BASEBALL

GAGNE TO UNDERGO MORE SURGERY Dodgers closer Eric Gagne will have surgery today to remove a nerve from his pitching elbow, his second arm operation in less than a year. A team spokesman said there was no timetable for the return of Gagne, who saved 152 games from 2002-04.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

MANHATTAN’S GONZALEZ TO TAKE OVER SETON HALL Seton Hall has hired Manhattan’s Bobby Gonzalez as its new men’s basketball coach, an athletic department official said yesterday. Gonzalez coached Manhattan for the last seven years, leading the Jaspers to NCAA tournament appearances in 2003 and 2004. He succeeds Louis Orr, who was fired last month after five seasons in which he led the Pirates to an 80-69 record and two NCAA tournament appearances.

FOOTBALL

OWENS TO RETURN TO PHILADELPHIA ON OCTOBER 8 Eagles fans will get their chance to boo Terrell Owens a month into the 2006 NFL season. Owens will return to Philadelphia on October 8 with the Dallas Cowboys in one of the highlight games of the NFL schedule, released yesterday.

ESPN’s new Monday night package will begin on September 11 with a doubleheader: Minnesota at Washington followed by San Diego at Oakland. The Thanksgiving games feature Miami at Detroit and Tampa Bay at Dallas followed by Denver at Kansas City in an 8 p.m. start, the first of eight games to be carried by the NFL Network. This will be the first season of flexible scheduling for prime-time games, with the league having the right to shift Sunday day games to Sunday night games if the scheduled night game involves an unattractive matchup.

PATRIOTS SIGN MARTIN GRAMATICA Kicker Martin Gramatica, who was out of football all of last season, was signed by New England yesterday as a potential replacement for the departed Adam Vinatieri. The Patriots also signed safety Tebucky Jones, who was one of their two first-round draft picks in 1998 but was traded away four years ago.