Valentine wants 'real' world title

By wire services
Published December 8, 2005

FORT WORTH, Texas - Bobby Valentine wants to see the top teams in the United States and Japan play each other to determine a true world champion, and he thinks his Chiba Lotte Marines could have challenged the White Sox this year.

The former Mets and Rangers manager guided the Marines to their first Japanese major league title in 31 years. Chicago swept Houston for its first World Series championship since 1917.

"I didn't see the White Sox except on TV, but our leadoff guy was as fast. Our defense was as good. Our pitchers threw the same pitches and threw just as hard, but with better control," Valentine said. "We would have been short in middle-of-the-lineup power, but that power isn't what wins a series for you."

Valentine said he likes the concept of the inaugural World Baseball Classic, the 16-nation tournament to be played in March. But he would like international competition to go one step further, with a postseason series to establish a world champion.

PAPERS FOUND: Two rare copies of a sports newspaper, including issues dealing with the 1919 White Sox gambling scandal, have been returned to the University of Illinois library.

The copies of Collyer's Eye, which was credited with exposing the scandal, were found on a table in the Urbana-Champaign campus library about 9 p.m. Tuesday, said Karen Schmidt, the associate university librarian for collections.

Librarians discovered the issues were missing this fall, around the time the White Sox won the World Series, but the library did not publicly report the disappearance until this week.

WRITER HONORED: Tracy Ringolsby of the Rocky Mountain News, a pioneer in labor coverage and among the first writers to concentrate on scouting, won the J.G. Taylor Spink Award from the Baseball Writers' Association of America. He will be honored during the July induction ceremonies at the Hall of Fame.

[Last modified December 8, 2005, 00:50:19]