Umpire Union Issues Also in Spotlight

While umpires keep blowing calls on the field, their lawyers keep maneuvering in the background.

Attorneys for the umpires’ union, dissident umpires and owners will meet Wednesday in New York with the National Labor Relations Board on the petition to get rid of union head Richie Phillips and form a new union.

Dissident umpires filed a petition with the NLRB last week, demanding an election to decertify the current union and form a new one.

Daniel Silverman, the NLRB’s New York regional director, originally scheduled a hearing for Oct. 22 before staff lawyer Stephen Appell. But Silverman said Monday there would be no hearing until Oct. 29 at the earliest, and perhaps not until Nov. 3 or 4.

If an election is held, it will be decided by majority vote.

The dissidents, angry with the failed strategy of mass resignations that cost 22 umpires their jobs last month, want to replace Phillips, the union head since 1978.

The union has filed a grievance in an attempt to regain the jobs of the 22, but no date has been set for that hearing.

Umpires have been criticized in the last week for blown calls during the American League championship series.

*

Bill Stoneman, long-time baseball operations man with Montreal, interviewed a second time with the Angels for their vacant general manager position, according to a baseball official familiar with the process.

Stoneman, the official said, flew to New York City last week to meet with Disney executive Sandy Litvack, who interviewed candidate Bob Watson in Burbank on Tuesday and Omar Minaya, New York Met assistant general manager, in New York on Friday.

Watson and Stoneman are the only candidates to have been interviewed twice. It appears one of them will replace Bill Bavasi, who resigned Oct. 1. On Monday, Angel minor league director Jeff Parker also resigned.

Stoneman, 55, pitched one season for the Angels, in 1974. He has worked for the Expos in several capacities, three times as interim general manager.

*

The Chicago Cubs put third baseman Gary Gaetti on waivers, possibly ending a major league career that spanned nearly two decades.

Gaetti, 41, batted .204 with nine home runs and 46 RBIs in 113 games this season.

Basketball

Forward Cesar Sanchez was suspended indefinitely by the Long Beach State team for what Coach Wayne Morgan called “behavior inconsistent with team protocol.”

Kara Wolters of the Houston Comets was added to the USA Basketball women’s national team roster, replacing WNBA teammate Cynthia Cooper.

Cooper left the team last week, saying she was unable to fully participate in the training program.

Tennis

Jim Courier continued his quest for his first title in 18 months with a three-set victory over Arnaud Di Pasquale of France in the opening round of the $725,000 Lyon Grand Prix at Lyon, France.

Courier edged Di Pasquale, 2-6, 7-6 (7-2), 7-5, in their first meeting.

Ruxandra Dragomir of Romania beat eighth-seeded Elena Likhovtseva, 6-3, 7-5, in the first round of the $1,050,000 Ladies Kremlin Cup at Moscow.

Monica Seles and Anna Kournikova of Russia pulled out of the tournament because of injuries.

Sailing

San Francisco’s AmericaOne and Italy’s Prada continued to dominate the opening races of the America’s Cup challenger series at Auckland, New Zealand as light breezes slowed the competition to a crawl.

Those teams, considered among the favorites for the Louis Vuitton Cup, trounced their opponents in the morning races, each winning by more than 14 minutes.

Names in the News

Golfer Juli Inkster and soccer star Mia Hamm were honored as Sportswomen of the Year by the Women’s Sports Foundation in New York.

IRL drivers Sam Schmidt and Robby Unser remain hospitalized in Dallas, but are listed in good condition, in the wake of accidents during Sunday’s Mall.com 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Schmidt has a broken left foot and right big toe, and Unser is being treated for upper body pain.

Meanwhile, crew member Tracy Hash, part of Tyce Carlson’s team, remains in serious condition after suffering a compound fracture of his left leg during post-qualifying practice on Sunday. He was one of 10 crew members injured during an accident on pit road.

British boxer Adrian Dodson was banned for 18 months for biting his opponent during a Commonwealth middleweight title fight.

He also was fined $1,600.

Dodson bit Canada’s Alain Bonnamie in the 12th round of their bout Oct. 5 in London.

Former heavyweight champion Tommy Morrison pleaded not guilty to drug charges in Fayetteville, Ark., and will face trial Dec. 21.

The former World Boxing Organization champion was arrested Sept. 16 and charged with cocaine possession, simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms, being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of drug paraphernalia, misdemeanor possession of marijuana and driving while intoxicated.

Dick Hammer, 69, former USC basketball player and a member of the 1964 Olympic volleyball team, died Monday in Long Beach.

Hammer, a starting guard on the 1953-54 USC basketball team, is survived by his wife, Betty, three children, and five grandchildren. Funeral services will be private and memorial services are pending.

Kimberly Dunbar, the former Notre Dame booster who showered football players with gifts and sparked an NCAA investigation, left a South Bend, Ind., prison after serving just more than a year of a sentence for embezzling more than $1.4 million from Dominiack Mechanical Inc., her employer between 1991 and 1998.