The judge who took himself off Howard...

The judge who took himself off Howard Spira’s attempted extortion case because he knew George Steinbrenner, the alleged victim, has been assigned to a different case in the baseball controversy.

U.S. District Judge John E. Sprizzo has been assigned to Steinbrenner’s lawsuit against the company that transcribed statements during Commissioner Fay Vincent’s probe of the New York Yankee owner.