Jay Baller, who pitched briefly for the Chicago Cubs last season, returned home from the hospital this week after suffering convulsions in November while shopping in Reading, Pa. The toxic poisoning, possibly from shellfish, left him in a coma for three days with a 107-degree temperature. He was temporarily paralyzed on his right side and twice was revived after his heart stopped beating. Basketball Former NBA star Calvin Murphy will hold a basketball clinic Monday in Atlantic City, N.J., and talk to youngsters about gang violence and drug abuse. 'We as professional athletes have a responsibility to youngsters who worship our talents ... and to give our youths some direction,' Murphy said. ... Kansas center Marvin Branch was declared academically ineligible, becoming the second Jayhawks starter lost for the season. Archie Marshall suffered a season-ending knee injury last month. ... Ranzino Smith, the senior guard for No. 2 North Carolina, will likely miss Thursday night's ACC opener against Maryland because of a bruised thigh. Golf The Frostbite Open, an event for cooped up golfers, will be held in Riverview, Mich., Jan. 23. About 600 golfers will pay an entry fee of $25 each to smack orange balls over snow-covered fairways. If a ball gets lost in a drift a golfer plays another ball without penalty. ... Construction on a Jack Nicklaus-designed course -- the Tournament Players Club of Michigan in Dearborn -- will begin this spring. Hockey Toronto Maple Leafs owner Harold Ballard is 'progressing satisfactorily' at Miami Heart Institute after suffering a heart attack Sunday.
Ballard, 84, will remain in the hospital at least until next week. ... New York Rangers Coach Michel Bergeron remained in United Hospital in Port Chester, N.Y., for observation of possible food poisoning. Bergeron admitted himself to the hospital Tuesday night because of stomach pains. Jurisprudence A female soccer player banned from a boy's high-school team filed a sex discrimination suit against the Louisiana High School Athletic Association. 'I think that if there's not a girl's team at a school and there is a boy's team, that a girl should be able to play on a guy's team,' said Melanie Dube, 17, a senior at Clifton L. Ganus High School, a private school in New Orleans. ... Freshman basketball players Reggie Burcy and Artis Culverson of Bellarmine College in Louisville, Ky., have been suspended while burglary and forgery charges are investigated in a dormitory break-in. The two Chicago students pleaded not guilty at their arraignment. Skiing Austrian downhill skiers took five of the first 10 places in training at Bad Klienkirchheim, Austria, for Saturday's World Cup men's downhill. Soccer Paul Stiehl, treasurer of the U.S. Soccer Federation, has been named director of World Cup USA. The group is trying to bring the 1994 World Cup to the United States. Brazil and Morocco have also submitted bids. Television Leandra Reilly, a free-lance sportscaster for 10 years, will become the first woman to handle play-by-play television coverage for an NBA game. She will work the Nets-76ers game Feb. 14 for Sports Channel. ... The Miami Heat has struck two deals that will put the NBA expansion team on television for more than half its games next year during its inaugural season. ... The PGA Tour and NBC Sports agreed to extend their televising arrangement through 1991. Track and Field Said Aouita of Morocco and Ingrid Kristiansen were named Runners of the Year by Runner's World magazine. Jim Spivey andLynn Jennings were named the year's top U.S. runners.
