With professional football not working out, Tim Tebow is going to give baseball a try. The 2007 Heisman Trophy winner and former NFL first-round draft pick plans to hold a workout for Major League Baseball teams this month. Tebow, who turns 29 Aug. 14, has been training in Scottsdale, Ariz., with former major league catcher Chad Moeller. Tebow last played organized baseball in high school at Nease High in Ponte Vedra, Fla., where as a junior he drew some attention from Major League scouts after batting .494 with four home runs as a left fielder. He eschewed baseball, however, for football and led Florida to national championships in 2007 and 2009. ‘‘I am beyond impressed with Tim’s athleticism and swing, and it goes without saying that he has shown a high level of discipline and strong work ethic,’’ Moeller said in a statement released by CAA. ‘‘I see bat speed and power and real baseball talent. I truly believe Tim has the skill set and potential to achieve his goal of playing in the Major Leagues.’’
Doctors: Fielder’s career over
Texas Rangers slugger Prince Fielder will have to quit playing baseball after his second neck surgery, a person with direct knowledge of the decision told the Associated Press. Although Fielder isn’t formally retiring, doctors did not give the six-time All-Star medical clearance to play again after he underwent a cervical fusion July 29 to repair a herniation between two disks in his neck. The Rangers said Fielder, 32, who is signed through 2020, would hold media availability Wednesday when the team returns home after an eight-game trip . . . The St. Louis Cardinals placed righthanded pitcher Michael Wacha on the 15-day disabled list with shoulder inflammation. Wacha is 7-7 with a 4.45 ERA. He allowed four runs in five innings and got a no-decision in a 5-4 come-from-behind victory on Monday . . . Indians outfielder Michael Brantley was diagnosed with chronic biceps tendinitis after experiencing a recurrence of right shoulder problems while working through hitting activities this week. Brantley, 29, on the disabled list since May 10 with right shoulder inflammation, has appeared in only 11 games this season . . . The White Sox put outfielder-designated hitter Avisail Garcia, who was hitting .240, on the disabled list with a right knee sprain before Tuesday night’s game in Kansas City . . . The Marlins placed All-Star closer A.J. Ramos on the 15-day disabled list with a right finger fracture . . . Two-time NL Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum, 32, who was designated for assignment Saturday after going 2-6 with a 9.16 ERA in nine starts since signing with the Angels May 20, accepted his demotion to the club’s Triple A team in Salt Lake City . . . Cubs infielder Tommy La Stella has refused to report to Triple A Iowa after being optioned to the minors nearly two weeks ago, and Chicago placed him on the temporary inactive list. La Stella started at third base for the Cubs in last year’s wild-card victory over Pittsburgh. He was optioned to the minors July 29 when Chicago activated outfielder Chris Coghlan.
‘‘He’s a 27-year-old kid working through some stuff and we’re trying to give him time to work through those things,’’ Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer said. ‘‘We've had a lot of contact with him and we'll continue to do that.’’
Manager Joe Maddon said he’s communicated by text message with La Stella, who was back home in New Jersey working out.
Colleges
Harvard tops Ivy football poll
Harvard football found itself in a familiar place at the top of the Ivy League preseason media poll. For the sixth time in nine years and the 11th time overall, the Crimson (9-1, 6-1 Ivy in 2014) was selected to finish first after a vote from a select panel of media representatives. Harvard garnered 126 points and seven first-place votes to stay 7 points ahead of Penn (7-3, 6-1 Ivy), which handed the Crimson its only loss last season and totaled 119 points and nine first-place votes . . . A Temple University study of 554 NCAA Division 1 major infractions cases from 1953 to 2014 showed big-money sports football and men’s basketball were involved in 83 percent of the cases and that probation and public reprimand and censure were the most common penalties. The most common infractions over the 61 years analyzed were recruiting inducements (57 percent), impermissible benefits (54 percent), and other recruiting violations (48 percent). The study found the Southeastern Conference was the most-penalized conference, at 8 percent of the case . . . Former North Carolina, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest football coach Bill Dooley, the younger brother of former Georgia coach Vince Dooley, died of natural causes at his home in Wilmington, N.C. He was 82.
TCU signed football coach Gary Patterson to a one-year extension that takes him through the 2021 season . . . Purdue hired Georgia Tech athletic director Mike Bobinski to replace Morgan Burke, who has held the position for 23 years and is formally retiring next summer . . .
Miscellany
Blues to host Winter Classic
Before the Rams left town in January, the St. Louis Blues were in line to get an outdoor NHL game — just not the Winter Classic. But team chairman Tom Stillman credited the NHL for recognizing the city needed a shot in the arm and scheduling the Blues against the Blackhawks on Jan. 2 at Busch Stadium. ‘‘This is a major league city and unfortunately the NFL has not deemed us worthy, which I think is ridiculous,’’ said Blues Hall of Famer Bernie Federko said. ‘‘It’s a soothing moment for sports fans because for our sport, this is the big hurrah.’’ . . . A group of Nashville business and political leaders, including the heads of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans and NHL’s Nashville Predators, have assembled to push for a Major League Soccer franchise. Other cities vying for a team include St. Louis, Sacramento, Detroit, San Diego, San Antonio, Austin, and Cincinnati . . . Rick Trotter, who was the Memphis Grizzlies’ public address announcer for about a decade, was arrested on charges of taking ‘‘inappropriate’’ photos of people at a Memphis church, police said. The Grizzlies said in a statement that Trotter, 40, is no longer affiliated with the organization. The Downtown Church in Memphis issued a statement on its website saying Trotter was fired as a church employee May 27 because of ‘‘deception and moral failures of a sexual nature.’’ . . . Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin had to have his replica of the Harley J. Earl Trophy corrected when he discovered it listed him as Daytona’s 2015, not 2016, race winner. It followed an error in Monday’s USA Today that heralded Hamlin’s Watkins Glen victory with the mistaken headline: “Hamilton outlasts pain for win.’’
