Rosario’s Death Linked to Drugs

Edwin Rosario, a former lightweight boxing champion whose career was marred by cocaine, died of acute pulmonary edema that could have been caused by drug or alcohol abuse, pathologist Yocasta Brugal said Tuesday.

Rosario, 34, died Monday night at his parents’ home in Toa Baja, a suburb of San Juan, Puerto Rico. A police investigator suggested that Rosario may have died of a drug overdose.

In a pulmonary edema, the lungs fill with fluid, causing them to swell. It can cause heart failure.

Rosario’s lungs were “full of water,” Brugal said after an autopsy. “He was out of oxygen and he died. The death could be from intoxication from alcohol or narcotics use, but we won’t be certain what happened until toxicology tests arrive [in two or three weeks].”

Olympics

The International Olympic Committee and the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry signed an “Olympic marketing code” in Lausanne, Switzerland, setting out rules for advertising and promotion during the games.

The accord seeks to control the influence and activities of the manufacturers, while continuing to allow them to sponsor Olympic teams and the Olympic movement as a whole.

The rules are intended to prevent a recurrence of the scene in 1992, when Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and other members of basketball’s Dream Team objected to wearing Reebok warmup suits on the medal stand. The players, who had personal contracts with Nike, ended up draping the American flag over the Reebok symbol.

The new code specifies that individual national Olympic committees decide which uniforms their athletes will wear and sporting goods companies must respect the choice.

Baseball

The average baseball salary increased 19.3% to a record $1,336,609 last season and the New York Yankees were No. 1 for the fourth consecutive year, setting a high average salary of $2,303,437.

In the annual study released by the players’ association, the top four teams in 1996 maintained their positions. Baltimore was second at $2,205,890, followed by Cleveland at $1,912,062 and Atlanta at $1,817,543.

But the Dodgers jumped from 11th to sixth at $1,734,862.

The World Series champion Florida Marlins had the biggest increase, doubling from $842,729 to $1,793,766 and rising from 19th place to fifth.

At the other end, Pittsburgh was last at $380,443 and Oakland was 27th at $392,400.

Third baseman Vinny Castilla agreed to a $24-million, four-year contract with the Colorado Rockies. . . . The Cleveland Indians have exercised their $2-million 1998 option for right-handed reliever Mike Jackson. . . . Cincinnati’s Jon Nunnally is scheduled for foot surgery next week, his second operation since the end of the season.

Jurisprudence

John Spano Jr., the Dallas businessman whose bid to buy the New York Islanders collapsed amid fraud allegations, is expected to be indicted on a federal bank fraud charge in Boston.

This came on top of news that Spano has backed out of a plea bargain with three states on fraud charges stemming from his aborted purchase of the team.

The plea bargains have sheltered Spano, 33, from a potential five-year three-month prison sentence and $1.75-million fine. Now, if convicted on all charges, he could be sentenced to a prison stay of more than 50 years.

Names in the News

Martina Hingis, Steffi Graf and Monica Seles were among 17 players to commit to play in the 1998 State Farm Evert Cup, which will begin March 6 at Indian Wells.

Brian Quinn, who has been athletic director at Loyola Marymount for nearly 13 years, will leave the position at the end of the current academic year but will stay at the school as senior director of athletic development and promotion.