Michael Phelps admits fallout has been difficult

Olympic champion Michael Phelps said Wednesday it has been difficult coping with the fallout from a photo of him smoking from a marijuana pipe.

“It’s something I am going to have to live with and something I’ll have to grow from,” Phelps told the Associated Press outside the pool where he trains in Baltimore. “I know with all of the mistakes I made, I learned from them and that is what I expect to do from this. By no means it is fun for me, by no means is it easy.”

It was the first time Phelps had publicly addressed the photo since issuing an apology Sunday after it surfaced in a British tabloid over the weekend.

Phelps said the most important thing for him is that he was back in the pool training.

“I’m back to my routine, the thing I love, the thing I care about most,” Phelps said. “To be able to get back in the water and get back to a normal schedule is what I am happy about most.”

Phelps declined to address the possibility of criminal charges and reiterated his desire to put the furor behind him.

“You know, it happens,” he said. “When stupid things are [done], bad judgment is made and mistakes are made, it happens.”

BASEBALL

Koufax among the swindled

Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax, a high school baseball teammate and friend of New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon, was among the clients who lost money investing with Bernard Madoff, according to a court filing.

More than two dozen accounts involving the Mets, their owners and companies affiliated with their owners were listed, many with addresses at Shea Stadium. Koufax was the only immediately recognizable big-name player on the list.

Dodger Stadium will play host to a regular-season Mexican League game when Mexico City’s Red Devils meet the Sultanes of Monterrey on May 16 in a rematch of last year’s championship series.

A formal announcement will be made today in Mexicali before the fourth day of play in the Caribbean Series. Tickets, which go on sale on the Dodgers website today, will be discounted to $5 in the outfield pavilions, $10 on the reserved and loge levels and $20-$30 on the field level.

-- Kevin Baxter

Former Dodgers third baseman Tim Wallach was introduced as manager of the franchise’s triple-A team in Albuquerque. Wallach, a Southern California native, attended Cal State Fullerton.

The Pacific 10 Conference has canceled Sunday’s gymnastics meet involving UCLA and Stanford at Palo Alto because UCLA’s team was exposed to an undisclosed illness last weekend, the school said.

Boston Red Sox backup first baseman and outfielder Mark Kotsay has had back surgery to remove a displaced disk fragment.

OLLEGE FOOTBALL

Devlin to play at Delaware

Former Penn State quarterback Pat Devlin, who left school after the regular season, will play at Delaware, where he’ll try to follow Joe Flacco’s path to the NFL. Devlin will be able to play immediately and have two years of eligibility after he spent two seasons as a backup at Penn State.

Former Miami coach Larry Coker has applied to lead the new Texas San Antonio program in what would be his first head coaching job since the Hurricanes fired him in 2006. The school said it hoped to have a head coach in place by March 1, and to make its season debut in 2011.

ETC.

Johnson wants out of K.C.

Chiefs running back Larry Johnson says he wants to leave Kansas City.

During an appearance on KCSP-AM, Johnson says he thinks it’s time for him and the Chiefs to “break ties.” He says his departure would allow the Chiefs to find “what they want, and I can try to go on and rebuild my career and find what I want.”

Didier Cuche of Switzerland won the men’s super-G at the world championships in Val D’Isere, France, for his first career gold medal at the age of 34. Cuche, who had not won a race this season, skied the treacherous Face de Bellevarde in 1 minute 19.41 seconds.