Baseball
SUTTON BECOMES FAME-OUS: Don Sutton was elected to the Hall of Fame on the fifth try, and Tony Perez fell 34 votes short in voting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
Sutton, who fell nine votes short last year, was listed on 386 ballots, 31 more than the 355 needed for election. Perez, on the ballot for the seventh time, received 321 votes. Last year, he was 43 short.
Sutton, tied with Nolan Ryan for 12th place on the victory list, was 324-256 in 23 seasons for Los Angeles, California, Milwaukee and Houston. He had a 3.26 ERA and 3,574 strikeouts, fifth on the career list.
Sutton will be inducted into the Hall at Cooperstown, N.Y., this summer - the date has not been set - along with any selections by the veterans committee, which meets March 3 in Tampa, Fla.
Detractors said Sutton was very good, but never great. While he won 14 or more games each year from 1969-78, he never won a Cy Young Award and won 20 games in a season only once, going 21-10 in 1976 for the Dodgers.
Football
BILLS HIRE PHILLIPS: Wade Phillips succeeded Marv Levy as coach of the Buffalo Bills, signing a four-year contract.
Phillips, the defensive coordinator under Levy, was the only person interviewed for the job, which was offered within 24 hours of his meeting with team owner Ralph Wilson last Friday.
Phillips, the son of former Houston and New Orleans coach Bum Phillips, was 16-16 as Denver's head coach in 1993 and 1994.