Of all the collectors in the United States of America, the Boston red sox memorabilia would be the majority. This team being the leader in the sport of Baseball has more than a million fans in this country and at least half of them would have some piece of Boston red sox memorabilia in their homes. A team that has come up in the past couple of years and today holds among the top few positions is rooted for and supported by almost all Americans. They are the current champions of the Major League American Baseball and the Boston red sox memorabilia sit proudly in many houses. They were named so around 1902 and till then used to play matches in the Huntington ground, a small ground. In spite of all this they managed to win the championship way back in 1912 when Babe Ruth was also part of this part. It was only later that Babe was sold off to the New York Yankees. They went on to play many more games, but dint really win any until late 1980s when the team saw a turn about and started playing well.

The Red sox American league championship photo is among the top few articles that one will find in many homes. Apart from this, the caps worn by players back then and the jerseys will be seen on display. There are also many who have pictures of games played during their early years preserved by their fathers and those ahead of them. The collection in a fan's house could run to hundred of articles or pictures and they would still continue collecting more. In America, the baseball cards a big rage and children get excited every time they get a new card. There are some who are addicted to these cards and would to anything to get a card if they see a friend having it. Such is the devotion people have for the sport that rules their lives.

Boston red sox memorabilia is one aspect that you will notice in every apartment or child's room. It could be a Red sox flag or a cap hanging in the corner. There are some who paint their children's rooms in colours used by the Boston Sox, red and blue and the upholstery, bed linen and every piece of furniture will resemble the team. Some of the other Boston red sox memorabilia are the car steering covers, magnets that are available in all leading sports stores. Since the team is so popular, there is no dearth for memorabilia. It also makes for a good gift article for those visiting from other countries to take back to their friends and family. Socks, T shirts, and even bags with the Red sox logo or design on it are sought after by children. They are all over the place for every team that plays in the country. Some stores even have small collectibles such as cups, mugs, and miniature dolls of some of the popular players.

When you think of Baseball, you may naturally think of Latino professional players. We know that baseball is a major sport played in almost every Latin American country next to futbol. Almost every Dominican kid wishes to be the next Pedro Martinez or Alex Rodriguez. Same in Cuba where Baseball is also their national past time. However, the truth is that Latino players make up approximately 25% - 28% of the MLB players. The Dominican Republic has the most players in the MLB with 79 while Venezuela is second with 45 (as of April 2004). Puerto Rico is third with 36.

What most people may not know is how many Latino players are Hall of Famers. Do you? There are only seven Latin American-born players who are in the National Baseball Hall of Fame but with so many great ballplayers currently playing this number is sure to grow. So who are these magnificent seven?

Of course, the great Roberto Clemente (Puerto Rico) is the most known. He was a 12 time All-Star who won four National League batting titles. In addition, he is only the 11th player to reach 3,000 career hits. Tragically, Clemente’s life ended at the young age of 38 in a plane crash while flying relief supplies to Nicaraguan earthquake victims. The normal five year waiting period to be considered for the Hall of Fame was waived and Clemente became the first Latin American-born player elected.

The other players are Martin Dihigo (Cuba), Juan Mariachal (Dominican Republic), Luis Aparicio (Venezuela), Rod Carew (Panama), Orlando Cepeda (Puerto Rico), and Tony Perez (Cuba). Ironically, Dihigo never played in the majors (racism existed for Hispanics too) but played in Mexico, Cuba, and the Negro Leagues during the 1920-1940 era. He excelled at every position except catcher. Dihigo was voted in 1977 by a vote of the veteran’s committee and became the only player inducted into the hall of fame in Cuba, Mexico and U.S. Mariachal became the first Latino pitcher voted into the Hall of Fame. He played for the San Francisco Giants. Aparicio was a great shortstop who played for the Chicago White Sox. He had nine Gold Gloves and stole over 506 bases. Carew had 3,053 career hits, which are the most by a Latin American player. He has seven batting titles and has hit over .300 in 15 consecutive seasons. Carew played for the Minnesota Twins and Anaheim Angels. Cepeda unanimously was voted National League Rookie of the Year in 1958. Also, he was a 10-time All-Star. Finally, Perez played for the Cincinnati Reds in the 70’s and was a great clutch hitter.

Sports Editors/Business Editors

CARLSBAD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 3, 2003

Rawlings Sporting Goods, a division of K2 Inc. (NYSE: KTO), and the number one baseball brand in the world, announced that it has entered into a new five year agreement with Major League Baseball naming Rawlings the exclusive "Official Baseball" of the Minor Leagues.

"Major League Baseball is pleased to further its relationship with Rawlings, as it is now the official baseball of both the Major and Minor Leagues," said Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig. "Rawlings' long-term commitment to baseball, especially through its involvement in youth projects such as the MLB Youth Academy in Compton, California, is a critical element to continuing the growth of the game."
"We are very proud of our long-standing relationship with Major League Baseball, and this new agreement with the Minor Leagues complements the new five year agreement signed earlier this year which also named Rawlings as the official baseball of the Major Leagues," said Richard J. Heckmann, chairman and chief executive officer of K2 Inc. "Our acquisition of Rawlings earlier this year, coupled with our recently announced letter of intent to acquire Worth, a leading brand in metal bats, as well as equipment and accessories for the softball industry, demonstrates our commitment to building the premier team sports group at K2. The endorsement by Major League baseball including the Minor Leagues, together with the previously announced endorsement by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), naming Rawlings as the official NCAA baseball, is a key component of our strategy to continue to grow our business in the baseball category."
About Rawlings Sporting Goods Company

Rawlings, a wholly owned subsidiary of K2 Inc., is a leading marketer and manufacturer of baseball equipment and other sporting goods in the United States. Rawlings is the Official Baseball of Major League Baseball and the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and Rawlings is also the official basketball for the NAIA, NJCAA, AAU and many other organizations, as well as official football of the NAIA. Rawlings is the official basketball, football, baseball, softball, volleyball and soccer ball of the National High School Federation.

About K2 Inc.

K2 Inc. is a premier, branded consumer products company with a primary focus on sporting goods and other recreational products as well as certain niche industrial products. K2's portfolio of leading brands includes Rawlings, Shakespeare, Pflueger, Stearns, K2, Ride, Olin and Morrow. K2's diversified mix of products is used primarily in team and individual sports activities such as baseball, fishing, watersports activities, alpine skiing, snowboarding, in-line skating and mountain biking. Among K2's other recreational products are Dana Design backpacks, Planet Earth apparel, Adio and Hawk skateboard shoes, and Rawlings team sports. K2 also manufacturers and markets Shakespeare extruded fishing lines and monofilaments, and marine antennas and marine accessories.

Safe Harbor Statement

This news release includes forward-looking statements. K2 cautions that these statements are qualified by important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, including but not limited to K2's ability to successfully execute its acquisition plans and growth strategy, integration of its recent merger with Rawlings Sporting Goods Company, Inc., weather conditions, consumer spending, continued success of manufacturing in China, global economic conditions, product demand, financial market performance, and other risks described in the company's most recent annual report on Form 10-K, subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and current reports on Form 8-K, each as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company cautions that the foregoing list of important factors is not exclusive, any forward-looking statements included in this news release is made as of the date of this news release, and the company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement.

NEW YORK and WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 5, 1997-- Sports Illustrated and Prodigy Services Corporation announced today that the two companies have agreed to jointly market and promote an Internet-based fantasy baseball game for the upcoming season. The game, Baseball Manager, was originally developed by Prodigy for use in its online service, but will now be co-branded by Prodigy and Sports Illustrated and will be available by subscription to anyone connected to the World Wide Web.
Under terms of the agreement, Sports Illustrated will market the co-branded Baseball Manager both online and offline. The game will be promoted online to visitors of SI Online (http://www.sportsillustrated.com), which exists as part of Time Inc.'s renowned and highly visited Pathfinder Web site. Sports Illustrated will also advertise Baseball Manager in its Sports Illustrated magazine, read by more than 23 million adults each week.

Prodigy in turn will promote Baseball Manager to subscribers of its two services: Prodigy Internet, its new flagship service; and Prodigy Classic, which remains one of the largest online communities in the world. The company will also advertise the product in sporting publications. Prodigy subscribers can reach Baseball Manager by using the GoTo command: bbm.

The two companies will share revenues generated by subscription sales of Baseball Manager. Financial details were not disclosed.
"We like the association with Prodigy's Baseball Manager, which already has a great following", said Steve Zales, director of development at Sports Illustrated. "We look forward to introducing one of the most realistic fantasy baseball games to our readers and viewers."

"This relationship illustrates how new-media companies like Prodigy can work with well-known and more traditional media companies like Sports Illustrated to market products and services on the Internet," said Peter Glusker, vice president, content for Prodigy. "Now with Sports Illustrated joining us as a marketing partner, we believe that Baseball Manager will continue to find a new audience and will be recognized as the best fantasy baseball game on the Internet."

Baseball Manager (BBM), which officially opens for enrollments today, allows game players to manage teams comprised of big-league players. Unlike "Rotisserie(R)" baseball that relies strictly on compiling statistics, BBM provides the capability to set daily line- ups, pitching rotations, select relief pitchers, make trades, send players to the minors, even define lefty versus righty match-ups. Each morning, BBM generates daily results for thousands of cyber teams -- win or lose -- based on player performances that took place in Major League stadiums just hours before. If Albert Belle hits a home run, then hell also hit one in Baseball Manager.

Using a sophisticated algorithmic formula that weighs real-life offensive, defensive and pitching statistics, BBM's powerful mainframe-based game computers crunch numbers from the prior night's games, deciding winners and losers based on each fantasy team's performance. When BBM game players sign on to the Web site, they receive their own daily, personalized results, including computer- generated newspaper headlines trumpeting scores and performances from last night's cyber games. Just as in real baseball, this process unfolds over the course of a 162-game schedule and culminates with playoffs and a Cyber Series to determine the champions of the Internet.

The Major League Baseball Players Association has named Prodigy's Baseball Manager an official licensee of its association.

SI Online from SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, a sports information and entertainment service available at www.sportsillustrated.com, features comprehensive news, scores and stats of all major sports; sports headlines updated every ten minutes; and unique interactive content featuring exquisite writing, incisive opinions and award-winning photo journalism.

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, with a readership of 23 million adults weekly, is published by Time Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., the world's leading media and entertainment company. The SI franchise also encompasses: SI PRESENTS, the magazine's custom publishing division; SITV, the television programming and production arm; SI for KIDS, a monthly magazine targeted to kids age 8 and up, which will launch a weekly network kids television series in the Fall of '97; SI ONLINE, SI's home on the World Wide Web; CNN/SI, the new 24-hour sports news and information network; SI INTERNATIONAL, which develops international publishing ventures, explores opportunities to extend the SI brand globally and manages SI's worldwide Olympic sponsorship; SI Printed Products, which produces books and calendars; "Insider Authentics," a sports merchandise catalog; and selective editorial sections such as "Golf Plus," "NFL Extra," and "NBA Extra" in SI and "Girls & Sports Extra" in SI FOR KIDS.

Employed by Denver, Rio Grande Railroad and retired from Kennecott Copper in 1978.

Attended Granite High School and actively lettered in all athletic sports. He was an outstanding competitor in Amateur and semi-pro baseball and softball until 1952. Les enjoyed hunting, fishing, and camping with family members and friends. His greatest enjoyment in life was golfing and winning a $2 bet.
Married Esther Pollock on Nov. 25, 1935 (deceased 7-16-85). Survived by three brothers (Sidney, Richard, and Thomas); son Ronald and daughter Kayla; four granddaughters (Lezlie, Jerilyn, Denise, and Casey); seven great grandchildren; three step-grandsons (Troy, James, and John); seven step-great grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

The family wishes to thank Soko and Lola for the time and care spent with dad. A special thanks to Joanie, Alisa and dad's companion Frosty.

Services will be held at Larkin Sunset Gardens, 1950 East 10600 South, Sandy, on Sat. April 3, 2004 at 12:00 noon. Viewing is held one hour prior to services. Friends and golfing buddies can unite at Les's Watering Hole, 3000 So. Highland Dr., Friday April 2 from 7:00- 9:00 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Humane Society of Utah.

Copyright C 2004 Deseret News Publishing Co.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.

NEW YORK -- John Dowd does not think Pete Rose read the report he compiled for baseball that led to the career hit leader's permanent ban from the sport.

Dowd, the investigator who headed the probe into Rose and his gambling, made the conclusion after reading Rose's new book, "Pete Rose: My Prison Without Bars." In the book, Rose ended years of denials and confessed that he bet on Cincinnati Reds games while he was their manager.

But he also repeatedly challenges the report Dowd submitted and the accusations made by his former associates before he accepted a permanent ban in August 1989.
"I concluded after reading it that he never read my report," Dowd told The New York Times for Sunday editions. "He's autographed it and sold it but never read it."

Dowd said one of the lowest points after the investigation came in 1998, when Major League Baseball filed a complaint with the District of Columbia Bar contending that Dowd had violated lawyer-client privilege.

He said he gave all his findings to Rose's lawyers under instruction from then commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti.

"It was clear they wanted me to shut up," Dowd said. "But there was no privilege. Everything I had I gave to Rose's lawyers."

The bar council dismissed the complaint.

"It's no fun when someone goes after your meal ticket," Dowd said. "It was especially difficult when it was the commissioner of baseball doing it."

Earlier this month, Dowd would not comment to The Associated Press on Rose's turnabout.

"I really don't want to get into a Dowd vs. Rose," Dowd said.

Copyright C 2004 Deseret News Publishing Co.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.

Fans at SPORTSDAQ.com(TM) are out-predicting the pundits as the March college basketball tournaments nears. While Cincinnati moved back on top of both the AP and UPI top 25 polls released on March 6th, the Bearcats had already been on top of the new Men's College Basketball Market at SPORTSDAQ.com for the entire week of February 28th - March 5th.

As of March 6th, SPORTSDAQ(TM) members give Cincinnati an 8.43% chance of winning the Men's tournament, closely followed by Stanford at 7.78%, Duke at 6.96% and Michigan State with 6.59%. The "FIELD" bet, which represents a basket of over 32 underdog teams has also risen in value to a 3.23% chance of winning, indicating that fans think a long shot may have a chance to win this year.

SPORTSDAQ.com members have been predicting the outcomes of the 2000 Men's and Women's collegiate basketball tournaments since February 25th, long before most of the collegiate basketball tournament games begin in the week of March 17th.

The SPORTSDAQ market is a complete securities market simulation that gives fans the opportunity to turn their predictions about the outcomes of sports events into an investment portfolio of college and professional sports teams. Top members will win prizes, including season tickets to the professional baseball game of their choice on March 12, 2000 -- before the beginning of the collegiate tournaments. A second round of outstanding prizes will be awarded to the most successful traders immediately following the conclusion of the college basketball tournaments.

The SPORTSDAQ market provides a powerful ranking tool that differs from traditional "Top 25" polls and Las Vegas "Odds" in three key ways. In the SPORTSDAQ market, team "prices" are:

-- a pure representation of the aggregate predictions of fans, not
the opinions of small groups of coaches, analysts or pundits;

-- an assessment of the absolute percent chance of winning the
collegiate championship, not simply a relative ranking of teams;
(e.g., a team trading at SD$10 SportsDollars(TM) is perceived as
having a 10% chance of winning the collegiate basketball
championship);

-- updated in real-time when SPORTSDAQ.com members place trades,
leading to an overall market that serves as a barometer of fan
sentiment, unlike more traditional polls that are updated only
periodically

Up-to-the-minute fan poll results can be accessed directly at:
http://www.sportsdaq.com/info/competitionoverview.asp?name=CBM.
Results as of March 6th are:

TEAM CHANCE OF WINNING

Cincinnati 8.43%
Stanford 7.78%
Duke 6.96%
Michigan St 6.59%
Syracuse 5.17%
Arizona 4.67%
St. John's 4.17%
Ohio St 3.98%
FIELD (all other teams) 3.63%
Florida 3.45%
Temple 3.41%
Oklahoma St 3.37%
Connecticut 3.33%
Indiana 2.91%
Kentucky 2.86%
Tennessee 2.77%
Iowa St 2.54%
Auburn 2.22%
Tulsa 2.14%
Maryland 2.00%
Texas 1.94%
Oklahoma 1.81%
LSU 1.65%
Kansas 1.56%
Seton Hall 1.47%
Dayton 1.35%
Vanderbilt 1.30%
Purdue 1.29%
Missouri 1.24%
Utah 1.16%
Gonzaga 1.14%
Oregon 0.92%
N.C. State 0.76%

Wall Street Showdown Overview:

All members are eligible to win prizes in the latest round of the SPORTSDAQ.com Wall Street Showdown(TM), the world's first contest to pit sports fans against a basket of Wall Street's hottest technology stocks.