Sports: Tigers Sign Martinez

Tiger Deals

The Tigers have agreed to a four-year, 70-million dollar contract to keep free-agent designated hitter Victor Martinez.  Martinez, who turns 36 next month, hit .335 with 32 home runs, 103 RBI and an American League-leading .409 on-base percentage.  He is one of three finalists for the American League MVP Award, which will be handed out on Thursday. Martinez just finished a four-year, 50-million-dollar contract he signed with Detroit prior to the 2011 season.

The Tigers have traded for Toronto centerfielder Anthony Gose.   Detroit gives up minor league second baseman Devon Travis.   Team President Dave Dombrowski says Gose can provide "above-average defense" in center and a good arm.  Detroit hopes the 24-year-old Gose will improve at the plate. He hit .226 last season in 94 games with the Blue Jays.  Travis batted .298 with 10 home runs and 52 RBIs in 100 games with Double-A Erie. He was the Tigers' minor league player of the year in 2013.

Rumors had been circulation that the Tigers may be looking to add free-agent outfielder Melky Cabrera., who played the past two seasons in Toronto.  The 30-year-old hit .301 with 16 home runs and 73 RBI this year.

Detroit Pistons

The Pistons blew an early lead and lost to Washington 107-104.  John Wall had 27 points and 11 assists for the Wizards.  Brandon Jennings' 32 points and 10 assists went to waste as the Pistons weren't able to capitalize on a 10-point first quarter lead. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 20 points for Detroit.   The Pistons play at Oklahoma City tomorrow night.

Volleyball

Three area volleyball teams play in Regional Finals tonight, hoping to get a win and go to the state quarterfinals.

The Harper Creek volleyball team will  play Buchanan.  The game has been moved from Edwardsburg to Dowagiac.  St. Phillip plays a regional final game against Camden-Frontier.  Climax-Scotts is in the Class D regional at Mendon.

Cy Young Winners

Dodgers’ pitcher Clayton Kershaw is once again the National League Cy Young Award winner. Kershaw received all 30 first-place votes to win for the second straight year and third time in four seasons. He was 21-and-3 with a major league-leading 1.77 ERA in 27 starts this past season.  Kershaw is also up for the NL MVP tonight.  Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is the American League Cy Young Award winner. He received 17-of-30 first-place votes to edge Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez by just 10 total points.  Kluber went 18-and-9 with a 2.35 ERA and 269 strikeouts in 235-plus innings this year.

Thursday Night Football

The Buffalo Bills play the Miami Dolphins at Sun Life Stadium.  Both teams are 5-and-4 and tied for second place in the division, behind the 7-and-2 Patriots.

College Football Rankings

#12 Michigan State plays on the road this Saturday against 6-and-3 Maryland.

Michigan has the weekend off and will host Maryland a week from Saturday.

WMU hosts EMU this Saturday.

Red Wings

The Red Wings are off until Friday when they host Chicago.  Pavel Datsyuk could be back in the lineup if his groin pull is better.

NASCAR

Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman will be battling for the Sprint Cup title this weekend at Homestead.

High School Football

The Lakeview Spartans will travel to Muskegon to take on Mona Shores Friday night in a Division 2-Region 1 final.

College Basketball

The Spartan basketball team starts the regular season tomorrow against Navy.  Michigan plays Saturday against Hillsdale College.

Lions

The Lions play at Arizona this Sunday.  Former MSU star Drew Stanton will start at Quarterback for Arizona, after starter Carson Palmer tore a knee ligament on Sunday After Sunday, the 7-2 Lions are at New England on Thanksgiving Day.  After that, they’ll close out the season against division foes Tampa Bay, Minnesota, Green Bay and two games with Chicago.

Tavares drunk when he crashed and died

St. Louis Cardinals rookie outfielder Oscar Taveras was drunk at the time of his fatal car crash last month in his Caribbean homeland. An official in the Dominican Republic says Taveras had a blood-alcohol level five times the country's legal limit when he lost control of his car Oct. 26.

Athlete of the Week

This week's WBCK/Meijer Athlete of the Week is the Harper Creek Beavers volleyball team’s senior Libero Kendall Latshaw.  A defensive specialist, Latshaw made 20 digs in Harper Creek's three-game sweep of Paw Paw in the Regional Semifinals Tuesday, and 15 digs in each of the two district games.  She had 39 total digs in three games in the I-8's end of season tournament. Congratulations Kendall Latshaw, our WBCK/Meijer Athlete of the Week!

Go on line today to nominate our WBCK/Meijer Athlete of the Week!   We want to salute local kids who are working hard both on and off the field, and it’s easy to nominate someone you think is deserving of an award.  The winner will get mentioned on WBCK and at wbckfm.com and also get a trophy from Recognition Inc. in Battle Creek. We’ll announce a new WBCK/Meijer Athlete of the Week each Wednesday.