Daily Sports Capsule

*Index*
BASEBALL	BASKETBALL	FOOTBALL	TENNIS
PRO WRESTLING

BASEBALL

Houston Astros manager Larry Dierker is expected to make a full recovery following a 5½-hour operation yesterday that removed a life-threatening tangle of malformed blood vessels from his brain. Dierker, who collapsed Sunday when he had a seizure in Houston's dugout during a game in the Astrodome against the San Diego Padres, will be hospitalized 5-10 days and will need at least four weeks to recover from the surgery. ... A North Carolina businessman, who went to Yankee Stadium as a kid from New Jersey to watch Joe DiMaggio, is now the overjoyed owner of more than 10,000 pieces of DiMaggio memorabilia. Ralph Perullo paid "a price in the millions," for the items from the Hall of Fame outfielder's personal collection. The 58-year-old Perullo worked out a deal with Morris Engelberg, DiMaggio's friend and attorney who was assigned in the player's will to handle the sale of the memorabilia collection. ... Chicago's Sammy Sosa leads all NL players in voting for next month's All-Star game, and Cincinnati's Barry Larkin leads the New York Mets' Rey Ordonez at shortstop in the closest race. Sosa has 637,740 to top the outfield voting in totals announced yesterday and is followed by San Diego's Tony Gwynn (349,103) and Colorado's Larry Walker (346,541). Larkin has 207,382 votes, just ahead of Ordonez (205,086). Mike Piazza, of the New York Mets, leads catchers with 446,951 votes. Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals (407,960) has a huge lead at first, and Houston's Craig Biggio (296,465) has a big lead at second. Arizona's Matt Williams (203,745) is just ahead of Atlanta's Chipper Jones (195,454) at third. ... Tony La Russa has a job as the St. Louis Cardinals' manager next year, if he wants it. La Russa said he'll decide later this season whether to take the team's owners up on their offer of a contract extension for a fifth season with the Cardinals. ... Infielder Craig Counsell, a World Series hero with the Florida Marlins in 1997, was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers yesterday for a player to be named. Counsell, one of the last four Marlins who remained from their 1997 World Series roster, lost his second-base job to Luis Castillo this year while batting just .152 with two RBIs in 37 games. ... The Seattle Mariners have given up on right-hander Mac Suzuki, the third Japanese-born player to play in the major leagues. The Mariners designated the 24-year-old Suzuki for assignment yesterday. They have 10 days to trade him, release him or send him outright to the minor leagues.

BASKETBALL

Gar Heard, a veteran NBA assistant coach and former player, will become the next head coach of the Washington Wizards, after agreeing to a three-year deal worth approximately $1.2 million per season, according to league sources. Heard was unavailable for comment yesterday. Before going to the Detroit Pistons as an assistant a year ago, the 51-year-old Heard had been Philadelphia 76ers coach Larry Brown's assistant for a year and in Indiana for four seasons. ... How bad is the pain in Rik Smits' feet? Bad enough, apparently, that he's considering leaving more than $12 million on the table and walking away from basketball. Smits, the Indiana Pacers' center for the past 11 seasons, has been quoted in a Dutch newspaper as saying he is leaning toward retirement because of his frustration with playing in constant pain. A native of Eindhoven, Holland, the 32-year-old Smits has played on sore feet for several seasons. ... Joe Dumars, who recently retired as an active player after 14 years in the NBA -- all with Detroit -- joined the club's front office staff yesterday as vice president of player personnel. Dumars will report to Rick Sund, the Pistons' executive vice president and general manager. Together, they will deal with free agent recruiting and acquisition, player trades and the NBA draft.

FOOTBALL

Quarterback Dan Marino has signed a two-year contract extension with the Miami Dolphins that will keep him with the team through the 2001 season. Financial terms weren't disclosed, but the deal, announced yesterday, is believed to include a signing bonus of about $6.4 million. The contract was designed primarily to create about $2 million in salary-cap space for the Dolphins. Marino, who will be 38 in September, has said he plans to play until at least 40. ... Keith Jackson unexpectedly ended his six-month retirement yesterday, deciding to return to ABC's college football telecasts this season. Jackson, who retired this past season after 32 years with the network, will work West Coast Pac-10 games and the Rose Bowl in order to keep travel to a minimum from his Los Angeles home. Jackson will remain with analyst Bob Griese, his broadcast partner of the past 12 years, for 12 or 13 games in 1999.

TENNIS

Andre Agassi's hopes of becoming the first player in 19 years to win the French Open and Wimbledon in the same season weren't helped much with the Wimbledon draw yesterday. Meanwhile, top-seeded Pete Sampras -- beaten in only one of his last 40 Wimbledon matches and champion five of the past six years -- should get off well when play begins Monday at the All England Club. Agassi is headed for a fourth-round match against Germany's Tommy Haas, who beat him in the second round of Wimbledon last year. If Agassi beats Haas, 1996 Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek (seeded No. 5) looms in the quarterfinals. Sampras -- 75-14 in his career on grass and unbeaten in his last 12 matches on grass -- opens with Scott Draper. Although the Australian won the Queen's grass-court tournament a year ago, he's never beaten Sampras. After that, Sampras looks unchallenged until the quarterfinals, where he could meet big-serving Australian Mark Philippoussis, seeded No. 7.

PRO WRESTLING

The family of a wrestler Owen Hart, who was killed doing a stunt last month, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the World Wrestling Federation and the city of Kansas City yesterday. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Hart's widow, their two children and his parents. The amount of money being sought was not disclosed. Hart was killed May 23 when he fell 70 feet from a cable as he was being lowered into the ring at a WWF spectacle at Kemper Arena.

-- COMPILED FROM WIRE REPORTS