Cedeno Arrested After Car Crash

Cincinnati Reds outfielder Cesar Cedeno crashed his Mercedes into a tree early Wednesday morning in southwest Houston and had to be bound and handcuffed by officers who arrested him on a charge of driving while intoxicated.

Cedeno was arrested at 2:25 a.m., police Sgt. J.C. Mosier said. Cedeno posted $800 bond. Cedeno and the woman he was with, whom police did not identify, were not injured in the wreck.

Mosier said when arresting officers placed Cedeno in their back seat, “he attempted to kick the windows out of the police car.”

Cedeno played for the Houston Astros from 1970 through 1981 and was then traded to the Reds for Ray Knight.

Zola Budd could face at least two showdowns with rival Mary Decker on the European grand prix athletics circuit this summer.

The two have not met since their collision in the Olympic 3,000-meter race, which left Decker injured at trackside while Budd continued amid boos and finishing seventh.

Decker, the 1,500- and 3,000-meter world champion, plans to compete in Europe, and that could mean at least two meetings between the American and the South African-born teen-ager.

Budd announced her plans in Birmingham, England saying: “I will run the grand prix circuit in Europe--probably over 3,000 meters. I’m looking forward to running in a big race, and if Mary Decker is there I’ll be happy to meet her, but she will be just another runner.”

Budd said her highly publicized collision with Decker had been blown out of proportion.

Budd, 18, said she considers Decker to be “just another runner,” adding that she feels the incident is “all in the past and that it is best to look ahead.”

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Lee Mazzilli, pitcher Rod Scurry and recently traded infielder Dale Berra have admitted they testified before a federal grand jury probing drug trafficking.

Mazzilli’s agent, Tony Attanasio, said that the 29-year-old outfielder is not a target of the investigation and was called as a background witness, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported today.

Attanasio said most of the questions the grand jury asked of Mazzilli earlier this month concerned local restaurants and nightclubs frequented by Pirate players.

Mazzilli agreed to testify after a federal judge granted him immunity from prosecution, Attanasio said in a phone interview from his home in San Diego.

Phil Conte, owner of Conte Racing of Paramount, Calif., agreed in Jacksonville, Fla. to post $125,000 bail for driver John Paul Jr., held on racketeering and conspiracy charges in an alleged scheme to smuggle marijuana from Colombia. Conte agreed to post $12,500 in cash and post a bond for the remaining $112,500.

Paul and his father, John L. Paul Sr., are charged with four others in the marijuana-smuggling operation, which reportedly imported some 200,000 pounds from Colombia into the United States between 1975 and 1981.

Names in the News

Catcher Dave Sax, a former Dodger and brother of Dodger second baseman Steve Sax, has signed with the Boston organization as a minor-league free agent from the Dodgers’ system.

New York Giants offensive lineman Kevin Belcher was hospitalized in fair condition Wednesday with injuries suffered in a traffic accident along Interstate 80 in rural Pennsylvania.

Bob Hiegert, who coached the Cal State Northridge baseball team for the past 18 years, was named NCAA Division II coach of the year.

Running back Tony Boddie, who was waived by the Los Angeles Express last month, has re-signed with the USFL club, the team announced.