Pirates Are Latest to Turn Down Reliever Shaw

The Pittsburgh Pirates, looking for a closer as they come off a 100-loss season, have broken off contract talks with Jeff Shaw.

Shaw, who had 43 saves for the Dodgers last season, is looking to sign with a team close to his Ohio home. The Dodgers declined to exercise his $7.05-million option for 2002.

Shaw, 35, sought to re-sign with Cincinnati, which traded him to the Dodgers against his wishes in 1998. Shaw offered to sign a one-year deal worth $1.5 million with $4.5 million deferred, but the Reds declined.

The Pirates talked with Shaw’s agent, Joe Bick, about a one-year contract or a one-year contract with an option, but Bick told the Beaver County (Pa.) Times they could not work out terms.

Pittsburgh has only three pitchers on its 40-man roster with a major league save: right-handers Mike Fetters and Sean Lowe and left-hander Scott Sauerbeck.

Fetters has filed a formal trade request, meaning the Pirates must deal him by March 15 or he can become a free agent.

Soccer

The Italian league has a new leader, and Ronaldo has another injury.

Internazionale moved into first place, defeating Piacenza, 3-2.

Ronaldo, trying to return from two knee operations, limped off the field in the 66th minute.

The team doctor said he reinjured the left thigh he strained last month. The injury is not regarded as serious.

Christian Vieri had two goals for Inter, including the winner with seven minutes left.

Internazionale has 34 points, one point ahead of defending Serie A champion AS Roma.

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Arsenal claimed second place in England’s Premier League, defeating Liverpool, 2-1, despite playing a man short for two-thirds of the game.

In the tightest race in the league in a decade, Newcastle has 36 points, followed by Arsenal and Liverpool with 33, Leeds with 32 and Manchester United and Chelsea with 30.

Arsenal took the lead during first-half injury time when Thierry Henry converted a penalty kick.

Freddie Ljungberg made it 2-0 in the 53rd minute and Liverpool scored in the 55th minute on Jari Litmanen’s header.

In the only other game, Chelsea overwhelmed Bolton, 5-1.

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Real Madrid stumbled to a 1-1 tie against 16th-place Mallorca. The leader in the Spanish league is Deportivo de La Coruna, which defeated Real Betis, 2-0.

Deportivo has 33 points, one more than Real Madrid. Celta de Vigo ended the year in third place with 31 points after defeating Sevilla on Saturday.

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Ajax lost at FC Utrecht, 3-1, but retained a one-point lead at the top of the Dutch premiership because Feyenoord’s game with De Graafschap Doetinchem was postponed because of a frozen field.

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Lens beat Marseille, 2-1, to pad its lead in the French first division to eight points (41-33) over Lyon. Auxerre and Lille also have 33 points, with Paris Saint-Germain at 31.

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Striker Alex Mineiro scored his fourth goal of the two-leg Brazilian championship as Atletico Paranaense won its first national title, beating Sao Caetano, 1-0, at Rio de Janeiro to win on aggregate, 5-2.

Mineiro scored three goals last week in the first leg in Curitiba, a 4-2 victory for the Hurricane.

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The winner of this season’s Argentine soccer championship will be decided Thursday.

The 19th and final round of games was scheduled for the weekend, but the matches were postponed after rioting and anti-government protests led to 27 deaths and the ousting of President Fernando de la Rua.

The Argentine Soccer Assn. originally decided that the games would be played Wednesday, but the players’ union contested that decision, arguing the situation remained too dangerous to complete the season.

A compromise was reached and the two title-deciding games--league leader Racing Club at Velez Sarsfield and second-place River Plate vs. Rosario Central--will be played Thursday. The rest of the games will be played in late January.

Racing, which has 41 points, needs at least a draw, or a loss or draw by River Plate (38 points), to win its first league title in 35 years.

If Racing loses and River Plate wins, the teams will finish the season tied and meet in a playoff at a neutral site, probably Sunday.

Miscellany

Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan, a rising star in Asian men’s tennis, won the Asian Championships and a wild-card spot in next month’s Australian Open.

The second-seeded Paradorn defeated top-seeded Lee Hyung-taik of South Korea, 7-6 (4), 6-3, at Hong Kong.

Paradorn, ranked No. 120 in the world, is the first Thai to win the Asian title.

South Korea’s Cho Yoon-jeong defeated compatriot Jeon Mi-ra, 6-4, 3-6, 6-0, to win the women’s title and earn a spot at the Australian Open.

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Scott Lake became the second trainer in history to post 400 victories in a season when his horse, Skipjack Cove, won at Philadelphia Park in Bensalem, Pa.

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It seems to be boom or bust for anyone in Utah who’s trying to make money off Olympic housing. Some residents have rented their homes for up to $25,000 for the 17 days of the Salt Lake City Winter Games, but some travel agencies are desperately seeking visitors to take up space.

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The Olympic torch arrived at Manhattan, where it will stay at Rockefeller Center until the day after Christmas. Fourteen people--police officers, firefighters and relatives of Sept. 11 victims--held the torch on a ferry from Queens to Manhattan.

Passings

Arthur Peterson, who invented the E-Z Sharp skate sharpening machine used by pro and college hockey teams, died Friday at St. Paul, Minn., after a yearlong battle with prostate cancer. He was 95.