Sports briefs 3/30/05

Baseball

* Andres Galarraga retired Tuesday after a subpar spring training with the New York Mets, leaving him a homer shy of 400 for his career.

The 43-year-old first baseman signed a minor league deal with the Mets in the offseason after making his second successful return from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma last season.

A five-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove in a 19-year career, Galarraga was hitting just .235 in 17 games for the Mets this spring, with three home runs and seven RBIs. The Big Cat probably would have been left off New York's 25-man roster when the team broke camp.

Galarraga made his big league debut with the Montreal Expos in 1985 and has played for St. Louis, Colorado, Texas, Atlanta, San Francisco and the Angels. He finished his career with a .288 batting average, 2,333 hits and 1,425 RBIs in 2,257 games.

With the Rockies, Galarraga hit .370 to win the NL batting title in 1993 and led the league with 47 homers and 150 RBIs in 1996.

* Ken Harvey, the Kansas City Royals' lone selection to the 2004 All-Star game, was among three players optioned Tuesday to Triple-A Omaha.

Harvey led the AL in batting early last season and was hitting .350 on June 23, but hit only .219 after that to finish the year at .287.

He hit .238 in 17 spring training games and struck out 10 times in 42 at-bats.

Instead, the Royals will keep left-handed rookie Calvin Pickering, who hit 35 homers at Omaha and seven in 122 big-league at-bats.

"Harvey has been swinging at a lot of bad pitches," manager Tony Pena said. "Harvey has not been swinging the bat well. He had a very tough time the second half of last season, and we see the same thing in spring training."

The Royals also assigned outfielder Aaron Guiel, right-handed pitcher Kevin Appier and infielder Chris Clapinski to the minor league camp. All were non-roster invites, although Guiel was the team's opening day left fielder in 2004.

Appier said he would retire rather than go to Omaha if he does not land a big league job in the next couple of days.

Basketball

* A fan charged with throwing a chair during one of the worst brawls in U.S. sports history pleaded no contest Tuesday to a felony assault count.

Bryant Jackson was the only one of the 13 players and fans charged with a felony for their alleged role in the Nov. 19 melee during an Indiana Pacers-Detroit Pistons game at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Rae Lee Chabot indicated she would sentence Jackson to up to three months in jail, but he could get probation if he expresses remorse at the sentencing hearing May 3.

Jackson, 37, is accused of dislodging a chair and heaving it over his head, hitting several people. He also is accused of throwing a drink at the Pacers as they left the court area.

He pleaded no contest to one count of felony assault and one count of misdemeanor assault and battery. A no-contest plea is not an admission of guilt but is treated as such for sentencing purposes.

Three other fans were sentenced to probation earlier this month.

* Connecticut forward Charlie Villanueva will forgo his final two years of college eligibility to enter the NBA draft.

"I went with my heart," the 6-foot-11, 240-pounder said Tuesday. "I'm 100 percent confident in my decision."

Coach Jim Calhoun said Villanueva needs to work hard in the weight room to make himself ready for the NBA.

"Charlie can not only make it, Charlie can be a terrific NBA player," Calhoun said.

Villanueva led the Huskies in scoring this season, averaging 13.6 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.

Scouts have praised Villanueva's ball-handling, passing and shot-blocking skills, and have projected that he would be a late first-round pick.

College

* Former Arizona State running back Loren Wade was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder in the shooting of another former Sun Devils player.

The 21-year-old Wade has been held without bond since Saturday, when he was arrested at the slaying site outside a Scottsdale nightspot. Witnesses say they saw him approach the car of Brandon Falkner, and exchange words with Falkner before a single gunshot rang out.

Falkner, 25, was killed by a bullet to the head.

* Missouri wide receiver William Franklin is scheduled to undergo surgery Thursday to repair torn cartilage in his knee.

Franklin, a sophomore, is expected to miss a week of spring practice. He was injured March 17.

An MRI showed no structural damage to the knee, coach Gary Pinkel said Tuesday.

Franklin, a likely starter at wide receiver this fall, is the second offensive starter to miss time because of a knee injury. Tailback Marcus Woods sprained a ligament in his left knee March 15 but did not require surgery.

Franklin caught six passes for 174 yards and one touchdown last season. His 29 yards per catch average led the team.

Soccer

* Diego Maradona has lost 24 pounds since having stomach stapling surgery this month, and plans to drop a lot more weight. Before the operation, the 5-foot-6 Argentine soccer great had become unrecognizably obese at 266 pounds.

Tennis

* Venus Williams ended a streak of six consecutive losses to sister Serena, winning 6-1, 7-6 (8) Tuesday in the quarterfinals of the Nasdaq-100 Open.

Meeting for the first time since July 2003, the sisters produced the same tense, sloppy tennis that has marred the rivalry in the past.

Venus' opponent in the semifinals Thursday will be No. 2-seeded Maria Sharapova, who disrupted Justine Henin-Hardenne's comeback from a seven-month layoff by winning 6-1, 6-7 (6), 6-2.

Reaching the men's quarterfinals were top-ranked Roger Federer and six-time Key Biscayne champion Andre Agassi.

Federer was pushed to three sets for the second match in a row but beat Mario Ancic 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. Federer, bidding for his first Key Biscayne title, extended his winning streak to 19 matches and improved to 45-1 since the start of last year's U.S. Open.

Agassi endured a grueling first set and beat French Open champion Gaston Gaudio 7-6 (7), 6-2.