Committee OKs Sale of Pirates

Major league baseball’s eight-member ownership committee voted Wednesday to approve the purchase of the Pittsburgh Pirates by a group led by California businessman Kevin McClatchy. The purchase, believed to cost $90 million, must still be voted on by all 28 major league owners.

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The Pirates signed pitcher Danny Darwin, a 16-year veteran, to a minor league contract.

College Basketball

One member of the Indiana Purdue Indianapolis women’s team was killed, and the coach and five other players were injured when one of two vans carrying the squad crashed on icy Interstate 65 about five miles north of Columbus, Ind., Tuesday night.

Shannon McPherson, the starting point guard, was thrown from the university-owned van after it slid out of control, struck a median and overturned on the way back from a game at Indiana Southeast in New Albany. McPherson would have turned 21 today.

Coach Kimra Schliecher, 30, was behind the wheel at the time of the accident.

Boxing

Rafael Ruelas (43-3, 34 knockouts), trying to rebound from two losses, will fight Anthony Johnson (10-5-1, two knockouts) at the Olympic Auditorium on March 13. Ruelas’ brother, Gabriel, will also be on the card against as as-yet-undetermined opponent.

Tennis

International Tennis Federation officials say they will vigorously defend themselves against legal action by Mats Wilander and Karol Novacek, who have accused the organization of smearing them with false drug allegations.

Austrian Thomas Muster will replace Andre Agassi as No. 1 in the world when the ATP rankings are published Feb. 12. . . . Top-seeded Goran Ivanisevic opened his bid in the Croatian Open in Zagreb by beating Christian Ruud of Norway 6-4, 7-6 (7-3). Ivanisevic is playing in his homeland for the first time since 1990. . . . Defending champion Kimiko Date was ousted from the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, losing a second-round match to Naoko Sawamatsu, another Japanese player, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.

Hockey

New York’s Madison Square Garden and the Spectrum in Philadelphia are the U.S. sites for the first World Cup of Hockey tournament, scheduled to begin in late August. The World Cup replaces the Canada Cup.

Names in the News

Finland’s Jani Sievinen won the 200-meter medley at the World Cup short-course swimming meet in Malmo, Sweden, with a time of 1:55.44, nearly one second slower than his world-record time of 1:54.65 set last year. . . . Kurt Schuette, USC director of golf, has been selected coach of the year for District 8, comprising the Pacific 10, Big West and West Coast conferences.