Umpire Hirschbeck Is Suspended

Major league umpire John Hirschbeck was given a 10-day suspension because of inappropriate comments.

The penalty was announced Wednesday after the umpire met with Rob Manfred, executive vice president for labor relations in the commissioner’s office.

Hirschbeck got into a heated telephone conversation with Manfred last month and made personal threats against him. Hirschbeck was upset that an acquaintance was one of 26 baseball employees laid off Jan. 22.

Hirschbeck, the head of the umpires’ union, did not return a telephone call seeking comment. Manfred declined to comment.

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The Chunichi Dragons said they are giving up on trying to convince Kevin Millar to go to Japan, but the team still had not formally agreed to free Millar from his agreement with the team.

Millar agreed in early January to a $6.2-million, two-year contract with the Dragons, who paid $1.2 million to the Florida Marlins for Millar’s rights.

Florida released Millar, who later decided he didn’t want to play in Japan. The Boston Red Sox are hoping to sign him.

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Pitcher Vicente Padilla agreed to a one-year contract with Philadelphia worth $425,000.... Bill Madlock, a four-time National League batting champion, was hired as manager of Newark of the independent Atlantic League.

Pro Football

Several Minnesota Vikings and team personnel are being investigated after a 30-year-old woman told police she was sexually assaulted Sunday at a Mille Lacs County resort, where a fundraiser for the Vikings Children’s Fund was held.

The Mille Lacs County sheriff’s department declined to say which players were being investigated but said Randy Moss and Daunte Culpepper, who attended the event, were not involved. No charges were filed.

Viking Executive Vice President Mike Kelly was charged with drunk driving and ticketed for refusing to take a sobriety test.

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Ray Rhodes was hired as defensive coordinator at Seattle, less than one month after he resigned the same post at Denver.

The hiring reunites Rhodes with Seahawk Coach Mike Holmgren. Rhodes was Green Bay’s defensive coordinator under Holmgren in 1992 and 1993.

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At his first news conference as Detroit coach, Steve Mariucci pledged to deliver a title.

“There is a good nucleus of talent here that we are going to build on,” Mariucci said. “I think we’ve got to build this team from the ground floor up.”

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Buffalo has offered Dick LeBeau, 65, a job as an assistant, but the Bills said the former Cincinnati coach had not decided whether to accept it.

Tennis

With an eye on a post-tennis playing career, Pete Sampras has moved back to the management firm IMG.

The company will help him make his career transition, in regard to a farewell tour and possibly with his tennis academy in Carson, said Bob Kain, IMG’s chief operating officer.

It is unclear when Sampras, 31, will play again, although his next scheduled event is at Scottsdale, Ariz., next month.

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Australian Open women’s champion Serena Williams defeated 17-year-old Myriam Casanova of Switzerland, 6-0, 6-4, to reach the Gaz de France quarterfinals at Paris.

Auto Racing

The wife of NASCAR driver Brett Bodine was charged with making harassing phone calls in July and threatening a woman in Loganville, Ga., she suspected was involved with her husband.

Diane Bodine surrendered to authorities Tuesday in Walton County, Ga., and was released on $6,500 bond.

Her attorney said she denies all the charges.