BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Sandberg Set to Return From Retirement

Ryne Sandberg, the all-star second baseman who abruptly retired from the Chicago Cubs in the middle of the 1994 season, will come back and play in the major leagues in 1996, the Associated Press and a Chicago radio station reported Monday.

The AP, citing two sources, reported Sandberg will become a free agent, but Chicago’s WMVP reported Sandberg will sign with the Cubs.

WMVP said Sandberg has been given permission by the National League to return and will be granted free agency by the Cubs, effectively canceling his five-year, $30-million contract that runs through the 1996 season. He will sign a one-year contract loaded with incentives and options, the radio station said.

Sandberg was put on the voluntarily retired list by the Cubs on June 13, 1994, after his sudden retirement from the Cubs at 34. But the 10-time all-star, now 36, is considered one of the best all-around second basemen in the game’s history.

At the time of his retirement, Sandberg, the 1984 National League Most Valuable Player and holder of several major league fielding records, said he wanted to spend more time with his family and had no intention of returning.

He was in the second year of a four-year contract and walked away from about $17 million.

Sandberg spent much of his time in retirement living at his home in Arizona, near the Cubs’ spring training site in Mesa. Although he was not playing, his contract with the Cubs called for some off-field work for the team.

Sandberg recently remarried, and friends have described him as happier than he has been in a long time and said he is ready to return to the game he had played professionally since he was 18.

AROUND THE MAJORS

Davey Johnson finally got the job he coveted as the Baltimore Orioles signed the manager they rejected in favor of Phil Regan a year ago. Johnson received a three-year contract from the team he played for from 1965-72. While Johnson led the Reds to the playoffs, the Orioles finished 71-73 under Regan, who was dismissed Oct. 20.

Johnson has the best winning percentage among active major league managers (.576) and a 799-589 career record as a manager. In 1986 he directed the New York Mets to a World Series championship.

The Orioles are still looking for a general manager to replace Roland Hemond, who resigned the day owner Peter Angelos fired Regan.

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With Johnson’s departure, Ray Knight became manager of the Cincinnati Reds, completing a transition that has been in the works for a year. The club agreed to a two-year contract with Knight, who has not managed at any level.

The club agreed to a two-year contract with Knight, who has not managed at any level.

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Outfielder Gary Sheffield of the Florida Marlins was shot Monday night when he stopped his car at a traffic light in Tampa, Fla., on the way to pick up one of his children. Sheffield was wounded, but not seriously, in the upper left shoulder and released from the hospital. Police said there didn’t seem to be a reason for the shooting.

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Looking to rebuild a team that was one of the American League’s worst last season, the Detroit Tigers hired Randy Smith as general manager. Smith, the former general manager of the San Diego Padres, signed a three-year contract. At 32, he is the youngest general manager in the majors. Smith replace Joe Klein, whose contract was not renewed. One of Smith’s first jobs will be finding a replacement for Sparky Anderson, who resigned after the season after 17 years as the Tigers’ manager.

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Manager Marcel Lachemann and the Angel coaching and training staff have been invited back for the 1996 season, the team said. This is the first time since 1989-90 that the Angel coaching staff has remained intact for consecutive seasons. Lachemann has a rollover contract that is automatically extended each year at the club’s option. . . . The Seattle Mariners say they will exercise the 1996 options in the contracts of AL batting champion Edgar Martinez and infielder Joey Cora. General Manager Woody Woodward also said he probably will offer salary arbitration to reliever Norm Charlton by Thursday’s deadline to prevent him from becoming eligible for free agency.

The Cleveland Indians have exercised the 1997 option on the contract of Manager Mike Hargrove, who led the team to its first World Series appearance since 1954. . . . New York Yankee outfielder Ruben Sierra had arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn muscle in his left shoulder.

The New York Times reported Joe Torre may be the only candidate to become manager of the New York Yankees and could be hired within days. The newspaper, citing an unidentified team executive, said Torre needs only to meet with newly appointed General Manager Bob Watson. . . . Several executives and the Libertarian Party filed suit to block construction of a new Milwaukee Brewer stadium, saying a sales tax hike to pay for it constitutes “taxation without representation.”

Houston Astro owner Drayton McLane met with county political leaders and city business leaders, saying he needs to know within a week whether there’s enough fan support to keep the team in Houston. . . . NBC, after saying it would not be involved in baseball until at least 2000, was closing in on a new contract to televise the sport for another five years, sharing the World Series with Fox. ESPN and TNT would also be part of the package, which reportedly would be worth $1 billion over five years. . . . The city of Atlanta, which hadn’t won a major sports title in 30 years, honored the world champion Braves with a victory parade that drew 600,000 people to tomahawk chop along Peachtree Street. . . . Meanwhile in Cleveland, a throng of Indian fans welcomed the team home from the World Series.