Blue Jays steamroll Marlins;
Francisco belts 3 home runs

Nine-year-old Carlo Francisco recently displayed his best hitting performance during the final regular season game while playing for the Toronto Blue Jays. His team clobbered the Florida Marlins, 17-6.

The squads are one of nine teams in the Hillcrest Lakers Minor League 9-10-year-old division in Yonkers, N.Y.

In the top of the third inning, Francisco’s teammate Paul Meara batting third just hit a grand slam home run and Francisco batting clean-up followed with a solo home run to left-center field.

In the top of the fifth inning, Meara again hit a three-run homer and Francisco followed with another home run to right-center field.

An inning later in the top of the sixth, Meara drew a walk to load the bases. The Blue Jays started chanting Francisco’s name and a player yelled out, “Come on Carlo hit a grand slam!”

With two strikes on him, Francisco connected with a mammoth home run to center field. Both Meara and Francisco drove in a combined 13 runs.

Their team, the Blue Jays, finished the season as league champions and are seeded first with a 10-2 record. They will be playing in the playoffs with five other teams to decide the playoff champion.

Elite player

For his accomplishments, Francisco was selected to participate in the All Star game which features the best players among the nine teams.

He was also sent a special invitation to try out for the Southern Westchester League All Star Team which plays other elite teams in Westchester County for the rest of the summer.

Out of 100 players to pick from, he made the 13 player roster along with teammate Meara.

Versatile

One of the highlights for Francisco during the tryouts was the head coach figuring out who was the fastest player on the team by running the 50-yard and 150-yard dash. Francisco showed his quickness by winning both races.
Perhaps we are seeing a future professional baseball player.

Francisco is the son of Ramon and Greni Francisco of Yonkers.

Manny, Murad settle case

Manny Pacquiao and Murad Muhammad on Tuesday agreed to settle out of court, ending the hearings in U.S. Federal Court in New York and freeing the Filipino fighter from the rest of his contract with the American promoter.
Pacquiao agreed to drop his $33-million (P1.78-billion) suit against Muhammad who, in turn, will also withdraw his counter-suit against the boxer’s new management team led by Shelly Finkel on top of paying for the litigation costs.

But the other details of the out-of-court settlement of the case, filed by Pacquiao’s lawyers at the Southern District Court of New York presided over by Judge Loretta Preska, were not disclosed.

“This [outcome] is a triumph for all of boxing,” said Pacquiao, according to an Internet report quoting the popular Filipino boxer, who was in New York to testify in the jury trial that began last June 20.

“The case was settled amicably. I decided [there was] no need of fighting. Manny will go his way, we [former Pacquiao business manager Rod Nazario and Muhammad] will go ours,” said the American ring impresario in a press statement.

“Everybody is happy. Murad Muhammad settled with Manny and gave him back his freedom. He also settled for an undisclosed amount to cover court fees,” Pacquiao’s lead lawyer, Judd Burstein, said.

“We will go on with our lives. We will find another Pacquiao or even better. I will continue to build another Pacquiao, continue to help Filipino boxers and all Asian boxers if they want my help,” said Muhammad, who still had two fights remaining in his contract with Pacquiao.

“I wish Manny all the luck. I feel he should go on to be as successful as he can and represent the Philippines with honor. May God be with him,” he added.

With wife Jinkee reportedly by his side, Pacquiao lauded the manner by which Judge Preska presided over the case.

“Win or lose, I said to myself, I had to fight for what is right and what is mine. Thank God, we won and, now, I can concentrate only on boxing. There is truly justice in this world,” Pacquiao said.

Pacquiao, with Jinkee and interpreter-friend Joseph Ramos and wife Joanna in tow, flew back to his U.S. base in California once the outcome was clear.

On the other hand, Nazario said Muhammad informed him in an overseas call of the settlement.

“Murad simply told me that he would go his way and Manny would go his way. Other than that, he didn’t say anything more,” said Nazario.

“This is very, very good. We are happy this is behind us. We told Manny that we’re gonna get him out of this and we did. I guess, we go from there,” said Finkel, who is reportedly arranging for a September fight date for Pacquiao against a soon-to-be-named opponent.

According to the report, Pacquiao learned of “sweetheart deals” that Muhammad and Nazario had, which drastically cut the PacMan’s ring earnings.

But Nazario said that the only sweetheart deal he had with Muhammad “was negotiating for the best purse for Manny,” noting that the promoter wanted to pay his former ward only $100,000 against Marco Antonio Barrera “but I got it raised to $300,000.”

As for allegations that Muhammad and he failed to remit the taxes on Pacquiao’s previous purses, Nazario replied: “If we did not, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service would have made an assessment. But where is it?”
The lawsuit against M&M Sports Inc. and Murad Muhammad, filed last April 27, alleged the promoters transferred more than 30 percent of Pacquiao’s purses to a shell company, controlled by Nazario and his son, Roberto “Boying” Nazario, on the basis his American taxes would be paid from there.

But the taxes were never paid, the lawsuit said, leaving Pacquiao with huge bills for back taxes, penalties and interest. The lawsuit also alleged the arrangement meant his business managers agreed to purses that were below market, since they could make more from the money they set aside than they would from the 10-percent fee on properly negotiated purses.