Reynolds bringing suit against ESPN for firing
Harold Reynolds plans to sue ESPN over his departure from the network as a baseball analyst last summer.
Reynolds played 12 major league seasons and joined ESPN in 1996.
“I have tried everything possible to handle this situation quietly behind closed doors … it is clear that ESPN had no intention of solving this problem amicably,” Reynolds said in a statement.
•Tony La Russa has no plans to retire after his latest World Series win.
La Russa, 62, is under contract through next season and saidthat he’ll be at spring training.
•The Boston Red Sox exercised a $4 million option on knuckleballer Tim Wakefield.
•Left-hander Mark Buehrle’s $9.5 million option for next season was exercised by the Chicago White Sox.
Chicago also exercised right fielder Jermaine Dye’s $6.75 million option and second baseman Tadahito Iguchi’s $3.25 million option.
•Mets first baseman Carlos Delgado had surgery for tennis elbow on his left arm.
Tennis
Players pass on Paris
Roger Federer pulled out of the Paris Masters because of fatigue, and tennis officials promised to take steps to make sure the game’s elite players abide by commitments to the top tournaments.
The withdrawal by the game’s No. 1 player came a day after he won the Swiss Indoors for his 11th title this year. No. 2-ranked Rafael Nadal said Sunday he would not compete in Paris because of an abdominal injury. Andy Roddick and David Nalbandian also have withdrawn.
Miscellany
U.S. looks for coach
The U.S. Soccer Federation confirmed its interest in Juergen Klinsmann.
Klinsmann, who coached Germany to the World Cup semifinals this year, last week said he had started talks with USSF president Sunil Gulati.
•Vijay Singh was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in a ceremony at St. Augustine, Fla., along with American Larry Nelson, who won the 1983 U.S. Open and five Ryder Cups. Others being inducted were former Masters and PGA champion Henry Picard and LPGA pioneer Marilynn Smith.
•A woman involved in a long-running land dispute with former heavyweight boxing champion Trevor Berbick has been detained for questioning in connection with his death, police said.
Authorities identified the woman as the mother of a 20-year-old suspect arrested on Sunday.
•NASCAR officials are investigating whether Robby Gordon intentionally threw debris on the race track to cause a caution at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
“As is the case after any race, we looked at a number of cars, including Robby Gordon’s,” spokesman Kerry Tharp said.
•The prosecutor in the Duke lacrosse rape case said he is comfortable with nearly all the decisions he has made and confident about taking the case to trial.
In the early days of the case, Mike Nifong called the players “hooligans” and declared that DNA would identify the guilty. DNA failed to connect the players to the accuser.