Los Angeles Angels pitcher Jered Weaver and Philadelphia outfielder Shane Victorino from Maui were among 24 players picked yesterday for the U.S. baseball team.

The club, managed by Davey Johnson, will compete in qualifiers this month for the 2008 Olympics.

Six of the players, including Victorino, a St. Anthony School alum, appeared in the major leagues this year: Kansas City pitcher Jonah Bayliss, Washington infielder Brendan Harris, Angels catcher Jeff Mathis, Seattle pitcher Clint Nageotte and Colorado infielder Ryan Shealy.

Only players not on 25-man rosters as of Aug. 31 were eligible for the games, to be played at the spring training ballparks of the Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers and Oakland Athletics in Phoenix and Mesa, Ariz.

The United States plays Canada (Nov. 15 at Maryvale), Mexico (Nov. 16 at Phoenix Municipal), Nicaragua (Nov. 17 at Maryvale), Panama (Nov. 18 at HoHoKam) and Canada (Nov. 19 at Maryvale)

The top four teams advance to the Americas Olympic qualifying tournament at Havana in August 2006, where they will be joined by the top four qualifiers from both the Caribbean and South American regions. The top two nations in that tournament advance to the 2008 Olympics, and the third- and fourth-place teams go to a secondary qualifying event to be held in 2007.

The United States won the gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Games but was eliminated by Mexico in qualifying for the 2004 Athens Olympics. The IOC has voted to drop baseball following the 2008 Beijing Games, but the International Baseball Federation is pushing for a new vote next year.

MORE BASEBALL

BRAVES' ANDRUW JONES TOPS VOTING BY PEERS

Atlanta outfielder Andruw Jones was voted the Players Choice player of the year award by major leaguers, while Oakland closer Huston Street was picked as the American League's top rookie.

Jones hit a major league-leading 51 homers and paced the NL with 128 RBIs. Jones also was picked as the NL's outstanding player, and Boston designated hitter David Ortiz was selected in the AL.

Players voted on the awards Sept. 13-14.

Bartolo Colon of the Los Angeles Angels was the AL's outstanding pitcher, and Chris Carpenter of the St. Louis Cardinals took the NL award, the players' association said yesterday. Houston outfielder Willy Taveras was the NL's top rookie, and Cincinnati outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. and New York Yankees first baseman Jason Giambi were voted comeback players of the year.

OLYMPICS

U.N. CALLS FOR TRUCE DURING GAMES IN TURIN

The U.N. General Assembly urged all 191 member states yesterday to observe a truce during the upcoming Turin Olympics and to promote peace through sports.

The resolution calling for the traditional "Olympic Truce" during the Feb. 10-26 games and the Paralympic Winter Games that follow in the Italian city from March 10-19 was adopted by consensus. So was the resolution promoting the "International Year of Sport and Physical Education."

Italy's deputy U.N. Ambassador Aldo Mantovani, who introduced the truce resolution, said it had a record 190 co-sponsors and stressed that "since ancient times the idea of the Olympic Games has been closely associated with that of peace."

TENNIS

RODDICK ADVANCES TO PARIS MASTERS QUARTERS

Top-seeded Andy Roddick held serve all the way and beat No. 16 Dominik Hrbaty, 6-1, 6-2, in just 50 minutes yesterday to reach the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters.

Roddick is looking to extend his streak of not losing serve through a third straight European tournament. He won last week in Lyon, collecting his fifth title this year.

Roddick next plays No. 10 David Ferrer of Spain. They have not met previously on the ATP circuit. Ferrer beat Tommy Haas of Germany, 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-3.

Third-seeded Nikolay Davydenko played with a sore shoulder but advanced with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory over fellow Russian Dmitry Tursunov.

"I've had a problem with the shoulder during the indoor season," he said. "It's something to do with the muscles getting tired. I can keep playing, get a massage at the start of every set,"

MAURESMO REMAINS UNBEATEN IN ADVANTA

Two-time defending champion Amelie Mauresmo of France defeated Ai Sugiyama, 6-3, 6-4, yesterday to reach the quarterfinals of the Advanta Championships at Villanova, Pa.

The third-seeded Mauresmo, who hadn't won a match in the last month, improved to 9-0 lifetime in the tournament and 8-0 against Sugiyama.

In other matches, sixth-seeded Nadia Petrova defeated fellow Russian Yaroslava Shvedova, 6-2, 6-2; Kvete Peschke beat Sesil Karatantcheva, 6-1, 6-0; and Lisa Raymond ousted Stephanie Gehrlein, 6-1, 3-6, 6-2.