JUPITER, Fla. (AP) – Pitcher Adam Wainwright and the St. Louis Cardinals have agreed to $97.5 million, five-year contract covering 2014-18 that raises his guaranteed income to $109.5 million over the next six seasons.  Wainwright had been eligible to become a free agent after the World Series. He gets $12 million this year under his previous deal, and the new agreement announced Thursday pays him $19.5 million in each of the following five years.

A 31-year-old right-hander, Wainwright was 14-13 with a 3.94 ERA last year after missing the Cardinals’ World Series championship season in 2011 because of elbow surgery.  Wainwright was 20-11 with a 2.42 ERA in 2010 and was an NL All-Star. Under Wainwright’s previous contract, he was guaranteed $15 million from 2008-11, and the Cardinals had options for $9 million in 2012 and $12 million in 2013 that had to be exercised or declined simultaneously.

w/ Jim Field

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ST. LOUIS (AP) – The St. Louis Cardinals will wear a patch on their left sleeve this season to honor the memory of Stan Musial. The Hall of Famer widely considered the greatest Cardinal player ever died in January. To honor his memory, the Cardinals will debut the patch in the season opener Monday at Arizona.

The patch is unusual for one honoring a deceased icon: There is no black, a nod to Musial’s always-sunny disposition. It features a red border and Musial’s number 6, in red, with his signature through the number. The background of the patch is the color of the jersey – gray for road games, white for home, and cream-colored when the Cardinals wear their new alternate jersey.

JUPITER, Fla. (AP) — Jaime Garcia pitched eight sharp innings Wednesday and the St. Louis Cardinals topped a split squad of Washington Nationals 10-1 Wednesday. Garcia allowed one run and six hits, walking none and striking out eight. The Nationals’ lineup didn’t include anyone on its projected 25-man roster — the Washington starters had combined for only 20 at-bats this spring training going into the afternoon.

Midway through the game, most of the Cardinals’ regulars already had three at-bats, prompting manager Mike Matheny to call over to the minor league side of the complex for extra players as substitutes.

UNDATED (AP) — Adam Wainwright and the Cardinals have agreed to a new contract that guarantees the Cardinals’ ace an additional $97.5 million over five years through 2018. Wainwright had been eligible to become a free agent after the World Series. The new agreement, first reported by foxsports.com, was confirmed by a person familiar with the negotiations who spoke on condition of anonymity because it had not yet been announced. The Cardinals scheduled a news conference for Thursday at their spring training camp in Jupiter, Fla.

A 31-year-old right-hander, Wainwright was 14-13 with a 3.94 ERA last year after missing the Cardinals’ World Series championship season in 2011 because of elbow surgery. Wainwright was 20-11 with a 2.42 ERA in 2010 and was an NL All-Star.

Des Moines, Iowa –AIB College of Business men’s golf coach Tony Giannetto has announced the signing of Travis Olsen to a National Letter of Intent to attend the college next fall and compete for the men’s golf program.

Travis, the son of Tad and Sarah Olsen, is a native of Atlantic, Iowa, and will graduate from Atlantic High School this spring. Olsen, is a four-time letter winner, received First-Team All-Conference honors in the Hawkeye 10 conference.
“Travis will be a great addition AIB and the golf program,” Giannetto said.  “He student-athlete committed to the both game and classroom.”

Olsen plans to major in Business Administration at AIB.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa House has approved a measure that would allow expanded crossbow hunting of deer.  Lawmakers unanimously passed the bill Wednesday and it now moves to the Senate. The measure would let residents hunt deer using a crossbow during the late hunting season, from Dec. 17 to Jan. 10. They would not be required to purchase a separate crossbow hunting license.

Under current law, only muzzleloader and archery hunters can hunt deer during that season. But a physically disabled person incapable of shooting a bow and arrow can get a special crossbow license to hunt deer and turkey.

Department of Natural Resources spokesman Kevin Baskins says if the legislation passes he doesn’t expect an increase in crossbow hunters to significantly reduce the state’s deer population.

New guidelines for pre-season football practices have been explained to Iowa High School Athletic Association member school’s athletic directors and administrators and will go into effect this fall.

The new measures incorporate many of the recommendations from research and studies by the medical community relative to the length of practice, the amount of contact in pre-season drills, and the acclimization of young athletes.
In December, the new regulations were discussed and approved by the Football Playoff Committee, a group representing school administrators and the Iowa Football Coaches Association. The regulations were approved by the Board of Control and in March explained to the Representative Council.

Specifically, the new regulations during the acclimatization period that effect the state’s 342 programs and 21,200 athletes addresses the following areas:
(1) There shall be no more than one practice per day.
(2) A practice is defined as a period of time in which a student participates in physical activity.
(3) A practice cannot exceed three (3) hours in length. Warm-up, stretching, speed and agility rules, strength training, and cool down are all considered part of a practice. Optional weight training activities that are available to all students are not considered part of the practice.
(4) On the first two (2) days of practice helmets and mouth guards may be worn and no activities that require protective equipment shall be done.
(5) During days three through five (3-5), helmets, mouth guards, and shoulder pads may be worn and contact with blocking sleds, tackling dummies and technique drills for blocking and tackling may begin, but no full contact. Above the waist contact between players focusing on proper tackling and blocking techniques may occur.
(6) Starting on day six (6), all protective equipment may be worn and full contact drills may begin.
(7) The first two Sundays during the 14-day acclimatization period shall be days of complete rest (no practice, stretching, conditioning, speed and agility drills, strength training, etc.)

Todd Tharp, assistant executive director at the IHSAA and the administrator for football noted, “We had great discussions with the football committee and representatives of the coaches association”, he said. “The health and safety of athletes is always everyone’s number one priority and these new measures apply equally to all schools.”
Several states implemented many of the above measures in 2012.

Iowa has been among the national leaders in addressing player safety and health issues including being among the first to define illegal helmet contact, heat and hydration issues, and addressing protocol for dealing with possible concussions/head injuries.

IN OTHER Board of Control action related to football, four other items were approved effective this fall. They are: (1) The IHSAA and the Football Coaches Association will work jointly to produce a football safety video; (2) Schools are now allowed to have a scrimmage with another school prior to the first legal playing date and after 10 days of practice; (3) In games where the continuous clock is being used the clock will stop for the administration of penalties; and (4) The UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls will be used only for semifinal and championship round contests unless the host school uses the UNI-Dome as their primary home facility.