Free agent Dave Righetti has not been offered any multimillion-dollar contracts by Japanese teams, club officials said Monday. The Yomiuri Giants and Yakult Swallows, both reported to have made proposals ranging to $20 million to Righetti, denied those reports. Kuniaki Nakajima, the Swallows`
spokesman, said the team had not offered any money to Righetti. Itaru Taguchi, another Swallows` representative, told a news conference the club has no intention of obtaining the pitcher, who spent the past seven seasons with the New York Yankees. An official of the Yomiuri club, who declined to identify himself, said he had read rumors in newspapers but had not heard anything in the Giants` office about an offer to Righetti. Righetti`s agent, Bill Goodstein, had said during baseball`s winter meetings last week that he had received a ”staggering” offer in November. Goodstein declined to publicly identify the amount or name the team. ”The offer is for real. We`re not talking about a rumor,” Goodstein said.
Marc Sullivan, backup catcher for the Boston Red Sox and son of Red Sox owner Haywood Sullivan was traded Monday to the Houston Astros for a player to be chosen at a later date. ”I guess it will be a relief, but I`ll tell you it was worth everything I went through,” Marc Sullivan said. ”It was worth playing for my father, it was worth playing in the city I grew up in. The whole thing was a dream come true.” Sullivan followed in his dad`s footsteps as a good field, no hit catcher. He hit .186 this season with two home runs and 10 RBIs in 160 times at bat.
The uncle of Seattle Mariners infielder Jim Presley was shot to death while hunting near the rural Florida Panhandle community of Chumuckla, Santa Rosa County authorities said. Sheriff`s Sgt. Steve Collier said Timothy D. Presley, 33, of Pensacola, was shot by a hunting companion shortly after 2 p.m. CST Sunday. He said initial indications are that no foul play was involved. But investigators are awaiting results of an autopsy.
Mike Hulbert and Bob Tway weren`t about to let the Chrysler PGA team championship slip away from them like last year, but they made it interesting. After building a five-stroke lead heading into the final round Sunday, there was a sense of deja vu after they bogeyed the third hole. ”I got a sick feeling,” Hulbert said. ”We knew if we didn`t get birds somebody could catch us, like last year.” Tway cured their ills with an 85-yard sand wedge that holed out for an eagle at the 531-yard eighth hole. He then birdied the 11th, 12th and 13th holes to spark the team to a one-stroke victory over Fred Couples and Mike Donald in West Palm Beach, Fla. Hulbert and Tway, who missed the cut two years ago and lost by a stroke to Gary Hallberg and Scott Hoch last year, collected $100,000 with a 72-hole score of 38-under-par 250. Couples and Donald finished strong with a 10-under 62, but failed to birdie the final hole which would have forced a playoff. Hallberg and Hoch were another shot back after closing with a 63. . . . Orville Moody shot a 5-under 67 in a steady rain to earn a three-stroke victory over John Brodie in the Kaanapali Classic in Kaanapali, Hawaii. Moody, who won $45,000, finished the rain-shortened event at 12-under 132. Brodie shot a 67. Bruce Devlin`s 63 broke the course record of 65 set 27 years ago by Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus and tied by Moody on Friday.
Kevin Miller, whose brother, Kelly, plays for the NHL`s Washington Capitals, had three goals and an assist to lead the U.S. Olympic hockey team to a 13-2 victory over the touring Soviet Selects squad at Uniondale, N.Y. Tony Granato also recorded a hat trick, Todd Okerlund scored two goals and Corey Millen added a goal and three assists for the U.S., which took a 2-1 lead in the series. The Soviets will seek revenge Tuesday night when the eight-game series resumes at St. Louis.
Kevin Rooney, the trainer for heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson, was charged with assault after he allegedly punched a male friend of his estranged wife, Catskill (N.Y.) police said.
Paced by a world best in the 400-meter relay, the Soviet Union captured the men`s team title in the two-day European Cup swimming meet at Monte Carlo. The East German women took the women`s title. The Soviet men`s relay team swam the freestyle relay in 3 minutes 15.07 seconds to better the previous best of 3:16.11, set by a U.S. team in 1978. But it can`t be considered a world record because it was done in a 25-meter pool.
At Leukerbad, Switzerland, slalom specialist Ida Ladstaetter recorded her first World Cup triumph, capping a brilliant showing by the Austrian team after a string of four Swiss victories. Ladstaetter beat Sweden`s Camilla Nilsson by 4/100 of a second to post a two-heat total time of 1:34.63. . . . Meanwhile, Chip Woods, head coach of the U.S. team, upset by downhill specialist Tori Pillinger`s terrifying spill Saturday, called for a change in international rules to improve course safety. Pillinger, 21, of Park City, Utah, was in stable condition after surgery on her fractured right leg. She also suffered severe ligament damage to the left knee, a broken pelvis and possible internal injuries after crashing into a steel post in the finish area.
Italy`s Alberto Tomba won the men`s giant slalom at La Villa, Italy, for his third World Cup victory in as many races and increased his lead in the overall standings.
Pavel Ploc of Czechoslovakia won his second World Cup ski-jumping event in as many days with two leaps of 92 meters to capture the 70-meter competition at Lake Placid, N.Y.
New York City Marathon champ Ibrahim Hussein of Kenya coasted to his third straight victory in the Honolulu Marathon. He was timed in 2:18:26, far off his course record of 2:11:44 and off his personal best of 2:11:01 set at New York last month. Carla Beurskens of The Netherlands captured the women`s division in 2:35:11. . . . In their first meeting since 1974, Jim Ryun, 40, defeated Kenya`s Kip Keino, 47, in an exhibition mile race in Honolulu. Ryun finished in 4:33, or :06 ahead of Keino.
Vilzak, a 4-year-old California-bred colt who had won only twice previously, captured the $500,000 Hollywood Turf Cup at Hollywood Park. Vilzak, a 14-1 longshot ridden by Pat Day, won the seventh running of the 1 1/2-mile grass race in 2:27, beating out Forlitano, a 13-1 shot, by a neck.
