Ban over for thrilled Harbaugh, but ‘I never left’
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Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior Writer
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh watched Saturday’s win over Ohio State from home, alongside his wife and others, sharing hugs and high-fives while witnessing “a glorious moment” for his team.
Harbaugh is set to return to the sideline Saturday night for the Big Ten championship against No. 17 Iowa after serving a Big Ten-imposed three-game suspension that stemmed from a prohibited signal-stealing operation led by former staff member Connor Stalions.
The third-ranked Wolverines won all three games during Harbaugh’s latest suspension, which was limited only to game days.
“My emotions, my focus has been with the team the entire time,” Harbaugh said Sunday. “It’s been a tremendous season, right in the exact position that we hoped for, that we worked so hard to be in. It’s onward now. We’ve accomplished many of our goals, but not all of them yet. … The next is winning the conference championship, so that’s where our focus is.
“I would say it’s good to be back, but I never left.”
Harbaugh noted the enthusiasm on Sunday inside Schembechler Hall, Michigan’s football building, after beating their archrival for the third straight time after losing 15 of the previous 16 games in the series. The ninth-year Michigan coach called safety Rod Moore‘s game-clinching interception of Kyle McCord in the final minute “one of the happiest moments of my life.”
With the victory, Michigan became the first Big Ten team ever to win 30 consecutive regular-season games.
After watching Saturday’s win, Harbaugh went to a local hospital to visit with offensive lineman Zak Zinter, who suffered a broken fibula and tibia in the game and underwent surgery Saturday night. The coach commended Zinter’s toughness in dealing with the injury, which he described as “the best worst-case scenario.”
Harbaugh also praised offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore, who stepped in as acting head coach during the suspension, and a “very, very special team” that he felt best exemplifies the famous quote from his coach at Michigan, Hall of Famer Bo Schembechler.
“The team, the team, the team — it just rings so loud,” Harbaugh said. “It was not one guy. All guys, the entire team, the way they played, and it was offense complementing the defense, the defense complementing the offense, the special teams as well. Everything was really run clean and precise, highly disciplined football, and a clean game, both sides.”
Harbaugh reiterated his desire for college athletes to be paid, noting the number of commercials and other marketing leading up to and during the Ohio State game. He said he would continue to use his voice to advocate for athlete compensation, and said he would “take less money for the players to have a share,” and encouraged other coaches to also use their platforms.
Michigan made history during Harbaugh’s suspension by becoming the first program to win 1,000 games. The Wolverines’ 1,002nd win would mark another milestone, as they have never won three consecutive outright Big Ten titles.
“It’d mean a great deal,” Harbaugh said. “This team, it’s a true team, selfless, they play for each other. If you’re wondering what’s in another man’s heart on this team, it’s about each other.”
Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz on Sunday said wide receivers Diante Vines and Kaleb Brown both “have a chance” to play against Michigan. The two have combined for 26 receptions, 276 yards and two touchdowns this season.
Iowa’s offense has lost a number of key players to injury, including its two transfers from Michigan, quarterback Cade McNamara and tight end Erick All. The Hawkeyes lost to Michigan in the 2021 Big Ten title game.
“Whether it’s the championship game, in 25 years, we’ve been underdogs an awful lot,” Ferentz said. “It’s not unfamiliar territory for us.”
The Baltimore Orioles are “very, very hopeful” that star shortstop Gunnar Henderson (intercostal strain) will be ready for Opening Day.
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde told reporters Wednesday that Henderson suffered a mild strain on his right side.
“I’m very, very hopeful. But we’re going to not push a strain there, and we want to make sure that he gets it taken care of. It’s one of those sensitive areas where we don’t want anything to reoccur,” Hyde said.
Henderson departed last Thursday’s 11-8 spring training victory over the Toronto Blue Jays after the first inning with what the team termed “lower right side discomfort.” Henderson made a leaping catch in the top of the first inning and apparently felt soreness after hitting the ground.
Henderson is batting .167 in six plate appearances so far this spring.
The 2023 American League Rookie of the Year earned his first All-Star nod in 2024 batting .281/.364/.529 with 37 home runs and 92 RBIs. He also stole 21 bases. He finished fourth in MVP balloting.
Henderson dealt with a left oblique injury during spring training in 2024 but recovered in time for the start of the regular season.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – New Houston Astros first baseman Christian Walker was scratched from the lineup for a spring training game Wednesday because of soreness in his left oblique.
Walker missed more than a month last season with Arizona because of a strained left oblique muscle. He joined the Astros on a $60 million, three-year contract during the offseason.
In his first four spring training games for Houston, Walker was 4 for 8 with three doubles. He also had two walks.
Adding a first baseman over the offseason was a priority for the Astros after struggling Jose Abreu was released less than halfway through a $58.5 million, three-year contract.
Walker, who turns 34 on March 28, hit .251 with 26 home runs and 84 RBIs in 130 games for the Diamondbacks last season. He won his third consecutive Gold Glove at first base.
In 832 big league games, Walker has hit .250 with 147 homers. All but 13 of those games came with Arizona over the past eight seasons, after his MLB debut with Baltimore in 2014 and 2015.
Walker had two stints on the injured list because of right oblique issues in 2021. He played 160 games in 2022 and 157 in 2023, hitting 69 homers and driving in 197 runs combined over those two seasons.
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — The Hall of Fame made some small adjustments to its veterans committee system to limit people with relatively little support from repeatedly remaining on future ballots, a decision that could make it harder to gain entry to Cooperstown for steroids-tainted stars such as Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.
Any candidate on the eight-person ballot who receives fewer than five votes from the 16-member panel will not be eligible for that committee’s ballot during the next three-year cycle, the hall said Wednesday. A candidate who is dropped, later reappears on a ballot and again receives fewer than five votes would be barred from future ballot appearances.
Bonds, Clemens, Rafael Palmeiro and Albert Belle each received fewer than four votes in December 2022, when Fred McGriff was a unanimous pick. Bonds and Clemens were on a hall ballot for the first time since their 10th and final appearances on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot. The rules change could limit reappraisals of their candidacies.
In addition, the historical overview committee appointed by the BBWAA that selects the ballot candidates must also be approved by the hall’s board of directors. The hall said the decisions were made by its board during a Feb. 26 meeting in Orlando, Florida.
In 2022, the hall restructured its veterans committees for the third time in 12 years, setting up panels to consider the contemporary era from 1980 on, as well as the classic era. The contemporary baseball era holds separate ballots for players and another for managers, executives and umpires.
Each committee meets every three years: contemporary players from 1980 on will be considered this December; managers, executives and umpires from 1980 on in December 2026; and pre-1980 candidates in December 2027.
Dave Parker and Dick Allen were elected last December and manager Jim Leyland in December 2023.
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