Sports briefs: Man charged with trying to carjack Cal Ripken's mother

Baseball • Police charged a man Wednesday with trying to carjack baseball great Cal Ripken's mother in a bank parking lot in Maryland.

Aberdeen police charged Jesse Bowen, 33, of Havre de Grace with attempted armed robbery, attempted armed carjacking, possessing a dangerous weapon, first degree assault and several controlled substance related charges. He was being held without bond.

A man with a handgun approached 75-year-old Vi Ripken on Tuesday afternoon near NBRS Bank in Aberdeen, a town about 25 miles north of Baltimore, police said. Ripken activated a key alarm and the man left.

Ripken wasn't hurt and went into the bank to report the crime, Aberdeen police spokesman Lt. Frederick Budnick said. After police identified a suspect from an ATM photo, officers arrested Bowen about two hours later, Budnick said.

Ripken spokeswoman Katy Ford said Wednesday morning that the family has no comment.

On July 24, 2012, Ripken was taken from her Aberdeen home at gunpoint and returned unharmed 24 hours later.

Mexican papers thank U.S. for win

soccer • America's soccer team is getting some love from the most unlikely place: Mexican sports fans.

Mexican newspapers on Wednesday published banner headlines reading "We Love You," and "Thank You, USA," after the U.S. kept Mexico's World Cup qualifying hopes alive with a 3-2 victory over Panama.

Mexico and the U.S. are usually bitter rivals. Feelings are so strong in Mexico that fans chanted the name of Osama bin Laden as the Star Spangled Banner played in a 2004 Olympic qualifying game.

From wire reports