LASORDA IMPROVING: Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tom Lasorda, who underwent an angioplasty to unclog an artery following a minor heart attack, is expected to go home soon.
The Dodgers said Thursday that Lasorda was moved from the intensive care unit to a private room at Centinela Hospital Medical Center in nearby Inglewood and would remain hospitalized for the next few days.Team physican Dr. Michael Mellman said Lasorda remains in stable condition and is progressing without complications.
Lasorda's wife, Jo, said late Wednesday she expected her husband to be discharged from the hospital either today, Saturday or Sunday, with Saturday the best bet.
Lasorda, in his 20th year as the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, had the angioplasty two days after suffering abdominal pain that prompted his admission into the hospital. Preliminary tests had revealed an ulcer.
Jo Lasorda expressed the opinion that her 68-year-old husband will be "better than ever."
"It was a very small artery that was closed and it wasn't closed all the way," Jo Lasorda said. "If you're sluggish because of a closed artery, imagine how good you're going to feel when it's open and the blood's flowing nicely.
"...I just consider this a miracle. If he hadn't gone in for an ulcer who knows? With this, he was there. He could have been in Denver in the high altitude. I just thank the good Lord every minute."
NO SCHOTT INVESTIGATION:
Major league baseball is not investigating whether Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott violated terms of the agreement barring her from being involved in the team's day-to=day operations.
"There's no investigation," National League spokesman Ricky Clemons said Thursday. "As part of the deal, we're always monitoring the situation. But we're not investigating."
According to the Dayton Daily News, several employees in the Reds front office said that Schott was meddling in team operations and that the league was investigating whether she violated the agreement. The newspaper did not identify the employees.
FIRED UMP GOES TO COURT: A former professional umpire who claims he was fired because he is white sued Major League Baseball Thursday on grounds of racial discrimination
. Craig J. Compton of Morrisville, Pa., is seeking more than $100,000 in damages and a job as a major league umpire. He contends he was released to make room for minority umpires in the major league ranks.
The 12-year veteran had worked his way up from the Class A New York-Penn League to the Triple-A Alliance, receiving numerous outstanding evaluations and working major league spring training games, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court.
But he was abruptly fired Oct. 27, 1994, allegedly because neither the National League nor the American League wanted to consider him for employment, the lawsuit states.
NL ALL-STAR COACHES: Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda, who had angioplasty performed this week following a heart attack, Thursday was named a National League coach for this year's All-Star game.
Atlanta's Bobby Cox, who will manage the NL and league president Leonard Coleman also named Philadelphia's Jim Fregosi a coach for the July 9 game in Philadelphia.
Cox also announced that Atlanta coaches Ned Yost, Pat Corrales, Leo Mazzone and Jimy Williams will join the All-Star staff.
HONORARY ALL-STAR CAPTAINS: Earl Weaver, Hall of Fame manager of the Baltimore Orioles, and Johnny Podras, who pitched the decisive game as the Brooklyn Dodgers who won their only World Series, were selected Thursday as honorary captains for the All-Star Game on July 9.
AL ALL-STAR COACHES: Cleveland Indians manager Mike Hargrove and AL president Gene Budig announced that Chicago manager Terry Bevington and Kansas City's Bob Boone will be American League coaches for this year's All-Star Game in Philadelphia.
Indians coaches Toby Harrah, Mark Wiley, Jeff Newman and Dan Williams were also added to Hargrove's staff for the game.
ROCKIES CLAIM THOMPSON: The Colorado Rockies on Thursday claimed veteran outfielder Milt Thompson off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers.
BREWERS MOVES: The Milwaukee Brewers called up reliever Kevin Wickander from Triple-A New Orleans Thursday and designated starter Brian Givens for assignment, general manager Sal Bando said.