BASEBALL

Pedro Borbon was sent packing and Davey Johnson was back managing the Cincinnati Reds after being told to shape up or pack up too.

The Reds released Borbon, a 48-year-old pitcher who was their most prominent replacement player, a day after he slipped and fell while fielding a ball.

“I don’t want Pedro to get hurt and I want to win a championship,” said General Manager Jim Bowden, who poked fun at the portly pitcher when he signed him three weeks ago. “We felt at this time he would not contribute to winning a championship.”

Borbon fell while jogging during one workout, but got a standing ovation when he struck out Pittsburgh’s Doug Duke--who had been out of baseball for six years--in an exhibition.

He fell again Monday night while fielding a soft grounder against Cleveland and threw wild to first base for an error. He got another standing ovation when he left the field.

Those were the only two batters Borbon faced.

Johnson has been disinterested in managing replacement players, turning duties over to assistant Ray Knight five games into the exhibition schedule. Johnson’s frustrations spilled out Sunday, when he called replacement baseball a “travesty” and said the players were only as skillful as low-level minor leaguers.

Reds officials were upset by the comments. Owner Marge Schott, who is charging full price for replacement games, was concerned that ticket sales would be affected.

Bowden asked Johnson to follow Detroit manager Sparky Anderson’s example and take a leave of absence. Johnson, who has just a one-year contract to manage the Reds, refused to go.

Bowden told Johnson that if he wanted to stay, he’d have to fulfill all the duties of a manager. Bowden was satisfied with how Johnson ran the team against Cleveland on Monday night.

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Teams using replacement players would be barred from playing at Baltimore’s Camden Yards under legislation approved by the House of Delegates and certain to be signed by Gov. Parris Glendening.

The bill, approved by the Maryland Senate on March 1, passed the House by an 87-44 vote. It was supported by Oriole owner Peter Angelos, who is refusing to use field a team of strikebreakers.