Fanfare 10/1

Baseball

An employee of the Florida Marlins was allegedly asked to place a padlocked bag containing a pound of marijuana aboard the team's charter flight from Montreal, club officials said.

Carlos Luis Perez, a former bullpen catcher for the Marlins who now has a similar job with the Montreal Expos, asked Florida video coordinator Cullen McRae before last Thursday's game in Montreal to bring the bag back to Pro Player Stadium.

When McRae and team equipment manager John Silverman opened the bag in Montreal, they found the marijuana and turned it over to police, Silverman said.

Perez was arrested Friday on charges of drug possession with intent to export. He pleaded not guilty and was given conditional release after posting a $5,000 bond.

Hal McRae was fired as manager of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Monday, one day after the team finished a miserable 55-106 season.

It was the second straight season of 100 or more losses for the Devil Rays, and the worst record for the team since it began play in 1998.

McRae replaced Larry Rothschild on April 18, 2001, and managed the Devil Rays to a 58-90 record over the remainder of the season. McRae had been hired the previous November as bench coach.

Manager Luis Pujols was fired Monday by the Detroit Tigers after their worst season in six years.

Pujols, who replaced Phil Garner in April after an 0-6 start, led the Tigers to a 55-106 finish, tied for the worst record in the major leagues. His winning percentage of .355 is the lowest for a manager in club history.

The Tigers lost to the Blue Jays 1-0 Sunday, ending their worst season since they went 53-109 in 1996. Detroit had the worst record in the major leagues after the All-Star break (24-51).

Team president Dave Dombrowski orchestrated an early season shakeup in hopes of reviving a franchise that hasn't had a winning season since 1993. But Pujols failed to provide a spark on the field or in the clubhouse and couldn't stop the losing.

Basketball

Michael Jordan would prefer to be on the floor at tipoff this season.

But he said Monday he'll keep an "open mind" about possibly being a backup for a Washington Wizards team that missed the playoffs last season.

Speaking for the first time since last week's announcement that he would play this year, Jordan said he's overhauled his workout regimen, and he probably won't play any exhibition games. The Wizards open training camp Tuesday in Wilmington, N.C.

New York Knicks forward Kurt Thomas was arrested on charges of assaulting his wife, and he did not accompany the team to training camp Monday.

There was more bad news for the Knicks: A broken bone was discovered in Latrell Sprewell's right hand. He will have surgery Tuesday and will be out at least six weeks.

Thomas was arrested at his home in Greenwich, Conn., for third-degree assault and risking injury to a minor. Bail was set at $1,000, police said. No other details were released.

The Detroit Pistons will trade forward Rodney White to the Denver Nuggets for a first-round draft pick and two players today, a Nuggets official said.

The deal will send White to Denver for the draft pick, forward Don Reid and Chinese center Menk Bateer, the official said Monday, speaking on the condition of anonymity. White is expected to join the Nuggets for the start of training camp on Tuesday when the trade will be announced.

College

Troy State safety Damien Coleman, who suffered a neck injury during Saturday's game at Missouri, has been cleared by doctors to return to Alabama.

The Swainsboro, Ga., native was taken off the field on a stretcher after colliding head-on with Missouri running back Tyrone Roberson late in the first half of the Trojans' 44-7 loss Saturday.

Coleman initially experienced numbness as a result of the injury, and doctors kept him at University Hospital in Columbia, Mo., for tests and observation Saturday and Sunday.

Coleman was expected to return to Troy late Monday or today.

-- From wire reports