Walker, Williams Say No to Big Trade

The tentative trade to send Larry Walker from the Colorado Rockies to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Matt Williams and three others fell through Friday.

The teams ceased talks after Williams vetoed the trade to remain with his family and the Diamondbacks failed to reach a financial agreement with Walker.

“Being there for my kids is everything in my life,” Williams said. “This responsibility outweighs anything in my baseball career. I must and will be with my kids.”

Walker and Williams had to approve the deal because both have no-trade clauses.

Williams turned down the trade because he has full custody of his three children, who are 10, 11 and 12.

Walker balked at the Diamondbacks’ request that he defer a portion of the $25 million he is due for 2004 and 2005.

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Tom Glavine, the most coveted free-agent pitcher on the market, met with the Philadelphia Phillies, a day after he visited the New York Mets. Both teams are trying to persuade the two-time NL Cy Young Award winner to leave Atlanta, his team for 16 years.... Houston Astro right fielder Richard Hidalgo was shot in the left forearm during a carjacking in Venezuela but was out of the hospital Friday, the Houston Chronicle reported. Chris Leible, who works for Hidalgo’s agent, Peter Greenberg, told the paper that the player was shot around 9 p.m. Thursday. Hidalgo is recovering at home in Venezuela.

Miscellany

Michael Von Gruenigen of Switzerland won a giant slalom for his 21st World Cup victory, making up for a disappointing Olympics on the same slope at Park City, Utah.

Von Gruenigen, who plans to retire at the end of the season, finished 11th at the Salt Lake City Olympics.

Von Gruenigen’s combined time was 2 minutes 23.08 seconds. That was 0.28 better than Christian Mayer of Austria. Another Austrian, Benjamin Raich, was third in 2:23.39.

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Junior-bantamweight Jose Navarro remained unbeaten in improving to 14-0 with a fifth-round knockout of Benny Zepeda (5-2-2) at Montebello’s Quiet Cannon Country Club.

Navarro, a native of South-Central Los Angeles who fought in the 2000 Olympics, ended the fight with a left hook to the head at 2:05 of the round to get his sixth KO.

With the win, Navarro is aiming for a Jan. 16 fight at the Olympic Auditorium against Oxnard’s Carlos Madrigal (20-3, 15 KO’s) for the International Boxing Assn.’s intercontinental 115-pound title.

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Natalie Coughlin set a world short-course record in the 100-meter butterfly, finishing in 56.34 seconds in the FINA World Cup at East Meadow, N.Y.

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Sasha Cohen’s near-flawless performance wasn’t enough to give her the lead after the short program in the Cup of Russia Grand Prix at Moscow.

Cohen is second behind Irina Slutskaya of Russia, who is making a late-season debut after starting her training late.

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American Ashley Postell finished first in the balance beam and teammate Samantha Sheehan was first in the floor exercise during the semifinals of the 36th World Gymnastics Championships at Debrecen, Hungary.

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Britain’s Ellen MacArthur won the Route du Rhum trans-Atlantic solo sailing race in record time.

MacArthur completed the journey from the French port of Saint-Malo to the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe in 13 days, 13 hours and 31 minutes.*

Racing in the America’s Cup competition off Auckland, New Zealand, was postponed today because of light wind.

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Debbie Brown, Ann Meyers Drysdale and Warren Moon have been awarded the Silver Anniversary Award by the NCAA. The award recognizes student-athletes who have distinguished themselves since completing their college careers. Brown is a former USC volleyball player and now the Notre Dame women’s volleyball coach. Meyers Drysdale is a former UCLA basketball great and now an ESPN commentator. Moon, former pro quarterback and the NFL man of the year in 1989, played at Los Angeles Hamilton High and West Los Angeles College.