Florida Exodus Continues: Manuel to Manage Chicago

Jerry Manuel, who spent last season as bench coach beside Jim Leyland as the Florida Marlins won the World Series, was named manager of the Chicago White Sox on Thursday. Manuel was the third base coach for the Montreal Expos for the previous six seasons.

Manuel, who has never managed in the majors but was Southern League manager of the year at double-A Jacksonville in 1990, replaced Terry Bevington, who was fired in September.

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Free-agent outfielder Dave Martinez signed a two-year contract with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Martinez, 33, hit .286 with 12 homers and 55 runs batted in for the White Sox last season.

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Shortstop David Howard and the St. Louis Cardinals agreed to a $1.8-million, two-year contract that gives him the chance to earn an additional $2.1 million in performance bonuses.

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Each member of the Marlins voted a full World Series share will get $188,467.55, down 13% from the $216,870.08 received by New York Yankee players for winning last year. . . . The Angels are scheduled to open the 1998 season against the Yankees at home March 31, the earliest opener in franchise history.

Olympics

American luger Duncan Kennedy, sidelined for the past month with dizziness and nausea, was given the go-ahead to resume training. Doctors say there is no threat of worsening his condition further, but they still do not know the cause of it.

Arne Ljungqvist of Sweden, a senior member of the IOC’s medical commission who has urged the IOC to abandon gender testing, expressed disappointment that the IOC is not prepared to do so. He said it is illegal in Norway and that he expects the IOC to be forced to stop the testing at some point because of a legal challenge.

Timothy Goebel, the 1996 U.S. junior men’s figure skating champion and world silver medalist, will probably have to wait another four years for a shot at the Olympics. Goebel, 17, of Rolling Meadows, Ill., withdrew from this week’s World Junior Figure Skating Championships in St. John, Canada, because of a fracture in a hip growth plate.

Skiing

Katja Seizinger got her 30th World Cup victory, giving Germany a 1-2 a sweep at Lake Louise, Canada, in the first women’s downhill of the season. Katharina Gutensohn finished second.

Kristian Ghedina seemed to confirm his status as heir apparent to retired World Cup champion Luc Alphand of France in the men’s downhill. The Italian’s smooth, nearly error-free victory christened the new Birds of Prey course at Beaver Creek, Colo., site of the 1999 World Championships, and kicked off a men’s World Cup downhill season.

Boxing

Roy Jones Jr., the World Boxing Council light-heavyweight champion who once defended a boxing title and played in a U.S. Basketball League game on the same day, is looking for new challenges and has decided he can find it in heavier divisions. Jones plans to fight as many as four fights as a cruiserweight before moving up to heavyweights.

Outfielder Juan Gonzalez and boxing champions Wilfredo Velazquez and Felix Trinidad were among the thousands of mourners at the funeral for former champion Edwin Rosario at San Juan, Puerto Rico. Rosario, who had been attempting a comeback from cocaine abuse, died this week at 34. Autopsy results are pending.

WBC middleweight champion Keith Holmes is making only his second title defense, tonight at Pompano Beach, Fla., finally meeting former International Boxing Federation junior-welterweight champion Paul Vaden after two postponements.

Miscellany

Golfers Mike Brisky and Barb Mucha tied the tournament record in the best-ball format with a nine-under-par 62 in the rain-delayed first-round of the JCPenney Classic at Tarpon Springs, Fla. . . . Phil Mickelson closed with a 31 on the back nine and shot a five-under 67 for the first-round lead by one stroke over Davis Love III at the Million Dollar Challenge in Sun City, South Africa. . . . Martina Hingis avenged one of her five losses this year, beating Amanda Coetzer of South Africa, 6-1, 6-2, in a second-round match at the $1.56-million Masters of Champions at Frankfurt, Germany.