FORT MYERS, Fla. — A Boston Red Sox fan all his life, Dan Duquette knows what it's like to have his heart broken by the team.

        Choking back tears as he said goodbye to his dream job, the former Red Sox general manager said he would be back at Fenway Park cheering on the team he ran for eight years before being fired Thursday.

        “I'm most disappointed that I will not have the opportunity to realize the goal Red Sox fans and I have shared for too long: a World Series championship,” he said.

        The team's new owners fired Duquette less than 24 hours after closing their $660 million deal to buy the team, its stadium and its television network. Former California Angels GM and Duquette assistant Mike Port will be the interim general manager.

        “This decision was not an easy one to make, and we have nothing but good personal feelings for Dan,” said team president Larry Lucchino, who met with Duquette Thursday morning along with new owners John Henry and Tom Werner.

        Port, 56, was general manager of the Angels from 1984-91 and assistant GM in Boston from 1993 until he was appointed vice president of baseball operations in 1996.

        ROCKIES:

        Manager Buddy Bell left spring training Thursday to return to Denver for followup tests on his back and left leg.

        Bell had surgery Dec.11 to repair a disk problem and has experienced discomfort in his left leg since then.

        He has been unable to take part in some of his usual spring training duties, such as hitting fungoes and throwing batting practice.

        Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd urged Bell to get followup tests in Denver with the team's doctors, internist Allen Schreiber and orthopedist Thomas Noonan. O'Dowd said the tests were to determine if the discomfort Bell is experiencing is part of the normal recovery from back surgery. Bell expects to return to Arizona for Sunday's game against Milwaukee in Phoenix. Bench coach Toby Harrah will run the team in Bell's absence.

        UMPS REHIRED:

        Five major-league umpires regained their jobs Thursday after a 2 1/2-year struggle against the commissioner's office.

        Gary Darling, Bill Hohn, Larry Poncino, Larry Vanover and Joe West will start working spring training games Monday, the commissioner's office said. The five have not officiated major-league games since Sept.2, 1999, when 22 umpires were terminated by baseball after their failed mass resignation.

        As part of the agreement, which followed a lengthy arbitration case and lawsuit, umpires Drew Coble, Greg Kosc, Frank Pulli and Terry Tata will retire and get their back pay no later than March 31 and be restored to the umpires' benefit plan.

        The umpires who are returning, however, will not get their back pay, for now. The status of their back money depends on the lawsuit, which is before the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.

        PROMOTION REJECTED:

        A minor-league baseball team rejected an Osama bin Laden bobblehead giveaway promotion after an Internet poll indicated most people found it distasteful.

        The Hagerstown (Md.) Suns, a Single-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, sought opinions on a promotion in which fans would be given the dolls and then invited to smash them.

        Of 194 responses, 72 percent considered the idea “way out of line.”

        SHORT HOPS:

        AL MVP Ichiro Suzuki had an impressive start to exhibition play with a home run, two RBI, two runs and a walk, but the Seattle Mariners fell 10-9 to the San Diego Padres in an exhibition game Thursday.

        • Pittsburgh third baseman Aramis Ramirez agreed to a $9.5 million, three-year contract. ... St.Louis first baseman Tino Martinez missed the Cardinals' spring opener against the Mets because of a blister in the palm of his right hand, mostly from taking batting practice. “He'll be ready to go by Saturday,” Cards manager Tony La Russa said. ... Right-handed pitcher Tanyon Sturtze and infielder Damian Rolls signed one-year contracts with Tampa Bay.

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