Butcher joins Angels as coach

Former Angels reliever Mike Butcher was hired Saturday as the team’s pitching coach, the position the organization was grooming Butcher for before he left to join the Tampa Bay Devil Rays staff this past season.

Butcher, 41, replaces Bud Black, who spent seven years with the Angels before being hired this month as the San Diego Padres’ manager. Butcher received a one-year contract with a team option for 2008 after edging out triple-A Salt Lake pitching coach Charles Nagy, the only other candidate who was interviewed for the job.

“He knows our system and knows the pitchers in our system, even some of the younger guys in the minor leagues,” General Manager Bill Stoneman said. “Plus, he has experience, he spent a year at the big league level. It was a tough decision, though, because Charlie is a dandy.”

Butcher spent six years as a minor league coach for the Angels, three (2003 to 2005) as the organization’s roving pitching instructor and three as a minor league pitching coach, before being hired by Tampa Bay.

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-- Mike DiGiovanna

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The New York Mets are close to an agreement on a one-year contract with former San Francisco Giants outfielder Moises Alou, the Associated Press reported.

GOLF

LPGA field is down

to the final eight

The field for the final round of the LPGA Tour’s season-ending ADT Championship at West Palm Beach, Fla., is set.

Il Mi Chung (65) was at nine under par through three rounds, one shot better than Julieta Granada (69) and Mi Hyun Kim (65). Ai Miyazato was seven under through three rounds, and Karrie Webb was alone in fifth at six under.

Paula Creamer, Natalie Gulbis and Lorena Ochoa were all at four under and took the last three spots in today’s field.

Tiger Woods birdied the final hole for a two-over 72 and was tied with Ireland’s Padraig Harrington at six-under 204 after the third round of the Dunlop Phoenix in Miyazaki, Japan.

TENNIS

Federer and Blake

to meet in Masters final

Roger Federer overpowered Rafael Nadal, 6-4, 7-5, in a No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown at Shanghai, China, and will play for the Masters Cup title against James Blake. Blake, the last to qualify for this eight-player tournament, eliminated defending champion David Nalbandian, 6-4, 6-1, in the other semifinal.

MISCELLANY

Oaks Christian’s Tyler

recovering from surgery

Westlake Village Oaks Christian running back Marc Tyler was recovering after undergoing surgery for a broken leg suffered during the first quarter Friday of the Eagles’ 70-9 playoff victory over Playa del Rey St. Bernard. Coach Bill Redell said Tyler, who has committed to USC, is expected to be sidelined for four months.

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Byron Leftwich will have surgery Tuesday on his injured left ankle, possibly ending his season.

U.S. Naval Academy officials waited more than two months to give urine tests to five football players who acknowledged early last year that they had used steroids, a disclosure prompting lawmakers to call for a congressional probe into the matter, the Baltimore Sun reported.

One person was killed and another critically injured in an accident involving a bus carrying Kansas State fans to Saturday’s game at Kansas, police said. The one-vehicle accident occurred less than two miles from Memorial Stadium.

American Honda motorcycle teammates Steve Hengeveld, Mike Childress and Quinn Cody, along with the Andy McMillin-Robby Gordon duo, posted the overall motorcycle and 4-wheel victories to lead the field in the 39th annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000.

The U.S. men lost their second match in a row at the volleyball world championships in Fukuoka, Japan. Bulgaria defeated the U.S., 30-28, 25-22, 25-21.

South Korean teenager Kim Yu-na held off American world champion Kimmie Meissner to win the women’s title at the Trophee Bompard figure-skating event in Paris.

Christian Oberstolz and Patrick Gruber won the men’s doubles in the opening luge World Cup race at Cesana, Italy.

Azusa Pacific defeated Westmont, 1-0, in the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics women’s soccer quarterfinals in Olathe, Kan.

Azusa will play the winner of the match between Concordia (Ore.) and Houghton (N.Y.) in a semifinal match on Monday.

UC Santa Barbara defeated Old Dominion, 2-1, in the third round of the NCAA men’s soccer tournament at Norfolk, Va.