Jim Thome appearing at memorabilia show

Cleveland Indians first baseman Jim Thome will headline a group of baseball notables who will be signing autographs at the 1997 Saluki Baseball Sports Card and Memorabilia Show Saturday.

Other players will include Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Mark Clark and San Francisco Giants hurlers Kirk Rueter and Cory Bailey.

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Former Saluki pitcher Al Levine, who plays for the Chicago White Sox, and Aaron Jones, former SIUC-slugger-turned-Yankees-minor-leaguer, also will attend the show.

The show will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Carbondale Civic Center, 200 S. Illinois Ave. The cost is $3 for adults and $1 for children. One autograph from each player will cost $5. Players will be available for autographs from noon to 2 p.m.

Houston Rockets forward Charles Barkley arrested

Houston Rockets forward Charles Barkley was arrested at about 5 a.m. Sunday after a nightclub fight in Orlando, Fla.

The Associated Press reported Sunday that Barkley was charged with aggravated battery and resisting arrest without violence. .

An Orange County detention center corrections officer told the AP that the NBA All-Star was released on a $6,000 bond. But he gave no details of the scuffle, which took place at a nightclub in Church Street Station, an Orlando entertainment district.

The 34-year-old Barkley will be arraigned Dec. 2 for the misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest. The felony charge of aggravated battery will be handled at a later date by the Orlando County Court.

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Barkley was in Orlando for an exhibition game between the Rockets and the Orlando Magic Sunday night.

Barkley is entering his second season in Houston. Last year, he only played in 53 games because of back trouble, but was able to average 19.2 points, 13.5 rebounds and 4.7 assists.

This is not the first time that Barkley has had trouble with the law at a nightspot.

In 1992, he and current New Jersey Nets forward Jayson Williams were accused of being in a bar fight in Chicago, but the charges were dropped.

Later that year, Barkley was acquitted on misdemeanor battery charges brought by a man who claimed Barkley broke his nose outside a Milwaukee bar.

In August, a Cleveland jury rejected a $550,000 lawsuit sought against Barkley by a man who claimed Barkley beat him in a local nightclub.

Keith Van Horn suffers sprained ankle

New Jersey Nets will be without rookie forward Keith Van Horn for at least the first three weeks of the season because of a sprained right ankle. An MRI on the ankle Saturday revealed the first-round draft pick has a torn tendon.

Van Horn went down in the first quarter of an exhibition against the Cleveland Cavaliers Friday night.

The 6-foot-10 Van Horn was an All-American pick as a senior with the University of Utah. He was the three-time Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year, and he made the All-Conference Team four times.

Van Horn averaged 22 points a game as a senior, and he had a career average of 20.8 points per game and 8.8 rebounds.