Nov 7, 2009 - 6:14 AM
0 shoutsNEW YORK(AP) -- Crowds roared, church bells rang and streams of paper rained down on Broadway as the New York Yankees celebrated their 27th championship in a way only this city can, with a parade up the Canyon of Heroes.
The players, joined by a few celebrity fans and Yankees of the past, drank it all in as they rode on floats and double-decker buses through Manhattan's financial district.
It has been years since the city used actual ticker-tape to celebrate its World Series wins, but the experience was still authentic to the many thousands who crammed the sidewalks along the three-quarter-mile parade route near Wall Street .LOS ANGELES (AP) - Manny Ramirez is coming back to the Dodgers next season.
The team announce the slugger exercised his $20 million contract option for 2010. His agent Scott Boras informed general manager Ned Colletti of the decision, which Ramirez had until this month to make.
He could have exercised an out clause in the two-year, $45 million deal he signed in March.
Ramirez hit .290 with 19 home runs and 63 RBIs in 104 regular season games. He missed 50 games while suspended for violating baseball's drug policy.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The Philadelphia Phillies picked up Cliff Lee's $9 million option for 2010.
The team announced the expected move two days after losing the World Series to the New York Yankees. Lee's contract expires after next season, though general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said the team is open to signing the star left-hander to a long-term deal.
HORSE RACING=
ARCADIA, Calif. (AP) - Life Is Sweet led a parade of longshots to the winner's circle at the Breeders' Cup, scoring a 2 1/2-length victory in the $2 million Ladies' Classic.
Garrett Gomez guided Life Is Sweet from last to first during their stretch run on the far outside at Santa Anita. Life Is Sweet ran 1 1-8 miles in 1:48.58 and paid $18.20, $8 and $5 at 8-1 odds. She was the fourth longshot to win in the six Breeders' Cup races.
The 4-year-old filly shares the barn of defending champion Zenyatta, who skipped the race to run in Saturday's $5 million Classic for the first time against the boys. Both horses are trained by John Shirreffs for different owners.
AUTO RACING=
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - Kyle Busch started his Texas tripleheader with another NASCAR Trucks Series victory.
Busch has won each of his last five truck races, extending the streak that began at Bristol in August when he beat Matt Crafton by 0.725 seconds at the 1 1/2-mile, high-banked Texas track. Busch has won seven times this 13 starts this season in the No. 51 Toyota, and been outside the top two only three times.
Busch, who wasn't at the Texas truck race in June, is running in all three NASCAR races in Texas this weekend.
Series points leader Ron Hornaday was third, nearly 10 seconds behind Crafton, his closest competitor for the season title. Hornaday has a 197-point lead with two races left.
PRO BASKETBALL=
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - New Orleans Hornets owner George Shinn said he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, but remains healthy and is optimistic that he will conquer the disease.
A businessman from Kannapolis, N.C., the 68-year-old Shinn has been the owner of the team since he received an expansion franchise in Charlotte, N.C., in 1988.
TENNIS=
BASEL, Switzerland (AP) - Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic reached the semifinals of the Swiss Indoors, staying on course to meet in the final.
Three-time defending champion Federer cruised to a 6-3, 6-2 win against Russian qualifier Evgeny Korolev and Djokovic pulled out a 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2 victory over Stanislas Wawrinka.
Federer will play wild card Marco Chiudinelli, a childhood friend in Basel who beat Richard Gasquet of France 6-1, 6-3 to reach the first ATP Tour semifinal of his injury-blighted career.
Djokovic will meet fifth-seeded Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic on Saturday. Stepanek beat Marin Cilic of Croatia 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
VALENCIA, Spain (AP) - Top-seeded Andrew Murray carried his comeback into the Valencia Open semifinals by cruising past Albert Montanes of Spain 6-4, 6-2.
Murray is gunning for his sixth title of the year and first since August. He will next meet another Spaniard, 2004 Valencia champion Fernando Verdasco.
Second-seeded Nikolay Davydenko will play fellow Russian Mikhail Youzhny in the other semifinal.
The fourth-seeded Verdasco eliminated seventh-seeded countryman Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-2, evening their career series at 4-4.
BASEL, Switzerland (AP) - Novak Djokovic has called for "crucial" meetings to address the heavy playing schedule faced by top tennis players.
The third-ranked Serb said more players were getting injured because of the demands of a long season.
Djokovic said players should have up to two months rest before preparing for the Australian Open in January.
He spoke at the Swiss Indoors tournament. U.S. Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro pulled out of the tournament because of a wrist injury.
ATHLETICS=
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Five days after winning the New York City Marathon, Meb Keflezighi was back where it began for him.
Keflezighi, who moved from his native Eritrea to San Diego when he was in the sixth grade, was honored at the San Diego Hall of Champions for becoming the first U.S. man in 27 years to win the New York City Marathon. His time of 2 hours, 9 minutes, 15 seconds was a personal best.
The 34-year-old Keflezighi spoke in front of an audience of many of the same people who coached and taught him during his school years, including from nearby San Diego High.
