SAN FRANCISCO -- Three charges against Barry Bonds were dismissed Monday by a federal judge who left intact most of the indictment alleging he lied to a grand jury when he denied knowingly taking performance-enhancing drugs. Bonds, Baseball's home run king, is scheduled for a March 2 trial. He had faced 14 counts of making false declarations to a grand jury investigating steroid use in sports and one count of obstruction of justice. His lawyers had asked U.S. District Judge Susan Illston to dismiss 10 of the lying charges, claiming he was asked unclear questions in front of the grand jury in 2003. Illston ruled Monday to dismiss three charges and consolidate or rewrite another two. Bonds has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Bonds' lawyer, Allen Ruby, didn't immediately comment, saying had not yet read the ruling. Illston's action does not change the fundamentals of the case, nor would it have much of an effect on any sentence handed down, should Bonds be convicted. Legal experts say he would face up to 21/2 years in prison if found guilty.
Baseball * DENVER -- The Colorado Rockies have added five coaches to their staff, including former manager Don Baylor as hitting coach. The team also brought in Jim Tracy to serve as the bench coach and Rich Dauer as third base coach. Jim Wright becomes the bullpen coach and Brian Jordan will be the strength and conditioning coach. Baylor was the first manager in Rockies history, leading the team from 1993-98. Tracy is a former Chattanooga Lookouts manager.
* PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Pirates hope Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel really do have million-dollar arms. The two 20-year-old pitchers, neither of whom had picked up a Baseball until earlier this year, signed free-agent contracts Monday with the Pirates. They are believed to be the first athletes from India to sign professional Baseball contracts outside their country. Singh and Patel came to the United States six months ago after being the top finishers in an Indian reality TV show called the "Million Dollar Arm" that drew about 30,000 contestants. The show sought to find athletes who could throw strikes at 85 miles per hour or faster. While neither pitcher threw hard enough to earn the $1 million prize, Singh made $100,000 from the contest and Patel made $2,500, plus his trip to the United States.
YACHTING
* BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The sailors aboard the sleek yachts of the Volvo Ocean Race fleet know how to fend with the dangers of icebergs, mountainous seas and violent thunderstorms. But until now, Pirates were not on their radar. With the race including Asian waters for the first time, piracy has become an added concern for the boats now sailing northward to India and then from there to Southeast Asia -- until recently the world's worst piracy zone before the surge of hijackings off the African nation of Somalia. The race started in Alicante, Spain, in early October. Its 10 legs will take the fleet around the world, spanning nine months and 39,000 nautical miles. The single-hulled yachts, 701/2 feet long with soaring 103-foot masts, can go as fast as 29 mph in the right conditions, allowing them to outrun most Pirates. The race's eight yachts left Cape Town, South Africa, on Nov. 15 on the second leg of the contest. They were told to sail out hundreds of miles east from southern Africa before turning north toward India to keep away from Somalia's Pirates.
Wire Reports
