McLain Gets 8-Year Sentence on Pension Theft Conviction

Former Detroit Tiger pitcher Denny McLain, 52, was sentenced to eight years in prison and ordered to pay $2.5 million in restitution Wednesday for stealing from the pension plan of a company he owned.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner, who was the last 30-game winner in the major leagues, and his business partner, Roger Sigiel, were convicted in December. They were accused of stealing $3 million from the pension fund of the 100-year-old Peet Packing Co., then using the money for company debts and personal investments.

The company went bankrupt and 200 employees lost their jobs 18 months after McLain bought it.

McLain, who also has served time for racketeering and drug dealing, is to report to prison in a month.

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Philadelphia Eagles’ second-round draft choice James Darling, a standout linebacker at Washington State, was arrested in Pullman for investigation of assault and burglary. It was the fourth time he was arrested in the past two years, and he was already on parole for a previous incident involving the theft of a $6,000 gumball machine.

Darling was arrested while searching for a person he planned to beat up in a dispute over a woman, Whitman County deputy prosecutor Toby Krauel said.

Hockey

Vladimir Vujtek had a hat trick for the defending champion Czech Republic in a fight-filled 5-3 win over Canada in the World Hockey Championship in Helsinki.

For Canada to advance to the championship final series, first-place Sweden must beat the Czechs today, and Canada must get past second-place Russia on Friday.

The Hartford Whalers cleared a major hurdle in their move to North Carolina when a Connecticut agency agreed to let them pay a $21.7-million penalty to leave the state a year early. The Whalers must pay $5 million by July 1 and the rest in annual installments by 2012.

Football

Colt owner Jim Irsay says unless his franchise can rework its lease agreement with the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, it will lose $30 million over the next three or four years because of rising player costs.

“Can [Indianapolis] support the Pacers and the Colts? Those are questions that I’m asking. Those are questions I know the city is asking themselves,” Irsay said.

Auto Racing

Arie Luyendyk, the track record-holder and 1990 Indianapolis 500 winner, raised this year’s top speed in practice to 220.297 mph. Luyendyk set a record with a lap of more than 237 mph last year, but all speeds are down because of the new cars being used by the Indy Racing League.

Second-fastest was Scott Sharp, who crashed moments after he completed a lap at 217.402. He suffered a bruised knee.

Soccer

Galaxy defender Dan Calichman was fined $1,000 by Major League Soccer for bumping referee Raul Dominguez while protesting the ejection of Chris Armas during the team’s 2-0 loss to Washington’s D.C. United. . . . The U.S. national team will play Paraguay on June 4 in St. Louis.

Argentine soccer player Diego Maradona, angry over apparent delays in obtaining a U.S. visa, denounced U.S. authorities as “square-headed” and claimed that “nobody likes Americans.”

The private news agency DyN reported Maradona was disappointed at having to wait to train in a special center in Miami for his expected comeback after months of inactivity largely attributable to drug abuse.

Miscellany

Scott Johnson shot a four-under-par 68 to win the individual title and lead defending NCAA champion Arizona State to its third consecutive Pacific 10 men’s golf championship at Eugene, Ore.

The sixth-ranked Sun Devils had a 1,445 total, 11 strokes ahead of Oregon at 1,456. USC was third at 1,464.

Zdeslav Vrdoljak’s fourth-quarter goal paved the way for Croatia’s 9-8 victory over the United States at the men’s Newport International Water Polo Tournament at Newport Beach.

Tennis

Boris Becker, seeded eighth and believed on his way out of the sport, defeated his expected German successor and protege, Nicholas Kiefer, 7-5, 6-2, to reach the third round of the German Open on clay in Hamburg.

In the first major upset of the tournament, Tommy Haas, a 19-year-old German, defeated fourth-seeded Carlos Moya, Spain’s No. 1 player, 6-4, 6-1. . . . Steve Campbell, who made it into the tournament as a qualifier, defeated fifth-seeded Byron Black of Zimbabwe, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, in the second round of America’s Red Clay Tennis Championship at Coral Springs, Fla. . . . Second-seeded Arantxa Sanchez Vicario defeated Paola Suarez, 6-2, 6-2, and third-seeded Conchita Martinez handled Chanda Rubin, 6-2, 6-2, in the second round of the Italian Open on clay in Rome. Fourth-seeded Anke Huber was upset by Italy’s Francesca Lubiani, 6-4, 6-2. . . . The United States has drawn Japan in the second round of the Fed Cup World Group I tournament, July 12-13.

Names in the News

Texas Tech juniors Tony Battie and Cory Carr, both projected as potential first-round picks, will announce today whether they intend to stay in school or make themselves eligible for the upcoming NBA draft. . . . Basketball player Jim Williamson and volleyball player Kim Blankinship have been selected male and female athletes of the year at Loyola Marymount. . . . The American Baseball Coaches Assn. has included Cal State Los Angeles Coach John Herbold, former Arizona State coach Jim Brock and Carrol Land, coach and athletic director at Point Loma Nazarene, in its list of inductees into its hall of fame.