Sports briefs: Former Rangers owner dies

BASEBALL • Brad Corbett, who owned the Texas Rangers from 1974 to 1980 and wasn't afraid to regularly switch out managers, died on Christmas Eve in Houston. He was 75.

Corbett's daughter, Pamela Corbett Murrin, told The Associated Press that her father died peacefully in his sleep on Monday. She said he had not been sick recently.

"The Texas Rangers are saddened to hear of the death of Brad Corbett," the team said in a statement. "His tenure as owner was marked by a passion and drive to bring a winning team to the fans of North Texas."

At Corbett's helm, the team had six managers in six years — four in the 1977 season alone.

An article on the Rangers' website also said the team had its first four winning seasons under Corbett and finished second in the AL West three times. The 94 victories in 1977 remained the most in team history until 1999, it said.

• Former Atlanta Braves star center fielder Andruw Jones was free on bond after being arrested in suburban Atlanta early Tuesday on a battery charge, according to jail records.

Around 1:30 a.m. EST Tuesday, police responded to a call for a domestic dispute between Jones and his wife in Duluth, Ga.

Gwinnett County Detention Center records say Jones was booked into the jail around 3:45 a.m. and had been released on $2,400 bond by 11 a.m.

Jones signed a $3.5 million, one-year contract with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Japan's Pacific League earlier this month.

Illness delays Nadal's return

TENNIS • Rafael Nadal's return to competition has been delayed by a stomach virus.

The Spaniard was scheduled to play in an exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi on Thursday after missing seven months because of tendinitis in his left knee.

But he said on his Facebook page Tuesday that his doctors ordered him to pull out when he was running a fever, telling him his body needed rest.

From wire reports