Boston fan continues to improve
The fan who was hit in the head by a broken bat at Fenway Park last week has been upgraded to good condition, hospital officials said Thursday.
Tonya Carpenter, 44, was struck in the head by the broken bat of Oakland third baseman Brett Lawrie in the second inning Friday.
The game was halted as emergency crews tended to Carpenter and wheeled her off the field on a stretcher. She has been hospitalized at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center since the incident.
She had been listed in serious condition over the weekend, and her family said Monday that “Tonya is responsive, and her condition has been upgraded from serious to fair.”
Sea Dogs partner with Goodwill for donation drive
PORTLAND, Maine —The Portland Sea Dogs have partnered with Goodwill Industries of Northern New England to host the 6th Annual Goodwill Night and Donation Drive at Hadlock Field on Tuesday when the Sea Dogs take on the Binghamton Mets at 7 p.m.
Fans are encouraged to bring bags of gently used clothing, books and other household items to Hadlock Field to donate to Goodwill. Goodwill will have a donation center at Hadlock Field to collect the items. For a list of acceptable donations, please visit Goodwill’s website: http://www.goodwillnne.org/donate.
NHL, broadcasters settle lawsuit over TV blackouts
NEW YORK — The National Hockey league will permit fans to watch their favorite teams play outside their home markets, without having to pay extra for a league-wide bundle of games, as part of a settlement of a class action antitrust lawsuit.
The preliminary accord made public on Thursday resolves claims that the league, several teams, Comcast Corp, DirecTV and Madison Square Garden Co, used blackouts to limit out-of-market broadcasts of games.
Fans said this forced them to buy costly bundles of games they did not care about, rather than spend less to buy games “a la carte,” if they wanted to want their preferred teams.
Under the settlement, the NHL will, for the next five years, offer a “Game Center Live” Internet package enabling fans to buy single-team packages for at least 20 percent below the cost of bundled packages.
The league will also discount “early bird,” renewal and full season prices by an additional 17.25 percent for the 2015-2016 season, allowing a fan who now pays $159 for a game bundle to instead buy a single-team package for about $105.
Thursday’s settlement requires approval by U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin in Manhattan.
Coyotes will fight Glendale over arena lease
Arizona Coyotes president/CEO Andrew LeBlanc said he expected the team to file for a temporary restraining order against the City of Glendale late Thursday or Friday, and that the Coyotes remain committed to Arizona.
The Glendale city council voted 5-2 on Wednesday to void a 15-year, $225 million lease agreement with the Coyotes less than two years after city approval. The city first tried to get the team to renegotiate the deal on Tuesday.
“Why would we negotiate a deal that has 13 years remaining?” LeBlanc said. “What we have witnessed here is possibly the most shameful exhibition of government I have ever witnessed. We are going to take every legal action. It is our right. It is a necessity. We have been wronged by a group that is acting in incredibly bad faith.”
The Coyotes have an “out” clause in their contract that they could use to leave now, LeBlanc said, but he said, “We believe in this market.”
The NHL supported the Coyotes in a statement released Thursday.