Wednesday, March 5, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
Nellie Fox has been denied enshrinement into the Hall of Fame before by mathematics and technicalities. This year, however, there is nothing to block the second baseman's passage into baseball immortality.
Fox, who once finished two votes shy of induction -- the slimmest margin in history -- was expected to be named as the Hall's 175th former major league player when the Veterans Committee announced its decision this afternoon.
In the 1985 vote by the Baseball Writers Association of America, 10 years after his death from cancer at age 47, Fox was named on 295 of 395 ballots, 74.68 percent of the total, just below the 75 percent needed for induction.
Former commissioner Bowie Kuhn, longtime executive and former AL president Lee MacPhail and recently retired manager Tom Lasorda were other viable candidates in a special category of executives and managers.
Last year, Fox finally met the 75 percent criteria in the veterans vote, but was named on one less ballot than pitcher Jim Bunning -- and because rules say the 15-man veterans committee can elect only one former major leaguer, Bunning went to Cooperstown and Fox had to wait.
Agassi loses in Arizona
Byron Black of Zimbabwe upset top-seeded Marcelo Rios of Chile 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5) and Spain's Javier Sanchez ousted No. 5 Andre Agassi of Las Vegas 6-3, 6-2 in the Franklin Templeton Tennis Classic at Scottsdale, Ariz. Rios, the world's sixth-ranked player, failed to advance for the first time in five 1997 tournaments. The Chilean reached the 1996 Scottsdale final before losing to Wayne Ferreira, this year's No. 2 seed, who lost Monday. Rios and Agassi, the Scottsdale champion in 1993 and 1994, were out of practice. Rios had a sore quadricep, and Agassi sprained his left ankle Feb. 19 and had not competed since.
Lady Rebels ranked 23rd
The UNLV women's tennis team rose 17 spots to a program-best No. 23 in the latest Rolex Collegiate Rankings released Tuesday. It marks the first appearance ever in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's top 25 for the 6-1 Lady Rebels. Their previous high was 34th in 1994. UNLV's top player, Marianne Vallin, dropped from a career-best ranking of fourth to 13th in singles despite her 22-7 record. She and Veronica Goude are ranked 11th in doubles.
Non-Alaskan leads Iditarod
Doug Swingley, the only non-Alaskan ever to win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, led a tight-running group of former champions today as they arrived in Takotna, Alaska, 715 miles from the finish line at Nome. Swingley, from Lincoln, Mont., hit down at 10:48 p.m. Tuesday. Following closely behind were defending champion Jeff King, of Denali Park and two-time winner Martin Buser from Big Lake. King arrived at 11:06 p.m. and Buser checked in two minutes later.
IOC to cut field
The International Olympic Committee will pare the field for the 2004 summer games to four finalists on Friday before selecting the host city on Sept. 5. Rome and Athens look certain to make the cut, with Stockholm, Cape Town, Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro fighting for the remaining spots. The other candidates are Istanbul; Lille, France; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Seville, Spain; and St. Petersburg, Russia.
NASCAR fines 2 drivers
NASCAR fined Winston Cup drivers Chad Little and Robby Gordon on Tuesday for rough driving at the end of Sunday's Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond International Raceway. Little was fined $10,000 and Gordon $5,000 for their actions in the final lap.
Georgia put on probation
The NCAA accepted Georgia's self-imposed penalties for football recruiting violations today and placed the Bulldogs on two years' probation. The main sanction involves a loss of five scholarships next season. There were no serious penalties such as a ban on bowls or limits on television appearances.
Quickies
The Carolina Panthers landed a pair of unrestricted free agents from Pittsburgh, signing defensive end Ray Seals and receiver Ernie Mills. Seals agreed to a two-year deal worth $3.25 million, and Mills to a two-year contract for $2.4 million. ... Troy Hudson, a 6-foot-1 guard who averaged 21.1 points and an NCAA-best 4.5 3-pointers for Southern Illinois, said he will skip his senior season and make himself eligible for the NBA draft. ... Jimmy Connors beat Guillermo Vilas 6-3, 6-4 and John Lloyd defeated Bjorn Borg 2-6, 7-6, 10-6 in a supertiebreaker in the Nuveen Masters over-35 tennis tournament at Naples, Fla. ... The Vancouver Canucks announced Tuesday that star Pavel Bure will miss at least two weeks because of a whiplash injury.
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