Cleveland Reliever Mesa Indicted on Rape Charge

Jose Mesa, the Indians’ relief pitcher who set a record with 46 saves in 48 chances in 1995, was indicted Thursday on a charge of raping a 26-year-old woman he met at a Cleveland nightclub.

Mesa, 30, also was indicted on two counts of gross sexual imposition, one count of felonious assault and one count each of theft and carrying a concealed weapon related to a complaint by two women Dec. 22, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Stephanie Tubbs Jones said.

The county grand jury also indicted Mesa’s friend, David F. Blanco, 34, of Solon, Ohio.

Mesa and Blanco were arrested Dec. 27 on charges of fondling two women. The additional charges were lodged after a grand jury probe.

Baseball

The Arizona Diamondbacks were put in the National League and Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the American League during a nine-hour meeting of owners in Scottsdale, Ariz., that may prompt an eventual baseball realignment.

Left-handed reliever Ed Vosberg, 1-1 with eight saves and a 3.27 earned-run average for Texas last season, agreed to a one-year contract with the Rangers.

The Boston Red Sox have put left-handed pitcher Steve Avery on the 40-man roster, and the contract of Roberto Mejia has been designated for assignment. They also agreed to terms with left-handed pitcher Butch Henry.

Southland Report

Quarterback Dylan Aquino and linebacker Rosco Zamano, both freshmen at UCLA, will no longer play football because of medical conditions.

Aquino has a congenital brain formation problem, and Zamano has a dislocated knee suffered in a September game at Michigan.

Both will retain scholarships to continue academic work.

Eighteen UCLA volleyball alumni, including 1996 Olympians Karch Kiraly, Sinjin Smith and Carl Henkel, are scheduled to appear at the annual UCLA alumni match Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Wooden Center.

The first Los Angeles Women in Sports Awards will be presented to an outstanding female athlete, sports journalist and coach at a ceremony before the Laker-Clipper game at the Sports Arena on Feb. 4.

The deadline for nominations for the awards is today, and they should be faxed to the L.A. Sports and Entertainment Commission at (213) 624-9746.

Basketball

Jackie Stiles, a high school senior in Claflin, Mo., and one of the top women’s players in the nation, will be allowed to play for Southwest Missouri State after the NCAA ruled that a person who had placed a newspaper advertisement urging her to go to the school was not associated with its women’s program.

Track and Field

Michael Johnson and Canadian Donovan Bailey will run for the right to the world’s fastest man title in a special 150-meter event at the SkyDome in Toronto on May 31. Johnson, the first man to sweep the Olympic 200 and 400 meters, has won the Jesse Owens International Award Trophy for the second year in a row.

Boxing

James “Buster” Douglas, the first man to beat Mike Tyson, will fight for the third time in his comeback when he meets Dick Ryan in a 10-round bout Feb. 12 at the Theater in Madison Square Garden in New York.

World Boxing Organization junior-lightweight champion Regilio Tuur of the Netherlands says he is retiring with a record of 43-3-1.

Miscellany

Austrian Ludwig Gredler, making up for a two-minute penalty for errors in shooting, won the 20-kilometer cross-country skiing event of the men’s World Cup biathlon competition in Anterselva, Italy.

Gredler’s total time, including the penalty, was 56 minutes 37.9 seconds.

Ukrainian Tatiana Vodopyanova took the women’s individual 15-kilometer event in 48 minutes 42.6 seconds.

Paul Tanner, a Texas businessman with plans to build a 110,000-seat, $750-million domed stadium in Las Vegas, told civic leaders there that he is negotiating to bring in six to eight college football and basketball games annually and will offer “more than 125 events.”

The University of Nebraska placed in the top 10 in four fall sports and took the lead in the race for the Division I Sears Directors’ Cup, presented annually to the college athletic program judged best in the nation.

Officials of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City said they expect to produce a record $800 million in commercial sponsorship.