BASEBALL UMPIRE GIVEN LEAVE IN ORDER TO LOSE WEIGHT

Baseball

Following the on-field death of umpire John McSherry last week, the veteran National League umpire, Eric Gregg, has been granted a temporary leave of absence to try to reduce and stabilise his weight. Gregg, who is in his 19th major league season, is listed as 6ft 4in and 23st 3lb, roughly the same size as McSherry, whose weight was considered a contributing factor to his health problems and fatal heart attack. The Major League also announced that it had appointed Edward Montague as crew chief to replace McSherry.

Hideo Nomo pitched a three-hitter and outshone Tom Glavine as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Atlanta Braves 1-0 in the Dodgers' home opening game in front of 53,180 fans. The pitching duel was between the the 1995 National League Rookie of the Year and World Series Most Valuable Player. Nomo, who was 13-6 as a rookie last year, recorded the first complete game shutout of the 1996 season and the fourth of his career.

AMERICAN LEAGUE: Postponed: Boston v Minnesota.

NATIONAL LEAGUE: Colorado 6 Chicago 9; Los Angeles 1 Atlanta 0; San Diego 9 Florida 2; Pittsburgh 3 Philadelphia 6; Cincinnati 7 New York 6; Houston 6 San Francisco 2; St Louis 3 Montreal 4 (10 innings).