• Yates back in the majors
• Ricky Williams, 27, retires
• Earnhardt starts race
Yates back in the majors
New York Mets pitcher and Kaua‘i High School alum Tyler Yates was recalled to the major-league club from AAA Norfolk (Virginia) Sunday.
Yates, a rookie who has a 1-4 record and a 7.22 E.R.A. with the Mets this year, was pitching well at Norfolk.
Since optioned to Norfolk in May to work on becoming a relief pitcher, Yates has been 2-2 with a 3.41 ERA and four saves.
He takes the place of right-handed pitcher Orber Moreno, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list after straining his pitching shoulder while taking batting practice Saturday.
Ricky Williams, 27, retires
Ricky Williams, the Miami Dolphins’ star running back, announced his retirement yesterday, only a week before training camp was scheduled to begin.
Williams has always been a breakaway threat. But retirement at age 27?
“I was completely surprised,” Miami coach Dave Wannstedt said Sunday. “My main thought process was to try to get Ricky to come back here, sit down, talk about some things and see if we can get this thing back on track. He obviously chose to go another direction.”
Williams, who rushed for 3,225 yards in two seasons with the Dolphins, phoned from Hawaii to inform Wannstedt of his decision, then continued his travels by flying to Tokyo.
Williams plans to file retirement papers Monday or Tuesday with the NFL. The Dolphins hold their first training camp workout Saturday.
“You can’t understand how free I feel,” Williams told the Herald in a phone interview.
Long ambivalent about life in the spotlight, he said there’s no chance he’ll change his mind. But his agent, Leigh Steinberg, held out the possibility that the retirement could be temporary.
“Right now he seems at peace with his decision and intends to retire,” Steinberg said. “Whether it ends up being short term or long term, we’ll have to see.”
Earnhardt starts race
LOUDON, N.H. — Kurt Busch won the race while injured Dale Earnhardt Jr. stuck to his game plan and, with relief help, held onto second place in the NASCAR Nextel Cup points on Sunday.
Busch was the only driver to stay with pole-winner Ryan Newman through most of the Siemens 300, passing him twice and, finally, pulling away from Newman and runner-up Jeff Gordon at the end for his second win of the season and 10th of his career.
A number of drivers had their eyes on the season standings Sunday, with the top 10 drivers, along with any others within 400 points of the lead after the 26th race, to compete for the championship over the last 10 races of the season.
The “Chase for the Cup” begins on the same flat, 1.058-mile New Hampshire International Speedway oval on Sept. 19.
Earnhardt, with second-degree burns on his legs, neck and chin from a crash a week earlier during a sports car event, started the race to get the championship points but gave up the seat on lap 61 to Martin Truex Jr., the Busch Series points leader making his Cup debut.
Series leader Jimmie Johnson, who swept both New Hampshire races last year, struggled to an 11th-place finish on Sunday but increased his lead over Earnhardt from 105 to 165 points, with Gordon 202 back.
