Former 20-game winner Dobson dies

Pat Dobson, one of four pitchers to win 20 games for the Baltimore Orioles in 1971, has died. He was 64. Dobson died Wednesday night in the San Diego area, the San Francisco Giants said yesterday. He was a special assistant to Giants general manager Brian Sabean this year, his ninth with the club. The team didn't immediately know the cause of death. Dobson went 20-8 with a 2.90 ERA for the American League champion Orioles in 1971, rounding out a famous rotation that also included Hall of Famer Jim Palmer (20-9), Dave McNally (21-5), and Mike Cuellar (20-9). Dobson was 122-129 with a 3.54 ERA in 11 major league seasons and won a World Series ring with the 1968 Detroit Tigers. He also pitched for San Diego, Atlanta, the New York Yankees, and Cleveland.

Michelle Wie was hoping to make the cut at a men's event for the second time in 12 tries. Instead, she heads into the second round hoping to stay out of the cellar. Wie shot a 9-over-par 81 in the first round of the Casio World Open in Kochi, Japan, a full 15 shots behind the leaders and in 101st place. That put her two strokes ahead of last-place Tomomichi Oto. Wie, who had nine bogeys, is making her second appearance in the Japanese tour event. Last year, she bogeyed the final two holes in the second round to miss the cut by a stroke in her first appearance in Japan. Japan's Azuma Yano and compatriot Tetsuhara Haraguchi were tied for the lead with India's Jeev Milkha Singh after all three shot 6-under 66.

Bills coach Dick Jauron was "guardedly optimistic" Willis McGahee will play against Jacksonville this weekend after the running back took part in his first practice in full pads. It was McGahee's second straight day of practice after breaking three ribs in a 24-10 win against Green Bay Nov. 5. McGahee, who leads the Bills with 579 yards rushing, still is listed as questionable on the team's injury report . . . Raiders defensive tackle Warren Sapp said he refuses to eat at restaurants on road trips and insisted his food was tampered with during his nine-year tenure in Tampa Bay from 1995-2003. "You get your food poisoned," Sapp said at Raiders headquarters. "They don't want you out there on Sunday." . . . The Arizona Cardinals placed defensive end Bertrand Berry on injured reserve with a torn triceps muscle . . . The replay official for the Oklahoma-Oregon football game says he knew that Oklahoma recovered a pivotal onside kickoff late in the game. But Gordon Riese told The Oklahoman that replay rules prevented him from correcting on-field officials who made the wrong call and awarded possession to Oregon, even though it was clear to Riese that Oklahoma's Allen Patrick had recovered the ball. Riese also said that if he had seen the correct angle of the replay, it would have been easy to reverse the call and give possession to Oklahoma, which could have run out the clock. But that didn't happen, he said, and Oregon took advantage of the officiating blunder, scoring a last-minute touchdown to win, 34-33.

Washington forward Donald Brashear was suspended for three games, stemming from a fight Wednesday between the Capitals and Atlanta Thrashers. Brashear, teammate Brian Sutherby, and Atlanta forward Scott Mellanby were automatically suspended one game while coaches Glen Hanlon of the Capitals and Bob Hartley of the Thrashers were fined $30,000 and $10,000, respectively . . . British skipper Alex Thomson was set to be rescued from his capsized yacht today by a rival sailor in a solo round-the-world yacht race. Thomson's yacht capsized early yesterday in the Southern Ocean, but he was not hurt. Mike Golding, who was in second place ahead of Thomson, responded to a request for assistance and turned upwind to pick up Thomson. Because of poor conditions, they decided to wait until daylight to attempt the rescue . . . Former IBF lightweight champions Paul Spadafora (39-0-1) won in his first fight since being released from prison, stopping Jesus Francisco Zepeda in the fifth round Wednesday night in the 22d Erie (Pa.) Boxing Classic . . . At Carson, Calif., Wednesday night, Abby Wambach scored twice and the United States beat Mexico, 2-0, in their CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinal to earn a berth in the 2007 World Cup.