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E-mailNotebook: Former Braves pitcher, Mahler, dead at 51
Rick Mahler, who won nearly 100 games during a 13-year career spent mostly with the Atlanta Braves, died Wednesday. He was 51. Mahler died of a heart attack in Jupiter, Fla., while preparing for his second season as a minor league pitching coach for the New York Mets, the team said. He was set to join the Mets' Class A team in Port St. Lucie. The right-hander started on opening day for the Braves five times in the 1980s, including the first game of the '82 season, when Atlanta went on to win the NL West title. Mahler made four straight Opening Day starts beginning in 1985.
Yankees owner George Steinbrenner needed a long time to get over his team's stunning loss to the Boston Red Sox in the AL playoffs. "It really did," Steinbrenner said yesterday, one day before the Yankees' spring training opener against the Pirates. "It was very hard ... I hate to lose. I'm a very bad loser, and I hope my men feel the same way this year. (I) just hope we get out there and get the job done."
The Boss said Boston "deserves all the credit" for its victory, and again stated he has no problem with the Red Sox handing out their World Series rings before the Fenway Park opener against the Yankees.
