Mariners Get First Catcher From Japan

Catcher Kenji Johjima and the Seattle Mariners agreed Monday to a $16.5-million, three-year contract.

Johjima will be the first Japanese catcher to play in the major leagues.

“This was a unique opportunity for us,” General Manager Bill Bavasi said. “We had a chance to acquire offense at a premium position and we went after it aggressively.”

Johjima’s deal allows him to earn $2.5 million in performance bonuses over the three seasons.

“They were the first team to come to me and they have pursued me with great sincerity, which meant a lot to me,” Johjima said during a news conference in Fukuoka, Japan. “Even though today is one of the happiest moments of my life, I fully understand that I have a lot of work ahead of me. I need to learn about my pitchers and I need to work hard to earn their trust. I will do everything I can to adjust to the major leagues and I hope that I can help the team get back into the playoffs.”

Johjima will join countryman Ichiro Suzuki, an All-Star outfielder, with the Mariners.

An All-Star for the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks, Johjima became a free agent Nov. 8 after batting .309 with 24 home runs and 57 runs batted in in a season cut to 116 games because of a broken left leg.

Minnie Minoso and Buck O’Neil were among 39 candidates selected by a screening committee to appear on special Negro Leagues and pre-Negro Leagues ballots for election to the Hall of Fame.

The Hall said a 12-man selection committee would meet Feb. 27 in Tampa, Fla. Thirty people will be on the Negro leagues ballot and nine on the pre-Negro leagues ballot. To be elected, a candidate must receive at least 75% of the ballots cast.

Former major leaguers Mike Butcher and George Hendrick joined the Tampa Bay Devil Rays as part of new Manager Joe Maddon’s coaching staff.

Butcher was hired as pitching coach after three seasons as a roving pitching instructor for the Angels. Hendrick, the Dodgers’ minor league hitting coordinator in 2005, was hired as first base coach.

Infielder Bobby Hill, acquired by the Pittsburgh Pirates from the Chicago Cubs in the 2003 trade for third baseman Aramis Ramirez, was dealt to the San Diego Padres for a player to be named. The Pirates had removed Hill from their 40-man roster over the weekend and had 10 days to trade or release him.

The Boston Red Sox interviewed Washington National General Manager Jim Bowden for a second time for their GM job.... Jeff Cirillo, 36, decided to stay with the Milwaukee Brewers, agreeing to an $850,000, one-year contract.... Eric Young, 38, agreed to a $700,000, one-year contract with the Padres, two weeks after the team declined to exercise the utility player’s option for next year at $850,000.

PRO BASKETBALL

Trail Blazers Punish Patterson

The Portland Trail Blazers put forward Ruben Patterson on the inactive list after he cursed Coach Nate McMillan between the third and fourth quarters of the team’s loss to the New York Knicks on Sunday over his lack of playing time.

Patterson will return to Portland, Ore., while the rest of the team is on a six-game trip.

“We will not tolerate this type of behavior from any player,” General Manager John Nash said in a statement. “We will continue to demand a higher level of professionalism and personal responsibility from all of our players or we will continue to take appropriate action.”

Patterson’s agent, Dan Fegan, said Portland has made a decision to develop younger players, “which is their prerogative.”

“Unfortunately, Ruben Patterson is at the prime of his career, and his play merits more time than he is getting with the Blazers,” Fegan said.

Former Purdue coach Gene Keady, 69, is considering coming out of retirement to consult for or be a bench assistant with the Toronto Raptors. Keady, who had a 512-270 record in 25 seasons at Purdue, retired after last season.

Denver Nugget forward Nene had season-ending surgery on his right knee for two torn ligaments and torn cartilage. He was injured in the regular-season opener.... Phoenix Sun backup point guard Leandro Barbosa is expected to be sidelined two to three weeks because of a sprained left knee. He was injured in the Suns’ loss to San Antonio on Saturday. ... Dick Van Arsdale, 62, a senior executive vice president with the Suns who was the first player chosen by the team in the 1968 expansion draft, is recovering from a stroke he suffered at home last weekend.

CYCLING

San Francisco Grand Prix Canceled

The San Francisco Grand Prix, a 108-mile cycling race that attracted the likes of Lance Armstrong, was canceled for next year because organizers could not agree with the city over pay for police and other services.

Olympic champion Tyler Hamilton will have another hearing Jan. 10 in Denver on his appeal of his blood-doping suspension.

Hamilton’s first hearing in September was suspended because not all the evidence could be presented. He has denied any doping violation and has criticized the testing methods of cycling’s international governing body.

Hamilton was suspended April 18 by the independent American Arbitration Assn.

MISCELLANY

Ex-Russian Tennis Player Wounded

Former Russian tennis player Andrei Chesnokov was hospitalized and released after being shot twice with rubber bullets during an argument with his companion and two unidentified men while leaving a restaurant in Kiev, Ukraine, authorities said. One arrest had been made.

The World Anti-Doping Agency said soccer’s governing body was dragging its feet on adopting two-year bans for first-time drug offenses, and warned FIFA of consequences for noncompliance.