Angels Announce New Coaching Staff

Joe Maddon, who served as interim manager for the Angels late last season, will be the bench coach for new Manager Mike Scioscia next season.

The Angels also announced Tuesday that Bud Black will be the team’s pitching coach, Alfredo Griffin the first-base coach, Ron Roenicke the third-base coach, and Mickey Hatcher the batting coach.

Also Tuesday, former Angel batting coach Rod Carew, who spent eight seasons as a coach with the team, was hired as the Milwaukee Brewers’ batting coach.

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The St. Louis Cardinals agreed to a $3.45-million, two-year contract with pitcher Heathcliff Slocumb. . . . Pitcher Russ Springer, an original Arizona Diamondback, returned to the team when he agreed to a $4-million, two-year contract. . . . Paul Molitor, who played 21 years in the majors, will join the Minnesota Twins’ coaching staff next season.

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Former Wichita State pitcher Ben Christensen will not face criminal charges after hitting an opposing player in the face with a pitch during warmups for a game in April.

Tennis

Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras warmed up for their showdown at the ATP Tour World Championship with straight-set victories at Hanover, Germany.

Top-ranked Agassi beat No. 8 Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador, 6-1, 6-2. Sampras, playing only his second match in three months, downed Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil, 6-2, 6-3.

The tournament brings together the world’s top eight players. Under the round-robin format, Agassi next plays Sampras.

Cedric Pioline and Sebastien Grosjean will play singles for France in next month’s Davis Cup final against Australia. Fabrice Santoro and Olivier Delaitre will play doubles in the final Dec. 3-5 at Paris.

Boxing

The World Boxing Council has set a Dec. 3 deadline for a purse bid for a mandatory fight between welterweight champion Felix Trinidad and No. 1 contender Derrell Coley. If Trinidad and his promoter, Don King, fail to respond, the WBC is expected to strip Trinidad of the title.

A judge at Newark, N.J., postponed until Monday a bid by prosecutors to replace Robert W. Lee Sr., the leader of the International Boxing Federation, who is accused of taking bribes to rig its ratings.

Miscellany

Davis Love III, picked to fill out the four-player field after the death of Payne Stewart, breezed into the championship match of the PGA Grand Slam of Golf at Poipu, Hawaii, by defeating Jose Maria Olazabal, 6 and 5. In today’s finale, Love will play Tiger Woods, who beat British Open champion Paul Lawrie, 3 and 2.

Australia defeated the United States in the semifinals of FIFA Under-17 soccer championships at Christchurch, New Zealand. Australia advanced on penalty kicks, 7-6, after a 2-2 tie.

Top-seeded La Canada (26-3) rolled over Crescenta Valley, 12-6, to win the Southern Section Division III water polo title at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach. Upland rallied with five goals in the fourth quarter to defeat Etiwanda, 8-7, for the Division V title.

Emily Blackerby and Elissa Reinhart scored first-half goals as the Westmont women’s soccer team defeated Transylvania of Kentucky, 3-0, at Miami to win the NAIA national championship.

Two-time Indy 500 winner Al Unser Jr. will return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway next spring after signing a five-year deal with Galles ECR Racing to jump from CART to the Indy Racing League.

Switzerland’s Didier Plaschy skied to victory by nearly a full second over Austria’s Thomas Stangassinger in a men’s World Cup slalom at Beaver Creek, Colo.

The U.S. men’s volleyball team lost for the first time at the World Cup tournament at Tokyo, beaten by undefeated Russia, 25-22, 25-19, 20-25, 30-32, 15-11.