Sports briefs 11/2/05

Baseball

• Aiming to spur baseball and other sports to adopt tougher steroids policies, Sens. Jim Bunning and John McCain are reintroducing legislation that would standardize drug testing and penalties for professional leagues.

The new bill combines two already proposed separately by Bunning, a Kentucky Republican who was elected to baseball's Hall of Fame in 1996, and McCain, an Arizona Republican. Bunning, a former major league pitcher, said the new legislation would be introduced Tuesday or Wednesday.

Like the earlier bills from Bunning and McCain, this one is based on the Olympic model, calling for a two-year suspension for an athlete who fails a steroids test for the first time and a lifetime ban for a second offense. Athletes would be tested at least five times a year, three during the season and two in the offseason. The proposal has a provision urging leagues to erase records achieved with the help of performance-enhancing drugs.

* Seattle outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, Minnesota outfielder Torii Hunter and Oakland third baseman Eric Chavez won their fifth straight Gold Gloves on Tuesday.

Boston catcher Jason Varitek, Texas first baseman Mark Teixeira and Toronto second baseman Orlando Hudson were first-time winners, while New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter and Toronto outfielder Vernon Wells won for the second straight season.

Texas pitcher Kenny Rogers won for the fourth time overall and second in a row.

Basketball

* Atlanta Hawks center Jason Collier died from a sudden heart rhythm disturbance caused by an abnormally enlarged heart, an autopsy showed.

The state's chief medical examiner, Dr. Kris Sperry, said Tuesday his testing showed that electrocardiograms administered to Collier in 2003 and this year showed "some indication of electrical abnormalities."

"Looking at them now, and in retrospect in knowing what's going on with his heart, the abnormalities may have been associated with what we found in examining his heart," Sperry said.

He said that he had no evidence that the 28-year-old Collier was informed there was anything wrong with his heart. Collier's wife said he had never been told of a reason for concern, Sperry said.

Tennis

Top-seeded Lindsay Davenport and Maria Sharapova withdrew Tuesday from the Advanta Championships.

Davenport has the flu and Sharapova has a sprained right thumb, tournament officials said.

Defending champion Amelie Mauresmo is now the top seed in the tournament. She will face Ai Sugiyama in her first match Thursday.

Davenport, ranked No. 1 in the world, and Sharapova, ranked third, are the latest stars to pull out of the Advanta Championships. Serena and Venus Williams and Patty Schnyder withdrew last weekend.

The Williams sisters are bothered by knee injuries, while Schnyder has an injured left hand.

Meanwhile, 16-year old Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic continued her recent dominance with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over qualifier Vanessa Henke of Germany in the first round. Vaidisova, who has won her last three tournaments and is ranked 19th in the most recent WTA world rankings, needed just 54 minutes to pick up her 16th straight victory.