Rose Belongs in Hall, Says Judge Who Sentenced Him

The federal judge who sent Pete Rose to prison thinks the banned former star belongs in the Hall of Fame.

Rose was sentenced in 1990 to five months in prison, three months in a halfway house and 1,000 hours of community service by U.S. District Judge S. Arthur Spiegel following a guilty please to two felony counts of failure to report income.

The career hits leader is in tax trouble again. Rose owes $151,689 in federal taxes from 1998, according to the Los Angeles County Recorder’s Office.

“I have no knowledge about his current issues other than what I read in the papers,” Spiegel said Wednesday during a telephone interview from his office in Cincinnati. “But I think he should be in the Hall of Fame for his accomplishments on the ballfield.”

Rose has been negotiating with baseball commissioner Bud Selig to gain reinstatement. As long as he’s on the permanently banned list, he’s ineligible for the Hall of Fame.

The tax troubles and reports that Rose was seen last week in Las Vegas casinos came at the same time Selig’s security officials have been investigating Rose’s current activities.

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Boston Red Sox president Larry Lucchino said evidence will show teams did not conspire to bid down the price of free agents this off-season.

“There was a shift in the market that was predicted by a lot of people,” Lucchino said. “There are a lot of factors involved in the market we’re living in currently. I don’t believe collusion is one of them.”

Michael Weiner, a lawyer for the players’ association, filed a request last Thursday for management documents about negotiations with free agents during this off-season. The move could be a prelude to a possible collusion grievance by the union.

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Billy Koch and the Chicago White Sox agreed to a two-year contract worth $10,625,000. Koch, 27, was acquired in December from the Oakland Athletics in a six-player trade. Koch was 11-4 with 44 saves and a 3.27 earned run average last season.... Five-time All-Star Andres Galarraga signed a minor league contract with the San Francisco Giants and was invited to spring training.... Jeff Suppan agreed to a one-year deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates that guarantees him $1 million.

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They won’t provide the best view in Fenway Park, but the 280 new seats planned atop the Green Monster -- the ballpark’s famous left-field wall -- should be very popular. Tickets for the barstool-style seats will have a face value of $50.

The Red Sox are expected to get final approval for the project from the city of Boston in two weeks.

Tennis

Richard Krajicek defeated Radek Stepanek, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (13), to reach the Milan Indoors quarterfinals at Milan, Italy. The 1996 Wimbledon champion last entered an indoor tournament in November 2000 and was sidelined 20 months after elbow surgery.

Third-seeded Younes El Aynaoui was upset by Andrea Gaudenzi of Italy, 7-5, 6-3.

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Top-seeded Monica Seles defeated Ai Sugiyama of Japan, 7-5, 5-7, 6-1, in the second round of the WTA’s Toray Pan Pacific Open at Tokyo. Chanda Rubin also won her second-round match.

Miscellany

Colorado football player Jeremy Bloom qualified for the moguls finals at the World Freestyle Championships at Park City, Utah, and Olympic champion Kari Traa of Norway led the women’s competition.

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Stanford’s Logan Tom has received the Honda Award, given to the outstanding collegiate woman volleyball player of the year, according to results of national balloting among NCAA member schools. She was the American Volleyball Coaches Assn. player of the year for the second consecutive season.