Former Dodger scout will be honored next month

Former Dodgers scout Ralph Avila, who pioneered the idea of a developmental baseball academy and helped open the Dominican Republic to Major League Baseball, will be honored with a lifetime achievement award by the Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation at its annual gala Jan. 19 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Century City.

Avila and Eddie Bockman, a former major league third baseman from Santa Ana who later scouted for the Philadelphia Phillies, will receive the George Genovese scouting award. Others to be honored include Hall of Fame outfielder Tony Gwynn, Atlanta Braves Manager Bobby Cox, former executive Bill Bartholomay and former big league infielder Tito Fuentes.

A baseball memorabilia auction, billed as the world’s largest, will be held in conjunction with the dinner.

The annual charity event, which has helped raise more than $1 million to assist baseball scouts in need in its previous four years, is open to the public with a limited number of tickets available for purchase by calling (310) 996-1188.

-- Kevin Baxter

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Indicted slugger Barry Bonds is scheduled to make a brief court appearance today for a hearing to determine if some of his attorneys have a conflict of interest in his federal perjury and obstruction case.

The judge called the hearing to decide whether the lawyers can still work for Bonds even though they previously represented other athletes who testified in the government’s investigation into performance-enhancing drugs.

In court papers made public Thursday, federal prosecutors identified Bonds’ new attorney, Cris Arguedas, as having represented disgraced track star Tim Montgomery and football players Chris Cooper, Chris Hetherington and Tyrone Wheatley, all of whom testified before the grand jury.

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The World Series ball is gone, and Jonathan Papelbon has an excuse: His dog ate it.

Farfetched or not, that’s what the Red Sox closer insists happened to the souvenir from the final out of Boston’s sweep this year.

Really, Papelbon blamed it on his bulldog, Boss.

“He plays with baseballs like they are his toys,” Papelbon told the Hattiesburg (Miss.) American.

“He jumped up one day on the counter and snatched it. He likes rawhide. He tore that thing to pieces. Nobody knows that. I’ll keep what’s left of it.”

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Cuba plans to play in the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

In 2006, Cuba reached the championship game of the initial WBC, losing to Daisuke Matsuzaka, Ichiro Suzuki and Japan, 10-6, in San Diego. Cuba almost was barred from participating when the U.S. Treasury Department initially denied it a permit.

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Dontrelle Willis agreed to a three-year, $29-million contract with the Detroit Tigers, two weeks after he was acquired from the Florida Marlins in the biggest trade of the off-season.

The 2003 NL rookie of the year and a two-time All-Star, Willis is coming off a down season in which he went 10-15 with a 5.17 earned-run average.

His deal allows him to make an additional $1.5 million in award bonuses.

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Pitcher Carlos Silva and the Seattle Mariners finalized a four-year, $48-million contract.

The 28-year-old right-hander was 13-14 last season for the Minnesota Twins with a 4.19 ERA -- better than every Mariners starter other than Felix Hernandez.

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Outfielder Gabe Kapler and the Milwaukee Brewers have agreed to a one-year, $800,000 contract.

A nine-year major league veteran, he has played with Detroit, Texas, Colorado and Boston. Kapler has a .270 career average with 64 homers and 302 RBIs in 850 games.

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Left-handed reliever Ron Mahay and the Kansas City Royals finalized an $8-million, two-year contract.