Watson Reportedly to Quit as Yankee General Manager

Bob Watson is reportedly resigning as general manager of the New York Yankees after two full seasons that included a World Series championship and frequent run-ins with owner George Steinbrenner.

Watson will announce his resignation at a news conference today in New York, according to the Associated Press.

Assistant General Manager Brian Cashman will take over once Watson ties up loose ends with the team.

It was not known what Watson would do after his resignation, also reported by ESPN.

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Shawn Estes, 19-5 with a 3.18 earned-run average with San Francisco last season, is guaranteed $3.65 million under his new three-year contract with the Giants. San Francisco agreed to the deal Saturday.

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Terry Mulholland is back with the Chicago Cubs--providing a much-needed left arm for the starting rotation.

The Cubs announced that they’ve agreed to terms on a one-year minor league contract that would pay Mulholland $550,000 if he makes the team and give him the chance to earn $750,000 more in performance bonuses.

World Sports

Olympic officials accused U.S. professional sports organizations of undermining the global fight against doping by failing to test for performance-enhancing drugs.

International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch said many sports bodies still ignore the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Samaranch’s remarks came in the wake of recent doping scandals, including several Chinese drug cases at last month’s world swimming championships in Australia, which have tarnished the image of Olympic sports.

Samaranch did not single out which organizations were lax on drug testing. But IOC officials, including the highest-ranking American in the Olympic movement, said Samaranch’s remarks were directed mainly at pro sports in the United States such as football, basketball, baseball and hockey.

“There are many professional sports organizations in the U.S. that do a tip of the hat and a wink of the eye to drug testing,” said Anita DeFrantz, an American vice president on the IOC. “We wonder how serious the leagues are.”

Tennis

Hometown favorite Goran Ivanisevic bounced back from a first-round loss at the Australian Open to beat David Prinosil of Germany, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, in the first round of the ATP Croatian Indoors tournament at Split.

Third-seeded Tim Henman of Great Britain lost his first-round match to Rainer Schuttler of Germany, who is ranked 117th in the world. Schuttler won, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.

In other matches, fourth-seeded Andrei Medvedev of Ukraine beat Alex Calatrava of Spain, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (11-9), 6-3, and seventh-seeded Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic beat Jens Knippschild of Germany, 6-3, 6-7 (7-9), 7-5.

Auto Racing

Former NASCAR Winston Cup champions Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt will join Indy-car standout Al Unser Jr. and Trans-Am champion Tommy Kendall in the 1998 International Race of Champions series.

Winston Cup regulars Dale Jarrett, Jeff Burton, Terry Labonte and Mark Martin, who has won a record three consecutive IROC titles, two-time NASCAR Busch Series champion Randy LaJoie and Indy-car drivers Arie Luyendyk, Tony Stewart and Jimmy Vasser complete the 12-driver field.

The four-race IROC series, which begins Feb. 13 at Daytona International Speedway, has drivers competing in identically prepared Pontiac Firebird Trans-Ams.

NASCAR notified Winston Cup teams of rule changes for the 1998 season, including more tinkering with aerodynamics that will slow its four approved makes of cars.

The three cars that ran in the series last season--the Ford Thunderbird, Chevrolet Monte Carlo and Pontiac Grand Prix--will have rear spoilers lowered one inch and front air dams raised slightly.

The Grand Prix will have a slightly higher rear spoiler than the other makes and a slightly lower air-dam clearance. The changes will not affect racing at Daytona International Speedway or Talladega Superspeedway.

Miscellany

Oba Carr (44-2-1) knocked down Jesus Gutierrez (10-4-1) in the second round and again in the fourth before knocking him out at 2:36 of the fourth with a right uppercut in a welterweight fight at Fight Night at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim.

Carr is expected to sign with Bob Arum and Top Rank Boxing, if they can guarantee him a world title fight with Oscar De La Hoya.

Nevada Las Vegas women’s basketball coach LaDonna McClain resigned along with assistants, Sheryl Krmpotich and Marcus Payne, amid a 3-17 season, the university announced. Director of women’s basketball operations Steve Corraro will become interim coach.

The top-ranked UCLA men’s volleyball team will play host to USC in the Kilgour Cup Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins, 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, have defeated the Trojans (2-5, 1-4) in 11 consecutive matches.

Randy Harvey is on assignment.