IN BREIF
NEW YORK — Preacher Roe, who began pitching in the Ozarks and became a four-time All-Star as a revered member of "The Boys of Summer" in Brooklyn, has died.
Roe died Sunday in West Plains, Mo., said the funeral home handling the arrangements. His own Web site listed his age as 92 — other reference materials differed by a year or two.
Roe went 127-84 in a 12-year career with the Dodgers, Pittsburgh and St. Louis. But it was in Brooklyn, where he played alongside the likes of Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson, Gil Hodges, Ralph Branca and others at Ebbets Field, where he enjoyed his greatest success and acclaim.
Though those Dodgers teams of the 1940s and 1950s won only one World Series — Roe was part of three teams that lost to the New York Yankees — they became a beloved part of the borough. And Roe, a skinny left-hander and mathematics teacher from a small town in Arkansas, was among the fan favorites in the big city.
LAS VEGAS — A 22-year-old Danish poker professional won the World Series of Poker early today and became the youngest champion in the history of the no-limit Texas Hold 'em main event.Peter Eastgate hit an ace-to-five straight on the turn and called an all-in bet from Ivan Demidov on the river for the last of Demidov's chips early Tuesday. Demidov held two pair, twos and fours.Eastgate built a 7-to-1 chip advantage earlier by sniffing out two bluffs by Demidov for big pots.Eastgate broke Phil Hellmuth's record as youngest champion of the tournament. Hellmuth was 24 when he won in 1989.
ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Blues are responding to tight economic times with a fan bailout plan.The team announced Monday that at every remaining Saturday home game beginning Nov. 29, the organization will call the seat number of a fan and pay that person's mortgage or rent for four months, up to $4,000 total.The team also is offering discounted tickets, with 500 plaza-level seats available for $25 a ticket and another 500 in the mezzanine for $11.20 a ticket for each game this season.
SLIPPERY ROCK — The Slippery Rock University men's soccer team earned the second NCAA berth in its history when it received the No. 2 seed in the Division II Atlantic Regional Tournament.The women's squad, despite a 5-2 loss to Mercyhurst in PSAC quarterfinal play last week, will be making its third consecutive trip to the Atlantic Regional.The Rock men (13-6-1) will face EastStroudsburg (15-6) in a 4 p.m. first-round match Friday at Millersville University.The No. 6 seed SRU women, also 13-6-1, will meet No. 3 seed Bloomsburg (13-5-1) at 2 p.m. Friday at Mercyhurst College in Erie.
SLIPPERY ROCK — The Sliders are coming back as a summer collegiate wooden bat baseball team.Mike Bencic, president of the Slippery Rock Sports Group LLC, announced Monday he has acquired the rights to the Slippery Rock Slilders name and logo, and will become a charter member of the newly formed Prospect League that starts play in the summer.The Sliders again will call Slippery Rock University's Jack Critchfield Park home and will play half of their 84 games there this season.The Sliders played home games in Slippery Rock in 2007 as a league-owned entity, but spent all of 2008 on the road as the Midwest Sliders.
