Fast Break
Baseball
Mariners make roster moves
The Mariners made moves Tuesday involving Jose Vidro and Brandon Morrow (above).
Vidro was designated for assignment by the Mariners and was replaced by outfielder Wladimir Balentien, who was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma.
Vidro, acquired from the Washington Nationals for outfielder Chris Snelling and pitcher Emiliano Fruto on Dec. 18, 2006, batted .234 with seven homers and 45 RBIs in 308 at-bats this season.
The Mariners also optioned Morrow to Tacoma to begin the process of conversion from reliever to starter.
Right-hander Jared Wells will take Morrow’s spot.
Track and field
Masters meet begins Thursday
Six former Olympians and 44 current masters world champions will compete in the USA Track & Field Masters Outdoors Championships at Spokane Falls CC Thursday through Sunday.
Meet times are Thursday 7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.; Friday 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m.; Saturday 7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.; and Sunday 8 a.m.-1:45 p.m.
Thursday’s opening ceremony is at 11 a.m. and is scheduled to include an Air Force fly-by.
This is the 40th anniversary of the championships, which were previously held in Spokane in 1992 and 1996.
At least 23 area athletes are competing.
Outdoors
Sockeye season at Wenatchee
Enough sockeye salmon have moved into the upper Columbia River to open a sockeye fishing season in Lake Wenatchee starting today, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced.
The fishery for the delicious fish is prized by anglers who have been waiting word on the season since a large sockeye run was predicted in July.
The last years enough fish moved upstream to allow the season were 2004 and 2001.
The fishery could end with as little notice as it began. The season will be closed when anglers reach a yet-unset harvest quota of perhaps a few thousand fish, said Jeff Korth, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife north-central region fish manager.
Olympics
Maybe not all that lucky
The Chinese consider eight to be a lucky number, which is perhaps one reason they opted to open the Beijing Olympics on the eighth day of the eighth month in 2008.
But the weather is not cooperating. The Beijing Meteorological Bureau has predicted torrential rain for Friday, which would put a sizeable dampener on the opening ceremonies and turn the Bird’s Nest Stadium as soggy as a bowl of noodles.