Padres’ Bochy Edges Alou, La Russa for Managerial Award

Bruce Bochy, who guided the San Diego Padres to their first postseason appearance since 1984, was voted National League manager of the year on Friday with a narrow victory over Montreal’s Felipe Alou.

Bochy, 41, is the youngest active manager in the major leagues. He finished with 76 points, two more than Alou and seven more than Tony La Russa of the St. Louis Cardinals.

La Russa was listed on 25 ballots, Alou 24 and Bochy 22, but the San Diego manager had 10 first-place votes to eight for Alou and seven for La Russa.

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Roberto Alomar says John Hirschbeck cursed at him, provoking the spitting incident during the final weekend of the regular season.

“I think people in the States don’t understand what happened. They got me all wrong,” the Baltimore Oriole second baseman said Thursday night after playing in the San Juan Senators’ winter league opener at San Juan, Puerto Rico.

“I know I was wrong, and I regret it. But I think he was wrong too, in calling me names. They weren’t pretty names. I think people who know me know there was a reason for what I did.”

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Infielder Lenny Harris is staying with the Cincinnati Reds, agreeing to a two-year contract worth $1,375,000. . . . Shortstop Ozzie Smith of the St. Louis Cardinals and catcher Pat Borders of the Chicago White Sox filed for free agency, pushing the number of players who have filed to 107. . . . The Colorado Rockies picked up the contract of catcher Jeff Reed for next season. . . . Pitcher John Patterson agreed to sign with the Arizona Diamondbacks for a $6,075,000 bonus. Patterson, drafted by Montreal last June, became a free agent in September when the Expos failed to offer him a contract within 15 days of the draft.

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The Angels have signed a four-year extension of their working agreement with the Class-A Lake Elsinore Storm.

Golf

Hale Irwin, who soared to the first-round lead with accurate irons, fell in Friday’s windy conditions with four consecutive bogeys and dropped four shots behind Vicente Fernandez, Frank Conner and Jay Sigel at the Senior PGA Tour Championship in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Irwin shot a three-over-par 75, the first time since July he was over par in a senior tour event.

Tennis

Todd Martin defeated Richey Reneberg, 6-2, 6-2, in the quarterfinals of the Stockholm Open in Sweden. Magnus Norman ousted Vince Spadea, 6-3, 7-6 (9-7), Thomas Johansson edged Greg Rusedski, 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), and Thomas Enqvist defeated Patrik Fredriksson, 6-2, 6-0.

Alex O’Brien defeated Sjeng Schalken, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), in the quarterfinals of the Kremlin Cup tournament at Moscow. Also advancing were Goran Ivanisevic, who breezed by Petr Korda, 7-5, 6-0; Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who defeated Byron Black, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2, and David Prinosil, who beat Andrei Olhovsky, 7-5, 6-2.

Boxing

Former junior-lightweight champion Gabriel Ruelas will be out six to eight weeks after breaking the ring finger on his right hand.

The injury forced cancellation of a Dec. 3 bout in Indio between Ruelas and Manny Castillo.

James “Buster” Douglas, the only professional to beat Mike Tyson, signed a boxing contract with Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc.

Jurisprudence

The misdemeanor drunk driving trial of St. Louis Ram running back Lawrence Phillips has been continued from its original Nov. 4 date to Nov. 23 at Rio Hondo Municipal Court, a spokesman for the district attorney’s office said.

A judge in Mannheim, Germany, said the serious tax evasion charges against tennis star Steffi Graf’s father might be downgraded, a move that halve the maximum jail time if Peter Graf is found guilty to five years.

Boxer Julio Cesar Chavez has been cleared of all tax evasion charges, officials said.

A judge in Cuernavaca, just south of Mexico City, rescinded the last arrest warrant against Chavez, who was $1.3 million in arrears on his tax bill.

Auto Racing

Bobby Labonte earned the pole position with a record-setting lap in time trials for the NASCAR Winston Cup season-ending NAPA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga.

Labonte was followed by Jeff Gordon at 185.290, Terry Labonte at 184.559, Mark Martin at 184.528 and Dale Jarrett at 184.131.

College Basketball

Arizona State forward Okeme Oziwo will be out eight weeks because of a stress fracture in his right leg. . . . Albert White, suspended from the Michigan team last month for violating rules, has been cut from the program, Coach Steve Fisher said.