NEW YORK -- Major League Baseball umpire Wally Bell died of

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NEW YORK -- Major League Baseball umpire Wally Bell died of an apparent heart attack Monday, a week after working the NL playoff series between the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. . Louis Cardinals. He was 48. The commissioners office said Bell died in his home state of Ohio. Bell had not been feeling well over the weekend and had been scheduled to see doctors later Monday at the Cleveland Clinic. Bell had quintuple bypass surgery on Feb. 18, 1999, that left him with an 8-inch scar down the middle of his chest. His father survived two heart attacks before he died. "All of us at Major League Baseball are in mourning tonight regarding the sudden passing of Wally Bell," Commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement. "I always enjoyed seeing Wally, who was a terrific umpire and such an impressive young man. On behalf of our 30 clubs, I extend my deepest condolences to Wallys family, fellow umpires and his many friends throughout the game." Bell was the first active MLB umpire to die since John McSherry passed away of a heart attack on the field in Cincinnati on opening day in 1996. Bell worked the 2006 World Series and three All-Star games, including this years event at Citi Field, where he was stationed at first base. A veteran of 21 big league seasons, he had also worked four league championship series and seven division series since joining the major league staff in 1993. "It was a devastating loss for us. Wally was a true umpires umpire," said Gerry Davis, crew chief for the NL championship series. "I think if youll check with the players and teams they felt the same way because Wally always gave 110 per cent on the field." The umpires for Game 3 at Dodger Stadium heard about Bells death an hour before they took the field. "We had to regroup rather quickly and put our concentration where it needed to be," Davis said after Los Angeles beat St. Louis 3-0. "We kept telling each other that thats the way Wally would have wanted it, and we know that thats really true. One of the things that we shared in the locker room afterwards is that Im sure hes very proud right now," he said. Several players from around the majors expressed their condolences on Twitter. Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis wrote: "Wally kept game fun and loose and I always looked forward to catching with him behind plate. I will miss his personality and professionalism." Boston pitcher Jake Peavy: "Just heard the news & devastated about the passing of Wally Bell. A great umpire, a great man." Toronto slugger Jose Bautista: "He always had great spirits on the field, i will always remember how he teased me about my beard." Red Sox outfielder Shane Victorino: "My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Wally Bell. So sad to hear (and) will remember him tomorrow as I take the field." According to Bells biography on MLB.com, his proudest moment as a big league umpire was returning to the field after having open heart surgery. Two of his arteries had been 100 per cent blocked, two more had been 80 per cent blocked, another 70 per cent. Bell came back 11 weeks after his heart problem was detected for a game in San Diego. That night, plate umpire Mark Hirschbeck took the first ball out of play and kept it as a souvenir for Bell. "I am deeply saddened and shocked at the loss of umpire Wally Bell," said Joe Torre, MLB executive vice-president for baseball operations. "Umpiring was his life, and he touched so many people within the game of baseball. Aside from being an accomplished, All-Star-caliber umpire, Wally was a loving dad to his two teenage children. I extend my deepest condolences to them, his girlfriend Renee, the rest of his family and his admirers across Major League Baseball." During the 2013 regular season, Bell was a member of Tim McClellands crew. "Wally was a great umpire, a great partner and a great friend. The umpiring community is deeply saddened by this tragic loss. He will be sorely missed by many," said major league ump Joe West, President of the World Umpires Association. Bell is survived by his son, Jason, and daughter, Lindsey. . -- Jerry Rice Jr. . Although Spain could still advance out of the group stage, the game may have signalled the end of the run by a generation of Spanish stars whose quick passing, "tiki-taka" style delighted the world and helped them win the last three major tournaments. . Louis Blues were workmanlike, methodical and -- most of all -- effective on Monday night.SAN JOSE, Calif. - Patrick Marleau, Barclay Goodrow and James Sheppard each had a goal and an assist, and the San Jose Sharks used a five-goal second period to beat the Anaheim Ducks 6-3 on Thursday night.Joe Pavelski scored in the first as the Sharks improved to 4-0-1 against the division-leading Ducks this season. Antti Niemi made 25 stops in his third consecutive win, helping San Jose extend its home winning streak against Anaheim to seven.Andrew Cogliano, Matt Beleskey and Patrick Maroon scored for the Ducks, who allowed six goals in their previous five games. Anaheim had won six in a row.Ducks goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov made 19 saves before being replaced by Frederik Andersen late in the second period.BLUES 5, PREDATORS 4, SOST. LOUIS (AP) — Kevin Shattenkirk scored in the shootout, lifting St. Louis to the win.Jaden Schwartz, T.J. Oshie, Steve Ott and Ryan Reaves scored in regulation for the Blues (30-13-4), who improved to 8-0-1 over their last nine games. Brian Elliott made 33 saves.Mike Fisher had two goals and an assist for Nashville (31-10-6), which fell to 12-8-5 on the road. Carter Hutton made 31 saves.The Predators, who also got goals from Filip Forsberg and James Neal, finished 3-1-1 against the Blues this season.LIGHTNING 5, RED WINGS 1TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Cedric Paquette had three goals, sending Tampa Bay to a franchise-record ninth consecutive home win.Steven Stamkos and Mark Barberio also scored for the Lightning, who leapfrogged the Red Wings into first place in the Atlantic Division by a point. Jonathan Drouin and Alex Killorn had two assists apiece.Tampa Bay took a 4-1 lead at 11:03 of the second when Paquette completed his first hat trick from the right circle during a short-handed 2-on-1. The centre has four goals in the past two games after going 29 straight without one.Darren Helm scored for Detroit, which had won six in a row.Paquette opened the scoring 2:03 into the game when he used his backhand to beat Petr Mrazek on a rebound. His right-circle goal gave Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead with 36.2 seconds left in the first.STARS 6, SENATORS 3OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Jamie Benn scored two goals, and the Stars beat the Senators in Jason Spezzas first game in Ottawa since he was traded to Dallas in the off-season.John Klingberg, Colton Sceviour, Ales Hemsky and Trevor Daley also scored for Dallas, and Kari Lehtonen made 25 saves.Mika Zibanejad, Bobby Ryan and Alex Chiasson scored for Ottawa. Robin Lehner, making his first start since January 13th, stopped 35 shots.Spezza made his NHL debut with Ottawa in 2002 and had spent his entire career with the Senators before the trade. The former Senators captain got a standing ovation from the crowd of 18,752 following a video tribute early in the first period.The Stars grabbed a 4-3 lead midway through the third period when Klingberg took advantage of an Ottawa turnover to break in alone and beat Lehner with a wrist shot.BRUINS 5, ISLANDERS 2UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) — Bostons Kevan Miller scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period, and Tuukka Rask stopped 43 shots.Reilly Smith, Patrice Bergeron, Torey Krug and Zdeno Chara also scored for Boston, which won for the seventh time in 10 games. Smith and Milan Lucic also had two assists apiece.John Tavares and Michael Grabner scored for New York, and Jaroslav Halak stopped 28 shots. The Metropolitan Division-leading Islanders dropped to 17-5 at home this season.Miller put the Bruins ahead for good with 3.4 seconds lleft in the second. . . He intercepted Halaks clearing attempt at the right-wing boards just inside the blue line, and fired a quick shot that lifted Boston to a 3-2 lead.COYOTES 3, MAPLE LEAFS 1TORONTO (AP) — Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored off the opening faceoff of the third period, and Arizona rallied for the road win.Ekman-Larssons 13th goal was a harmless flip from almost his own blue line and seemed to stun the already-subdued crowd. At five seconds, the short-handed goal tied the fastest of any kind to start a period in Coyotes franchise history, matching Doug Smail of the first Winnipeg Jets in 1981.Martin Hanzal had a tiebreaking goal at 3:47 of the third, and Sam Gagner added a power-play goal with 3 1/2 minutes left.Mike Smith had 24 saves for Arizona.Jonathan Bernier finished with 42 stops for Toronto.CANADIENS 1, RANGERS 0NEW YORK (AP) — Max Pacioretty scored with 4:17 left, sending Montreal to the road win.Pacioretty converted a wrist shot from above the right circle that appeared to surprise Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist. It squeezed inside the right post for Paciorettys 22nd goal.That was enough to give Carey Price his 26th win and third shutout of the season in a stellar 24-save effort for Montreal, which has won four in a row — three with Price in net.Lundqvist made 25 saves for the Rangers, who have lost two straight following the All-Star break and managed only one goal. They were beaten 4-1 by the Islanders on Tuesday.WILD 1, FLAMES 0CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Zach Parise scored in the first period for Minnesota, and Devan Dubnyk stopped 30 shots.It was Parises sixth goal in his last six games and No. 20 on the season. Thomas Vanek assisted on the only score 8:59 into the game.Minnesota (22-20-6) moved within five points of the Flames and the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The Wild have picked up five of six possible points so far on a four-game trip that wraps up Sunday in Vancouver.Calgary (26-20-3) dropped to 1-1 on a six-game homestand, which continues Saturday against Edmonton. Jonas Hiller had 31 saves.FLYERS 5, JETS 2PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Wayne Simmonds, Chris VandeVelde, Nick Schultz and Brayden Schenn scored, leading Philadelphia to its fourth win in five games.Sean Couturier added an empty-netter, and Steve Mason made 36 saves.Mathieu Perreault scored twice for the Jets. Michael Hutchinson had 27 stops.Schultz snapped a tie game in the second period with his first goal of the season, ending a 125-game drought. Petra Straka got his first NHL point on the assist, and Ryan White also had his first assist of the season on the goal.PANTHERS 3, BLUE JACKETS 2SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Sean Bergenheim scored late in the third period, and Florida snapped a five-game losing streak.Aaron Ekblad and Jonathan Huberdeau also scored for the Panthers, and Roberto Luongo made 30 saves.It was Floridas first win over Columbus since a 5-2 victory on Nov. 21, 2007 — a span of 11 games.Alexander Wennberg and Jack Johnson scored for the Blue Jackets, and Curtis McElhinney stopped 29 shots.OILERS 3, SABRES 2EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Anton Lander scored his first goal of the season for Edmonton, and also had two assists.Matt Fraser and Oscar Klefbom also scored for Edmonton (13-27-9), which has won three of four.Defencemen Tyler Myers and Rasmus Ristolainen scored for the Sabres (14-31-3), who have lost a franchise-worst 13 games in a row and only have one win in their last 18. ' ' '

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