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A passenger in a car that was stopped by police in downtown Minneapolis swallowed a plastic baggie of suspected cocaine as an officer tried to remove it, and the man died, police said today. The incident occurred about 11:30 p.m. Saturday near 12th Street and Currie Avenue, police said in a news release. The man's death was more likely due to "choking on the bag" than ingesting any of the suspected cocaine, police Sgt. Jesse Garcia said. According to the release: The officer pulled over a vehicle for failure to signal. A male passenger was removed from the vehicle, and...

Cowboys release shaky Vanderjagt, sign Gramatica Mike Vanderjagt's short, but rocky tenure as the Cowboys' kicker is over. ESPN's Ed Werder reports that Dallas has released Vanderjagt and signed Martin Gramatica to replace him. The most accurate field goal kicker in NFL history, Vanderjagt, who signed a three-year contract worth nearly $6 million as an unrestricted free agent this spring, has converted only 13 of 18 field goals. That's only two fewer misses in 11 games than the nine-year veteran had in the past three seasons combined. In his eight seasons with the Colts, a tenure sometimes marked by petulance...

Barry Bonds dropped his lawsuit against two San Francisco Chronicle reporters who published a book claiming the San Francisco Giants slugger used steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. Bonds requested that San Francisco County Superior Court dismiss the lawsuit June 2, according to court records reviewed by the San Jose Mercury News. The suit was dismissed without prejudice, meaning he retains the right to refile it. In March, Bonds sued Chronicle reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, publisher Gotham books, the Chronicle and Sports Illustrated, which published an excerpt of the book, "Game of Shadows." Bonds' lawyers, suing under California's unfair...

Heads turned. The ball bid the park adieu. With a single, violent swing of his bat, Barry Bonds made baseball history Saturday in Oakland, climbing one home run closer to the immortal Willie Mays. Six hundred sixteen home runs. It's a mind-numbing number, a body of work to rival Tupac's posthumous releases. Congratulations are in order. Wait. Hold up. You say Bonds actually has 714 career home runs? Er, no. Good one. But no. Sure, if you want to get all technical, there's no arguing that Bonds has forcefully redirected 714 pitches into home run territory over his 21 major-league...

(AP) PHILADELPHIA -- Barry Bonds is heading home, one behind the Babe. Bonds hit his 713th homer Sunday night, moving within one of tying Babe Ruth for second place on baseball's career list. The San Francisco Giants' slugger hit a mammoth shot in the sixth inning off Philadelphia right-hander Jon Lieber, sending a 2-1 pitch off the facade of the right-field upper deck during a 9-5 loss to the Phillies. "They tell me that's the way the Babe used to hit them," Giants manager Felipe Alou said. Bonds' fifth homer of the season was estimated at 450 feet, one of...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Giants general manager Brian Sabean thinks Barry Bonds could be physically ready to play around 120 games for San Francisco next season. Barry Bonds hopes to kiss about 40 pounds goodbye this winter.Sabean and Bonds both have acknowledged the slugger needs an intense conditioning program over the winter to shed some weight Bonds put on while recovering from three operations this year on his right knee. Sabean hinted that Bonds might continue to work with physical therapist Clive Brewster in Los Angeles this offseason under the direction of Angels' team orthopedist Dr. Lewis Yocum, the pair who...

Latrell Sprewell says he'll ask to be traded if the Minnesota Timberwolves don't sign him to a contract extension by Wednesday night's opener. ''I think this thing is heading towards me leaving, personally,'' Sprewell told reporters after a practice this week. Earlier this preseason, Sprewell said he wanted a contract extension by the Wolves' opener, against the New York Knicks, or he would ask for a sign-and-trade deal or wait to become a free agent. Either way, Sprewell said he didn't want to negotiate during the season. But he took a tougher stance Sunday. Asked if he would play out...