Sports digest 1/31/02

Baseball

Pokey Reese, 28, a two-time Gold Glove winner during his five-year Cincinnati career, agreed to a two-year contract worth at least $5 million with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The deal -- not nearly as big as the $21 million, four-year deal he rejected from the Reds last year -- includes an option year and a deferred signing bonus that protects him if baseball shuts down in a labor dispute.

The Colorado Rockies have signed right-handed pitcher Mike James to a minor league contract and have shown interest in left-hander Kent Mercker and right-hander Pete Harnisch.

James, 34, spent the past two seasons with St. Louis, and was limited to 40 appearances last season because of right shoulder inflammation, which led to an eight-week stint on the disabled list.

Short a veteran starting pitcher, the Seattle Mariners finalized a one-year contract with right-hander James Baldwin. Baldwin, 30, split last season between the Chicago White Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers, going 10-11.

Seattle decided against re-signing Aaron Sele, who was 15-5 last season and 32-15 during three years in Seattle.

Coming off shoulder surgery, Baldwin went 7-5 with a 4.61 ERA for the White Sox last season, then was dealt to Los Angeles and went 3-6 with a 4.20 ERA.

Basketball

Sacramento Kings forward Chris Webber was suspended Wednesday for one game and fined $7,500 for deliberately throwing an elbow to the head of Utah's Jarron Collins last week.

Webber will miss the Kings' game Thursday against Seattle. He was called for a flagrant foul for hitting Collins last Saturday, and the NBA imposed the suspension.

Golf

Tiger Woods was presented the PGA Tour's top awards for the third straight year, not bad for a guy supposedly in a slump.

In a ceremony about 200 yards from where he won the 2000 U.S. Open to start his historic romp through the majors, Woods received the Jack Nicklaus Award as player of the year, the Byron Nelson Award for having the lowest scoring average and the Arnold Palmer Award for winning the money title.

Charles Howell III was honored as the PGA Tour rookie of the year

Hockey

New York Rangers forward Mike York will replace injured teammate Eric Lindros while Detroit defenseman Chris Chelios also was added Wednesday to the North American team for the NHL All-Star game.

Chelios will take the place of New Jersey defenseman Brian Rafalski, who has an injured knee.

Olympics

A U.S. bobsledder who said he accidentally took a banned steroid in a nutritional supplement was knocked out of the Olympics on Wednesday when an arbitration panel gave him a nine-month suspension.

Pavle Jovanovic was to be a key member of the two-man and four-man teams driven by Todd Hays. The teams have been considered favorites to end an American medal drought in bobsled that stretches back to 1956.

Jovanovic's lawyer said he would appeal the suspension to the International Court for Arbitration in Sport, which scheduled a hearing for Salt Lake City next Wednesday, two days before the start of the Winter Games.

-- From wire reports