• Hall hopefuls shut out

NEW YORK — The Hall of Fame pitched another shutout.

Ron Santo, Jim Kaat, Marvin Miller and all the other candidates were left out Tuesday when the Veterans Committee admitted no new members for the third straight election.

The blank slate could lead to changes before the next vote in 2009.

“We’re being blamed because something hasn’t happened,” Hall member and vice chairman Joe Morgan said. “If you’re asking me, ‘Do we lower our standards to get more people in’ my answer would be no.”

Santo came the closest to the required 75 percent. A nine-time All-Star, the former Cubs third baseman was picked on 57 of 82 ballots (70 percent). Players needed 62 for election.

Kaat, a 283-game winner and strongly backed by Hall member Mike Schmidt, drew 52 votes. Gil Hodges, who hit 370 home runs, got 50 votes and three-time AL batting champion Tony Oliva had 47.

• Sharks grab Guerin

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks acquired forward Bill Guerin from the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday, adding another veteran to their young club hours before the NHL trading deadline.

The Sharks, who entered the day tied for fifth place in the Western Conference after a recent slump, gave up left wing Ville Nieminen, college forward Jay Barriball and New Jersey’s first-round pick, which they acquired last year.

Guerin, a four-time All-Star and one of the NHL’s top American-born players, revitalized his career in his first season with St. Louis, scoring 28 goals and 47 points in his 14th pro campaign.

The bruising power forward, who had only 13 goals last season, waived his no-trade clause to leave the rebuilding Blues for a team aiming to contend for a Stanley Cup.

• Honus Wagner card sells for record $2.3 million

LOS ANGELES — The “Mona Lisa” of baseball memorabilia, an almost mint condition 1909 Honus Wagner tobacco card, arrived in Los Angeles on Tuesday in the company of an armed guard but without its new owner, a mysterious Southern California collector who shelled out most of a record $2.35 million for it.

The tiny scrap of colored cardboard, barely 2½ inches tall and not quite 2 inches wide, made an auspicious arrival at a Dodger Stadium news conference, carried to the podium in a formidable-looking black valise by a grim-faced, equally formidable-looking armed guard.

As SCP Auctions officials removed and opened a small red case to reveal the card’s cover — one featuring a youthful and handsome Wagner in his Pittsburgh Pirates uniform, his hair parted down the middle — camera flashes popped and heads craned for a better look.

• Livingston out for season

LOS ANGELES — Clippers point guard Shaun Livingston will be out 8-to-12 months after tearing three of the four ligaments in his left knee while driving to the basket against Charlotte.

“It’s probably the most serious injury you can have to the knee,” Clippers physician Dr. Tony Daly said Tuesday. “He might miss all of next year.”

Livingston had an MRI exam Tuesday which revealed tears in the anterior cruciate ligament, posterior cruciate ligament, medial collateral ligament and lateral meniscus.

• Niners Smith has surgery

SANTA CLARA — San Francisco 49ers linebacker Derek Smith underwent surgery Tuesday to repair a damaged muscle connected to his left eye, a delicate injury that hampered his play last season.

Smith won’t participate in contact drills until the preseason, but should be healthy for his 11th pro campaign.

Associated Press