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ATLANTA - Danny Ferry can only watch from afar, surely with plenty of satisfaction at the juggernaut he created, undoubtedly offset by a sense of melancholy that hes not along for the ride.Make no mistake, the Atlanta Hawks are Ferrys baby. He acquired nearly every player on a team that stunningly has the best record in the NBA.Even one of his harshest critics, who led the protests against Ferry after the general managers racially charged comments about Luol Deng, gives credit where credit is due.Clearly, Danny Ferry is largely responsible for putting together the winning team that we are enjoying here in the Atlanta community, the Rev. Markel Hutchins told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Friday.That said, there is essentially zero chance of Ferry returning to the team he created.Not this season.Not ever.I certainly hope that Danny Ferry gets a job as a general manager somewhere else, Hutchins said. He has expressed what I believe is sincere repentance off the court. Nobody should be condemned forever. He deserves restoration. But, he quickly added, that should not happen with the Atlanta Hawks.Ferry went on indefinite leave in September, just a few days after the scandal broke, and has been in limbo ever since. Hes apologized through public statements, met with civil rights leaders in private, and paid a huge price for repeating bigoted comments about Deng that someone else wrote in a scouting report.Now, nearly five months removed from the initial furor, Ferry has clearly suffered enough for his sin.I would welcome him with open arms, said Hawks forward DeMarre Carroll, one of many players Ferry brought to Atlanta. I dont feel hes a racist. I think he genuinely learned from his mistakes.The reality is, theres no impetus for the Hawks to bring Ferry back, not with the team holding a commanding lead in the Eastern Conference and extending its franchise-record winning streak to 18 in a row with a 105-99 victory over Portland on Friday night. His return would undoubtedly lead to renewed protests and create an unnecessary distraction. Besides, the Hawks are up for sale, so this can of worms will get kicked down the road to the next owner.Yet, in this greatest of seasons for the Hawks, thats the elephant in the room. There will be some huge decisions to make this summer, especially with free-agent-to-be Paul Millsap and what is expected to be plenty of salary cap flexibility.No one knows exactly who will be making those calls. Whoever it is, that person will face the enormous challenge of following in Ferry footsteps. He completely rebuilt the roster after taking over as general manager in 2012, while maintaining a competitive team that still went to the playoffs the last two seasons.Ferry defied the NBAs conventional logic, which held that major overhauls had to be accompanied by lots and lots of losses (see: Philadelphia 76ers).He did it a totally different way, said Kyle Korver, who bought into Ferrys vision right from the start. I think theres a whole lot of owners who would rather do it that way, rather than lose for five years and hope their draft picks turn out at the end of the day. Danny is going to have another job. Theres not any doubt about that.The only Atlanta holdovers from the pre-Ferry era are All-Stars Al Horford and Jeff Teague, and even Teague would have been out the door if Ferry had not matched a four-year, $32-million offer sheet from Milwaukee in 2013. Some wondered if Teague, who had been highly inconsistent to that point, was worth the money. Now, he looks underpaid.Hes not the only one. The Hawks have a lower payroll than all but four teams. Check out these bargains:— Millsap will be making his second straight All-Star appearance since signing a two-year, $19-million free-agent deal with the Hawks. Nondescript in Utah, hes now recognized as one of the NBAs best all-around players.— Korver, a backup most of his career, was acquired from Chicago for cash and a trade exception, then re-signed with the Hawks for four years at $24 million. Hes one of the best — if not the best — shooters in the league.— Carroll had bounced around to four teams until he landed in Atlanta for a two-year deal costing a mere $5 million. A defensive standout, hes improved offensively and hasnt met a loose ball he wasnt willing to dive for.Thanks to Ferry, the Hawks are also one of the leagues deepest teams. The draft produced Dennis Schroder and Mike Scott. Thabo Sefolosha and Kent Bazemore were below-the-radar free agents. Pero Antic was plucked out of Europe. Shelvin Mack initially came aboard on a 10-day deal.Almost as impressive was the list of players Ferry sent packing. Shortly after taking over as GM, he somehow persuaded Brooklyn to take Joe Johnsons max contract and Utah to accept the greatly overpaid Marvin Williams. In addition, Ferry didnt make much of an attempt to re-sign longtime Hawks stalwart Josh Smith, who was such a flop in Detroit that he got cut this season.And, of course, Ferry passed over better-known coaches to hire a little-known assistant from San Antonio.Mike Budenholzer could very well be the NBAs coach of the year.Under different circumstances, Ferry would be a lock for executive of the year.At the very least, he deserves another chance.It just wont be in Atlanta.___Paul Newberry is a national writer for The Associated Press. Write to him at pnewberry@ap.org or www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 Cheap Brewers Jerseys China . 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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Omar Infante told Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar that on a muggy night at Kauffman Stadium, with a stiff breeze blowing out to left field, any ball hit solidly would clear the fence. Infante never predicted that hed hit one with the bases loaded. The veteran capped a seven-run inning with his first career grand slam Friday, and Kansas City held on to beat the Los Angeles Angels 8-6 on a rough night for starting pitchers. "There was a lot of wind," Infante said. "I just wanted to make contact, do something." The grand slam in the third gave the Royals a 7-2 lead, and they tacked on one more run the next inning. Then, after starter Jason Vargas gave up four runs in the fifth, the Kansas City bullpen twirled five scoreless innings to preserve the victory. Michael Mariot (1-0) picked up his first career win with 1 1-3 innings of relief, and Greg Holland earned his 23rd save by tossing a perfect ninth. "We just knew that with Vargas going four innings, we needed to piece it together," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "Mariot did a phenomenal job." Lorenzo Cain, Billy Butler and Alex Gordon each drove in a run for Kansas City, which ended the Angels six-game winning streak after limping into the series having lost six of seven. Vargas and Angels counterpart Matt Shoemaker (5-2) combined to give up 14 runs on 20 hits -- four of them home runs -- and neither got an out in the fifth. "It was definitely not fun," Shoemaker said. "Its going to make me tougher, not that I wasnt, but you learn from it. The third inning was a long inning. There were a lot of runs." C.J. Cron hit two homers for Los Angeles, and Mike Trout sent a shot to centre in the first inning that cleared the fence, four rows of seats and a walkway before landing in a fountain. "I squared it up. I definitely barrelled it," Trout said. "I was trying to put a good swing on it and got a pitch I could hit. Im always looking fastball and reacted. I got a heater." Trouts mammoth drive only counted for one run, though. It was going to take moree than that to win, with the ball carrying so well.dddddddddddd Cron added a homer to left with two outs in the second inning, but Kansas City quickly erased its two-run deficit in the third by matching its biggest inning of the season. The seven-run outburst against Shoemaker began with a double by Escobar, who added a single later in the inning. Jarrod Dyson, Cain and Eric Hosmer hit singles, Butler walked, Gordon hit a sacrifice fly and Salvador Perez added another base hit. By that point, the Royals had pulled ahead 3-2 and the bases were loaded for Infante, who hit a high fly to left field that carried just over the wall and landed in the bullpen. His first career grand slam came in his 1,268th game. "The ball was really carrying tonight," Yost said. "I knew he hit it good." Butler added an RBI single in the fourth to make it 8-2. Shoemaker finished the inning but did not emerge for the fifth after allowing eight runs on 11 hits and a walk. The rookie was 5-0 with a 3.00 ERA in his previous seven starts. Vargas nearly squandered the big cushion when Cron hit a two-run shot in the fifth for his first career multihomer game. David Freese, Chris Iannetta and Collin Cowgill joined Trout in stringing together enough hits to eventually put up four runs. Howie Kendrick nearly tied the game with a shot to the wall in right, but Cain caught it on a gallop at the warning track to end the inning and preserve the Royals 8-6 lead. Despite some hiccups, their bullpen kept the Angels off the board the rest of the way. "We had a lot of great opportunities. We could have easily put our heads down when it was 8-2, but we fought back," Trout said. "We just fell short." NOTES: The Angels traded RHP Ernesto Frieri to Pittsburgh for RHP Jason Grilli before the game. "Were trying to get a bullpen with some chemistry," manager Mike Scioscia said. ... The Angels optioned INF Efren Navarro to Triple-A Salt Lake and recalled RHP Michael Kohn after the game. ... Royals RHP Yordano Ventura faces Angels LHP Hector Santiago on Saturday. ' ' '