In Sports from United Press International
Four-day break before start of World Series
NEW YORK, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- The New York Yankees get to relax before they head to the West Coast.
The Yankees averted a return trip to Seattle by winning Game Five of the American League Championship on Monday and have the opportunity to rest for a few days before heading to Arizona.
The three-time defending champions are the first team to reach the World Series four straight seasons since the 1960-64 Yankees.
Matching the tradition of the Yankees is a testimony to the greatness of this team, which has won four of the last five World Series titles under manager Joe Torre. The Yankees won four consecutive World Series championships from 1936-39 and five straight from 1949-53.
The tradition-rich Yankees will match up with the Arizona Diamondbacks, who became the fastest expansion team to reach the World Series. The Diamondbacks entered the National League in 1998, surpassing the five years it took the Florida Marlins, who won the World Series in 1997.
The first two games of the World Series will be Saturday and Sunday in Arizona. The Diamondbacks will throw co-aces Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson in the first two games
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Anthrax scare at Swiss Indoors tennis
BASEL, Switzerland, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- Guards discovered a letter feared to contain anthrax, causing officials to close the site of the $1 million Swiss Indoors tennis event for more than an hour Tuesday.
According to authorities, the substance turned out to be 1-2 grams of cocaine, and Tuesday's matches started on schedule.
The letter was found in the arena lobby on Tuesday morning. Analysis at the Basel city lab showed no anthrax spores in the powder. Further analysis revealed the substance was cocaine.
Second-seeded Tim Henman won his first-round match, but No. 3 Alex Corretja of Spain was ousted by Marc Rosset on Tuesday. Henman beat Frenchman Anthony Dupuis, 6-4, 6-1, in the first-ever match between the players. Henman won this tournament in 1998 and is the only former champion in this year's field.
Corretja, the third seed, also captured a trophy this year at the Dutch Open claycourt event. But when he has not played on that surface, he has gone 9-11 in 11 tournaments in 2001. The latest loss came to Switzerland's Rosset, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, on Tuesday.
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Stanford QB out 4-6 weeks
PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 24 (UPI) -- Stanford starting quarterback Randy Fasani will be sidelined four to six weeks after suffering a sprained right knee in the second quarter of last week's 49-42 victory over Oregon.
The loss of Fasani could be a major blow for the Cardinal, who ended Oregon's school-record 23-game home winning streak and climbed back into the Pac-10 Conference race.
Fasani, a finalist for the Unitas Award as the nation's top quarterback, also missed much of last season with various injuries to his left knee. But the senior had been the key to Stanford's 4-1 start this year, completing 66-of-122 passes for 1,064 yards and 12 touchdowns with two interceptions. The latest injury could sideline him for the remainder of the season.
The Pac-10 hopes of the Cardinal are now in the hands of sophomore Chris Lewis, who helped Stanford overcome a 42-28 deficit last week by engineering three touchdown drives in the fourth period. Lewis will have a tough assignment on Saturday against No. 5 UCLA, but he does have some experience. He replaced an injured Fasani twice last year and led the Cardinal to a pair of come-from-behind wins.
Lewis completed 12-of-26 for 189 yards and two touchdowns last week against Oregon.
Fresno's Edwards suspended for hit
ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Oct. 24 (UPI) -- Fresno State defensive back Kendall Edwards was suspended for one game Tuesday for a flagrant personal foul in the Boise State game last week.
The Western Athletic Conference has barred Edwards from Friday's game with Hawaii for violating the "halo rule" in his hit on a punt returner while the ball was still in the air in the 35-30 loss to Boise State
"A punt returner has no way to protect himself when he is getting into position to catch the ball," WAC commissioner Karl Benson said. "A defender who makes no attempt to avoid contact prior to the catch puts the return man in jeopardy and can cause a serious injury."
Edwards also was penalized for violating the "halo rule" in an early-season game with Oregon State.
Snow out 3 months after surgery
PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- Philadelphia 76ers point guard Eric Snow underwent left thumb surgery on Tuesday and is expected to miss up to three months.
Dr. Lee Osterman of the Philadelphia Hand Center performed the procedure with 76ers team physician Dr. Jack McPhilemy assisting. A plate, two pins and five screws were inserted into Snow's thumb during the operation that lasted more than two hours.
"The surgery went very well," McPhilemy said. "It was a very difficult injury, but everything turned out fine."
In his first game back following offseason ankle surgery, Snow fractured his left thumb in an exhibition game against the San Antonio Spurs on October 16.
With 40 seconds left in the first half, Snow fell to the floor in a scramble for a loose ball. He was evaluated by Spurs orthopedic specialist Dr. David Schmidt and X-rays taken at halftime revealed a fracture. Surgery was delayed until Tuesday so swelling could subside.
Losing Snow is another blow to the defending Eastern Conference champions, who already are without NBA Most Valuable Player Allen Iverson (elbow) and Sixth Man Award winner Aaron McKie (shoulder), who continue to recover from offseason surgeries.
Snow played the entire NBA Finals on a fractured right ankle and underwent surgery in late June, his second procedure in six months on the ankle. He suffered the injury in Game Four of the Eastern Conference finals against Milwaukee when he landed on the foot of Bucks guard Sam Cassell.
The 6-3 Snow responded with 18 points in the next game and averaged 12.6 points and 6.0 assists in five games as the Sixers lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals.
On December 5, Snow suffered a stress fracture in his ankle in a road game against the Lakers. He returned after the All-Star break and averaged 9.8 points and 7.4 assists in 50 games last season.
Bonds named Player of the Year
ST. LOUIS, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- After the year he's had, San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds was the obvious choice of his peers as The Sporting News' Player of the Year.
Bonds broke Mark McGwire's 1998 home run record of 70 by hitting 73, and had the highest slugging percentage (.863) and most walks (177) in a single season. Both records had been held by Babe Ruth.
In voting by major league players, Bonds received 133 votes to finish ahead of runnerup Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs with 57 votes and Luis Gonzalez of the Arizona Diamondbacks with 48.
The Managers of the Year, selected by each league's managers, were Lou Piniella of the Seattle Mariners and Larry Bowa of the Philadelphia Phillies, each winning for the first time.
The Pitchers of the Year were Roger Clemens of the New York Yankees and Curt Schilling of the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Rookies of the Year were Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners and Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals.
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Kournikova wins at Seat Open
Luxembourg, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- Anna Kournikova, playing in her final event of the year, moved into the second round Tuesday with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Jana Kandarr at the Seat Open.
Kournikova, the fifth seed, stopped a five-match losing streak and improved to just 9-8 this year. The Russian also won for the first time in five matches since returning from major foot surgery.
Sixth seed Lisa Raymond of the United States also advanced Tuesday with a hard-fought 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 victory over Marta Marrero of Spain.
It was not as good a day for the final two seeds, No. 7 Anne Kremer and eighth-seeded Francesca Schiavone, who both were ousted in upsets. Kremer, playing in her native country, was beaten by American Meilen Tu, 6-3, 6-3. Schiavone of Italy suffered a 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 defeat to Lubomira Bacheva of Bulgaria.
Sugiyama beats Schett in Austria
LINZ, Austria, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- Japan's Ai Sugiyama of Japan beat local favorite Barbara Schett of Austria in Tuesday's first-round feature match of the $565,000 Generali Ladies Open.
Sugiyama rallied for a 3-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-3 victory at the Design Center Linz to earn her third win in as many meetings with Schett.
Schett captured her third career singles title at 2000 Klagenfurt in her native Austria, but has failed to advance past the semifinals in this event.
Sugiyama will play No. 7 Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria in the second round. Maleeva defeated Paola Suarez of Argentina on Monday.
Maleeva has reached three WTA finals this year. But the 26-year-old's lone success came at the Budapest Open claycourt event in April, when she captured her eighth career title.
Lindsay Davenport seeks her third consecutive tournament win and tries to defend her title this week. The top seed at this indoor event, Davenport received a first-round bye and will play Daja Bedanova of the Czech Republic in the second round. Bedanova outlasted Nadia Petrova of Russia, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (7-5).
