Fast Break

Baseball

Matsui pulls fast one at altar

Hideki Matsui chuckled Thursday while recounting his big week. Yes, the New York Yankees slugger really did get married and win a bet with teammates Derek Jeter and Bobby Abreu at the same time.

Matsui made the wager at the start of spring training about who would wed first, then flew to New York on his off day Wednesday to get married.

Matsui said Jeter, who claimed not to have a girlfriend, had one year to get married to win the bet. Yankees outfielder Bobby Abreu, who said he has a girlfriend, had six months to win the bet.

Since Matsui said he knew six months ago he was going to get married, he was able to pull a fast one on his teammates, who both said Thursday they would pay off their losses immediately.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi, who was informed about Matsui’s wedding this week, got a good laugh out of it.

“Sometimes you should get all the information before you make a bet,” Girardi said.

When asked if he got married just to win the bet, Matsui laughed and said, “Maybe.”

Arena football

Shock add lineman

The Spokane Shock have added former Michigan State lineman David Stanton to their roster, while trading lineman Ray Gant to the South Georgia Wildcats for future considerations.

Stanton played in 12 games his senior year at Michigan State with 21 tackles.

He is expected to start on the defensive line today when the Shock open their af2 regular season against the Blizzard at Green Bay. Game time is 11:30 a.m. PDT with game broadcast on 101.1-FM.

Media

Could ‘roids keep ticker ticking?

Alex Rodriguez and Roger Clemens aren’t the only targets of speculation in Jose Canseco’s new book. In “Vindicated,” Canseco wonders – only half-jokingly, it appears – whether he successfully persuaded legendary “60 Minutes” reporter Mike Wallace to try steroids and human growth hormone.

Canseco didn’t succeed in such a mission, Wallace said. But Wallace became a rarity by confirming, rather than denying or ignoring, a detail from Canseco’s book.

Just as Canseco writes, Wallace said, the two men did discuss illegal performance- enhancing drugs, off-camera, after a 2005 interview.

“I remember talking at some length to Jose,” Wallace said. “You sit there, shooting the breeze. It was an interesting exchange, and I had the opportunity to talk to the man who had been through a lot of that kind of thing.”

Wallace, who will turn 90 in May, laughed when asked if he had become “a convert” and answered, simply, “No.”