Report: Garner Out, Bando Next

Phil Garner was fired after nearly eight years as manager of the Milwaukee Brewers and will be replaced by hitting coach Jim Lefebvre on an interim basis, the Associated Press reported Wednesday night.

In addition, General Manager Sal Bando will resign, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and WTMJ-TV reported, citing unidentified sources.

Lefebvre, the only member of Garner’s staff with managing experience, will be appointed interim manager today, a source familiar with the hiring told the AP on the condition of anonymity.

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Jim “Catfish” Hunter was conscious and responding to doctors’ commands Wednesday in Greenville, N.C., three days after the Hall of Fame pitcher suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease fell down concrete steps at home and hit his head.

Hunter, 53, who pitched in the majors 15 years and earned five World Series rings, remained in critical condition in Pitt County Memorial Hospital’s intensive care unit, hooked to a ventilator.

Doctors said Hunter, diagnosed last year with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis--a gradual, irreversible deterioration of the muscles--bruised his brain in the accident. He probably will require rehabilitation because he already was weakened by ALS.

“But it would be premature to even think about that,” said Paul Cunningham, a trauma physician and professor of surgery at the East Carolina University School of University. “His prognosis is still somewhat guarded. We’re being hopeful as we can be, but we’re taking things one day at a time.”

He said no surgery was planned.

Hospital spokesman Doug Boyd said Hunter regained consciousness Wednesday after being unconscious much of the previous day. He began responding to commands--”wiggle your toes and that sort of thing,” Boyd said.

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Baseball umpires have asked the National Labor Relations Board to seek an injunction in federal court to save the jobs of 22 umps baseball plans to let go next month.

Dan Silverman, the New York regional director of the NLRB, said his office received a one-line request from the union on Tuesday.

Umpires filed an unfair labor practice charge against the American and National leagues last week. If Silverman’s office decides to issue a complaint, he then would have the option of requesting that NLRB general counsel Fred Feinstein ask the agency’s five-person board for permission to seek the injunction.

In a similar process, Silverman won an injunction against baseball owners four years ago that caused players to ended their strike after 7 1/2 months.

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Former major league star Jack Clark was charged with assaulting a police officer following a bench-clearing brawl during a minor league game at O’Fallon, Mo., that resulted in 14 suspensions. Clark, manager of the River City Rascals of the Class-A Frontier League, turned himself in to O’Fallon police Wednesday. Malcolm Fichman, manager of the Johnstown (Pa.) Johnnies, was charged with failing to obey a police officer. He was arrested following Tuesday night’s brawl after he refused to leave the field. . . . Ace Curt Schilling of the Philadelphia Phillies suffered another setback when he was unable to throw off the mound as scheduled because of muscle spasms. Schilling, who had a cortisone shot this week to ease the effects of tendinitis and mild rotator cuff swelling, will try to throw again today. If he experiences pain again, team doctor Michael Ciccotti said he will consider shutting him down indefinitely. . . . Experts inspecting Miller Park in Milwaukee have found no additional structural damage from a crane collapse that killed three people but can’t say whether the ballpark will be ready for opening day next April.