Associated Press
John Roseboro, an outstanding catcher for the Dodgers who was remembered as the victim of an astonishing bat-wielding attack by the Giants' star pitcher Juan Marichal during a game in 1965, died last Friday at a hospital in Los Angeles. He was 69.
Roseboro had been treated for a heart ailment, prostate cancer and strokes, The Associated Press reported.
In 1958, the Dodgers' first year in Los Angeles, Roseboro became the team's regular catcher after Roy Campanella was paralyzed in an auto accident. He played on three Dodgers teams that won the World Series and he was an All-Star three times with the Dodgers and once with the Minnesota Twins.
Roseboro, a native of Ashland, Ohio, made his major league debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1957. He remained with the Dodgers, in Los Angeles, through 1967, then played two seasons for the Minnesota Twins and one year with the Washington Senators. A left-handed hitter, he had a career batting average of .249 and hit 104 home runs.
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He was voted to the National League All-Star team in 1958, '61 and '62 and to the American League All-Star team in 1969. He was the starting catcher in the 1959, 1963, 1965 and 1966 World Series, with the Dodgers winning the championship the first three times.
He was later a coach with the Washington Senators and the California Angels and a minor league instructor for the Dodgers. He owned a Beverly Hills public relations firm with his wife, Barbara, who survives him with a daughter, Morgan.
After years of bitterness, Roseboro and Marichal appeared together occasionally at old-timers' games and golf tournaments.
"Our friendship is very good," Marichal said in 1990, on the 25th anniversary of the bat attack.
Roseboro told The Los Angeles Times on that occasion that he had begun speaking to Marichal in the early 1980s because he felt the violent episode was keeping Marichal -- a winner of 243 games -- out of the Hall of Fame unjustly.
Football
Drew Brees, who's played just more than one half of one regular-season game, has beaten out incumbent Doug Flutie for the San Diego Chargers' starting quarterback job. Coach Marty Schottenheimer announced his decision, saying the 23-year-old Brees has earned the chance to start in just his second NFL season. It's the fourth time in as many years that the Chargers go into a season with a new starter…
; Bad knees did what opponents never could: stop Terrell Davis. On Tuesday, the Broncos, at Davis' request, will place him on injured reserve, ending his season and effectively ending the career of a player who was both a Super Bowl and regular-season MVP…
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; The Seattle Seahawks signed veteran quarterback Mark Rypien to help fill in for the injured Trent Dilfer…
; The St. Louis Rams acquired veteran offensive tackle Grant Williams from the New England Patriots for an undisclosed draft choice.
Baseball
Catcher Mike Lieberthal began his career with the Philadelphia Phillies and wants to end it with them, too. Lieberthal took a big step toward that goal, agreeing to a $22.25 three-year contract extension with a $7.5 million club option for 2006. The 30-year-old catcher was drafted by the Phillies out of high school in 1990…
; Florida Marlins right-hander A.J. Burnett, who leads the majors with five shutouts and tops the NL with seven complete games, was placed on the 15-day disabled list with an elbow bruise that could end his season…
; Tennis
Fifh-seeded Martina Hingis' second tournament since returning from ankle surgery started out positively, but with a struggle to beat Anna Smashnova 6-4, 6-4 at the Pilot Pen. In the biggest upset of the first round, qualifier Angelika Roesch survived some long rallies and beat No. 8 seed Elena Dementieva…
; Richard Krajicek, the 1996 Wimbledon champion who missed last year because of surgery on his right elbow, routed Dominik Hrabty 6-1, 6-2 in the TD Waterhouse Cup opening round. Two U.S. players who have yet to win on tour advanced to the second round: Kevin Kim, of Torrance. Calif., ousted Alexander Popp, while Jeff Morrison, of Huntington, W. Va., was a winner over Jerome Golmard…
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; Pete Sampras will assess his career at the end of 2003. Until then, don't talk to him about retirement.
Track and field
Frankie Fredericks swept the sprints at the Raiffeisen Gugl-Meeting, winning the 100 meters in 10.19 seconds and the 200 in 20.15. Dwight Phillips of the U. S. won the long jump with a personal-best 27 feet, 6 inches.
Other men's winners included: Colin Jackson in the 110 hurdles (13.39), Wilson Boit Kipketer in the 3,000 steeplechase (8:19.52), Michael Rotich in the 800 (1:47.52), and Adam Nelson of the United States in the shot put (67-93⁄4).;
