Sampras and Becker Win, but Muster Is Forced Out

Pete Sampras and Boris Becker won in straight sets and Thomas Muster withdrew because of a hip injury at the Stuttgart ATP in Germany.

Andre Agassi played his first tennis match since losing to Michael Chang at the U.S. Open semifinals and squandered five match points before struggling past Spain’s Alberto Berasategui, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5).

Sampras won his 18th consecutive match, coasting past qualifier Sargis Sargsian of Armenia, 6-3, 6-4, in the second round, and Becker ousted Britain’s hard-serving Greg Rusedski, 6-4, 6-4.

Baseball

Bob Grim, the last American League rookie to win 20 games, had a fatal heart attack after throwing snowballs with neighborhood children in Shawnee, Kan. He was 66. Grim was 20-6 for the 1954 New York Yankees, winning the rookie-of-the-year award.

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The National League is irked that Cincinnati Red owner Marge Schott hasn’t approved her team’s 1997 budget yet. NL President Leonard Coleman told Schott to approve a 1997 budget for her team, or he will do it for her, the Dayton Daily News reported.

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Oklahoma State Coach Gary Ward resigned after 19 years because of a back injury. Ward, 56, was 953-313 at Oklahoma State.

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Jurisprudence

Sports agent Leigh Steinberg, whose blood-alcohol level was .20 after a minor traffic accident Sept. 7, pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor drunk-driving charges in Newport Beach. A pretrial hearing was set for for Nov. 14.

Seattle Seahawk fullback Reggie Brown was arrested for investigation of fourth-degree assault after a fight with his girlfriend at their apartment in Redmond, Wash.

Former Pittsburgh Steeler guard Terry Long declined comment as he left a Pittsburgh courtroom after being acquitted of harassment charges and related motor vehicle violations.

Richie Adams, the Big West player of the year at Nevada Las Vegas who was drafted by the Washington Bullets in 1985, was charged with second-degree murder in the death of a 14-year-old New York girl.

Names in the News

Bowler Walter Ray Williams Jr. all but wrapped up PBA player-of-the-year honors by winning the Rochester (N.Y.) Open. He defeated Pete Weber, 232-223, in the championship match. . . . Julio Cesar Chavez, pointing to a rematch with Oscar De La Hoya, will fight journeyman Mickey Ward in a tuneup Dec. 6 in Reno. . . . Rebecca Lobo and Sheryl Swoopes became the first members of the Women’s National Basketball Assn. after signing undisclosed contracts. The league, scheduled to begin play in June 1997, consists of teams in eight yet-to-be determined NBA cities.

Miscellany

Yokohama, Japan, added its name to the list of cities bidding to stage the 2008 Summer Olympics. . . . The NCAA put Texas Southern on probation for five years for academic and ethics violations, primarily in its track and field and cross-country programs. . . . CONCACAF officials promised an effort to halt sales of counterfeit tickets, which they believe contributed to scores of deaths at a Guatemala World Cup soccer qualifier last week.