Irvan Leaves the Hospital, Returns to Charlotte

Stock car driver Ernie Irvan, who survived life-threatening head and lung injuries in a crash at a Michigan track last month, returned to Charlotte on Friday to continue his rehabilitation.

Irvan was moved to the Charlotte Institute of Rehabilitation from St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, Mich., where he had been since his accident at Michigan International Speedway on Aug. 20.

At a news conference in Charlotte, Dr. James T. McDeavitt said Irvan will undergo tests before starting on a rehabilitation schedule lasting six to eight hours a day.

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Geoff Bodine broke the track record with a lap of 152.840 m.p.h. in winning the pole for Sunday’s SplitFire 500 at Dover, Del.

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Don Prudhomme set a track record of 4.736 seconds at 294.02 m.p.h. to lead top-fuel qualifiers for the NHRA Pioneer Electronics Keystone Nationals at Mohnton, Pa.

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Jerome Hauer, director of development for the new Indy Racing League, was appointed commissioner of the organization.

Baseball

The Rooney family, which has owned the Pittsburgh Steelers for nearly 60 years, is among 10 potential buyers of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Mayor Tom Murphy said.

Florida Marlin Manager Rene Lachemann fired pitching coach Frank Reberger, first-base coach Vada Pinson and bullpen coach Bob McClure.

The Oakland Athletics announced they will lay off 17 of 71 front-office workers because of the cancellation of the season. . . . The San Diego Padres fired half of their administrative staff, 25 employees.

The Albuquerque Dukes scored two runs in the top of the 11th inning to beat the Vancouver Canadians, 2-0, in the Pacific Coast League championships. The best-of-five series is tied at two games apiece, with the fifth game tonight at Vancouver.

Michael Jordan will report to the Chicago White Sox’s Florida instructional league team on Sept. 23.

Basketball

The Utah Jazz sent veteran forward Tyrone Corbin and a second-round draft pick in 1995 to the Atlanta Hawks in a trade that brought former Stanford forward Adam Keefe to the Jazz. . . . Tony Dumas, the Dallas Mavericks’ second first-round draft pick, agreed to a four-year contract. . . . Wayman Tisdale signed a one-year contract with the Phoenix Suns, who also received league approval of Danny Manning’s one-year, $1-million contract, signed last week. . . . The Nike shoe company is sending Orlando’s Anfernee Hardaway, Charlotte’s Alonzo Mourning and three other players to the Far East to play in exhibitions that are not approved by the NBA. An NBA spokesman said the players are subject to league fines.

A federal grand jury in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., indicted two men in a point-shaving scheme in a 1990 college basketball game involving Central Florida and Stanford. Kelly Michael Hunter, 26, and his father, Larry H. Hunter, 50, were charged with conspiracy to commit sports bribery and attempted sports bribery.

Miscellany

Top-seeded Goran Ivanisevic struggled to a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Alex Corretja of Spain in the quarterfinals of the Romanian Open at Bucharest. . . . The NCAA reinstated Florida State tailback Tiger McMillon’s eligibility after granting an appeal filed by the school. McMillon, the Seminoles’ leading rusher two years ago, immediately caught a commercial flight to join his teammates in Winston-Salem, N.C., for today’s game against Wake Forest.

Ray Lovato knocked out former two-time champion Roger Mayweather in the second round of a junior-welterweight bout in Las Vegas. In another bout, Pepe Reilly of Glendale improved to 10-1 with a unanimous decision over Raul Hernandez of Mexico in a junior-welterweight fight. . . . Coastal Georgia’s Tybee Island was dropped as the site for the 1996 Olympic beach volleyball competition, the latest of several Atlanta Games venues to be switched--at times under a cloud of controversy. The beach volleyball will be moved to Clayton County’s Atlanta Beach, a private recreation facility. . . . The United States is favored to win the men’s eight race in the World Rowing Championships at Indianapolis.