Sports briefs 11/3/04

Baseball

• Former Cincinnati Reds general manager Jim Bowden was hired Tuesday as general manager of the Washington-bound Montreal Expos.

Bowden will oversee offseason trades and signings for a team that will move to the nation's capital next season if the local government approves funding for a new ballpark. He replaces Omar Minaya, who resigned during the final week of the regular season to become general manager of the New York Mets.

Bowden might not have the job for more than a few months. The Washington team, owned by the 29 other major league clubs, is for sale and at least two dozen potential buyers have shown interest. Once the sale is completed, which isn't expected until late in the offseason or early during the regular season, the new owners might hire their own front-office personnel.

• A drug overdose killed former NL MVP Ken Caminiti, who admitted using steroids during his playing days and tested positive for cocaine in the days before he died.

Coronary artery disease and an enlarged heart were listed as contributing factors in the death of Caminiti, Grace Brugess, spokeswoman for the New York City Medical Examiner, said Monday. She said the death had been ruled an accident.

The 15-year major league veteran, who won the NL MVP award in 1996, admitted in a Houston court just days before he died that he had tested positive for cocaine. Caminiti, 41, died Oct. 10 in the Bronx.

Tissue and toxicology tests confirmed Caminiti's cause of death as "acute intoxication due to the combined effects of cocaine and opiates," Brugess said. She said those drugs had weakened his heart.

Colleges

Florida State suspended Craphonso Thorpe for Saturday's game against Duke because the wide receiver has missed too many classes, Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden said Tuesday.

Thorpe has a team-high 31 catches for 361 yards and one touchdown for the 13th-ranked Seminoles (6-2, 4-2 Atlantic Coast Conference).

Golf

• Tom Lehman, unbeaten in singles in his three Ryder Cups, will be named U.S. captain for the 2006 Ryder Cup in Ireland, The Palm Beach Post reported Tuesday. The newspaper said Lehman, 45, would be introduced today at Amelia Island, where the PGA of America is holding its 86th annual meeting.

Lehman did not immediately return a phone call from The Associated Press seeking comment. The newspaper did not cite a source in its report. PGA of America spokesman Julius Mason confirmed that a news conference would be held today to announce the next captain.

Motorsports

• NASCAR fined Nextel Cup driver Rusty Wallace $10,000 Tuesday for intentionally hitting Ryan Newman's car as the field returned to pit lane after the Oct. 24 race at Martinsville Speedway.

Wallace was angry with his Penske Racing South teammate after a run-in late in the race and bumped Newman's Dodge to show his disapproval.

The two were running second and third to Jimmie Johnson in the Subway 500 when the race went back to green for the final time with seven laps to go.

Tennis

• Second-seeded Lleyton Hewitt defeated French teenager Gael Monfils 6-3, 7-6 (3) at the Paris Masters on Tuesday, then heaped praise on the former junior champion.

A day earlier, the 18-year-old Monfils ousted Thomas Enqvist at the $3.1 million tournament. He traded shots for most of the match with Hewitt, a two-time Grand Slam winner, to the delight of a packed crowd at the Bercy indoor arena.

"He had nothing to lose and he is a great player. I knew it would be tough and he could handle the pressure," Hewitt said. "He is going to become a very, very big player in the future."

Also Tuesday, defending champion Tim Henman defeated Paradorn Srichaphan 6-3, 6-4. Robin Soderling rallied to beat Davide Sanguinetti 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-0 in another second-round match.