Woman to Give Minors a Try

The St. Paul Saints, an independent baseball minor league team that gave Darryl Strawberry and a man with no legs a chance last season, have invited left-handed pitcher Ila Borders to training camp next week.

If she makes the team, Borders would become the first woman ever to play in a regular-season minor league game, according to the Hall of Fame.

Borders was the first woman to receive a college baseball scholarship in 1994 when she signed with Southern California College, an NAIA school in Costa Mesa. She played three seasons there before transferring to Whittier College, an NCAA Division III school, where she was 4-5 with a 5.22 earned-run average in 81 innings this season.

Boxing

Mike Tyson has been given full clearance by Dr. Barry Markman to resume contact training in preparation for his June 28 rematch against Evander Holyfield. The fight, originally scheduled for last Saturday, was postponed when Tyson reopened a cut over his left eye originally sustained in his upset loss to Holyfield.

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Doctors at boxing’s first medical congress issued a list of medical musts this week at Oranjestad, Aruba, ranging from bans on spectator smoking and 60-day fighting bans for boxers who are knocked out to mandatory yearly brain scans for professional boxers.

Former heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe and his sister, Velma Melton, reconciled after a weekend dispute in which both reportedly suffered split lips at Bowe’s home in Fort Washington, Md.

Baseball

Frank Robinson, who in 1974 became the first black to manage a major league baseball team, was hired as a consultant to acting commissioner Bud Selig for special projects. Robinson, 61, will be director of baseball operations for the Arizona Fall League. Baseball officials are considering whether to move the league to Lake Buena Vista, Fla., a source on the ruling executive council said recently.

Hockey

Ted Donato had two goals and Chris Marinucci added a goal as the United States kept alive any hopes for a medal with a 4-3 victory over the defending champion Czech Republic at the World Hockey Championships in Helsinki, Finland.

Raleigh, N.C., would offer the Hartford Whalers a lease on a $120 million arena, set to open in 1999, if they end their agreement in Connecticut and find a temporary home, according to Steve Stroud, chairman of Raleigh’s Centennial Authority.

Pat Burns, who coached the Montreal Canadiens for four years, is interested in returning to the team in the same position, according to the Montreal Gazette. Burns has spent the past season as a radio and television hockey commentator in Montreal after being fired by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1992.

Miscellany

Eddie DeBartolo, owner of the San Francisco 49ers, has signed an agreement in principle with the city that would limit the involvement of public funds to $100 million for the proposed $525 million stadium-mall project. Voters on June 3 will decide land-use issues and whether the city will help finance construction.

Baltimore, Cincinnati, Houston, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington have put up money in a bid to be the U.S. site for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Hilary Grivich, a member of the 1991 U.S. gymnastics team, died in an auto accident in Houston. . . . Pulpit, who finished fourth in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, underwent surgery to remove a small bone chip from his left knee. . . Ten Major League Soccer players, led by Iain Fraser and Paul Caligiuri, have asked a federal judge to issue an order declaring FIFA’s transfer rules illegal in the United States. . . The United States and Australia will play at Washington, D.C., in their Davis Cup tennis semifinal Sept. 19-21.