Eckersley Gets His Wish: Deal to Cardinals

Dennis Eckersley said goodbye to the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday, following his former manager, Tony La Russa, and pitching coach, Dave Duncan, to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Completing a long-discussed deal, Eckersley, 41, was traded from the A’s to the Cardinals for minor league reliever Steve Montgomery, who led the double-A Texas League with 36 saves last year for Arkansas.

*

Major league owners have unanimously approved the sale of the Pittsburgh Pirates for $90 million to a group led by Kevin McClatchy.

*

Outfielder Bernie Williams won his arbitration case with the New York Yankees and was awarded $3 million. The Yankees had offered $2,555,000 to Williams, who earned $400,000 in 1995, when he batted .307 with 18 home runs and 82 runs batted in. . . . Three players settled before arbitration hearings. St. Louis pitcher Todd Stottlemyre got an $8.5-million, two-year contract, Yankee reliever John Wetteland got a $4-million, one-year contract with a $4.6-million player option for 1997, and Cardinal pitcher Donovan Osborne got a one-year deal for $675,000. The Yankees also signed pitcher Steve Howe to a minor league contract. . . . Catcher Todd Greene and infielder George Arias have agreed to contracts with the Angels. Arias, 23, hit .279 with 30 home runs at double-A Midland. Greene, who split time between Midland and triple-A Vancouver, had 40 homers and 92 RBIs.

Olympics

The U.S. men’s basketball team was put in a bracket with European powers Lithuania and Croatia for the Atlanta Olympics. The United States will open July 20 against Argentina. The U.S. women will play preliminary games against Cuba, Zaire, Australia, South Korea and Ukraine, which won the European championship. . . . A Chinese spokesman said the country plans to take part in the Atlanta Olympics, despite reports it was considering a boycott over the attendance of Taiwanese leaders.

Pro Football

The Indianapolis Colts, hoping to avoid the possibility of losing quarterback Jim Harbaugh, notified the NFL that he has been designated a “franchise” player.

The league’s top-rated quarterback last season, Harbaugh was an unrestricted free agent, meaning he could have signed with any other team without bringing anything in return.

Jurisprudence

Felicia Moon showed up in court in Richmond, Texas, more than 90 minutes late after prosecutors said she fled with her 8-year-old son Jeffrey, defying a subpoena, as the misdemeanor assault trial began against her husband, Minnesota Viking quarterback Warren Moon.

Moon is accused of beating his wife during an argument at their suburban Houston home last summer. Felicia repeatedly has asked that the charges be dropped.

Seattle Seahawk tailback Lamar Smith said he “felt normal” and wasn’t drunk or impaired in any way when he smashed his car into a utility pole in a 1994 accident that partially paralyzed teammate Mike Frier.

Smith also testified that he didn’t initially correct police officers who believed another Seahawk, Chris Warren, was driving, because he didn’t want to contradict the team leader until he could talk to him.

The man accused of killing Michael Jordan’s father was charged with assault in Lumberton, N.C., after an inmate was beaten bloody in a courthouse holding cell. The charge was filed against Daniel Andre Green, 21, who is on trial on charges that he killed James R. Jordan during a highway holdup on July 23, 1993. Green has changed his name to Lord D.A.A.S. U’Allah.

Names in the News

Alberto Berasategui of Spain upset third-seeded Jim Courier, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5), in the $1-million Dubai Open in the United Arab Emirates. . . . Albert Guardado, who attended Colton High, moved closer to his third U.S. 106-pound boxing championship in four years and a berth in the Olympic trials by beating Donald Sanders of Wilmington, N.C., 37-9, at Colorado Springs, Colo. . . . Dick Enberg of NBC and Dan Jenkins of Golf Digest are going into the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Assn. Hall of Fame. . . . Purdue quarterback John Reeves, hospitalized because of bacterial meningitis, was moved out of isolation into a regular ward. . . . A clumber spaniel, Ch. Clussexx Country Sunrise, won best in show at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show.