Baseball

Pitcher Jim Abbott signed a $600,000, one-year contract with the Milwaukee Brewers. Because the Brewers are in the National League, Abbott will have to bat for the first time since high school. . . . The Angels signed free-agent relief pitcher Mike Magnante to a one-year contract. Magnante was 2-7 with a 4.88 earned-run average in 48 appearances for the Houston Astros last season. . . . Left-hander Sterling Hitchcock, who won three consecutive games in San Diego’s postseason run to the World Series, agreed to a $15.5-million, three-year contract with the Padres. . . . Free-agent second baseman Carlos Baerga agreed to a $1.25-million, one-year contract with the St. Louis Cardinals. . . . The Arizona Diamondbacks re-signed pitcher Omar Daal for $6.75 million over two years.

Seattle Mariner pitcher Jose Mesa has settled a civil lawsuit filed by one of two women who accused him of sexual assault in a suburban Cleveland motel in December 1996. . . . Major league baseball will allow any players not on 40-man rosters to participate in Olympic qualifying this year and at the 2000 Sydney Games.

Golf

Karrie Webb and Juli Inkster each shot five-under-par 67s to share the first-round lead in the Office Depot LPGA tournament in West Palm Beach, Fla. . . . Jack Nicklaus, 59, had hip replacement surgery in Boston and will be on crutches for the next six weeks.

College Football

Miami of Ohio promoted former top assistant Terry Hoeppner to head coach. He replaces Randy Walker, who left to become Northwestern’s coach. . . . Stump Mitchell, 8-24-1 in three seasons as Morgan State’s coach, resigned to become the Seattle Seahawks’ running backs coach. . . . Former Northwestern player Christopher Gamble pleaded guilty to one count of lying to a federal grand jury investigating sports betting at the university. . . . Arizona quarterback Keith Smith was released from jail in Tucson after serving 24 hours for a drunk-driving conviction. Smith, 22, was cited after Arizona’s overtime victory over California in November 1997.

Miscellany

After going without a winner since Jan. 16, jockey Eddie Delahoussaye had a double at Santa Anita, winning with 6-1 shot Klinsman in the third and 4-1 shot Bar Harbor Express in the eighth. The victories gave Delahoussaye 5,996 in his career as he tries to become the 14th rider to reach 6,000. . . . Marina Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov of Russia won the pairs event at the European Figure Skating Championships at Prague, Czech Republic, after defending champions Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze of Russia withdrew two hours before the competition. Berezhnaya was ill with flu. Dorota Zagorska and Mariusz Suidek finished second, the first Polish pair since 1934 to win a medal at the European championships. . . . A federal judge terminated the contracts of players from the defunct American Basketball League, freeing up those players to resume their careers overseas or in the rival WNBA. . . . Motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel, 60, received a long-awaited liver transplant and was recovering at a hospital in Tampa, Fla., in stable condition. . . . After calling off the 1998 season because of financial problems, Roller Hocker International will resume play in June with 10 teams, among them the Anaheim Bullfrogs. The Los Angeles Blades will not return. . . . Sprinter Maurice Greene and hurdler Mark Crear have entered the Los Angeles Invitational indoor track meet Feb. 13 at the Sports Arena.