Denver Writer Has Credentials Pulled

A Denver Post columnist had his baseball credentials revoked after he examined a bottle containing the dietary supplement androstenedione that was in the locker of Colorado’s Dante Bichette at Coors Field.

Although Bichette said he accepted Post columnist Mark Kiszla’s apology, the Baseball Writers Assn. of America pulled the journalist’s credentials.

Baseball writer Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune told Denver’s KUSA-TV: “It’s like going into someone’s house. It’s just not right. The guy should be suspended, and I’m glad they did it.”

The debate over the use of androstenedione arose after the Associated Press reported last weekend that slugger Mark McGwire takes the dietary supplement, which is not banned by major league baseball.

Colorado relief pitcher Mike Munoz said the concept of reporters “taking something out of somebody’s locker, without asking for permission. . . it’s very alarming.”

Rocky spokesman Zak Gilbert said the incident involving Kiszla occurred Wednesday, and since then, Kiszla apologized to the team in a meeting.

*

The fan who catches the baseball that breaks Roger Maris’ home run record will get $250,000 from a television shopping network--unless there’s a fight over it.

“We are aware that there could be vigorous pursuit of the ball, but our company will not make the award if a fan obtains the ball through violent behavior,” Kent Lillie, president and chief executive officer of the Shop at Home network, said.

He said the company will use the ball for unspecified “business purposes,” then donate it to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.

*

McGwire gets an extra game to shoot for the home run record when the Cardinals play the Pittsburgh Pirates in a doubleheader Sept. 15 in St. Louis.

One of the games is a makeup for the one suspended by rain Monday with the score tied at 5-5 in the middle of the seventh inning. McGwire took the day off that game, from which all statistics count. St. Louis is playing 163 games for the first time since 1989.

*

The Montreal Expos are trying to sign 22-year-old outfielder Vladimir Guerrero to a long-term contract, Expo General Manager Jim Beattie said, a move uncharacteristic for a franchise known for trading away talented players before they become expensive.

Guerrero, 22, is batting .330, fifth in the National League, and is eighth with 33 home runs.

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Guerrero is making $230,000 this season on an Expo club that started the season with a $9.16-million payroll, the lowest in baseball. He won’t be eligible for arbitration until after next season and can’t become a free agent until after the 2002 season.

*

Golfer Tom Watson, one of Kansas City’s most famous baseball fans, has joined Miles Prentice’s group in its bid to buy the Royals.

A Kansas City native, Watson said Friday he decided to invest when he heard last week that the franchise could leave town if Prentice, a New York lawyer and the only bidder left in the process, does not secure at least 50% of his money from local people.

*

Pat Hentgen’s string of 183 consecutive starts is coming to an end. Tendinitis in his right shoulder will cause him to miss a start today against Minnesota, the first time since his third appearance of 1993. . . . The Boston Red Sox put outfielder Damon Buford on the 15-day disabled list because of a rib cage injury. and recalled outfielder Keith Mitchell from triple-A Pawtucket. Buford has a strained right rib cage. . . . Chicago White Sox right-hander Keith Foulke will undergo season-ending rotator cuff surgery next week, the team said.