Johnson Is Selected as Blue Jay Manager

The Toronto Blue Jays hired the other Johnson as their manager.

Tim Johnson, a minor league manager and former Toronto shortstop, was given a two-year contract Monday to succeed Cito Gaston.

“The key here is that he’s going to connect and communicate with his players,” said Toronto General Manager Gord Ash, who had former Baltimore Oriole manager Davey Johnson on his short list.

Tim Johnson managed the Iowa Cubs to a first-place finish in the West Division of the triple-A American Assn. last season, losing to Buffalo in the league championship series. He has spent the last 17 years as a scout, minor league manager and major league coach.

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Outfielder Dave Clark, who led National League pinch-hitters with 22 RBIs last season, agreed to a $1.4-million, two-year contract with the Houston Astros.

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The Detroit Tigers traded minor league outfielder Jimmy Hurst to the Boston Red Sox for cash.

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The Orioles will bring uniform No. 33 out of retirement next season after signing Eddie Murray as a coach.

Murray has agreed to a two-year deal to serve under new Manager Ray Miller.

The Orioles also signed catcher Lenny Webster, who filed for free agency after the World Series. He agreed to a one-year contract that guarantees him $740,000.

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John Olerud agreed to return to the New York Mets for an $8-million, two-year contract.

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Dodger backup catcher Tom Prince, who had been eligible for salary arbitration, accepted a $350,000, one-year contract.

Prince, 33, hit .220 in 47 games with three homers and 14 RBIs.

Soccer

Police fired tear gas to break up a crowd of gun-firing soccer fans infuriated by a referee’s decision at Tegucigalpa, Honduras. The disturbance lasted half an hour and 50 people were treated for inhalation of tear gas.

Four soccer fans were ordered to stand trial for involvement in a postgame melee that left seven people injured at Athens, Greece.

Shortly after Olympiakos defeated Ionikos Nikea on Sunday, 1-0, hundreds of fans from both teams stormed the field.

Miscellany

Lynn Sherrod, a municipal judge in Huntsville, Ala., dismissed charges of resisting arrest and trespassing against Coach John Paris Jr. of the Macon (Ga.) Whoopees. The first black coach in professional hockey was arrested Oct. 23 after a scuffle on the ice among players and a confrontation between Paris and the Von Braun Civic Center’s security director, Dale Baxter.

Dozens of basketball fans, including Belgrade’s acting mayor, were injured in a riot which erupted during a game between Yugoslavia’s two leading teams at Belgrade, Yugoslavia .

The game between Red Star and Partizan was cut short by one minute Sunday night after club-wielding police intervened to stop the chaos raging among some 7,000 people.

NBC will get a record $1.3 million per 30-second spot for Super Bowl commercials in January and sold them out earlier than last year--more than two months before the game.

Jonathan Stark will replace injured Alex O’Brien on the U.S. Davis Cup team that will play Sweden for the tennis trophy beginning Friday.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, once home only to the Indianapolis 500, will host one of four International Race of Champions events in 1998. The 100-mile race, matching 12 drivers from different types of auto racing in identically prepared Pontiac Firebirds, will be run there July 31, the day before NASCAR’s Brickyard 400.