Nick Franklin agrees to minor league deal with Pirates
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Utility infielder Nick Franklin has agreed to a minor league contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates and will attend big league spring training.
The 27-year-old Franklin is a career .214 hitter, appearing in 301 games for four different teams since making his debut in 2013 with Seattle.
Franklin has moved around during his career, playing 143 games at second base, 37 in left field, 30 at shortstop, 19 at first base, 11 in right field and one at first base. He made two plate appearances for Milwaukee last May before straining a quadriceps. He made six injury rehabilitation starts in the minor leagues before being moved to the disabled list for the rest of the season.
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Keith Urban to play at NHL Stadium Series outdoor game
By STEPHEN WHYNO, AP Hockey Writer
The NHL took the Stanley Cup to Keith Urban’s studio last year, and now the country music star will be taking his talents outside to play a league event.
Urban will perform during the first intermission of the Stadium Series outdoor game in Philadelphia between the Penguins and Flyers on Feb. 23, the NHL announced Wednesday, making him the latest high-profile music act to play a league event following Weezer at the Winter Classic and Bebe Rexha at All-Star Weekend.
“We’re thrilled that these artists are now considering our events to be of the highest level and incredible exposure for them,” NHL chief content officer Steve Mayer said. “For us as the NHL, we’re just looking for the biggest artists we can find, and we think that Keith Urban transcends all of that.”
Urban has no connection to the Flyers or Penguins, but he and wife Nicole Kidman are Nashville Predators fans, and he sang the national anthem during their 2017 playoff run. Urban and Kidman got to spend some time with the Cup in April when the NHL had it in Nashville during the playoffs, one step toward getting them more involved with hockey.
“Keith really has fallen in love with the game, fallen in love with hockey, thinks this is a really cool opportunity and wants to work with us more and more promoting the game,” Mayer said.
Years ago, the NHL was the subject of some jokes for booking Billy Idol and other artists past their prime for big events. When Mayer joined the NHL in 2015, he wanted to up the entertainment value with the artists playing for big hockey audiences.
One way to do that was expanding the kinds of acts the league was looking for.
“We’ve also opened up our musical entertainment to other genres other than classic rock,” Mayer said. “We do know that our fans love classic rock and we’re not shying away from it, but we also are looking to bring in more casual fans and going to what they love in the music world.”
The other goal is to get music fans into hockey, with Mayer saying, “If we get some Keith Urban fans to watch the game in Philadelphia and they would’ve normally not watched the game, we win.”
Canadian band Glorious Sons will play pregame festivities outside Lincoln Financial Field and then during the second intermission.
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Follow AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SWhyno
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‘We want seven!’ Huge crowds fete Patriots on Super Bowl win
By PHILIP MARCELO, Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of jubilant fans jammed downtown Boston on Tuesday for a parade celebrating the New England Patriots’ sixth Super Bowl title, clamoring for more with cheers of “We want seven!” and “Next year, right here!”
A party atmosphere enveloped the city as fans clad in team garb packed sidewalks in the mild weather and stood on tiptoe for a glimpse of quarterback Tom Brady, coach Bill Belichick and the rest of the team. Red, white and blue confetti rained down.
It’s a familiar feeling in Boston. The parade came just four months after the city feted the Red Sox for their fourth World Series championship in 15 years.
“Getting to see Tom Brady again is always a special day, but the Patriots are amazing. Six-time champs,” fan Lauren Mills said, adding that she still hasn’t had her fill. Her message to Brady: “Go for No. 7. He still has how many fingers left? You know, four more rings to go.”
Fresh from Sunday’s 13-3 victory over the Los Angeles Rams in the Super Bowl in Atlanta, team members and their families took a 2-mile (3-kilometer) swing through the city aboard Boston’s iconic World War II-era amphibious “duck boats.”
Brady held his pigtailed daughter, Vivian, and they waved and grinned at the crowd as players and team owner Robert Kraft took turns holding aloft the Lombardi Trophy. Belichick and his partner, Linda Holliday, beamed, and the storied coach doffed his cap.
Star tight end Rob Gronkowski, who has talked about retiring after this latest NFL title, whooped it up with his brothers and father. He and several other players removed their shirts and spent the second half of the parade cavorting bare-chested.
They waved large signs that read, “We Got Everything” — a twist on the Patriots’ motivational hashtag, “Everything We Got,” that had become a theme this season.
At least one brave Rams fan, wearing one of that team’s blue and yellow jerseys, hung out along the parade route.
Officials expected more than 1 million attendees, and early trains and subways were jammed, overwhelming the Boston area’s transit system with what officials said was record ridership. The weather was unseasonably warm, with temperatures above 50 degrees (10 degrees Celsius) and dazzling sunshine.
Security was tight, and police took away several fans who appeared intoxicated, including one man on a stretcher.
Mayor Marty Walsh warned fans not to throw anything. Errant beer cans slightly damaged the Red Sox World Series trophy last year.
Unlike in past years, no post-parade rally with speeches was planned. Officials didn’t elaborate on why.
Stephen Chhom, of Lynn, Massachusetts, was along the parade route overlooking the Statehouse with his friend Ricky Sok and Sok’s son, Raiyu.
“What made this year special were all the other fans doubting us,” Chhom said, wearing a Julian Edelman jersey. “The record speaks for itself. Tom Brady and the rest of the team prove themselves every single time.”
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Associated Press video journalist Rodrique Ngowi contributed to this report. Follow Philip Marcelo on Twitter at https://twitter.com/philmarcelo .

File Photo taken in 2016 by Frank Sparks

The Pirates have signed free-agent left-hander Francisco Liriano, MLB Network insider Ken Rosenthal reported Monday, with The Athletic adding that it’s a Minor League deal worth $1.8 million plus incentives if he makes the roster. The Bucs have not commented on the reports. as of yet.

Liriano signed with the Pirates as a free agent prior to the 2013 season, remaining with the club until he was traded to the Blue Jays on Aug. 1, 2016. Liriano made 107 starts in a Bucs uniform, going 41-36 with a 3.67 ERA. Liriano has struggled since leaving Pittsburgh, spending time with the Blue Jays, Astros and Tigers. The 35-year-old spent 2018 with the Tigers, with whom he pitched in 27 games (26 starts) and went 5-12 with a 4.58 ERA. Among all pitchers with at least 100 innings, Liriano posted the fourth-highest walk rate (12.5 percent) and the fourth-lowest strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.51).