BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE MAJORS : Froemming Has Heart Trouble

National League umpire Bruce Froemming has been hospitalized in New York and will undergo a heart procedure Friday, the league said Wednesday.

Froemming, 52, will have an angioplasty. Although the league did not specify his condition, an angioplasty is usually employed to remove blockages from two or more blood vessels to the heart.

Sandy Amoros, hero of the Brooklyn Dodgers’ 1955 World Series victory, was on a respirator in the intensive care unit of Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami Wednesday after being stricken with pneumonia.

Amoros, 62, who lost his left leg to diabetes years ago, had been scheduled to be in New York this weekend where the Brooklyn Sports Foundation planned to honor him for his Game 7 catch that saved the ’55 Series against the New York Yankees.

The Pittsburgh Pirates signed Torrance High catcher Jason Kendall to what is believed to be the richest contract the club has ever given a draft choice. Kendall will receive a bonus worth a reported $336,000. . . . Barry Bonds’ strained rib cage muscle has improved so much that the Pirates probably won’t put him on the disabled list. . . . The Yankees activated outfielder Jesse Barfield from the disabled list and optioned infielder Pat Kelly to Columbus of the International League.