BASEBALL

MARINERS DON’T CONSIDER STOTTLEMYRE A POSSIBILITY

Yankees pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre may be going home, but apparently not to a hometown job. Seattle manager Mike Hargrove said yesterday the Mariners are not currently considering the resident of nearby Issaquah for their vacant pitching coach job.

“We haven’t talked to Mel and we haven’t talked about Mel. He’s still under contract with the Yankees,” Hargrove said yesterday via telephone from his offseason home in the Cleveland area.

Stottlemyre said after the Yankees’ loss to the Angels in Game 5 of the ALDS Monday night that he did not expect to return to New York for the 2006 season. Instead, the 63-year-old was looking forward to returning to his winter home in Seattle.

“I’m not sure I’m going to retire,” Stottlemyre said Monday, adding “there are other options.”

PIRATES NAME TRACY NEW MANAGER

Former Los Angeles Dodgers manager Jim Tracy was hired yesterday as the Pittsburgh Pirates’ manager. The move sends Tracy from a team that traditionally has one of baseball’s highest payrolls to one with one of the lowest.

Tracy, 49, had been the front-runner from the start of the Pirates’ search last week because of his long-standing ties to Pirates general manager Dave Littlefield, with whom he worked in the Montreal Expos’ organization in the 1990s.

Tracy replaces Lloyd McClendon, who was fired September 6 during his fifth consecutive losing season and was replaced for the rest of the season by bench coach Pete Mackanin, who was not considered for the job on a permanent basis.

Tracy takes over a team coming off 13 consecutive losing seasons, three short of the major league record, and a 67-95 record, but one that broke in a half-dozen promising rookies during the second half of this season, including left-handed starters Zach Duke (8-2, 1.81 ERA) and Paul Maholm (3-1, 2.18 ERA).

LEYLAND TAPS EX-PIRATES FOR TIGERS STAFF

New Detroit manager Jim Leyland took his Pittsburgh connection to the extreme yesterday by filling out his coaching staff with five others who also wore Pirates uniforms.

Like Leyland, two of them – Lloyd McClendon and Gene Lamont – were former Pittsburgh managers. McClendon will run the bullpen and Lamont will be the third base coach. Former Pirates players Rafael Belliard, Don Slaught and Andy Van Slyke also were hired. Belliard was added as infield coach, Slaught as hitting coach and Van Slyke as first base, outfield, and base running coach.

McClendon, also a former Pittsburgh player, spent the past five seasons as Pirates manager. He previously worked as the organization’s minor league hitting coordinator in 1996 and was major league hitting coach for the next four seasons. Lamont joins the Tigers after managing Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in 2005. A veteran of 31 professional seasons, he was Detroit’s first-round selection in the June 1965 draft.

FOOTBALL

ROETHLISBERGER’S INJURY NOT AS SEVERE AS FEARED

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger not only doesn’t have a serious knee injury, as the team initially feared Monday night in San Diego, he could play again as early as Sunday. Roethlisberger sustained a hyperextended left knee and a bone bruise after being struck by Chargers defensive end Luis Castillo in the fourth quarter of the Steelers’ win over the Chargers – but nothing else. No ligament tears, no tendon or cartilage damage, all of which the Steelers feared after Roethlisberger was removed from the field by a cart.

“I think we’ll all have a deep sigh of relief in regards to the diagnosis,” head coach Bill Cowher said yesterday after Roethlisberger had an MRI exam. “I guess the dire situation we thought we had coming in here this morning doesn’t appear to be that right now.”

SAINTS SIGN CHATMAN TO REPLACE MCALLISTER

Jesse Chatman was acquired by the New Orleans Saints from Miami yesterday to provide depth at running back in the absence of the injured Deuce McAllister. The 5-foot-8, 245-pound Chatman, in his fourth NFL season, had his best year in 2004 with San Diego as LaDainian Tomlinson’s backup, rushing for 392 yards and three touchdowns and averaging six yards per carry. He was released by the Chargers during the summer and signed by the Dolphins.

He had been inactive for all five Miami games.The Dolphins will receive a conditional future draft choice in the deal.

BASKETBALL

KNEE SURGERY TO SIDELINE STOUDEMIRE UNTIL FEBRUARY

Eight days after signing a five-year, $73 million contract extension, Amare Stoudemire underwent surgery yesterday to repair damage to his left knee and will be sidelined for about four months.

The extent of the injury to the Phoenix Suns’ dynamic young all-star was determined during “diagnostic” surgery by team doctor Thomas Carter, who then proceeded with the microfracture repair, Suns president Bryan Colangelo said.

Stoudemire, who turns 23 next month, signed for the maximum allowed under the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement with the players union. The extension kicks in after this season. Colangelo said the team knew of Stoudemire’s knee problem during contract negotiations, but was not aware of the extent until yesterday’s surgery. The team projects Stoudemire to return around the All-Star break February 17-21.

The 6-foot-10, 245-pound forward was fifth in the league in scoring at 26 points per game. He averaged 30 points in the playoffs, 37 in the Western Conference finals against Tim Duncan and the eventual NBA champion San Antonio Spurs.

NETS SQUEAK BY PACERS IN PRESEASON ACTION

Vince Carter scored 18 points and LaMond Murray added 13 as the Nets edged the Indiana Pacers 105-103 last night in the preseason opener for both teams.

The game was notable for the Nets, as their power trio of Jason Kidd, Richard Jefferson, and Carter took the floor together for the first time, with all three being healthy and ready to go.

The game also marke the debut of Indiana’s Ron Artest, who was suspended early last season following his part in an ugly brawl in Detroit. Artest scored eight points and grabbed three rebounds in 26 minutes of action.

Kidd had six points and two assists in just 19 minutes on the floor.

HOCKEY

RUFF RECEIVES EXTENSION FROM SABRES

The Buffalo Sabres have extended Lindy Ruff’s contract through next season after the coach has his team off to its best start in two decades. The Sabres, who have missed the playoffs for three straight seasons, improved to 3-1 following a 3-2 overtime victory Monday against Pittsburgh. Buffalo has won all three home games, the best start by the Sabres since they took five straight in Buffalo to open the 1984-85 season.

The one-year extension, announced yesterday, puts Ruff’s contract through the 2006-07 season. He is in his eighth season with Buffalo and is the NHL’s longest serving coach with the same team. The Sabres are 256-244-78 under Ruff, who in 2003 surpassed Hall of Famer Scotty Bowman to become Buffalo’s winningest coach. Ruff also ranks 10th in wins among active coaches.

HORSE RACING

HURRICANE RUN TO MISS BREEDERS’ CUP

Hurricane Run, winner of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, won’t run in the Breeders’ Cup because of a cough. Trainer Andre Fabre said yesterday that his 3-year-old colt – considered the favorite for the Breeders’ Cup Turf at New York’s Belmont Park on October 29, wasn’t in top form.

Hurricane Run, owned by Michael Tabor, is the second highly regarded horse to drop out of the Breeders’ Cup, a one-day, eight-race extravaganza that usually determines division champions. Afleet Alex, the Preakness and Belmont Stakes winner, was declared out of the BC Classic on Monday because his leg injury hasn’t fully healed. Hurricane Run has won six of seven career starts for earnings of $2,776,959. The colt also won the Irish Derby and the Prix Niel, a tuneup for the Arc. His only loss was by a neck to Shamardal in the French Derby.

– Associated Press