BASEBALL

Angel outfielder John Fishel was arrested again and handcuffed Tuesday for failure to pay child support to Kim Ketchum, a Phoenix-area woman who claims Fishel is the father of her 6-year-old daughter, Ashley.

The former Cal State Fullerton standout was arrested during a game last week on a warrant that he owes $66,686 in child support to Ketchum dating back to 1989. He was released from jail after 12 hours when the Angels paid an $8,000 bond.

Maricopa County Court Commissioner Lindsay Ellis told Fishel that he would not be released from jail this time again until he makes a $20,000 “purge” payment, $8,000 of which will be credited from last week’s bond.

Fishel, 32, missed Tuesday’s 6-5 exhibition loss to the Seattle Mariners but is expected to start a work furlough program, which will allow him to play baseball during the day and spend nights in jail until the $12,000 is paid.

Ellis also ordered Fishel to make $808-per-month child support payments and $400-per-month arrearage payments to Ketchum for the next year. Fishel, who is married and has two children and a stepdaughter, already is paying about $600 a month in child support to two other women, one of them his former wife.

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McKay Christensen, who left for a two-year Mormon mission in Japan soon after signing a $700,000 bonus as the Angels’ first-round pick in 1994, will return a few months ahead of schedule, according to Bob Fontaine, player personnel director. Fontaine said Christensen, an outfielder from Clovis West High in Fresno, should be back in the United States by May, 1996, enabling him to play the entire season for the Angels’ rookie-league affiliate at Boise, Ida.