Daily Sports Capsule

*Index*
BASEBALL	BASKETBALL	FOOTBALL	HOCKEY
BOXING	MISCELLANY

BASEBALL

The first casualty of the Rockies' losing season was Don Baylor -- the only manager the team has had in its six seasons. "After a long, thorough and very difficult evaluation, we feel a change in chemistry is necessary on the field and in the clubhouse," Colorado owner Jerry McMorris said yesterday. Despite the high-priced additions of pitcher Darryl Kile and second baseman Mike Lansing, the Rockies finished 77-85 -- their first losing season in four years. The 49-year-old Baylor led the Rockies to a 440-469 record. He was offered a position as vice president, reporting directly to McMorris, but he did not immediately accept it. ... Art Howe's status as Oakland Athletics manager remained in doubt yesterday even as the team's president, Sandy Alderson, left the A's to become a vice president in the commissioner's office. Howe has a 217-269 record in three years in Oakland. Though the A's have finished last in back-to-back seasons, the team's 74-88 record this year was a nine-game improvement from 1997. ... The NL player of the week? Mark McGwire, of course. McGwire, who hit five homers to finish the season with a record 70, won his third player of the week award yesterday. He was 9-for-22 (.409) and wound up with an NL record 162 walks. His .752 slugging percentage was the NL's highest since Rogers Hornsby in 1925. ... New York Yankees rookie outfielder Shane Spencer hit six home runs and had 15 RBIs in seven games to earn American League player of the week honors yesterday. Spencer's final-week surge helped the Yankees set an AL record with 114 wins this season. Spencer, who batted .440 and scored nine runs, also hit two grand slams.

BASKETBALL

Chicago Bulls superstar Michael Jordan took the witness stand for nearly four hours yesterday and testified that he never refused to act in a 1991 basketball film that flopped without him. Jordan said he even agreed to return the $50,000 producers of "Heaven is a Playground" paid him up front. The movie, which ultimately was made with former Loyola Marymount player Bo Kimble in the role Jordan was to have played, made just $168,000 at the box office. The producers are seeking between $16 million and $20 million in damages, or what they believe could have been the film's profit. Jordan has countersued, contending that producers misled him about the film's financing... Richie Adams, a former UNLV basketball star, was convicted yesterday of manslaughter in the 1996 beating death of a 15-year-old girl. A jury deliberated for nearly four days before finding the 35-year-old Adams guilty of a lesser charge of first-degree manslaughter in the beating death of Norma Rodriguez. The 6-foot-9 Adams faces a maximum sentence of life in prison when sentenced Oct. 26. ... Oral Roberts senior guard Nathan Binam will have the index finger of his shooting hand amputated after being injured in an auto accident, coach Barry Hinson said yesterday. Binam, who started 15 games last season, will undergo surgery on Friday. He will sit out the season as a medical redshirt, work as a student coach and hopefully return to play the next season.

FOOTBALL

In a setback to the San Francisco 49ers' top-ranked offense, left tackle Dave Fiore will miss the next eight to 10 weeks because of a serious knee injury. Fiore was scheduled to undergo surgery today after an MRI showed he dislocated his right kneecap and tore his medial collateral ligament. He was injured when he was caught in a pileup while pass blocking in the fourth quarter of Sunday's 31-20 win over Atlanta. ... Kimberly Dunbar, a former Notre Dame booster who gave football players gifts and cash out of $1.2 million she took from her employer was sentenced to four years in prison yesterday for embezzlement. The 29-year-old Dunbar was also ordered to repay the money to her former emplyer.

HOCKEY

Phoenix Coyotes power forward Keith Tkachuk, nearly $11 million richer with his new contract, practiced with his teammates yesterday and said he was excited to end his 15-day holdout. Until Tkachuk and Phoenix agreed on a three-year deal that includes a one-year extension, general manager Bobby Smith had talked about letting the Coyotes' four-time scoring leader sit out this season. Tkachuk had a team-high 40 goals and 26 assists last season despite missing 13 games and playing for weeks while a broken rib healed.

BOXING

George Foreman has his 50th birthday party planned: It will be at the Astrodome, Larry Holmes is invited and there's going to be a fight. The two heavyweight champions of yesteryear -- both grandfathers -- met at the Dome yesterday to announce their Jan. 23 bout, billed as the "Birthday Bash." Foreman, who will be fighting in his hometown, hits 50 on Jan. 10. Holmes turns 49 on Nov. 3.

MISCELLANY

Two-thirds of the doctors in cycling give their athletes increasingly sophisticated drugs as they race for more money, the medical chief of the Belgian cycling federation said yesterday. "There are too many people operating in bad faith and they drag down the others," Dr. Joost De Maeseneer said. His comments came after the Brussels daily Het Nieuwsblad reported that the Belgian federation has issued a formal complaint against Eric Ryckaert, the doctor for the Festina team, for his involvement in the Tour de France scandal. Ryckaert was imprisoned during the Tour after more than 400 doping products, including the endurance-enhancing drug EPO, were found in a Festina team car. The team was expelled from the Tour. ... England coach Glenn Hoddle yesterday dismissed suggestions by Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson that England's World Cup players were given potentially dangerous performance-enhancing substances. Hoddle said each member of the England squad had his blood tested before the World Cup and was given vitamin and mineral supplements.

-- COMPILED FROM WIRE REPORTS