NCAA Adopts New Standards for Metal Bats

The speed of a baseball hit with a metal bat would not be greater than one hit with wood under new standards adopted Tuesday by the NCAA at Indianapolis.

The association’s executive committee affirmed a recommendation made last month by a research panel to limit the exit speed of metal bats to 97 mph in games involving NCAA schools for at least three years, starting in January.

Hoping to make metal bats perform more like wood, the panel recommended a batted-ball exit speed be adopted for non-wood bats equivalent to the highest average speed using major league-quality, 34-inch solid wood bats, which is less than 97 mph.

Many college teams last season went to smaller aluminum bats, one of the recommendations by the panel, to increase safety and to reverse a trend of higher scoring than with wood bats.

A record 62 home runs were hit in the 1998 College World Series and the tournament ended with USC’s 21-14 victory over Arizona State. In this year’s 14-game College World Series, with the smaller bats in use, there were only 35 homers, and the 164 total runs were the fewest since 1994.

In a related matter, Easton Sports, Inc., announced it has settled its lawsuit against the NCAA connected to the organization’s August 1998 ruling restricting the use of aluminum bats.

Pro Basketball

The Lakers, who still have not signed their No. 1 pick, Devean George, announced the signing of second-round pick John Celestand, a guard from Villanova who is considered a longshot to make the team.

The team also announced that former coach Kurt Rambis will remain as an advisor to owner Jerry Buss.

The Houston Rockets reached an agreement to sign free-agent swingman Shandon Anderson to a two-year contract, according to KRIV-TV in Houston and the Houston Chronicle. The Rockets declined comment on the reports.

KRIV-TV said Anderson will take the deal, valued at $6.6 million, including an option for $2 million--less than his old team, the Utah Jazz, offered. Anderson, 25, has played his entire three-year career in Utah, averaging 7.6 points a game as a reserve.

Not knowing when injured center Patrick Ewing (Achilles’ tendon) will return, the New York Knicks signed free agent Andrew Lang. The Knicks also waived 18-year veteran Herb Williams, 41. Lang, 33, averaged 3.8 points and 4.4 rebounds with the Chicago Bulls last season.

Boxing

After the controversial draw March 13 between Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield for the undisputed heavyweight title, the New York State Athletic Commission unanimously approved new rules and regulations they hope will help clean up boxing.

Once the regulations go into effect, judges must be sanctioned by the state, and judges who reside or are licensed in other jurisdictions must submit a sworn application for a license and make certain disclosures. Also to be implemented immediately are the way championship fight judges are selected, and tougher standards for becoming a judge.

Tennis

U.S. Open champion Serena Williams crushed Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario of Spain, 6-3, 6-1, in the opening match of the Grand Slam Cup to earn a spot in the semifinals of the world’s richest tournament.

In the first men’s match at Munich, Germany, 11th-seeded Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands defeated Vince Spadea, 6-1, 7-5. The tournament offers $6.7 million in prize money.

The third annual Community Tennis Day will be held Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Burbank Tennis Center at McCambridge Tennis Park. Details: (818) 843-4105.

Miscellany

North Carolina basketball assistant Phil Ford was arrested Monday night and charged with drunken driving, Durham police said. According to police records, Ford registered a 0.24 blood alcohol level, three times the state’s legal limit. . . . Pittsburgh senior guard Kellii Taylor will sit out the first eight games of the 1999-00 basketball season after being ruled academically ineligible for the fall semester. . . . Alexandre Daigle, the top overall pick in the 1993 NHL draft, was designated for assignment by the Tampa Bay Lightning. He is expected to be assigned to a minor league team. . . . Despite the gambling issue, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman visited NBA Commissioner David Stern and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman in New York, hoping the leagues will consider his city for franchises. . . . Rivals South Korea and North Korea set their Cold War animosities aside for a few hours when their athletes met on a basketball court in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang for their first time in nine years. . . . Italian marathon runner Giuliano Battocletti tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid nandrolone and could be banned for four years, the Italian Athletics Federation said in Rome. . . . The ninth-ranked UCLA men’s soccer team visits 3 Loyola Marymount at 3 p.m. in a reunion of sorts for the coaches. UCLA’s Todd Saldana used to coach at Loyola, and Loyola’s Paul Krumpe played at UCLA and was an assistant there for three seasons. . . . Ante Razov scored on a header in the first half and Dema Kovalenko added an insurance goal in the second to lead the Chicago Fire to a 2-0 victory over Joe Public of Trinidad and Tobago in the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions’ Cup at Las Vegas. . . . Because of damage caused by Hurricane Floyd, the Senior Tour Championship, which begins Nov. 4, will stay at the Dunes Golf and Beach Club instead of moving to the new TPC at Myrtle Beach, S.C.