Giants Decline Hershiser Option

The San Francisco Giants said goodbye to pitcher Orel Hershiser on Wednesday, declining to pick up his option for the 1999 season.

Hershiser, a 40-year-old former Cy Young Award winner, was 11-10 this season with a 4.41 earned-run average in 34 starts.

General Manager Brian Sabean suggested there’s still a chance the Giants could re-sign Hershiser.

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Marge Schott is leaning toward selling her share of the Cincinnati Reds rather than accepting another suspension from baseball, according to media reports.

With her latest suspension for inflammatory remarks about to end, baseball has been trying for several months to persuade Schott to sell her controlling interest in the team.

The Cincinnati Enquirer and the Cincinnati Post reported that baseball officials expect Schott to sign an agreement to sell her shares.

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The San Diego Port District plans to fill a $21 million financing gap for a proposed new baseball park, but critics are dismissing the move as an attempt to manipulate public opinion days before a citywide vote.

Port District and city officials said the port will share infrastructure costs with the city and the Padres, including building pedestrian bridges, widening streets and improving intersections as part of the $411 million ballpark project.

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The Detroit Tigers said they are considering appealing a jury’s decision to award $1,008,700 to a girl whose hand was impaled by a broken bat at a game.

A circuit court jury decided Tuesday that the team was negligent when a six-year old girl was permanently injured by a broken bat during a July, 1994 game against Texas.

Alyssia Benejam, now 10, was sitting in the fourth row on the third-base side of home plate when the bat of Jose Canseco shattered and sailed into the stands 68 feet away, said her lawyer.

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The condition of former Cleveland broadcaster and pitcher Herb Score was upgraded from critical to serious but stable. Score, 65, who was injured Oct. 8 in a traffic accident, remained on a ventilator at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland.