Brewers Say Yount Has Decided to Retire

Robin Yount, who went from the Woodland Hills Taft High lineup to the Milwaukee Brewers in the same summer, has decided to retire from baseball after 20 seasons, the club said Thursday.

Yount, 38, was the American League’s most valuable player in 1982 and 1989. He chose to end his career rather than return as a reserve outfielder and designated hitter in 1994. He finished with a .285 average and 3,142 hits, 13th on the career list.

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David Justice, who led Atlanta with 40 home runs and 120 runs batted in last year, agreed to a $27.5-million, five-year contract with the Braves.

The Braves also signed 10-year veteran pitcher Mike Bielecki to a minor league contract.

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Jack Morris, believing he still has something left after a 7-12 season with the Toronto Blue Jays, agreed to a $350,000, one-year contract with the Cleveland Indians that has the added potential of $2.25 million in performance bonuses.

The Indians also agreed to a minor league contract with 37-year-old right-hander Steve Farr, 2-2 with a 4.21 earned-run average and 25 saves for the New York Yankees last season.

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Minnesota Twin second baseman Chuck Knoblauch agreed to a $1.55-million contract, triple his $510,000 salary last season. . . . Montreal Expo pitcher Ken Hill agreed to a $2.55-million deal, a raise of $550,000. . . . Blue Jay pitcher Al Leiter agreed to a $565,000 contract, nearly double the $287,500 he earned in 1993. . . . Philadelphia Phillie pitcher David West agreed to a $600,000 deal, nearly double his $315,000 salary last season. . . . Boston Red Sox shortstop John Valentin, who blacked out while resting at home two weeks ago, has been cleared for spring training after medical and neurological evaluations. . . . The Angels signed catcher Mike Fitzgerald, 33, to a minor league contract.

Football

A U.S. ticket agency has refunded more than $500,000 to two Mexican travel agencies whose nearly 600 customers found they did not have tickets to the game after buying Super Bowl packages and arriving in Atlanta.

The NFL has warned the Jacksonville Jaguars that the team could be violating league rules if it tries to contact Dallas Coach Jimmy Johnson, who has five years remaining on his Cowboy contract.

The Florida Times-Union reported that the Jaguars met with Johnson last week in Miami, though team officials have denied it.

Basketball

Rookie Allan Houston of the Detroit Pistons will replace injured Harold Miner of the Miami Heat, last year’s winner, in the NBA’s slam-dunk contest. . . . Utah rookie Luther Wright, released from the hospital where he was treated for manic depression, is not expected to rejoin the Jazz for at least two weeks.

Boxing

Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson has begun study in hopes of completing his general equivalency degree--or high school diploma--while in prison in Indiana after being convicted of rape.

Tyson, 27, is scheduled to be released in May 1995, but three months of his sentence would be deducted if he passes his GED test.

Friends say Tyson plans to return to the ring upon his release and that he is training twice a day.

Miscellany

Bernard Tapie was charged with complicity in a corruption case involving Olympique Marseille and was ordered to resign as president of the soccer team by April 20.

A judge also charged Tapie with witness tampering in the bribery scandal, which caused soccer authorities to ban the team from defending its European Cup title.

Bill Koch, winner of the 1992 America’s Cup, said he plans to back the first all-women’s team in the 1995 regatta.

Pole qualifying for Sunday’s Daytona ARCA 200 Hooters Cup Series stock car race was postponed after a crash involving Andy Farr of New Baltimore, Mich., at Daytona International Speedway that damaged a retaining wall and debris fence. Farr suffered a broken sternum.