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CHICAGO -- The Cubs open a three-game series in New York on Friday and will most likely be reminded often in that time that Sunday marks the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. Alfonso Soriano remembers that day well.The 2001 season was only Soriano's third in the U.S.; he was a second baseman for the Yankees at the time.Sept. 10 had been an off-day, a much-neede football standings d break after a three-game sweep of the Red Sox. Soriano was batting .273. The following morning, Soriano woke and turned on the television."It was around 11 o'clock [in the morning] and when I saw the TV, I tried to watch ESPN but they had the Twin Towers on, and I thought, 'What happened? What kind of movie is that?'" Soriano said."I changed the channel, but every one had the same thing. I thoug football standings ht, 'What's going on?'"Then he checked his cell phone."I looked and I had like 20, 40 messages," Soriano said. "I started to listen to them and they were from my family in the Dominican, friends in New York, and from the team. They said, 'We're not practicing today, don't come to the ballpark.'"My family was there, my mom and my brother. They were panicked. They told me the news. That's how I foun football standings d out."Play eventually resumed for the Yankees on Sept. 18 against the White Sox in Chicago. That season, the Yankees won the American League East, then the pennant. Soriano said he could sense how much the fans needed the team to do well to distract them from the pain of 9/11."The city was sad, and the only thing that could motivate them, and to make them happy, was to win the World Series," Sori football standings ano said.The Yankees did not, though, losing in seven games to the D-backs. Quade rewards LaHair with start in right field CHICAGO -- When you go 4-for-9 in your first three games, including a home run into the wind, you get another start. Cubs manager Mike Quade decided to try Bryan LaHair in right field on Wednesday."We have to find somewhere," Quade said. "He'll catch what he gets to. He'll football standings give you as good an effort as you want out there. We want to see him swing the bat. He'll do what he can and hopefully get us the lead, and we can have somebody out there who is a little more accomplished later."One of the raps against LaHair, 28, is his defensive ability. It's one of the reasons he's spent nine years in the Minor Leagues."People are going to have opinions, and it is a bit unusua football standings l to spend as much time as he has and not really gotten a shot or an opportunity," Quade said. "That's what makes his first three days even more impressive. He knows what's what, and here he is, given an opportunity, and he's put together five or six really good at-bats. He knows, 'If I'm going to have a shot or make an impression, I have to do this.'"LaHair's two-run blast with two outs in the ni football standings nth inning Tuesday tied the game against the Reds, and it was his 39th homer of the professional season -- he hit 38 at Triple-A Iowa. LaHair credited veteran Carlos Pena for some tips before his at-bat."We're feeding off each other, developing a relationship," LaHair said. "Whether I'm here for a month or longer than that, I have the opportunity to pick his brain. I told him I was going to make i football standings t a point while I'm here to get better from him and other guys, too."They talk about more than hitting."It's everything -- the approach, highs and lows of the game, a little bit of everything," LaHair said. "It's little things that make you have success in this game. Even if it's only one thing or two things or whatever it is, I'm trying to find something." Fans can bid as part of Wood's charity football standings auction CHICAGO -- Do you want Geovany Soto's catcher's mask that White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen gave the boot? How about sharing a six-course dinner for 10 at Kerry Wood's home? Or an autographed ukulele and CD of Eddie Vedder's "Ukulele Songs?"Fans can bid now on those items, part of the Kerry Wood Strike Zone Celebrity Bowling Tournament, to be held Sept. 18 at 10pin Bowling Lounge in Chica football standings go.The online auction is underway, and proceeds from the event will benefit the Wood Family Foundation, which has raised more than $2 million for children in and around the Chicago area already.Both Soto and Guillen autographed the catcher's mask that the White Sox manager kicked during an Interleague game between the intracity rivals this year. Other items available include a chance to work with football standings the Wrigley Field grounds crew in 2012 or two tickets to a 2012 taping of "Saturday Night Live" in New York.There's something for everyone, including autographed jerseys by the Yankees' Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter and a bat autographed by Phillies slugger Ryan Howard. If you're a South Side baseball fan, there are items autographed by the White Sox Juan Pierre, Paul Konerko and A.J. Pierzynski. football standings "We have some very unique auction items this year, and I've had fun going around and personally securing items from some of my teammates and friends around the league," Wood said.Troy Tulowitzki, Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jim Thome and Robinson Cano donated autographed items, and if you're a Phillies fan, there's a package that includes jerseys signed by starters Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt football standings and Roy Halladay.The bowling event will have 24 corporate-sponsored teams and a celebrity captain assigned to each one. The online auction is now live, and will close at 10 p.m. CT on Sept. 17. The auction will continue at the bowling tournament the following day.Online bidders will be represented by proxy and be notified of their winning bids the next week. Go to the KerryWoodStrikeZone.org for m football standings ore information. More items are being added daily, so it's wise to check back often. Extra bases Darwin Barney returned home to Oregon to be with his wife, Lindsay, for the birth of their second child. The Cubs second baseman was expected to join the team on Friday in New York for their three-game series against the Mets."It may be just what the doctor ordered -- a break today and off-day tomo football standings rrow," Cubs manager Mike Quade said of Barney, who was 1-for-14 on the homestand and 3-for-38 in his past 12 games.DJ LeMahieu, called up from Triple-A Iowa, started at second base Wednesday in the Cubs' series finale against the Reds. football standings
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