Wednesday’s Sports In Brief

BASEBALL

CLEVELAND (AP) — José Ramírez didn’t let a torn thumb ligament stop him from leading the Guardians during a surprising season.

Cleveland’s All-Star third baseman played the second half — as well as the team’s playoff run that ended Tuesday in the AL Division Series — with a torn right thumb ligament that will require surgery.

The team said Ramírez injured the ulnar collateral ligament in his thumb during a June game in Los Angeles. The 30-year-old could have opted for surgery, which would have sidelined him for two months, but decided to keep playing.

He’ll now have an operation in the next few weeks. Renowned hand specialist Dr. Thomas Graham will perform the surgery in Dayton, Ohio.

The Guardians said the rehab will not significantly impact his offseason training or Ramírez’s availability for next season. The team is expected to have more details later this week.

The revelation of Ramírez’s injury came one day after the Guardians, who went 92-70 and won the AL Central before beating Tampa Bay in the wild-card round, were eliminated from the postseason with a 5-1 loss in Game 5 to the New York Yankees.

FOOTBALL

ATLANTA (AP) — Pro and College Football Hall of Famer Charley Trippi, a runner-up for the Heisman Trophy at Georgia who went on to lead the Cardinals to their most recent NFL championship in 1947, died Wednesday. He was 100.

The University of Georgia announced that Trippi died peacefully at his Athens home.

Trippi was one of football’s most versatile players, lining up at multiple positions on offense, defense and special teams. He is the only member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame to have 1,000 yards rushing, receiving and passing in his career.

The son of a Pennsylvania coal miner, Trippi had a simple explanation for his dazzling array of skills.

Trippi played his college football at Georgia in the 1940s, his career interrupted by a stint in the military during World War II.

Trippi led the Bulldogs to a Rose Bowl victory, finished second to Glenn Davis for the 1946 Heisman Trophy, and was a No. 1 overall draft pick by the Cardinals, who then called Chicago home.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi State freshman offensive lineman Sam Westmoreland has died at the age of 18, the school announced Wednesday.

The school did not provide details in announcing the death of Westmoreland, an industrial technology major from Tupelo who would have turned 19 on Friday. Oktibbeha County coroner Michael Hunt told The Associated Press Wednesday night that foul play is not suspected but did not provide further details. The school said in a news release that it was working with the athletic department, the Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Office and the coroner’s office to determine facts of the death and would not comment further.

Messages left with the Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Office were not immediately returned.

The 6-foot-4, 260-pound Westmoreland was listed on the roster for the Bulldogs’ Southeastern Conference game Saturday at No. 6 Alabama. He had not played this season, according to the game notes.

MSU coach Mike Leach said in the news release that the athletics family was heartbroken by Westmoreland’s death, which he called sudden.

GOLF

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles Country Club is getting another U.S. Open before it even holds its first one, and the women will get their crack at the course on the edge of Beverly Hills.

The club’s North course is hosting its first U.S. Open next June. The USGA on Wednesday announced the U.S. Open will return in 2039. The U.S. Women’s Open will be held at LACC in 2032.

The announcement gives the USGA premier Open sites in northern and southern California, with Pebble Beach scheduled to host a U.S. Open or U.S. Women’s Open eight times through 2048.

LACC will have two U.S. Opens and one U.S. Women’s Open through 2039, and Riviera Country Club is hosting the U.S. Women’s Open in 2026 and the Olympics in 2028.

Torrey Pines in San Diego hosted U.S. Opens in 2008 and 2021, but it is not currently scheduled for another.

LACC was designed by George C. Thomas and went through an extensive restoration by Gil Hanse in 2010.