,’’ those type of opportunities, as long as they don’t affect my preparation for football and my commitment to the Giants. I didn’t miss a single workout this year, was at every team activity, working hard to make sure I’m getting better but also trying to do some things outside of football.’’

paul.schwartz@nypost.com

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Four Ways to Look at a War

Ottawa

Americans and Canadians tell two very different stories about the War of 1812. For Americans, it's all about Dolly Madison saving the White House artwork and Francis Scott Key giving us our national anthem. For Canadians, it's the seminal event that forged a national identity before they were even a nation.

[canadawar] Canadian War Museum

A grave marker for an American soldier of the War of 1812.

A new exhibit at the Canadian War Museum marking the conflict's bicentennial explains that there were actually four distinct combatants: the Americans, the Canadians, the British and the Indians. The museum does an excellent—and evenhanded—job of defining the experiences of all four groups. This history is told through 130 artifacts—paintings, grave markers, uniforms, weapons and prizes of war—from the museum's own collection, as well as some important pieces on loan from a number of British, Canadian and U.S. institutions, all augmented by informative panels and dioramas.

The exhibit opens with an ornate American grave marker and a panel that reminds visitors that some 35,000 men, women and children were killed during this often-forgotten conflict. Visitors then enter a rotunda that presents a brief overview of what the war meant for all four groups. Off of this hub are four exhibit halls that hold most of the artifacts and present a more detailed accounting of what was at stake for each.

For the Americans, the War of 1812 is often called "the second American Revolution." That's because, more than a quarter-century after Yorktown, Britain, desperate for able-bodied seamen to send against Napoleon, was still regularly boarding American ships. Among the objects on display is an American household water pitcher, on loan from the Smithsonian, with an inscription that reads, "Free trade & sailor's rights."

1812

Canadian War Museum
Through Jan. 6, 2013

On June 18, 1812, President James Madison had had enough and declared war on Britain. In July, American Army commander William Hull captured Sandwich (today Windsor, Ontario), across from Detroit. A month later, the Canadians, led by Maj. Gen. Sir Isaac Brock, not only took back Sandwich but captured Detroit. And that's how the war would go for the next 2½ years—brief cross-border incursions (mostly by the Americans) that resulted in modest territorial gains but no real progress toward the greater American goal of capturing Quebec City and cutting off British supply lines from the sea.

Two of the most impressive objects in the American wing are a carved wooden lion taken as a war prize from the legislative assembly in York (now Toronto), a building the Americans burned to the ground in April 1813. Of course, the British did some burning of their own. Shown here is a piece of charred wood found during a 1950s restoration of the White House overseen by then-Rep. Gerald Ford.

For the British, the war was mostly an annoying distraction from the more-important Napoleonic Wars. Today, Nelson and Wellington are far better remembered than Sir George Prévost, military commander-in-chief of Canada. Britain, too, understood that as long as it held onto Quebec City and the maritime provinces, its hold on Canada was secure.

The museum has an original of the June 1812 expulsion order telling all Americans to leave Quebec City, as well as a Quebec City Militia officer's uniform. But the most impressive display is a 1915 commemorative print of the signing of the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the War of 1812. Turn around, and visitors see an actual copy of the treaty, on loan from the U.S. National Archives.

Indian alliances were also important to the British. The exhibit features several so-called loyalty medals, given to Indian chiefs in thanks for their support. One of these, on loan from the Tilston Memorial Collection of Canadian Military Medals, is about 6 inches across and was minted in 1783 with a likeness of King George III.

The Canadian gallery focuses on two of the most prominent figures from the war, Sir Isaac Brock and Laura Secord, the hero and heroine of Upper Canada, the colonial name for most of modern-day Ontario. Just a few months after Brock took Detroit, he was mortally wounded at the Battle of Queenston Heights. An 1896 David Kelly print of the battle is historically inaccurate, but Brock's tunic, on display here, is the genuine article. If you look just under the lapel, you can see the hole made by the bullet that killed him.

Secord is more famous today for the chain of chocolate shops named after her than for what she did in June 1813. Having overheard American officers planning an attack on a British outpost near Queenston, she slipped past American sentries and trekked 32 kilometers (20 miles) to warn the British. Three days later, the British and a band of Mohawk and Anishnaabe warriors ambushed American forces at the Battle of Beaver Dams.

There are also two charred books, the only surviving tomes from the Niagara Library, which the Americans burned in December 1813, as well as Owen Staples's 1914 oil painting "View of the Town of York," depicting the American sacking of York.

For the Indians, the War of 1812 was the beginning of the end. Two important Indian leaders were brothers Tecumseh and Tenkwatawa, who convinced tribes to form a united front against the Americans. They allied with the British, and Tecumseh was killed at the Battle of Thames. After that, the alliance broke apart and the Americans, as they expanded west, were able to pick off the tribes one by one. So the destiny of the American Indian was forged not in Montana and Arizona, but in Upper Canada.

The Indian gallery features a Rembrandt Peale portrait (c. 1813) of future U.S. President William Henry Harrison, who defeated Tecumseh at Thames, as well as a buckskin jacket worn by Hillis Hadjo, leader of the Red Sticks (Batons Rouge), who were defeated by another future U.S. president, Andrew Jackson, at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814.

The stories and the artifacts mesh nicely, making this exhibit of an oft-forgotten war most memorable.

Mr. Yost is a writer in Chicago.

War of 1812, War of 1812, War of 1812, War of 1812, Sir Isaac Brock, Sir Isaac Brock, Quebec City, Dolly Madison, White House, White House, Detroit, Detroit, Britain, American Army commander William Hull, the Canadian War Museum, the Americans, the Americans, grave markers, an American soldier, grave marker, Canada

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India Races to Contain Untreatable TB

Multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis has been a growing problem in India for years. Now an even more extreme strain of the deadly disease -- resistant to all of the drugs normally used to treat it -- is causing concern. WSJ's Natacha Butler reports from Mumbai.

MUMBAI—India's slow response to years of medical warnings now threatens to turn the country into an incubator for a mutant strain of tuberculosis that is proving resistant to all known treatments, raising alarms of a new global health hazard.

"We finally have ended up with a virtually untreatable strain" of tuberculosis in India, said Dr. Zarir Udwadia, one of the country's leading TB authorities.

In December, Dr. Udwadia reported in a medical journal that he had four tuberculosis patients resistant to all treatment. By January, he had a dozen cases, then 15.

A government backlash began immediately. Anonymous health-ministry officials denied the reports through media outlets. They accused Dr. Udwadia and his colleagues of starting a panic. A Mumbai city health official seized patient samples for verification in government labs.

In April, the government quietly confirmed the strain, according to internal Indian health-ministry documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

Spread of the strain could return tuberculosis to the fatal plague that killed two-thirds of people afflicted, before modern treatments were developed in the 1940s, said Dr. Mario Raviglione, director of the Stop TB Department of the World Health Organization. The WHO is now assisting India to combat the strain.

Tuberculosis Strains Raise Concern in India

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Ganga Jatolia, and her mother, Geeta, inside their small house in the Chembur neighborhood of Mumbai.

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The number of known cases in India is small but geographically dispersed. Dr. Udwadia's patients are in Mumbai, at the P.D. Hinduja National Hospital & Medical Research Center. In the high-tech hub of Bangalore, St. John's National Academy of Health Sciences has seen six cases. And in New Delhi, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences has confirmed another two, said officials at the institutions.

"While this handful of cases is worrying, it's just the tip of the iceberg," said Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, of India's National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis. For treatments, Dr. Udwadia said, "We've got nothing."

Ashok Kumar, head of India's tuberculosis-control program, said the government was "seriously addressing" the widening drug-resistance problem. However, he refuted Dr. Udwadia's description of a "totally drug-resistant" TB strain—not because there is a treatment, but because the term isn't internationally recognized and a new cure could be discovered.

Dr. Kumar said Dr. Udwadia and his hospital should have reported the cases to local health authorities, instead of an international medical journal. Public concern about drug-resistant TB, he said, "is not a well-founded fear."

Tuberculosis, a communicable, airborne disease that usually attacks the lungs, is mostly found in pockets of deep poverty around the world. Healthy, well-fed people are less likely to contract the disease when exposed.

India has the largest number of the world's cases—2.3 million of the nearly nine million people afflicted annually—and it is the country's most fatal infectious illness. Government authorities estimated about 100,000 of India's patients have drug-resistant strains, which researchers say can mutate into forms increasingly immune to more and more medicines.

For years, India was praised for having the world's most ambitious TB treatment program, with 640,000 people who dispense medicines and 13,000 centers for diagnosis.

But the program is strained. TB patients, for example, are treated by village nurses, who also supervise most other health programs, said Dr. Swaminathan. Nurses often don't have time to monitor TB patients, who must take medicines for months. Many patients quit early.

The government has promised to expand its treatment system by 2017, with the goal of quickly diagnosing and treating drug-resistant TB cases.

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Experts, however, doubt India can keep its promise with the $230 million earmarked for each of the next four years, given the high cost of diagnostic equipment and the drugs needed to battle resistant strains.

In most of the country, India pays only for standard TB treatment, which medical authorities say is useless against the antibiotic-resistant strains. In fact, experts said, antibiotics that don't kill the disease provide favorable conditions for mutation of new, stronger strains.

Experts of the World Health Organization met in Geneva to discuss untreatable TB in March, according to documents reviewed by the Journal. They decided against creating a "totally drug-resistant" category because the condition was difficult to confirm in a lab. Some participants also worried about the psychological effect on patients if their illness was declared "totally drug resistant."

Camilla Rodrigues, lab chief at Hinduja Hospital where most of India's cases have been found, said the strain's total drug resistance was indeed difficult to confirm in a lab. But, she said, it was easily confirmed in clinical practice: Four of 15 patients whose lab tests showed the strain have died, despite aggressive treatment. The hospital has since stopped publicly reporting its cases.

The Indian cases are the latest and most serious in a steady increase in resistance to tuberculosis drugs around the world. The first reports of so-called totally drug resistant TB came from Italy in 2007. Two years later, researchers in Iran reported patients who failed to respond to any known TB drugs.

Many countries have reported multidrug-resistant TB, which the WHO defines as a strain resistant to the two most powerful drugs. A smaller group of patients have extensively resistant TB—a strain resistant to most of the 12 known treatments—with survival rates that vary according to the quality of medical care.

The New England Journal of Medicine this month published a study showing 10% of TB patients in China had multidrug-resistant strains.

For almost two decades, Dr. Udwadia and his colleagues have been diagnosing patients with increasingly resistant TB, warning the strains could spiral out of control.

In 1996, he delivered a lecture on the topic at the American College of Chest Physicians conference in San Francisco. In 2003, he published a paper in the New York Academy of Sciences reporting that multidrug-resistant TB was rampant among patients he saw at his hospital.

India's TB program for years focused on treating regular strains. Patients who didn't improve received the same treatment for longer but with one more antibiotic. The regimen had virtually no chance of defeating resistant strains, experts said.

"It serves merely to amplify resistance over a further eight months, allowing drug-resistant TB to spread," Dr. Udwadia wrote this year in Thorax, the respiratory medicine journal published by the British Thoracic Society.

Dr. Udwadia, 51 years old, trained in Mumbai's public hospitals, where TB is rampant, and at City Hospital in Edinburgh, where researchers first combined medicines for a cure.

He returned to Mumbai in 1991, and tuberculosis has since been the focus of his practice and research. He has a small office at the end of a long, gray corridor on the third floor of the clinic building at the Hinduja National Hospital.

On a recent Monday, a line of a dozen patients in saris, burqas and kurta pajamas stretched down the corridor from his doorway. Dr. Udwadia sat by an open window to reduce the chance of infection but wore no surgical mask with his patients. He whipped medical records and X-rays out of yellow envelopes, studied them, scrawled notes and then tossed them in a pile on the floor. He saw 50 patients in less than two hours.

Tall and lean, with a dome of black hair, the doctor spoke to patients in rapid-fire English and Hindi. Most were poor—fruit vendors, rickshaw drivers. A young doctor with drug-resistant TB entered his office trembling. Dr. Udwadia chided him, "Get a grip, doctor. You, of all people, have to stay positive."

Dr. Udwadia beamed at 16-year-old Dinesh Jatolia, who came with his mother. The boy, who has an extensively resistant strain, filled out his white T-shirt with broad shoulders and muscular arms. The teenager has gained eight pounds since Dr. Udwadia last saw him, a sign his treatment was working.

Dinesh's mother was eager to ask about her daughter, who was at home suffering with the same strain. "Is there any hope for Ganga?" she asked.

"I can never say there's no hope," Dr. Udwadia said. "But your son is much better off than your daughter."

In a corner of the family's home in the Chembur neighborhood, 19-year-old Ganga used her pencil-thin arms to push herself up from a low bed during a visit in April. Beside her were sacks filled with the soles of chappals, Indian slippers her parents assemble for less than one cent a pair. The family income is $60 a month.

On a shelf is a photograph of Ganga's older brother, who died this year of TB. Last year, an older sister died of the disease.

Their mother, Geeta Jatolia, sold her gold jewelry to buy $6,000 worth of TB medicines for the two dead children because the Indian government only paid to treat patients with the regular strain. The family has been spending its entire monthly income on medicines for the two surviving children. They borrow money from neighbors and friends to buy food.

Having seen two children die, Mrs. Jatolia said, "We try to make the medicines the first priority."

Tuberculosis has long been a global killer. Traces were found in the skeletons of Egyptian mummies. There are records of the disease from Hippocrates, the Indian Rig Veda and ancient Chinese texts. At the start of the 19th century, tuberculosis was the main cause of death in most of Europe.

After the discovery of the antibiotic streptomycin in the 1940s, followed later by chemotherapy agents, researchers created a combination of treatments called modern short-course chemotherapy. TB could now be cured in six months.

The disease continued to thrive in countries like India, where people are weakened by malnutrition. A challenge everywhere is keeping patients on their medicines, which can have side effects of nausea and loss of feeling in the limbs.

Drug-resistant tuberculosis develops when patients fail to complete the full treatment or don't take strong enough medicines. If TB isn't attacked with the right medicines long enough to kill it, the bacteria mutates.

In the U.S. and most western European countries, patients are tested for resistant strains at their initial diagnosis. India has continued to test for and treat only the regular strain of tuberculosis in most of the country.

In 2006, Dr. Udwadia and colleagues at Hinduja National Hospital reported India's first cases of extensively drug-resistant TB, the variety afflicting Dinesh Jatolia and his siblings. That year, India announced it would expand its TB program to tackle multidrug-resistant strains and two years later began building a network of labs to diagnose them.

India has so far built 37 of the labs and is treating 5,000 patients with multidrug-resistant TB—a fraction of those afflicted with the strain, said Dr. Kumar.

The government waited to tackle resistant strains largely because India didn't have labs able to diagnose those varieties. It also made sense, Dr. Kumar said, to focus first on treating the more than two million patients who could be cured for about 500 rupees each, or $9, he said. Treating drug-resistant TB costs at least 100,000 rupees, or $1,800.

The WHO has since 2010 urged India to buy machines that can test patients for drug-resistant TB in two hours, rather than waiting through months of failed treatments. Not properly diagnosing TB strains, said Dr. Raviglione of the WHO, "is why we've progressed very little in fighting drug resistance,"

The diagnostic machines cost about $70,000 and each patient test is about $16, said Dr. Raviglione, which includes a discount negotiated by the WHO.

The machines are in pilot programs and if they work, Dr. Kumar said, India will buy more.

Dr. Udwadia said he was worried they would come too late: "We're chasing the snowball down the hill."

During a visit this month, the Jatolia family's house was quiet. Mrs. Jatolia sat in one corner. Ganga's metal-frame bed, where the girl had spent months fighting to breathe, was empty.

"Ganga died four days ago," Mrs. Jatolia said. In a last effort to save her daughter, she put Ganga in a hospital, mortgaging the family's two-room home to pay the bill.

"We've sold everything we had, we've borrowed money on everything we owned," she said, "and all we have to show for it is three dead children."

—Shreya Shah contributed to this article.

Write to Geeta Anand at geeta.anand@wsj.com

A version of this article appeared June 20, 2012, on page A1 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: India in Race to Contain Untreatable Tuberculosis.
Online.wsj.com

mardi 19 juin 2012

Russia Braces for Economic Storms

MOSCOW—Prices for oil, its main export, are sliding, and Russia is already gearing up for economic troubles, laying plans for spending cuts and a weaker ruble if the global situation worsens further, according to First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov.

"The dangers are clear—falling demand for our products and the prices on them—just what we saw in 2008. For the moment, it doesn't look that bad, but we need to be ready for the most dramatic possible shocks," he said in an interview.

Russia spent tens of billions defending the ruble in 2008 and its once-hot economy dropped into a steep recession in 2009. Growth this year is expected to be around 4%.

Mr. Shuvalov said Russia is better prepared than in 2008, with less foreign-currency debt and a "practically free-floating" ruble. "At $90, we feel more or less OK," he said, referring to the price for crude oil in Europe, now about $96 a barrel.

Russia's Shuvalov on Economy, Policy

Read excerpts from the WSJ interview.

He said the government remains committed to promised steps to improve the investment climate and open the economy, including an aggressive plan to cut state ownership in half over the next five to six years.

In the first major official Russian comment on the recent explosion in tension between BP PLC and its Russian partners, Mr. Shuvalov said the government doesn't want a state company to buy BP's stake in the TNK-BP Ltd. joint venture but would welcome a takeover by BP's existing local partners, a group of Soviet-born billionaires known as AAR.

Relations between the two sides have grown so tense that BP on June 1 said it is considering selling its 50% stake in TNK-BP,which is Russia's third-largest oil producer. AAR has expressed interest, but so has a Russian state company, according to people close to the process, raising concern about a tightening of Kremlin control over the oil industry in the world's largest energy producer. "If the conflict with BP won't go away, then it's better that AAR buy BP out," Mr. Shuvalov said.

While BP has denounced AAR's approach, Mr. Shuvalov praised the often-tough tactics of its dominant shareholder, Mikhail Fridman's Alfa Group. "They're difficult partners, but they are very responsible and have shown that they can achieve a lot," said Mr. Shuvalov.

Mr. Shuvalov said the government also would be happy to see another foreign company join TNK-BP. He left the door open to participation for a state company as part of a broader alliance in which another foreign major might take a stake in OAO Rosneft, the state oil company. The government also would be eager to find a way to keep BP in the Russian oil sector even if it sold its TNK-BP stake, he said.

No discussions are under way with the government on any of these issues at the moment, he said. He said he wasn't aware that a state company had expressed interest in buying BP's stake, adding that the government would have to approve such a deal for it to go through.

Mr. Shuvalov confirmed Russia was considering a request for financial assistance from a European country but said a final decision would involve "political considerations" and would be taken by Russia's top leadership. Officials in Cyprus, struggling with banking problems, have said they have appealed to Moscow for a second bailout loan.

Mr. Shuvalov said that for Russia, the greater risk is a sharp slowdown in European growth because of its potential impact on world prices for Russia's commodity exports, rather than the fate of the euro.

In Mexico for the meeting of the Group of 20 leading economies, Russian President Vladimir Putin in a local newspaper touted Russia's low debt and relatively strong growth, but also pledged to speed reforms and called on other countries to "end the hypocrisy" and reach agreement limiting protective tariffs on trade.

Many investors have expressed concern that with Mr. Putin's return to the presidency in May, hopes for long-awaited economic reforms are fading. Mr. Shuvalov said the government remains committed to steps to improve the investment climate, noting that much of the huge capital outflow seen in recent months has been from companies with too few suitable projects to invest in.

Mr. Shuvalov hinted at differences within the government over the pace of a planned sell-off of state assets, noting that the strategic energy sector will get special treatment. But he sought to allay fears that Rosneftegaz, a state holding company where former Kremlin energy czar Igor Sechin is expected to join the board soon, would be used to bring more assets under state control. "The prime minister and I and our colleagues agree that there's no reason for the state to use it as a means to grab up assets," he said.

Political opposition and budget problems could slow some painful overhauls in areas like health, pensions and education, he said. But investors should welcome the new tension in Russia's political system, as evidenced by the mass street demonstrations in the months since the contested December parliamentary elections, Mr. Shuvalov said.

"If gradually, with the authorities moving back and forth between tightening up and loosening, people get used to this 'new normal' of protests, that means the political system is developing," he said.

Even if the Kremlin gradually opens the political system at home, tensions with the West over foreign policy—such as Moscow's support for the regime in Syria—are likely to continue because of broad domestic support for Russia's independent foreign policy, he said.

"There's no reason to expect that even if Russia has the most developed political system and no one can find anything to criticize on freedom, there won't be frictions in the international arena," he said.

Write to Gregory L. White at greg.white@wsj.com

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lundi 18 juin 2012

Sports Shorts

mlb: Burnett wins sixth consecutive start

A.J. Burnett became the first Pirates pitcher since 1990 to win six straight starts as the Pirates beat the Indians in Cleveland, 9-2. Burnett (7-2) gave up two runs over 6 2/3 innings. It’s the best stretch by a Pirates pitcher since Doug Drabek won six in a row during his NL Cy Young Award-winning season.

In Atlanta, Jason Hammel pitched a one-hitter for his first career shutout, allowing only Jason Heyward’s two-out single in the seventh as the Orioles beat the Braves 5-0.

In Toronto, Rajai Davis drove home the winning run with a two-out single in the 10th and the Blue Jays rallied past the Phillies 6-5, extending Cliff Lee’s winless streak to 11 starts. Lee allowed five runs and 12 hits in seven-plus innings.

The Mariners have recalled LHP Oliver Perez. The ex-Met l has not been in the majors since 2010.

Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton was released from a local hospital in the morning, one day after checking in and receiving fluids to help treat an intestinal virus. He is expected to play tomorrow agains t the Padres in San Diego.

The Red Sox have placed pitcher Josh Beckett on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right shoulder.

soccer: Wambach leads U.S. women to win

Abby Wambach’s 136th career goal for the U.S. women’s team led the Americans past Sweden 3-1 yesterday in Halmstad, Sweden, in a tune-up for the London Olympics.

The U.S. team faces Japan, which beat the Americans for the World Cup title last year, tomorrow.

OLYMPICS: Top U.S. cyclists asked off team

Four top U.S. cyclists — all former teammates of Lance Armstrong — removed their names from consideration for spots on the Olympic team before it was announced last week.

Levi Leipheimer, George Hincapie, Christian Vande Velde and David Zabriskie asked they be taken out of the running for places road team for next month’s London Games.

All four spent time on the U.S. Postal team with Armstrong. The seven-time Tour de France champion is facing fresh allegations of doping by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

ETC.: Adamek tops Chambers for IBF title

In Newark, Tomasz Adamek unanimously outpointed Eddie Chambers in a 12-round bout to capture the IBF North American heavyweight championship.

Adamek, a Polish fighter who lives in Kearny, N.J., has won two straight fights after losing a WBC heavyweight title fight to Vitali Klitschko last September in Poland.

In France, Darren Fichardt shot a 2-under 69 for a five-stroke lead after the third round of the Saint-Omer Open.

Jason Hammel, Doug Drabek, Tomasz Adamek, Pirates, Cliff Lee, Rajai Davis, Josh Hamilton, Christian Vande Velde, Jason Heyward’s, George Hincapie, Burnett, Josh Beckett, Eddie Chambers

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Teixeira’s double in 14th lifts Bombers to 8th straight win

WASHINGTON — Their faces were drained and ice smothered body parts from head to toe.

After close to five hours Saturday the Yankees topped the Nationals, 5-3, in 14 innings as 41,287 watched at Nationals Park. With the victory, the Yankees maintained their 1 1/2-game lead over the Orioles in the AL East.

“That was exhausting,’’ said Mark Teixeira, whose two-run double in the 14th off Brad Lidge helped carry the Yankees to a season-high eighth straight victory. “It was a day game after a night game and 14 innings. I am tired.’’

Teixeira was 0-for-5 with three strikeouts when he doubled in Jayson Nix and Derek Jeter.

TEX MESSAGE DELIVERED: Mark Teixeira was 0-for-5 with three strikeouts before hitting a two-run double in the 14th inning to give the Yankees a 5-3 victory over the Nationals yesterday.

TEX MESSAGE DELIVERED: Mark Teixeira was 0-for-5 with three strikeouts before hitting a two-run double in the 14th inning to give the Yankees a 5-3 victory over the Nationals yesterday.

BIG SCORE: Derek Jeter scores on Mark Teixeira’s double in the 14th inning of the Yankees’ 5-3 victory.

Getty Images

BIG SCORE: Derek Jeter scores on Mark Teixeira’s double in the 14th inning of the Yankees’ 5-3 victory.

All that remained was for Rafael Soriano, the seventh Yankees pitcher, to record the final three outs and his 12th save.

While he did, Soriano added a shot of drama to the ending by giving up two one-out hits which meant facing 19-year-old stud Bryce Harper with two outs, two on and the Nationals trailing by two.

BOX SCORE

“It was one of those storybook endings you are hoping it wasn’t going to be,’’ Teixeira said. “Give Sorie credit, he made a good pitch and got him out [on a grounder to second]. It would have been too good to be true for Harper to hit a walk-off right there. The place might have fallen down.’’

Harper’s day ended much the way it started. He was 0-for-7 and whiffed five times. Andy Pettitte, 40, fanned Harper in his first three at-bats.

Since the game lasted four hours and 49 minutes, it had more than one highlight.

After Ian Desmond homered off Cory Wade to tie the score, 3-3, in the eighth, Wade walked Tyler Moore and he swiped second. Boone Logan gave up a single to Adam LaRoche that Dewayne Wise in right fielded and fired home to Russell Martin. Plate umpire Tim Timmons called Moore out but he might have been wrong.

The Yankees had Nick Swisher thrown out at the plate and Swisher departed the game with a contusion of the left quadriceps. When Swisher exited the ballpark he was on crutches.

The Yankees won for the first time this season without hitting a home run. They were 0-12 in games without hitting a homer.

Freddy Garcia, who pitched for the second time since May 21, provided two scoreless innings and was the winner.

“I want to pitch,’’ the former starter said. “Let me prove I can help from the bullpen.’’

Pettitte went seven innings, gave up two runs and five hits. With 95 pitches, Girard lifted Pettitte.

When the Nationals hit in the eighth the Yankees led, 3-2, thanks to two runs in the sixth when Raul Ibanez drove in a run with a ground out and Eric Chavez doubled in another.

With David Robertson jumping off the disabled list and pitching Friday night, it was odd to see Wade surface from the bullpen in the eighth.

“I was trying to stay away from him,’’ said Girardi, who explained that Robertson wasn’t bothered by a one-inning stint Friday night. “And it was a day game after a night game.’’

Other than Wade’s blown save, the five relievers who followed him delivered 6¹/ innings of scoreless relief.

“Give our guys credit for holding them down,’’ Teixeira said.

Credit was appreciated but a nap would have served the weary Yankees better.

“We could have easily said, ‘We are playing well’ and let this one die out there,’’ Pettitte said.

Because of the latest bullpen gem that included 1²/ innings of scoreless hurling from Cody Eppley the Yankees lived long enough for Teixeira to deliver on a day the Yankees went 2-for-18 with runners in scoring position and stranded 13.

george.king@nypost.com

Mark Teixeira, the Yankees, the Yankees, the Nationals, the Nationals, Andy Pettitte, Nick Swisher, Cory Wade, Bryce Harper, Derek Jeter, Teixeira

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dimanche 17 juin 2012

Calder Results

FIRST-6 fur; $12,000; alw; 3up(f)

2

Holy Bling (Ferrer)

6.20

3.40

2.40

1

a-Mdow Tuch (Dmnguz)

3.40

2.40

3

Myconfederaterose (Nunez)

3.00

* Exacta (2-1) $24.20 * Superfecta (2-1-3-6) $207.00 * Trifecta (2-1-3) $90.60

Winner picked by Vic C

SECOND-5 fur(T); $28,000; alw; 3up(f)

3

Plesnt Heress (Sz)

4.00

2.80

2.10

2

Shimmering Tina (Leyva)

6.60

3.60

4

My Precious Baby (Cruz)

4.20

Scr: Just Blessed.

* Daily Double (2-3) $18.80 * Exacta (3-2) $18.00 * Superfecta (3-2-4-1) $218.40 * Trifecta (3-2-4) $101.60

THIRD-1 mile; $10,500; clm($6,250); 3up

5

Pedacitos (Saez)

9.60

4.80

3.00

2

Afortunada Ayl (Snchez)

6.40

5.00

1

Kate's Holiday (Jara)

3.40

* $1 Pick 3 (2-3-5) 3 Correct $32.80 * Exacta (5-2) $83.20 * Superfecta (5-2-1-7) $1,082.80 * Trifecta (5-2-1) $315.80

FOURTH-5 1/2 fur; $11,000; clm($6,250); 3up

6

Ymknmmd (Rdrgz)

5.20

3.60

2.20

5

Trippi Honor (Jara)

3.00

2.60

3

The Pia Angel (Gonzales)

2.40

Scr: Skiptoit, Mindy Michelle.

* $1 Pick 4 (2-3/5-5-1/6/8) 4 Correct $123.30 * $1 Pick 3 (3-5-6) 3 Correct $25.30 * Exacta (6-5) $16.80 * Superfecta (6-5-3-7) $208.40 * Trifecta (6-5-3) $40.80

FIFTH-1m(T); $16,500; clm($25,000); 3up

4

El Bendnat (Slver)

5.80

3.00

out

5

Exchange Miss (Leyva)

2.80

out

Scr: Starship Freedom, Pyrite Smokin, Country Isle, Arrestedforpassion, Miss Olivia Rae.

* $1 Pick 3 (5-6-4) 3 Correct $53.70 * Exacta (4-5) $7.20

SIXTH-7 fur; $10,500; clm($6,250); 3up

6

Ldy of Smr (Gnzls)

3.40

2.40

2.10

1

Exchange Chic (Leyva)

4.20

2.60

7

Courtney Ryan (Sanchez)

2.20

Scr: Electrica.

* $1 Pick 3 (6-4-6) 3 Correct $30.70 * Exacta (6-1) $15.00 * Superfecta (6-1-7-3) $73.00 * Trifecta (6-1-7) $22.00

Winner picked by Vic C

SEVENTH-5 1/2 fur; $12,000; alw; 3up

6

On Appeal (Saez)

17.60

8.00

9.40

2

Candi's Halo (Cruz)

5.00

6.20

3

Island Sunset (Garcia)

10.20

* $1 Pick 3 (4-6-6) 3 Correct $42.60 * Exacta (6-2) $75.20 * Superfecta (6-2-3-1) $515.20 * Trifecta (6-2-3) $310.60

EIGHTH-1 1/16m(T); $28,000; alw; 3up(f)

5

Wcked Nght (Sez)

4.00

3.00

out

3

Zeffee (Ferrer)

3.80

out

Scr: Starship Cutie, Witch's Orchard, The Rahy Angel, Academicienne, A Little Off.

* $1 Pick 3 (6-6-5) 3 Correct $44.70 * Exacta (5-3) $9.20

NINTH-7 fur; $10,500; clm($6,250); 3up

10

J Isle (Rodriguez)

3.80

3.20

2.40

5

Jaranero (Dominguez)

8.80

4.80

1

Drinks to Go (Leyva)

5.00

Scr: Forward Observer, High Brass, Mize the Big Cat.

* $1 Pick 3 (6-5-10) 3 Correct $55.60 * Exacta (10-5) $28.20 * Superfecta (10-5-1-3) $540.40 * Trifecta (10-5-1) $137.20

TENTH-6 1/2 fur; $28,000; mdn; 3,4&5YO(f)

1

a-Strshp Srn (Lyv)

3.00

2.10

2.20

2

French Concorde (Santn)

4.60

3.40

1

a-Strshp Unvrs (Slvr)

3.00

2.10

2.20

Scr: That Devil Did It, The Sense Angel.

* $1 Pick 3 (5-10-1) 3 Correct $9.70 * Exacta (1-2) $13.20 * Superfecta (1-2-4-3) $191.40 * Trifecta (1-2-4) $54.20

Winner picked by Vic C

ELEVENTH-1 1/16m(T); $16,000; alw; 3up

7

Unbrdld Ht (Cruz)

7.00

3.60

2.60

1

Prmary Wtness (Santan)

4.20

3.00

6

Barra d'Oro (Gonzales)

3.80

Scr: Power Rules, Bingo Bango Bongo, Omar's Tiger.

* $0.1 Pick 6 (6-6-5-10-1-7) 6 Correct $78.89 * $0.5 Pick 5 (6-5-4/8/10-1/7/8-7) 5 Correct $168.10 * $1 Pick 4 (5-4/8/10-1/7/8-7) 4 Correct $52.20 * $1 Pick 3 (10-1-7) 3 Correct $32.90 * Superfecta (7-1-6-3) $360.40 * Daily Double (1-7) $16.80 * Exacta (7-1) $28.80 * Trifecta (7-1-6) $121.60

Trifecta, alw, Superfecta, Superfecta

Nypost.com

vendredi 15 juin 2012

Sears ‘open’ to selling assets

Sears Holdings, the retailer controlled by Edward Lampert, is open to selling assets as it works to turn itself around, its chief executive said.

“If there are assets that make sense to be brought in to the portfolio, we are open to that discussion as well,” Lou D’Ambrosio said in a Bloomberg Television interview.

Sears posted first-quarter profit of $189 million last month after spinning off smaller format stores and selling some locations, and following a $3.1 billion loss last year. It also has announced plans to spin off part of its Canada business. The asset sales and declining revenue since Lampert merged Sears and Kmart in 2005 have prompted speculation that he’s in the process of breaking up or liquidating the company.

“If that is the case, nobody has shared that with me,” D’Ambrosio said. “We have an asset-rich portfolio. We are evaluating whether assets are more valuable inside or outside the portfolio.”

Sears fell 3.6 percent to $48.84.

Sears Holdings, Sears, Edward Lampert, Lampert, Lou D’Ambrosio, Bloomberg Television, chief executive, assets, retailer

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mardi 12 juin 2012

Yankees on deck at Braves

INSIDE THE MATCHUPS

YANKEES: Sabathia took a rare loss his most recent time out on Thursday against the Rays in a 7-3 defeat. He gave up five runs (three earned) over seven innings, saving face by striking out 12. He is 1-1 with a 3.24 ERA in two career starts against the Braves.

BRAVES: Though he lacked command on Thursday, allowing five walks to the Marlins, Minor, 24, managed to pitch out of jams and pick up the win with one run in five innings. He has never faced the Yankees.

STAT SO?

YANKEES: The most saves in a season since 1997 by a Yankee not named Mariano Rivera is Steve Karsay’s 12 in 2002. Rafael Soriano has nine.

Getty Images

Mike Minor

BRAVES: Renowned Mets killer Chipper Jones has done plenty of damage against the Yankees as well. In 23 career games against the Yankees, Jones has hit .352 with five HRs and 17 RBIs.

Tonight — 7:10, WWOR

LHP CC Sabathia

(7-3, 3.69) vs.

LHP Mike Minor

(3-4, 6.57)

Tomorrow ­­­— 7:10, YES

RHP Hiroki Kuroda

(5-6, 3.46) vs.

RHP Brandon Beachy

(5-4, 1.98)

Both games on

WCBS (880 AM)

Chipper Jones, Mariano Rivera, Rafael Soriano, Mike Minor, the Yankees, Hiroki Kuroda, the Rays, WWORLHP CC Sabathia, Renowned Mets killer, Marlins, Sabathia

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lundi 11 juin 2012

Dustin hangs on for Memphis win

ON THE LINKS

Dustin Johnson won the St. Jude Classic in his second event after a back injury cost him nearly three months away from the PGA Tour, shooting a 4-under 66 that held off John Merrick by a stroke yesterday in Memphis.

Johnson pulled a muscle in his lower right back in early March lifting a jet ski at his home, and rest was the biggest part of his prescription for healing. He didn’t return to the tour until last week at the Memorial, where he tied for 19th.

He began the final round two strokes back and held a piece of the lead three different times. He won his sixth career title with consecutive birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 and finished 9-under 271.

Johnson, who picked up the check for over $1 million, led by only a stroke going to No. 18. Rory McIlroy, Chad Campbell and Nick O’Hern, three of the four who had a chance to tie Johnson with a birdie, knocked their tee shots into the lake. Johnson said he thought he might have been tied and made sure he hit the fairway to at least give himself a chance at birdie. Par was good enough.

Now Johnson is the first player since Tiger Woods (1996-2000) to win in each of his first five seasons on tour after leaving college, which he said means a lot. His six career wins are the most of any of the tour players in their 20s.

“It means I’m playing good golf, too,” Johnson said. “I come out every week and I try to just put myself in position to have a chance to win on Sunday.”

Merrick remains winless in 154 career tour starts. He shot a 69, recovering from a double bogey where he hit twice into water with a pair of birdies, and had a 272 total.

Davis Love III, the U.S. Ryder Cup captain, shot a 69 and tied for third. McIlroy, who heads to San Francisco and The Olympic Club to defend his U.S. Open title, had a 69 and tied three others at 274.

* Shanshan Feng shot a 5-under 67 to win the LPGA Championship by two shots in Pittsford, N.Y. It was her first victory on the LPGA Tour and the first for a player from China.

Stacy Lewis, bidding to win her third straight stroke-play event on the LPGA Tour, shot a 70 to tie for second with Mika Miyazato, Suzann Pettersen and third-round leader Eun-Hee Ji. Miyazato shot 69, Pettersen 70, and Ji 72.

* Tom Lehman won his second straight Regions Tradition, finishing the Champions Tour major with a 4-under 68 to take a two-stroke victory over Bernhard Langer and Chien Soon Lu at Birmingham, Ala.

* Britain-Ireland rallied to beat the U.S. 10 1/2 -9 1/2 in the Curtis Cup in Nairn, Scotland, ending the Americans’ 16-year domination of the biennial women’s amateur matches.

The outcome means that for the first time all four major professional and amateur men’s and women’s team trophies are held by Britain, Ireland and Europe.

PGA Tour, John Merrick, St. Jude Classic, Rory McIlroy, Nick O’Hern, Mika Miyazato, Suzann Pettersen, Chad Campbell, Tiger Woods, stroke

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dimanche 10 juin 2012

Class AA win caps Gallo’s stellar career

Vinny DeMaria’s father, Vinny Sr., played on Fred Gallo’s first baseball team at Iona Prep, in 1983. So getting the legendary coach his second, and final, championship was paramount for the senior shortstop.

“It’s special, because it’s his last year,” DeMaria said.

Gallo, the Hall of Fame coach, announced his retirement last week and last night, his team sent him out a champion.

Iona Prep, seeded sixth, defeated No. 4 Fordham Prep, 9-2, in the CHSAA Class AA intersectional baseball title game at St. John’s University. Both DeMarias had a hand in the victory.

SHOWERED WITH CHEER: Iona Prep’s players dump a bucket of water on retiring coach Fred Gallo after the <a href=Gaels beat Fordham Prep 9-2 last night to win the CHSAA Class AA championship in their coach’s final game." title="SHOWERED WITH CHEER: Iona Prep’s players dump a bucket of water on retiring coach Fred Gallo after the Gaels beat Fordham Prep 9-2 last night to win the CHSAA Class AA championship in their coach’s final game." width="300" height="300" src="/rw/nypost/2012/06/09/sports/web_photos/09.2s038.raimondi.c--300x300.jpg" />

Denis Gostev

SHOWERED WITH CHEER: Iona Prep’s players dump a bucket of water on retiring coach Fred Gallo after the Gaels beat Fordham Prep 9-2 last night to win the CHSAA Class AA championship in their coach’s final game.

DeMaria Jr. went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI and also turned four double plays, bailing Temple-bound ace Tim McCarthy out of jams.

DeMaria Sr. helped Iona Prep (18-6) out of its own bind. The team forgot its batting helmets back at school and, after using Fordham Prep’s helmets in the first inning, DeMaria Sr., pulled a bag of them out of his trunk. He’s the coach at Woodlands High School in Hartsdale.

“My full circle started with a DeMaria and ended with a DeMaria,” Gallo said.

Ironically, Iona Prep did most of its damage in the first inning while wearing Fordham’s helmets. The Gaels battered Rams starter Steve Fondu for five runs in the initial frame, giving McCarthy some breathing room.

McCarthy, a 6-foot-7 right-hander who also won a Class A title with the Iona basketball team, gave up just two runs on eight hits with four strikeouts.

Gallo and McCarthy met in an embrace afterward.

“Nothing like going out on top,” McCarthy said of his coach.

Iona tacked on two more runs in the third on RBIs by Christian Berg and Cody Polchinski and Berg had another RBI in the fifth when the Gaels extended their lead to 9-2. It was the perfect time for the Gaels, a light-hitting team all year, to break out.

It was all for Gallo, who retires with a 543-263 record, nine division titles and four Archdiocesan crowns.

And now, one more city championship.

“I will never lose another baseball game,” Gallo said. “It’s a great way to go out.”

mraimondi@nypost.com

Iona Prep, Fordham Prep, Fred Gallo, Vinny Sr., Gaels, DeMaria, St. John’s University, CHSAA Class AA intersectional, DeMaria Sr., Tim McCarthy, CHSAA Class AA championship, championship, Steve Fondu

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samedi 9 juin 2012

Sports Shorts

mlb: Strasburg K’s Red Sox

Stephen Strasburg struck out 13 in six innings, Bryce Harper homered and the Nationals beat the Red Sox 7-4 last night for the franchise’s first victory at Fenway Park.

Harper hit a two-run shot in the fourth and an RBI single in the sixth as the club improved to 1-9 at Boston’s iconic home. The Montreal Expos dropped all six of their games there before moving to Washington.

In Baltimore, Jim Thome doubled twice, had an infield hit and drove in his first run of the season and Shane Victorino homered and drove in five runs, and the Phillies ended a season-worst six-game losing streak by beating the Orioles 9-6.

In St. Louis, Josh Tomlin scattered eight hits over seven innings, Johnny Damon hit a two-run homer and Indians sent the Cardinals to their seventh loss in 10 games, 6-2.

A federal judge in Los Angeles denied a motion by former Mets outfielder Lenny Dykstra to dismiss more than a dozen charges, including bankruptcy fraud and embezzlement. Trial is set to begin July 24.

The Braves retired the No. 29 worn by pitcher John Smoltz before last night’s game with the Blue Jays.

golf: McIlroy leads in Memphis

Rory McIlroy snapped his string of three straight missed cuts in style, shooting a 5-under 65 to take the lead into the weekend at the St. Jude Classic. Jeff Maggert, tied for the first-round lead with John Merrick, shot a 68 to match J.B. Holmes (64) and Kevin Stadler (65) at 6-under, one shot back.

Se Ri Pak, playing for the first time since injuring her left shoulder in early April, shot a 1-under 71 to take a one-shot lead after the second round of the LPGA Championship in Pittsford, N.Y. Michelle Wie missed the cut with rounds of 74 and 82.

In Birmingham, Ala., Bill Glasson shot a 3-under 69 on to take a two-stroke lead over Russ Cochran after the second round of the Regions Tradition, the second Champions Tour major of the year.

Lee Westwood shot a 4-under 68 to maintain a three-stroke lead over Ross Fisher after the third round of the European Tour’s Nordea Masters in Bro, Sweden.

Amy Anderson teamed to win two matches to help the U.S. take a 4-2 lead over Britain and Ireland after the first day of the Curtis Cup in Nairn, Scotland.

Soccer: Good start for U.S.

Carlos Bocanegra, Clint Dempsey and Herculez Gomez scored as the U.S. opened CONCACAF qualifying for the 2014 World Cup with a 3-1 victory over Antigua and Barbuda 3-1 last night in Tampa. In other games, Mexico opened with a 3-1 win over Guyana, El Salvador rallied for a 2-2 tie at Costa Rica, Canada took a 1-0 win at Cuba, Panama won 2-0 at Honduras and Jamaica beat visiting Guatemala 2-1.

NFL: Gronkowski gets big deal

All-Pro Rob Gronkowski agreed to a $54 million deal with the Patriots, the richest contract for a tight end in NFL history. The six-year deal includes $18.17 million guaranteed.

A second arbitrator ruled commissioner Roger Goodell has the authority to discipline Saints players for their roles in a bounty program.The players’ union claimed Goodell is prohibited from punishing players for any conduct before the collective bargaining agreement was signed last August.

ETC.: Liberty win on road

Cappie Pondexter scored 25 points, the Liberty took control with a 30-5 first-half run and survived a frantic fourth quarter for their first road victory of the season, 76-70 over the Mystics in Washington. Leilani Mitchell hit four 3-pointers and scored 16 points for the Liberty, winners of three straight after opening the season 0-5.

Notre Dame football coach Brian Kelly underwent surgery for a herniated disk in his lower back. He is expected to make a full recovery by the time the Irish open preseason camp Aug. 4.

In Montreal, Colombia’s Eleider Alvarez successfully defended his North American Boxing Organization light heavyweight title, unanimously outpointed American Shawn Hawk.

Montreal Expos, Bryce Harper, Red Sox, Shane Victorino, Strasburg, Jim Thome, Rob Gronkowski, Johnny Damon, John Smoltz, Michelle Wie, Josh Tomlin, Jeff Maggert

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Heat hatred inspires odd choice

headshotMike Vaccaro
Follow Mike on Twitter

Would you like to know just how deep the despicableness of the Miami Heat is these days?

There are people — more than a few — who in any other circumstance, in any other year, would look at the prospect of the Boston Celtics making yet another trip to the NBA Finals and it would fill them with the kind of unbridled rage that normally accompanies the closing credits every week you watch “The Killing.”

Rooting for the Celtics? That’s like rooting for rain on the Fourth of July. Someone once said rooting for the Yankees was like rooting for U.S. Steel; rooting for the Celtics is like rooting for Microsoft. Unless you are either a) a native New Englander; b) a family member of a past or present Celtic; or c) the most shameless kind of front runner, there is no way, in good conscience, you can ever root for the Celtics and still face yourself in the mirror.

CELTIC PRIDE: Paul Pierce and the Celtics are unlikely sentimental favorites against LeBron James (above) and the Heat, writes the Post’s Mike Vaccaro.

CELTIC PRIDE: Paul Pierce and the Celtics are unlikely sentimental favorites against LeBron James (above) and the Heat, writes the Post’s Mike Vaccaro.

In normal times.

But these are not normal times. This is not a normal season. This, in fact, is supposed to be the season that yielded the second of the eight NBA Finals that LeBron James pledged the city of Miami. The fact the Heat’s total is currently stuck on zero — thank you once again, Messrs. Nowitzki, Kidd and Chandler — is a source of constant delight to most right-thinking fans of the NBA.

And the fact that tonight that number could remain frozen at nil?

Well, that’s almost too good to be true.

Even if it does come, for many, at an ungodly cost.

What would it take for you to root for a Death Star in the Star Wars movies? Or for whichever teams stood in the way of Hickory High and the New York Knights? Or for Apollo Creed, Clubber Lang or Ivan Drago? Or the Tattaglias and the Barzinis?

Now you’re rooting for the Celtics?

OK, there were a lot of Yankee haters who suspended their animus during the epic 2001 postseason, but it took a horrific national tragedy occurring in the Yankees’ own backyard to engender that kind of sympathy and support. And even then, it wasn’t that folks in Omaha and Boise and Albuquerque were rooting for the Yankees as much as they were pulling for New York City. And make no mistake: that was a temporary thing.

Now, you have people who used to wish that Red Auerbach would put the wrong end of the cigar in his mouth who are writing sonnets to Doc Rivers. You have fans who have seen Bob Cousy and Bill Russell and John Havlicek and Larry Bird systematically break their hearts across the decades who cheer every time Kevin Garnett gets away with a cheap shot and every time an announcer breathlessly likens the “courage” of Ray Allen and Paul Pierce to the men of Pickett’s Charge.

And just listen to the backlog of purple prose building for Rondo.

It’s an illusion, of course. This is no wave of pro-Celtic mania, but an avalanche of anti-Heat hysteria. There is LeBron, of course, who probably wishes more than any man other than Doc Brown that there really was such a thing as time travel. There is Dwyane Wade, who used to be considered the lovable half of the duo, who started the playoffs tossing Mike Bibby’s shoe into the stands and has just kept shrinking and shrinking, despite occasional flashes of genius. There is Erik Spoelstra, who’s been playing “Candyland” while Rivers has been playing cribbage.

There is Pat Riley. Enough said.

And so there is this: Celtics Nation, in the most literal sense of the word, a country with its eyes lasered on Boston, hungry for a Celtics victory. For genuine Celtics fans, it would be a moment of splendid, seminal triumph. And for the 93 percent of everyone else rooting for them? It will be a thorough relief.

Now they can merrily and seamlessly shift their allegiance to the Thunder. With clear consciences.

michael.vaccaro@nypost.com

Boston Celtics, Celtics, Celtics, Miami Heat, Paul Pierce, Paul Pierce, LeBron James, Mike VaccaroFollow Mike, NBA Finals, U.S. Steel, the Heat

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