The sporting news 05 22 1996

Dave Kindred

NBA & NHL playoffs

Paul Attner

Display until May 22.1996

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MIND GAME The psychology of a sore arm ___________ By David Falkner

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May 20,1996

COVER STORY Sore^rihedpitchers used to have no hope of returning id adK m ;butthat isn’t the case anymore with the 111K tv 11g improvements in medical technology.

VOICES Dave W o lfed : Shaquille O ’Neal is not just 7-1.320 pounds; he also plays big and thinks even bigger.

Clyde Dresden As the NBA spokesm an against child abuse. Clyde doesn’t glide through the motions. He is focused and knows the game plan.

8 8

Beek Reviews Letters

9

BASEBALL 14

Brett Butler attacks cancer head-on, just like he plays baseball

18 11

Beset*) jester Beset*! Betes

HOCKEY if tte Pews: Ken W regget got his chance to be

33

35

Pittsburgh’s No. I goaltender because of an injury.

Now, he’s the m inister of defense for the Penguins.

Lerry V igor. H e has overcome adversity before.

T hat's what proves Sakic is no ordinary’ Joe.

36 BHLta tte r

BASKETBALL 37

40

Center fett? They've been cast aside by other team s and have been derided by NBA officials. But together, the four Bulls centers play an im portant role in Chicago’s title chances.

Steel Rewed: Dennis Rodman won't be a distraction to the Bulls.

41

IS A tatter

51

Mike DeConrty: C als defections are enough to make coach Todd Bozeman cry.

FOOTBALL 42

44 45 46

51

Staters, literacy: For now. Mike Tomczak is the q u arte rb a ck Regardless, without Neil O ’Donnell.

Pittsburgh will have to go back to ball control on offense and hope to win with great defense.

Paul A tta r Michael Irvin’s behavior is a complete departure from his previous image.

BUI Plaschka: Gushing over the Oilers.

NFL N o ta

hran Mais*: East Carolina has become the king of college football in N orth Carolina

DEPARTMENTS 5 ^52

Openers The Sports M arketplace: A treasury of products and services.

54

The Closer. Baseball’s longest gam e— Rochester at Pawtucket. April 19.1981.

Cover photo o f Pete H a n iisc h by R obert Se ale./T S N .

TNE SPQRTNK NEWS PUMJSMNG COMPANY 1212 N UndDergh BMJ .P O Box 56 Si Louts. Mo 63166

Aud*

Bureau c* G raiaoor.

FOR SURSCJBPTIW CUSTOMER SERVICE

tsBsato@ad.co*

1-880-777-6785

(M-^ 8 a m lo midnight Eastern)

Just win, baby

issues and personalities and. as with Irvin, the frequent times they converge. “One of my concerns regarding situations such as Irving involves fan reaction.' Paul says. “Too often, im proper behavior by athletes seem s to create positive. not negative, feelings. The O.J freeway scene is (he most grotesque example. Lnul these athletes are chastised, not cheered, they'll never get the message. But when they hear applause, no matter how outrageous the incident, why would they possibly think their standing has dim inished'"

To subscribe to TH E SP O R T IN G N E W S or make a change of address lf you are an existing subscriber, see Page 53.

Puoitsnoo fry

A Tim es M irro r U Company

Senior w riter Paul Aitner. who has reported on the NFL for nearly' 20 years with the W ashington Post and t h e S p o r t in g N e w s . seizes the opportunity to com m ent on Funny. I thought the m ost repugnant Irvin (Page 44) in the first of rationale we’d hear from anyone what will be a regular series associated with the NFL this spring of colum ns he writes about came with the Rams’ drafting of the league.

A tte Lawrence Phillips. “Good person ... one P auls profile of linebacker mistake ... second chance ..." — all the Bryan Cox exposed dim ensions that convenient justifications that remind us many people did not know exist. And how self-serving team s can be while his rem arkable story written in the consum ed by winning. hours immediately after Don Shuia’s But now along com es Michael Irvin, surprise announcem ent laid out Shuia’s I career and the decisive m om ents that and its a race between him and Jerry' led him to part ways with the Dolphins. i Jones to see who can im m erse himself Having Paul’s column as a vehicle for in the septic tank faster. Jones prefers m ore analysis and acumen is a logical to yam m er about how m istreated his extension of our commitment to team is and all the while offers safe covering the NFL He will write about haven to a rem arkable bunch of cretins.

T H E S P O R T IN G N E W S (’- S S N 0 0 3 8 -6 0 5 X ) M a y 20. 1996. Vol 220. N e 21. is published weekly, expect sem i-wee»dy d unng a w e e * rn January. M arch. April A u gu st and two w e e ks rn S e p te m b e r N ovem ber and D ecem ber for a total of 6 2 is s u e s per year Py T H E S P O R T IN G N E W S P U B L IS H IN G C O M P A N Y 1 2 '2 Norm U no b e rgh B lvd . St Lo u is. M O 6 3 1 3 2 S e c o n d c la ss p o sta g e paid at S t Louis. M O a n c additional m ailing offices Per sub scrip tion se rvice write to T H E S P O R T IN G N E W S . P O B o x 37092. Boone. LA 5 0 C 3 7 -0 0 9 2 Sub scrip tion pnce is $ 6 0 OO for 6 0 issu e s S u b sc rib e rs rn C a n a d a and other countries add $46 60 per 6 0 issu e s Air Maul rates available on request Allow six w e e k s for ch a n ge of a d d re ss P o stm aste r S e n d a d d re ss c h a n g e s to T H E S P O R T IN G N E W S P O B o x 37092. Boone. LA 5 0 0 3 7 -0 0 9 2 T H E S P O R T IN G N E W S a ssu m e s no responsibility for the return of unsolicited m anu scrip ts color n e gative s or tran sp aren­ c ie s C O P Y R IG H T C 1996 T H E S P O R T IN G N E W S P R IN T E D IN U S-A . C A N A D A G S T R E G IS T R A T IO N N U M B E R R - 1 2 4 8 5 3 7 3 0 T H E S P O R T IN G N E W S is a federally registered tradem ark of T H E S P O R T IN G N E W S P U B L IS H IN G C O M P A N Y A U . R IG H T S R E S E R V E D R E P R O D U C T IO N IN W H O L E O R IN P A R T W IT H O U T P E R M IS S IO N IS P R O H IB IT E D Pnnted m u S A ,

mm • 5

May 20,1996

CAUGHT ON THE FLY

A defensive lineman with offensive habits Next up on R>’’s No. I tee. the foursome of Messier.

Beakeboon, Rictrter and Lfifftch. (No tellin’ whoII be the leader in the clubhouse.) n y was fAtsciose to believin’ \lkes Prez Roger Headrick when he preached fire-n-brimstone in January after releasing James Harris and Bnnferick Thomas, who’d been arrested.

Headrick’s backbone looks a little more flexible lo Fly since Fernando Smith's still a Vike. Smith, who was conviaed in ’92 for carryin' a concealed weapon, has b^n arrested for skiw>in‘ only every one of his childsupport payments since December *94. (lf yer scorin' at home, that's S42.(XX) total for a guy who makes $700.0(X)-plus.) FN' gets it now: The Mkes won’t tolerate lawlessness unless yen a deadbeat dad/defensive end who can help this here team.

■ The Spies say the Dodgers' worries about third baseman Mike Blcwm are gettin' more-nmore serious every day (or every oh*fer. which usually is the sameThing). Benched at one point. Blowers is lookin' up at hittin* his weight, sufferin’ a serious power shortage and has almost half as many E’s as he committed all last season in Seattle. OK. Fh* gives up. where is Tim Wafiach these days?

■ Fly remembers (shaddup!) D-Iineman-tumed-Caddy to Big Dadd>’ Tim Kmnria suh-wearin' that Dan Vilkinsoo’d he a pet project he’d sculpt into a star in this here league. But Big Daddy went wee-wee-wee all the way home after coach Dare Shhla criticized WiQdnson’s condidoaing at minicamp, and Krumrie was huramin* a different tune: “He just has to take critidsm like he’s a professional" Yo. Mika Brown, what gives? "Ifs obvious he's a player with great potential, but we’re not interested in potential anymore."

■ Think Most Powerfnf Rape's got plans for The National Past-Its-Time? Hey-yo. forget about Rnth, Bekrig, Manna and.

Fly supposes, HHto. Says Fox Sports Prez Barid HIU; “lf anybody talks about any dead guys during a broadcast, FU sack ’em. Tm sick of de^ guys! Whenever I turn on baseball all I hear about is dead guys. If I hear a name. Tm gonna ask, ‘Is he dead?’ And if he is. you’re fired."

Dead men talking: Fox announcers air giving up their spirited approach in an attempt to keep up with the Joneses.

■ Fly hears No-guts Coach/G.M. Berole Bickerstafl may do a Reverse Dnnlaavy. Denver's been whisperin’ 'round this here league, lookin' for G.M. candidates, which means Berniell have to lose the slash if he wants to survive as coach.

■ The Cards say the 'Spos' Hank Rodriguez is a corker.

The Mets tread: catcher fiiairt Mayne) say he’s at the peek of his profession. Hank says. I ara not a crook, but Mets skip D alis &een teDs the Spies: “I think Mayne told him if he looked again he'd get one in the ear."

■ The Spies report Wile E. Walsh sightings at the Niners' minicamp. Just passin' through... for now. “Hell be on the field as we get into it more." Georgs Seifert says of the administrative assistant to the coachin' staff (wink. wink).

■ OK. toeem throws elbows like Denny’s slings Grand

Slam Breakfasts. Cap'n Karl and the Sonics aren't lellin' Fly anything new. He isn't a "dirty" player. Del Schrempf tells FK-. but "he thrown elbows with the best of them. I wouldn't say he's a choirboy." You can sing thai refrain again.

■ Let's see if Fly has this straight: The Awlers wanna leave Houston now. the dr>- wanLs to be guaranteed a franchise if it lets em outta the '5>trodome lease. Awlers veep Mike McCforo tells the Spies thai mayor Bob Lanier's "medicine neeris to be adjusted." Hams Count>' judge ^bert Eckeis tells FK'. "We may have a Super Bowl champion with nobody going to the games." Sing along with Fly The egos al night are big and bnght ■ No. no. no. you misunderstood what Mark McGwire said to the Bay .Area BufiVi Brigade, which questioned his dedication after cornin' out in the seventh frame of a win over the Indians, VV'harhe said was. "You all can kiss my .A's." ® -Here's today’s hiss-toe-ree lesson, kids: The (^neheatl goes on the I).I. because of an aneurysm in his shoulder Waaaacay back in the '60s. a f^instnpes ace underwent surgery because of numbness in his south paw. Whitey Ford suh-wears lo Fly that one doc told him that if he wasn't a lefty', he might've had a stroke on the hill.

(Hello. J,R. Richard, how're you doin' todayi=) ■ The Spies say Jlnmiy Cleamons is the only loser on this Bulls team. He's a top sealing in the NBA head-coaching hothouse. One problem: G.M. Jeny bas put a tick-a-kx k on Cleamons until the Bulls are outta these playoffs. l.essee. the FmaJs end about June 20. .

■ Yeah. yeah. Rick Pltino's mouth says, ‘ it s not up to me lo agree or disagree" with Antoine Walker's decision to turn pro. but his eyes (and Walker) say. "He tried real hard" lo talk this potential AllAmerican outta cornin' out Walker joins ex-'Cats Tony Oeik. Wafter M cC ^ and Mark Pope in the draft waiting pool but there s one diff between .Antoine and the others. NBA execs say: He's a top 12 pick and yer not. “You can count on it" Hawks veep Pete Babcock says.

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Commissioner David Stem recently announced that a women’s NBA will begin play next summer.

The men’s version certainly serves as a grand model for any league in its infancy, but here are a few ways the women’s league could have an edge on its older cousin: W aM the Kackhall. Brute, physical play definitely has a place in the game. Hopefully in the new league, it’s a smaD place. Using this style, you can win division titles (ask Pal Riley). You can win championships (ask Chuck Daly). You can also lose your teeth (ask A.C. Green), and your fans, in a hurry.

Pay attentifla to your

Hoop schengs: Stem (left) and Val Ackerman, vice president of business affairs for the NBA . can make a women s league work. slogans. Al last check, one of i insist on playing music during the action. Funny, the NBA's most publicized you'd think watching some messages was: “Stay in of the world's finest athletes school. It’s your best move."

Next month, no one will is entertaining enough. remember. .Apparently, some teams Can tho tunes, For reasons consider cheesy sv-ntbesizer music the perfect incomprehensible, some compleraenL The women's NBA teams continue to

Openers compiled by dob Mille. Leslie Gibson McCerttry. Carf Montz. Mark Shimabukuro and Larry Wigge

league would be wise to leave soundtracks to the movies.

Check the agents at Die door. If you hear the words “Usa Leslie" and "contract demands" together anytime soon, youll know it's time to start engraving the league's tombstone.

Wllilngty accept being role models. The players will need lo win fans and influence people. With that in mind, a few suggestions; I) Treat the referees the way you would like to be treated.

2) listen lo your coaches—they can actually improve your game.

3) Don't abandon your learn during a crucial stretch of the season to go waterskiing in .Arizona.

6 • OPENERS

The Sporting News

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Did you know ...Iff: Bot you th o u g h t th e only ice m ade in C alifornia Mas lur d rin k s at the* b ra c h W rong.

W hat about th e funny-looking re su rfac in g m achine you se e at hockey gam es?

That s right. F rank J. Zam boni invented the Zam boni m achine in P aram ount. Calif., in 1949 See? T h ere are roots to hockey deeply im bed ded in California H ere a r r so m e o th e r interesting tacts about the Zamboni;

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Qimtoues, you can’t uvu& fed yow togs. Sot I t t a flier hare to go, they go.”

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Ya gotta have heart T h e road com pany of th e stage play “D am n Yankees" closed its Cincinnati run last w eek, but not before J e r r y le w is got sn a shot.

F larin g th r role of the devilish M r .Applegate. le w is acco u n ted for th e th re e m o st-h ated people h e knows* "Attila th e Hun. t he M arq u is de s a d e and M arge Schott ’’

and a b ag of peanuts. But at least C u b b ies fans have a se n se of hum or. W itn e ss a sign see n d u rin g a re c e n t g a m e at W rigley; “W ho n e e d s th e B ulls? T h e C u b s win 70 e v e ry year."

th e U niversity of M a ssa c h u se tts M edical School, and statistician W e’re big fans of sister R obert Lew of th e B righam publication Popular Science. and W om en's Hospital— has and h e r e s why*: It explains im p o rtan t im plications for to u s w hy th e world is the m ajor leag u e baseball and May it is. right doM*n to o th e r sp o rts. b aseb all’s pen n an t races.

T he study co n clu d es that, In its Ju n e issue. Pop S n b ase d on re c o rd s of th e 1991 I re p o rts on a study, spavined to ’93 seaso n s. W est Coast 3 I by a lu n ch tim e conversation team s are h a rd e st hit by jet b etw een — h o n e st— two lag. How h a rd 5 A ib ert-B elle 5 : n eurologists, one a baseball vs.-the^Tigers-staff hard; I fan. the o th e r a jet-lag .After a W est C oast team e x p e rt. T h e stu d y — by travels c ro s s c o u n try , its M arge-inal: A nightmare for laM Tence R echt and William E astern h o sts sco re 1.24 Shoeless Joe bom Hannibal. Mo ru n s m o re than usual in th e SchM-artz. n eu ro lo g ists at

first two g a m e s of a series.

(E ast C oast te a m s a re n ’t sim ilarly penalized w hen they fly' w est—a finding c o n sisten t w ith previous stu d ies indicating that eastw ard travel is m o re physiologically taxing.)

O ne ru n in o n e g am e can spell th e d ifferen ce betw een playing in th e S eries and w atching it on TV. T he B raves beat out W est C oast rivals by one g am e in 1991 and ’93 to Min th e N .L W est title. T h e jet-lag effect. Recht n o tes, "m ight have given A tlanta th e ed g e."

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VOICES ’ 7

May 20.1996

And a big guy shall lead them ft/*

Dave

KINDRED

get it to the open m an.'"

Winch is what Dennis Scott.

O'Neal’s buddy and downtownshooting guard, likes so much about the great one.

“Being unselfish is his thing."

Scott says. “H ell burn you with passing if you double-down on . him. And he's not just trying to dunk anymore. He's got some moves down there."

Yes, astonishingly enough, the problem for NBA teams these days is not O'Neal’s size.

Everyone knows he's a mountain. The problem is this mountain can move. His dunks still outnum ber the little jum pers. But the little jum per is a real weapon, as is the baby hook put up gently over the pests nibbling at his ankles. .And th e re s even more than that. according to Horace Grant.

“Shaq used to have just a couple moves in the hole." says Grant, the veteran forward who helped the Bulls win three NBA cham pionships before moving to Orlando. “Now he's much more complete offensively.

T h e y say he worked all sum m er to get more moves, but that’s ridiculous. H e’s worked his entire career. He's unselfish, getting the ball out of doubleteams. and he com es to play hard every nig h t" It’s the playing hard every night that distinguishes cham pionship team s from mediocrities. “We’re doing that."

Grant says, “and we’ve matured over the past couple years.

We’re winning close gam es because no one is nervous at the end, and everyone wants to lake the important shots.

‘T o win it all. you have to work hard, play defense, have two superstars and the rest of the guys role players.”

So. do the Magic meet those requirem ents?

The poor Iii fool thought to put up a lefthanded driving hook.

M aybe eight feet from the basket, he went up—only to have the shot blocked way out there. It was blocked by Shaquille O 'N eal who only a step earlier had seem ed out of the play. But O'Neal is the quickest 7-1. 320pound man ever to tug on a pair of size-22 zebras.

(Zebras? Yes, zebras. Or at least they could be zebras.

T hey’re all stripes, black and white curling stripes, and they look big enough to run off by them selves into the veldt) .Anyway, as .Atlanta’s Christian Laettner reached full extension for his hook, here cam e O ’Neal.

Not only did he block the s h o t but he also caught it on the bounce off the floor. Poor Iii Laettner. only 6-11 and 235. fell to earth out of bounds, there left to look up at O'Neal, who was about UM big man: With O'Neal doing little things, big things and wondrous to stumble out of bounds himself. things, the Magic have a shot at beating the Buds and finishing on top.

W hen what does O'Neal do?

He already has done a wonder.

Now he does a better thing.

It Orlando w ins... an NBA championship, About to tilt over the end line with the ball in hand. O'Neal victory will come because Shaquille O’Neal instead hurls the thing against Laettner. still reclining out of does big things. But the little things help as bounds. W hich m akes it Or­ lando’s ball. well. They especially help because they are If Orlando wins its first East­ ern Conference cham pionship... symbolic of the way the big guy thinks. if it wins an NBA cham pionship... victory will com e because Shaquifle O’Neal does big things. But the little things help as well. They “Oh. yes." especially help because they are symbolic of the way the big guy Do the Magic do it as well as any other team you might have thinks. played for?

He thinks this way. As he tries with his right hand to hang a silver Smiling: “No comment." hoop in his left ear lobe. som eone asks if he agrees that the beaten Late in the .Atlanta game. O ’Neal caught the ball at the free-throw Hawks had played well. His answer. “N nnphh," is not so much an line. He would take two dribbles and go to the hole. Seeing no way rn answ er as an exhalation of disdain. Atlanta? Forget those pests. stop a mountain on the move. Laettner waited for O'Neal to touch him. fell backward and expressed anguish so loudly that it was Then, the earring in place. O'Neal says with his best cute-little-giant ignored by the referees, who know an act when they see one. smile. “Did you have a question? I couldn't hear without my earring."

Laettner confesses that O'Neal had been a sw eetheart on the W ell if m ere m ortals can be brushed away. what about the Bulls and Jordan? W hat about the Sonics? Is this the Magic’s time? Can drive. “Didn’t hit me hard at all." he says.

O’Neal even takes offense when som eone suggests that a 320O'Neal and his playmates win it all? Can they' make this their planet? pounder moving down the lane is reason for defenders to fall faint. .All of which com es out in one question, “Shaq. can you win it all?"

I “I don’t have to go through anybody." he says. “I can go around' Dead serious: “W e’re on a mission." he says, “it has to be done." them. Not through, around. Ive got agility. I’ve got a game. guys. I lf it is to be done, it will be done because O’Neal gets it done. Each know how to play." of the M agic’s starters can rum a gam e around. But O’Neal m ust be That he does, and soon enough the Olympic folks in Atlanta might the man when it m atters most. No other team has his equal. No team want lo reconsider a recent decision. A shoe company wanted to can beat Orlando if O ’Neal shapes a gam e to his liking. He is the best paint Shaquille O’Neal’s portrait on the side of a tall building. No. no. big man since Wilt Chamberlain in a sport made for big men. ne. the Olympic folks said, that would be a commercial for which "Once he starts backing in. if he gets into the paint, h e ’s so big we’re not being paid. The shoe folks argued that the portrait would you can’t keep him away from the bucket." Laettner says. “And the be art and thus exem pt from such earthly' concerns. closer you get to the bucket, the m ore success you’re going to have."

The more we see of O'Neal, the more it seem s the shoe people He allows himself a rueful smile. have it right. He is a work of art. ♦ •‘Abu have to trap him .” Laettner says, “but you can't trap him if D ave K indred is a contributing writer for The S p o r t in g Nkws. h e ’s going to read it. He's now telling everybody. ‘Double me. and 111

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8 •VOICES

The Sporting News I

Whose obligation?

If s a parent The health and safety of our children are the cornerstone of the country’s future \-V •^

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Clyde DREXLER

The score and more From baseball’s beatitudes to basketball's bad boy

As a m em ber of the Houston R o ck ets. I I en co u rag em en t they can have exp erien ced the ch a lle n g es of get. com peting and the exhilaration of winning an A ch ild 's learn in g skills NBA cham pionship. As a father. I have begin at hom e. As parents. exp erien ced the dem ands and. m ore i t s ou r jo b to provide im portant, the rew ards of being a parent. su p p o rt understanding and g u id an ce. It isn't all work: Both jo b s take com m itm ent and hard work.

However. I believe parenting is one of the i t s fun and rew arding, too.

M y wife and I enjoy m ost difficult jo b s any of us will ever have. spending a s m uch tim e as As an NBA player. I'm often asked to lend my support to a variety of program s and possible with our children. It cau ses. So m etim es i f s difficult to ch o o se, I doesn't m atter what we d o but when the issue is as critical as childread b o o k s, ride b ik e s or take w alks. T h e m ore tim e abu se prevention, you don’t have to ask twice we spend togeth er, the I c lo se r we b eco m e . A s a W h eth er you’re a professional basketball player or a fan. th is is a cau se everyon e can m om o r dad. it’s im portant to be involved in your child 's support. Sadly, the statistics are staggering: life W h eth er you help with la s t year alone, m ore than th ree million h om ew ork, play sp o rts or child ren w ere rep orted abused and start a new hobby together, neglected in the United States. E very day. tim e with you r ch ild ren is th ree children die as a result of m altreatm ent, many of them under the age rew arding for you and them . of I Clearly, we need to do m ore to help our B ein g a parent req u ire s a g re a t deal of w ork and young people. e ffo rt, day in and day out.

E ach of us has a responsibility to en su re a in c o n tro l: Responsibilities on the floor are one thing, but Drexler and so m etim e s it can safe and healthy hom e for all child ren. T h e re will tell you being responsible to your children is more important. b e co m e overw h elm in g . are many ways to help. F or m any y ears. Iv e D on’t b e afraid to ask for help from a friend, P lease take tim e out of your sch ed u le to provided support and assistan ce to a local n eig h b o r or family m em ber. chapter of the National C om m ittee to learn m ore about parenting and child-abuse Iv e been blessed with a beautiful family prevention. C hildren need m ore than food Prevent Child Abuse. T h is year. I’m glad to and sh e lte r—th e y need love and and am able to raise them in a positive serv e on a national level as spokesm an for en v iro n m en t I know how lucky I am; understanding, too. I com m it to do my part, the N B A s effo rts. T h e NBA h as been a however. I realize this isn ’t always the case. and I hope you l l join m e to help create a longtim e supporter of the NCPC.A as well.

E ach day. the NC PC A receiv es letters from world w here child abu se d o esn ’t e x is t T h e T og eth er, we hope to en cou rage parents to p arents who w orry about harm ing their future depends on i t ♦ build parenting skills early on to help child ren. As a r e s u lt th ere are children who Rockets guard Clyde Drexler is featured elim inate som e of the su ffering exp erien ced live in fear and lack the support and attention in a child-abuse prevention public-service by so m any young people. that is vital for survival. W hen I look at mv announcem ent that is airing throughout Today’s child ren stru g g le with m ore than • kids. I w onder how people could harm any the 1996 SBA playoffs an d Finals. just hom ew ork and peer p ressu re. T h ey F or more information on parenting child. I wish I could protect all ch ild ren , even m ust b e able to solve problem s, get along though I know I can't. But with your help, and child-abuse prevention, call with o th ers and e x p re ss th em selves. To I -800'55-SCPCA. to g eth er we can s t a r t su cceed , they need all the help and

The Joy of Keeping Score: How Scoring the Game H as Influenced and Enhanced the History of Baseball (By Paul D ickson.

117 pp. W alker and Company. $17.95). lf you are sco rin g at h om e, as K eith O lb erm an n is so fond of quoting form er P h illies an n o u n cer Bvrum saam . m ark this book down as an ex tra-b ase hit.

D ick so n . who h as previously con trib u ted two tine w orks to th e baseball canon (The Dickson Baseball Dictionary and •

Baseball's Greatest Quo­ tations) h a s done it again,

Steve GITSCHIER

alb eit on a sm aller scale.

T h is book is not onlv a # “how-to-do-it" prim er: it is also a celebration of the in tricacies of scoring, the infinite variety of sy m b o ls em ployed by th o se who put pencil (or pen) to sco re ca rd , the com m on langu age that tran scen d s individual scorin g sy stem s and. above all. the g y ro sco p ic pow er that sco rin g e x e rts . allowing us to k eep our m inds on the gam e. vendors and u sh ers and m ascots and wave-ites peculiarly insid iou s h e re sy ) be dam ned.

F or th o se u nfortu nates who have never learned how to keep sco re . D ickson provides the b a sics in his first chapter. In the second. he su g g e sts several advanced tech n iq u es for the accom p lished practitioner. T h e balance of the book is a paean to the art. an alphabetical array of history, trivia and arcana that is pure delight.

Reading this book m ade m e want lo am end it twice. F g st. in D ick so n ’s last ch ap ter rep rinting several sco re ca rd s of historic g a m e s. I would have added TSN

pu blisher Taylor Sp in k’s official sco recard of G am e Five of the 1920 World S e rie s w herein Bill W am bsgan ss pulled off his unassisted triple play.

Seco n d , when D ickson w rites about com p u ters. I would have included one of my own favorite scoring stories. It happened two y ears ago at T h e Ballpark in .Arlington when a nearby .

B (an balanced a laptop on a h is k n ees, determ ined to ‘ -• d em onstrate to all those around him the g en iu s of a sco rek eep in g program of his own devising. Su re enou gh, before the end of the gam e— and it wasn't even extra innings— his pow erpack ran down. forcing him to finish sco rin g on one of those cardboard contraptions designed to hold four b e e rs and a couple of hot dogs.

I Hit the Ball! Baseball Poem s for the Young. (By G en e Fehler. 120 pp. M cFarland

& Company. $15.95).

I have been reading th e se poem s to the fifth-grade athlete in our house, and I think she a g re e s with me that G ene F e h le r is the Sh el Silverstein of baseball. His poem s are w ritten for the young— of w hatever age— and are a w onderful excu rsion* into beauty.

9 whimsy, fantasy and m em ory, all the traits that unite the g en eration s in love o f baseball.

T h e se p oem s are so w ond erfu l, in (a a . that they not only will attract poetry lovers to baseball, but they will also attract baseball fans to poetry. Now that's art. H ere s a short one called "F ast Ball" to whet your appetite:

T h e fast ball co m es; I swing.

I blink.

It went right through mv bat.

I think.

Bad a s I W anna Be (By D ennis Rodman with T im Keow n. 259 pp. D elaco rte P ress. $22.95).

P erh ap s it is the photograph of D en n is Rodm an sitting nude and backward o n A M OTORCYCLE, a basketball oh so cleverly co n ce a lin g h is c ro tc h , I that is supposed to m ake us t a k e t h i s b o o k Y SERIOUSLY. M aybe it is th e photo on the b ack of the book.

Rodm an with yellow hair. butt-naked and holding two basketballs aloft, that is supposed to m ake us think he has som eth in g WORTHWHILE TO

lEWOT

SAY. Ju st p erch an ce it is the b o o k ’s la y o u t, w ords on every page p r in t e d in v a r ie g a t e d F O N T S d fld StZBS, that is d esigned to con vin ce us that the w ords th em selv es h av e MERIT a n d a r e w o r t h o u r TIME a n d MOSEY Not a ch an ce. ♦ Steve Gtetschier is archivist o f TMK S k i r t i n g N k w s H is

tsnspg'&aol. com.

e-m ail address is

VOICES • 9

May 20.1996

VOICE OFTHE FAN No way out

‘ Everybody knows the Bulls’ biggest weakness is at center, and Sam Smith points out how that can be taken advantage of.

Hello! Hasn’t that already been tried?’

Gender equity I am offended bvrn S h aun Powell'sc o m m e n ts on the N B A s attem pt to start a w o m en's basketball league (TSN. May hi Specifically, his statem en t co n c ern in g “chauvinistic. beer-swilling. get-a-life males."

Isn't that a stereotype. M r Powell5 T h e fact is. I and manv* of mv• friends find w om en's basketball enjoyable to watch. But if given ; th e choice betw een a m an 's g am e and a w o m a n s gam e. I would watch th e m an's . gam e b ec au se it is faster paced and the players are m o re talented. That is fact. But it d oes not m ak e my friends and I “chauvinistic, b ee r swilling, get-a-life males."

It's about time we had a w om en 's league.

Tony A llen G roton. Conn. tallen-2Q w ow .com

S a n tia g o M onge B a ltim o re

criticizes M agic tor wanting th e ball so he can help his team win. He has never d em an d ed m ore m inutes, or focused on stats, like today's player. Magic, like all the great ones, w ants lo be able to m ake an im pact in the waning m om ents. He lives for winning. Literally. To slam him for it while glorifying Bird and Jo rd an for the sam e trait is patently unfair

H ale A. A ntica Canoga Park. Calif. haanticoW w estw orld.com • Dave K indred's M ay 6 colum n should be req u ired reading for all junior high, high school and college players, co a c h e s and parents. His colum n tells us what is w rong with s p o rts today. P reparation in life, as well as preparation in sports, m ean s always being in the gam e.

Steve Carrat) Joliet. III.

Deepintnenearta Yo. Fly. Let's recognize the Texas “S tR angers" o utstan ding defense over the first m onth of the se a so n — defense is alm ost u n h e a rd of in Texas.

w elcom ed the Seahaw ks to L A if Ken B ehring wanted to move his {earn to M ontana, the result would have been the sam e as all the o th e r team s ;ha! w anted rn relocate since 19H2.

I am happy Seattle sjjjj na* a team .Alter Cleveland got screw ed first by Moduli, then by the N F L I didn't want to v t - a n o th e r cit) suffer But to credit Tagiiabu** and th e NFL for this— I don't think so

A la n K. M ichaels M ilw a u kee

Parting Schotts It is bad en o u g h M arge Schott has to own the Reds, and thereby give Cincinnati unw anted media attention every time she op en s h er m outh, but now she co n tin u es to co m m en t on infam ous world lead ers Give us a1! a break and sell the team M arge We are tired of y our act! Let Cincinnati bt- led by so m eo n e with baseball know ledge

Tony Carlfeldt , C in cin n a ti tnnycnJS o.qo I com

Liz Brow n Purcell. Okla.

T h e iatest idiotic com m en t* from M arg e Nchott have pro m pted m e to finally write to TSN to air my opinions.

Praising Hitler and saying h e was g o o d 5 1* thi* wom an n u ts 5 She ;* a disgrace, not only to our national pastim e, bul to the h u m an race- in gen eral T h e re ; n no con text in which one could, or

Fly. instead of ridiculing Cub fans, why don't vou com e to the F n en d lv Confines and kick back a Bud with Harry?

9

9

M eg D ru m m e r A tla n ta

Whoa, Chetty Fighting spirit I once re m e m b e r saying that one of the best p a rts of th e Stanley Cup ex p erien ce was in the high quality- of the officiating. On May 4.

I w atched two g a m e s with blood and bodies ai] over th e ice with apparent indifference from the referees. As Larry W igg e su g g ests (TSN. .April 29). m aybe th e g am e is getting "out of h an d " for only one pair of ey e s (and o n e view of th e gam e) to call. O th e r sp o rts, su c h as basketball, have c h a n g e d to adapt to th e skill of the athletes and speed of the game.

Similar ch a n g es are past due in the N H L

D a v id B racken E den P rairie. M inn. dw brackenQ aol. com I ag ree with L arry W ig g e d c o m m e n ts that m indless, intentional violence against the g a m e 's g re a ts is un necessary. But I also believe that we would have less stick penalties and c h e a p sh o ts if th e NHL and its re fe re e s would just let the tou gh gu y s d rop th e gloves w hen appropriate. .Anybody who th in k s fighting h u r ts th e g a m e 's appeal is wrong. T ake it from sc re am in g fans in every a re n a in N o rth .America. A heavyw eight battle is ju st as m uch fun as scoring, passing and great goaltending.

C a ry S ch em n itze r Clearwater. Fla.

Grand Funk I enjoyed M ike D eC ourcy's colum n that stated St. J o h n 's g u a rd Felipe Lopez was the Funk of th e Year (TSN. .April 15). Well, just w atch new coach Fran Fraschilla tu rn Felipe into next se a so n 's player of th e year. .Also. w atch th e Red Storm im prove by advancing to the Final F our and Fraschilla w inning coach of th e y ea r

Red Fi na rn ore F ast L ansing. M ick.

; • . !

I loved Larry W ig g e d sto ry on C hris C helios (TSN. M av# 6). He really• is a su p e rsta r C hicago should be proud of. He totally exem plifies the city's blue-collar persona.

My only com plaint is that you failed to m ention CheHy played with a c r a c k e d /b ro k e n ankle du rin g last season's playoffs. W hen ask ed why he did not tell the c o a c h e s or sit out a gam e, h e answ ered so m eth in g like “th is is th e playoffs and you do w hatev er it takes to win."

D a n iel S ch w a rtz Chicago lU hyp2Q aol.com

: Choke hold i ; ‘ I I :

Dave K indred zings M agic for being inconsistent, for b eing sick of selfish players th en wanting to take control of a g am e after having his role sudd enly c h a n g ed (TSN. M ay 6). But it is Dave him self w ho isn't b eing consistent. .After praising Bird for “always w anting to m ake the last snot." and lauding Jo rd an for “taking th e sh o t that m eant th e m ost." he

CWHCiVOICE ‘EmmittSmith’s going back to school and graduating is to bdcommended. mate up for the Michael Irvinsand Dennis Rodmans Of the sports worid.’

Mark Talbot Denton, Tex.

Master of defense: Some say there s no defense for the way Chelios acts on the ice. but. in reality, his workmanlike effort is the persona o f Chicago

Crispy critter I was a little su rp rised to read L arry W igge's NHL re p o rt (TSN. May 6) and discover that the C algary F lam es play their g a m e s in a paper bag and not the S addledom e as I had originally thought.

T h at m ust have been what W igge was implying w hen he said T e r ry C risp “couldn'i coach (his) way out of a paper bag." You see.

Crisp won a Stanley Cup with the F lam es in 1989. and re m a in s one of only four active co a ch es in th e NHL who h a s won a cup.

W igge then says on the Insider page that the Lightning “may not have as m u c h .talent as so m e team s." Now I haven't been covering the NHL since 1969. but p erh ap s the lack of talent had so m eth in g to do with th e Flyers elim inating th e Lightning. I would even go fu rth e r and su g g e st that o n e of the main re a so n s the o v erm a tc h ed Lightning took the serie s to six g a m e s was Crisp's abilities.

s h o u ld , p r a is e H itler, vet s h e trie d *

M arge Schott i* classless and should be perm anently rem oved from baseball H er dog is m ore h u m an e than she is

Ma no K au E dison. .V J m a n o -k a tzo .m e rrk com

Do the time It is time we stop feeling had for th ese ath letes who are caught doing d ru g s. In today's society, we would not su p p o rt a person b eing caught in a motel ro o m doing cocaine. Yet we back off on M ichael Irvin and Bam M o rris w hen they are c a u g h t with d r u g s (t is time to m ake an exam ple out of th ese two high-profile players. No m o re siap on th e wrist. Let th em do time

E d w a rd M arquez P rovidence. R I edcvberrtaol rom

B rian Hodgetl A rlin g to n , la. beh agm abrancis.com

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No credit due I wish so m eo n e would please inform Bob Glauber, t h a t t h e NFL d e s e rv e s no cred it in k ee p in g th e S eahaw ks in Seattle. He has w ritten n u m e ro u s tim es this offseason how Paul T agliabue h a s done a w onderful job in retaining th e Pacific N o rth w e st's only franchise. T h e fact of the m atter is if s o u th e rn California w eren't such a lucrative m arket. T ags would have just stood by and

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10 • BASEBALL

The Sporting News

There used to be no solution to a dead arm technology has thrown a curve at some of life’s most disabling injuries and given pitchers a chance to climb back to the top of the mountain

says. T h ereafter, h e felt an u n re le n tin g avid alkner th ro b b in g in his arm . P u lsip h e r re c e n t­ ly u n d e rw e n t u ln ar-n erv e elbow re c o n ­ ret S a b e rh a g e n re ­ stru c tio n — th e “T o m m y Jo h n " o p e ra ­ m e m b e rs th e pain tion. He will be out for at least a year. feeling tike ‘'a bottle Years ago. th e se p itc h e rs w ould have b re a k in g in sid e my been finished. T h e idea that th e re could a rm ." H e h ad pitched have b ee n recovery' from su ch injuries th e day b efo re in At­ w as u n th in k a b le . P itc h e rs p itch ed lanta last A ugust, had th ro u g h pain or m ad e th e m se lv e s will­ g o n e seven in n in g s ing g u in e a pigs for s u rg e ry th at in all and given up two ru n s. T hat night the likelihood w ould not have w orked. O r team flew on to C incinnati, and w hen they quit pitching.

S a b e rh a g e n w ent out to w arm u p th e “Sm oky Jo e " W ood. th e fo rm e r Red next day. th e explosion in his arm was Sox p itch er in th e early p art of th e cen ­ trig g ere d by th e first light w arm up to ss tury. blew out his g re a t arm o n e y ea r he took. Today he is on the brink of ca­ and. becau se h e could not face th e idea re er-th re aten in g sh o u ld er surgery. of giving up the sport h e loved, sw itched Jim m y Key re m e m b e rs th e pain he po sitio n s in o rd e r to k ee p playing. He tell in his third start last season. .And b e­ finished his c a re e r as an o u tfield er for c a u se h e had b ee n th ro u g h arm th e Indians. T ex H u g h so n , a Red Sox s u rg e ry b efo re, h e k n ew th e pain was p itch er in th e '40s. injured his sh o u ld er special. It w as not th e usual p itc h e r's but co n tin u ed to pitch for several s e a ­ stiffn ess that can be loosened by th ro w ­ sons. T h e first tim e h e h ea rd th e term ing. R ather it w as sh arp , defined pain. “rotator c u f f years later, he laughed. He ru n n in g from th e s h o u ld e r dow n said h e th o u g h t so m eo n e w as referrin g th ro u g h th e arm it w as su d d e n and to a F ren c h sh irt. “I had no idea I w as gripping. Key is pitching again, com ing pitching w ith t h a t " h e said. Sandy Koback from m ajor sh o u ld e r su rg ery . ufax. facing th e p ro sp ec t of m ajor and Bill P ulsipher, a M ets p h en o m . says ex p erim en tal su rg e ry th at m ig h t leave his arm p ro b le m s b eg an at th e end of i him crippled, c h o se instead to re tire af­ last se a so n w ith fatigue ra th e r that}* ter going 27-9 in 1966. pain. H e re m e m b e rs a g am e against the B eg in n in g in th e 1970s. how ever.

E x p o s w hen h e sim ply w as u n ab le to th e re w*as a revolution in the a rt of or­ p o w er th e ball to th e plate. T h is spring. th o p ed ic su rg ery . .A rthroscopy w as in­ in an exhibition gam e, he broke off “one tro d u ced . m aking it possible to o p erate of th e b est curvebaJls I ev e r threw ." he on delicate joint a re a s of the body such

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as th e sh o u ld er, elbow an d k n e e w ith­ out having to cut th ro u g h large sections of m u scle, ca rtilag e and ligam ents. And w ith th at revolution a revelation in the n a tu re of reco v ery from athletic injuries re su lte d — injuries th a t fo rm erly would have e n d e d a th le tic c a re e rs su d d en ly b ecam e dim b u t b ec k o n in g lig h ts at the en d of d ark and v ery m iserab le tunnels.

H ad a rth ro sc o p y b ee n aro u n d then.

“S m oky Jo e " m ig h t have g o n e on to be th e b e st ever. Koufax m ight have tak en th e tw ang out o f so m e of N olan R y a n s strik eo u t n u m b ers. But th is seco n d life for p itc h e rs also spaw ned a n o th e r kind of e x iste n c e , played out in a tw ilight zone of d o c to rs' offices, re h a b clinics and w eight room s. P itc h e rs today who face c a re e r-th re a te n in g arm injuries walk a tig h tro p e ra th e r th an a scaffold.

T h ey have th e c h a n c e to re su m e th eir c a re e rs. But ju st b e c a u se of th a t u n c e r­ tain p ro m ise, th e p ro c e s s of re c o v e ry h a s b e c o m e a special te stin g g ro u n d , d e m a n d in g re s e r v e s of c h a ra c te r and co u rag e far beyond th e playing field.

Ju st w hat d o es it take for a p itc h e r to m ak e it all th e way back? T h e an sw ers a re as individual a s th e p itc h e rs, as h au n tin g as th e injuries they en d u re.

T h e re a re m any types of arm injuries.

A larg e n u m b e r can be h ealed w ithout su rg e ry . O f th o se m in o r in ju ries in w hich cu ttin g is re q u ire d — su ch as the shaving of rag g ed tissu e o r th e cleaning out of tiny bone fragm ents— reco v ery is virtually ce rtain . P lay ers can re tu rn to action w ithin w eek s, so m e tim e s days.

But th e re a re th re e m ajor s u rg e rie s in w hich re co v ery re m a in s iffy.

T h e m ost widely publicized injury— and su rg e ry — involves the ro tato r cuff.

T h e cuff is a sh e a th of m uscle tendon su rro u n d in g the sh oulder jo in t acting as a kind of fine tu n er for the sm ooth m esh ­ ing of u p p er arm and sh o u ld er bones in the m otion of throw ing. W hen th e cuff is to rn , even partially, th e m esh in g becom es a clashing of gears. S trength and fluidity a re lo s t Loss of stren g th m eans loss of velocity, loss of fluidity m eans loss of c o n tro l Even with surgery, th e re is no g u aran tee a player will regain the range of m otion h e had before his injury. W ith­ out th at ran g e, p itc h e rs will sh o rt-arm the ball, throw ing with red u ced power.

M ajor elbow su rg e ry , th e T om m y Jo h n operation, is reco n stru ctiv e and in­ volves collateral ligam ent and n erv e re ­ p lace m e n t w h ere th e d e stro y e d or frayed p o rtio n of co n n ectiv e elbow tis­ su e is grafted back with tissu e from oth­ e r a re a s of th e body. T h e su rg e ry h a s a far b e tte r c h a n c e of su c c e ss today than it did w hen it w as p e rfo rm e d on Jo h n in S ep tem b er 1974— prim arily b e c a u se of

th e advance in arth ro sco p ic techniques.

B ut th e d a n g e r is th at th e g raftin g will n o t h o ld am id c o n tin u e d p re s s u re on th e elbow, often lead in g to reinjury.

T h e th ird and least-p erfo rm ed m ajor a rm s u rg e r y is on th e c a p su le of th e sh o u ld er, b e h in d th e ro ta to r cuff. T h e ca p su le a tta c h e s th ro u g h a th ic k e n e d lay er of ca rtilag e to th e cu p p ed portion of th e sh o u ld e r b o n e. T h e in freq u en cy of th e s u rg e ry is n o t b e c a u se injuries to th e ca p su le a re ra re , b u t b e c a u s e th e p ro g n o sis fo r re c o v e ry is so poor. Even m o re th an th e ro ta to r cuff, th e capsule is th e a r m s fine tuner, essen tial for con­ trol. P itc h e rs facing c a p s u la r s u rg e r y a re on th e v erg e of a c a re e r ch an g e.

C u rre n tly , th e g a m e 's p re e m in e n t a rm d o c to r is Dr. J a m e s A n d rew s of B irm in g h am , Ala. .Andrews is th e m ed­ ical d ire c to r of th e A m erican S p o rts M ed icin e In stitu te , an d h is celeb rity clien t list re a d s like th e s p o rts w orld’s version of th e sidew alk in front of Graum a n n ’s C h in e se T h e a te r. P itc h e rs he h a s helloed in clu d e R o g er C lem en s.

Jo se Rijo, P ete H a rn isc h , K enny R o g ers, K ey an d P u lsip h er. .Andrews. w ho is quick to cred it Dr. F ran k Jo b e as th e F o u n d in g F a th e r in th e se arm s u rg ­ eries. s tre s s e s th at th e physical p a rt of w hat a player is up against after su rg e ry is b u t a fraction of th e recovery- process.

“W h a t w e're really talk in g about h ere." .Andrews says. “is m ind over m at­ ter. W e're talking about six m o n th s to a y ear and even lo n g e r in reco v ery , and a player h a s to p re p a re for that m entally even m o re th an w hat h e h as had to en­ d u re physically'. Surgery' is ju st th e first step in a long journey."

'h a t is th e jo u rn ey all about, who a re th e trav elers, w hat do they have to tell fans and ev en th o s e w ho m ay have; no in terest w h atev er in baseball? lf th e re is one player in th e g am e who se ts a stan d ard for w hat it tak es to com e back from m ajor arm su rg e ry , it is th e Indians' O rel H ersh iser. H e rsh ise r w ent down with th e m ost u n reco v erab le of in­ ju ries. a to rn cap su le alo n g with a to rn ro ta to r cuff. He u n d e rw e n t s u rg e ry in 1990. w h en h e w as w ith th e D o d g ers.

D octors prom ised him n o th in g but told him th a t i f h e m ad e it b ack , it w ould tak e up to tw o y ears.

H e did it by a w illingness to com m it to reh ab ilitatio n in th e sa m e w*ay h e w ould h av e c o m m itte d to a se a so n of pitching. “I w as in th e m iddle y ea r of a th ree-y ear co n tract." h e says. “I w as be­ ing paid to pitch, but I c o u ld n 't b ecau se of m edical re a s o n s . So I felt d riv en to

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May 20,1996

iLLUSntATlON FOR TSN

BTr' KEVIN

B elford

12 • BASEBALL

The Sporting News

gt*5 back on (h r m ound as soon as possible ” H erxhiser’s effo rts cam e close to glam oriz­ ing tho gruelling but by now routine reg im en of physical th e ra p y that p itc h e rs u n d e rg o -But. In younger pitchers, Throughout, th e m ost rig o r­ o us and d em an d in g part for particularly, there is likely to him w as m ental. To get th ro u g h it.

H e rs h is e r be a strong streak of denial learned to set tiny goals tor in dealing with the high and him self. T he sm allest acc o m p l e m e n t s — raising and frightening mountain range low ering an a rm without of injury and recovery. help. lifting a half-pound w e ig h t— w ere e n o u g h to "fit ** keep him going H ershiser was a model also because h e nev­ e r shied from looking at th e emotional side of SeSfe-’-/ what h e was going through. .Again and again. he was beset by te rro rs that the s u rg e ry had tailed, that each setback w as like taking two. th re e , four step s backw ard for each step for­ ward Each goal h e achieved, h e says, •‘was like scaling a m ountain— only to see a steeper one ahead " In the end. none of that mattered. What got him through w as discovering that he had the willingness to go on. simply not to quit.

H e rs h is e r had logged l l years, a world c h a m p io n sh ip and n u m e ro u s re c o rd s w hen Armed but not dangerous; One o f the brightest prospects in the game last summer. Pulsipher is his injury hit. For y ou n g er pitchers, w hose ca­ confident medical innovations u-iil help him somehow regain the potential of a 20-game winner. re e rs are still ahead, th ere really is no experi­ ence to g u id e them Each is a pioneer m aking again, h e w as not so sure. “T h e y told m e the hit not like an explosion but like a slow leak in - ! s u rg e ry w asn't as m ajor as I was m aking it out a first journey. Tile idea of life without major a g a s tank. "I had som e pain for som e time. league baseball, the d re a m that had been so to be. but n e e d le s s to say y o u r a rm after h e says, “but one day in spring training. I was surger}- is n ev e r th e sam e. It still h u r ts to this near. sta re s each in th e face like a stadium he ( r u n g to pitch and I couldn't get th e ball to the som ehow never got to. day." he says. “So right then w hen I was going plate or even hold the ball in my hand." th ro u g h re h ab , e v e ry th in g felt exactly like it Pele N 'h o u re k oi th e Reds w as 19. a m inor He w as out for a full year, and th o u g h he did before. I w orried that I’d never pitch again leaguer in the Stets system , when he u n d e r­ had been a s s u re d that his s u r g e r y was suethat I‘d never be able to play again, that I’d new . went ulnar-nerve s u rg e r y in 19SS H ie injury cessful and that h e would be able to pitch -

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therapist. Pat Screnar, sat in on the surgery. While a halfdollar-sized opening was made in Hershiser's arm, Screnar saw each of the exposed parts of Hershteer’s mutilated The unlikely but still lum inous journey of Orel Hershiser shoulder joint. He read off to Jobe the exact range began during spring training in 1990. when he discovered measurements the team had taken and as the surgeon he could not throw a fastball. He could uncork it. but it left spliced, cut and attached tissue to tissue. Hershiser’s arm him feeling that he needed to wait another four or five was lifted and rotated so the precise degrees of range were pitches before trying again. He thought he had a dead arm. sculpted into the rebuilt shoulder. The reason capsular When there was no improvement, he went to the hospital surgery so often fails is because degrees of measurement are so crucial. Several degrees too loose, no control; a few for tests The tests turned up a devastating picture of a degrees of tightness, no fastball. shattered capsule and tom rotator Following the surgery, Hershiser cuff He will never forget the moment faced a two-year rehab program. His when he got the M R I results. arm was placed in a space-aged, “M y wife and I went down to Dr. upright cast, braced at the hip, (Frank) Jobe's office, aqd we waited pushing his wing out laterally to near there tor som e time.” he says. “I the height of his shoulder. The idea guess he was talking to different IP! was to minimize the buildup of scar technical people for a while, 9 tissue. Three rimes a day in those first evaluating the M B I. and then he just weeks, the arm was removed from the turned from his desk back toward us cast and, as if he were a helpless baby, and he said. T m sorry. I’m sorry.' therapists gently helped him lower and * 1 What I understood, what was ’2 k raise the limb. The pain, Hershiser explained to me. was that the whole says, was unimaginable. front of my shoulder was pretty “lf I had a dollar for every time I told much gone ... there w as no structure, Pat Screnar and Dr. Jobe that the0 the rotator cuff had tears and KH surgery didn’t work, I could boy a because of the lack of structure, the baseball team.” H ershisersays. “It's femoral head of the shoulder started floating around S o I think the reason 3 unbelievable how much pain there is, and it's all so lonely because you're the he said T m sorry' is because no big one feeling the pain and everyone else league pitcher had ever come back is telling you yo u ’re going to make it from that type of surgery.” and they’re trying to motivate you to The news was crushing. Hershiser come back.” says he and his wife “cried and Shouldering the load: Hershiser threw Hershiser got his arm back like a prayed a lot ” The future was a blank a curve at the doctors'prediction. baby learning to walk, crawling first, wall. But when he decided to go staggering second, walking last— and ahead with the surgery and take his frequently falling on his face. He recalled the moment he chances, he had the double good fortune of having Jobe again picked up a baseball. It was against the advice of his operate and being in the D odgers' organization. Over the trainer, who let him go ahead only to teach him a lesson. years, the team had routinely taken baseline range-ofHershiser threw softly several times into a net 6 feet away. motion measurements on all its healthy pitchers— just in The following day. the pain was intense. case This turned out to be the case The D odgers' physical

Risk and reward

e r m ake it to th e m ajor leagues.

S chourek tells him self that he always could have g o n e back to college if th e s u rg e ry had failed. But h e adm its h e did not know what he would have done with his life had he not m ade it back. “If th e injury hit today. OK. I v e saved a little money. I ve had som e good years, but at 18 o r 19. w ho know s?’* Pulsipher, facing th e sa m e so rt of s u rg e ry as S chourek. looked wide-eyed w hen h e con­ tem plated life beyond the majors. “I think I d be a bum; I have no idea what rd do." h e said.

In y o u n g e r p itch ers, particularly, th e r e is likely to be a stro ng streak of denial in dealing with the high and frightening m ountain range of injury and recovery. P u lsip h e r only can im ag ine co m in g back stro n g e r, b e tte r than ever. But he has not yet begu n rehabilitation. a p ro c e ss in w hich h e surely will experience th e illusion of going two step s backw ard for ea c h ste p forw ard. ‘T m 22 y e a rs old and hopefully I now have an arm that will give m e an o th e r 22 years." h e says, confidently, stand­ ing at h is locker, soaking in th e am biance of team and team m ates in th e days im m ediately following his surgery. He w ants to g et the sto­ ry out. wants to h e a r friends, team m ates, even r e p o r te r s e c h o back to him th e c e rta in ty of his own u n ce rtain certitu de. Injury is just an­ o th e r part of baseball, "and with th e m edical scien c e they have." h e says. “th e y do have g u y s co m in g back from injuries a g a in and again. ... I’m young, and b ec au se m y body is still v ery young, it can heal v ery quickly. I'm just v ery lucky that m edical science is so far advan ced they can put th e elbow back to­ g e th e r again and give m e a n o th e r c h a n c e .”

Pulsipher has gained streng th from his surgeon. his rehab people, from o th er pitchers—

W hen he finally began throwing, he was almost a year ahead of schedule. He threw first in simulated games, then in extended spring training, finally with the big team. None of it was “pretty,” Hershiser says. Adrenaline was absent in the simulated games, pain w as the constant in real games. Even when he made it b a c k , the pain of throwing was so searing, any sense of accomplishment was m issing. On the mound, he says. he hurt so much he had to fight back tears. Between innings he withdrew to a com er of the empty clubhouse and broke down.

And then, aside from the pain, there w as the question of effectiveness. When he finally faced live hitting, Hershiser knew he would have to let go, to risk the surgery by airing out rather than holding back. Another mountain to scale— with another peak in the distance.

When he let go, throwing as hard a s he could, he discovered that he w as unable to get the baseball down below the level of a batter’s thighs. To be effective at the major league level a pitcher had to be able to deliver the ball “with action” at knee level. Hershiser did not have the strength to hold on to the ball long enough in his delivery.

His fastball w as 5-7 mph, slower, his breaking bal! had no bite. And through that first year, he did not know if he would regain enough arm strength.

In the end it took a full two years— Dr. Jobe’s original timetable— before the pain lifted and the baseball came down. Hershiser sa y s his long ordeal made him realize som e very basic things about himself: that he w as willing to work hard every day with no sense that it was ever going to pay off; that he could get past the desire to give up, which often w as stronger than the desire to continue; that taking risks and being willing to lose was at the heart of his competitive makeup— and his much publicized faith.

“The game for me is facing risk on a daily basis.” he says, “there's something alm ost mystical about having an T or a ‘W ’ next to what you do every day. Whatever I do in life. I want to have that sense of risk. I keep hearing the voices of people who have retired, who say that the only thing they m iss is the camaraderie of a bunch of guys having that risk every day. I don't want that to go out cf my life.” +

— David F w c ra

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such as Rijo. who had similar su rgery. Pul­ sipher has faith— but it is in the power of sci­ ence. not in himself. The word “fear” has not bubbled up to the surface of consciousness.

H arnisch. Pulsipher’s 29-year-old team ­ m ate. is com ing back from August shoulder su rg ery The su rg ery was to repair a tear in the labrum . which is the attachm ent of the capsule to the bone, lf he is aware of the seri­ ousn ess of his su rgery, he does not let on. He has gone through hell— and survived. .And as far as he is concerned, that is enough. Midway through his recovery, he was diagnosed with Lym e disease, a potentially crippling disease of the joints. He rem em b ers that he was so sick he could barely move. W eeks of rehab that had enabled him to raise his arm just to shoulder height w ere wiped o u t 'T h en I had to start all over again." he says. “range of m otion, the whole thing, so my tim etable was never an a ccu ra te one for a healthy # reh ab .”

Though he is pitching again, he h as been struggling. His velocity and placem ent still aren't there. He has been ham m ered in sever­ al starts this season. He believes it is just from starting late, always a problem com ing out of spring, he says, lf he is afraid, again, he has learned to mask it. T h e peculiar, invisible line dividing an athletic ca re e r on one side and re­ tirem ent in the prim e of life on the o th e r— som ething young people in other fields rarely have to face— rem ains unacknow ledged by H arnisch. Mi don’t think of anything beyond what I’m doing now." he says. “W hen I say I put a1) this behind m e. I don’t think t h e r e s anything to deal with anym ore. I think the re­ hab is what y o u deal with."

But when he thinks o f Pulsipher, he can im agine all the doubts and fears— becau se Pulsipher has not yet experienced rehab. “He ain't gone through nothing yet: all that he's gone throu gh , mentally, was leading up to surgery- He ain’t even close," H arnisch says.

“H e's a young guy. and h e's probably con ­ cern ed with will he ever pitch again. Tm sure that ru ns through his head." .As for himself, no questions, no doubts. “I think Pm all the way back. Now its like a nor­ mal. regular season. T h at’s w here I'm a t "

B A S E B A L L

about life on the other side of the line. “ I did think a little about what I might do.

B ecau se I love the gam e. I thought I’d want to stay in it in som e capacity, but I didn’t think riously about it b ecau se I knew I wanted lo play. You can ’t replace that feeling when you’re out on the field.” he says. “T h e r e is nothing like that. I ve talked to so many people who've retired, who’ve put on the coat and tie. they all tell you. <ure you can go 9 to 5. but you just ca n ’t replace that feeling you get when you’re in the middle of it. So you want to hold on and

give yourself every opportunity to enjoy it for as long as you can ."

That meant rehab— m onths and m onths in H arnisch’s hell.

Key. though, did not have infernal thoughts about what he had to do. In the sam e cool and m easured m anner that he had used in getting out hitters, he w e lte d his body. "I looked at it like a ch allen g e.” he says "W e have a prob­ lem. what do we do to fix the problem 5 OK. surgery. Now what do I have to do to get back?

I was given a program ; I had to do this and this

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and th is and so I th e n f o c u s e d on th at, o n e lit­ tle s te p at a Ume " Having long a g o l e a r n e d that a s a p i t c h e r h e did not h a v e th e p o w e r in his a r m that o t h ­ e r s h a d. that h e would h a v e to e a r n his way by a c c e p t i n g l e s s r a t h e r than m o r e a n d th e n l e a r n i n g to p e r f e c t it. h e had in s o m e way prtpared for th e o r d e a l h e fa ced F o r two w e e k follow ing s u r g e r y , h e s a y s . h e co u ld not e v e n r a ise h i s a r m to th e level of his s h o u l d e r Key says his body helped b e c a u s e his s h o u l ­ d e r joint was naturally l o o s e and. h e n c e , had

T

he pitcher ev e ry o n e is w atching is Key. who underw ent m ajor rotatorcuff surgery' t o season and is back in the Y ankees' rotation m onths ahead of schedule. At 35. he is in his 13th bigleague season. Surgery' is nothing new. He has had th ree other rounds with the knife— in ’88. ’89 and *94— but none was career-threatening until this one.

Key w as not an obvious candidate for the kind of shoulder trouble he developed. His m ech an ics always have been im peccable.

W hen he threw, he seemingly' put little pressure on his arm . But over the years, wear and tear becam e som ething else. In ’88 and ’89. a bone spur began to cause trouble. T h e place­ ment of a spur was a fluke. It was so situated th at it grated against the rotator cuff, eventu­ ally working a tear in the tissue. T h e spur was rem oved and the partial tear in the cuff was shaved down— but the shoulder, especially the rotator cuff, had been weakened.

T h e injury last season was a far m ore e x ­ tensive tear of the cuff, one that required, for the first time, cutting and stitching and hence the possibility that full range and strength might not be restored Key understood the gravity of his situation from the start. His doctor. .Andrews, was as straight with him. Key knew he might not m ake it back— and he was som ew hat sur­ prised by the blank he drew when he thought

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14 • BASEBALL

The Sporting News

always allowed him exceptional range of mo­ tion. After w eeks of stretching, he began work­ ing with very light w eights, less than a halfpound. then a half-pound, a pound, “building up to the point where you can work on the Cvbex machine, which is the best thing you can use to keep your m uscles strong around the cuff.”

From July to Decem ber, the program contin­ ued. He had not yet reached the point where he could even think of playing catch.

W hen Key talks about w-hat h e went through, he d oes not mention pain. Its a giv­ en. The real problem is boredom — and the w illingness lo stay with small goals.

“I think I have a good temperament for that : sort of thing." he says. T m just not a real em o­ tional. get-frustrated type. My arm had to do certain things. I tried to get out of the way so it could happen. I kept doing the exercises, but because they were so boring I would just try to think of other things, other problem s that I had.”

Bob Last D ecem ber, the boredom ended. Key picked up a baseball for the first time in six m onths and. very softly, tossed it He lobbed the ball le ss than 30 feet to Yankees trainer od gers center fielder O n e Monahan. Pitching a no-hitter could not Brett Butler always has have felt more gratifying. The next phase was converted feelin gs to pitching from the m ound. It cam e so easily thoughts and thoughts and w-as so surprising both to Key and to the to w ords with stunning ease, but Yankees that there w as som e th o u g h t even he has difficulty expressing him ­ before spring training, that he might wind up self th ese days. in the rotation even before the weather A thousand thoughts and feel­ warmed, far ahead of schedule. But he w-as as ings scratch at one another to get unfiappa b)e a s he w-as the firs I day into recov­ out. but his throat hurts m erely to ery. “I had no plans." Key says. “From tile utter words. He wants to express sta r t I told everybody and m yself that I was his gratitude for everyone's con­ going to let my body tell me what to do." cern and prayers, and tell all he is His body told him to throw. And at that mo­ preparing for this fight against ment when he might have held back, fearing cancer as if he were facing an 0-2 to cut loose, h e threw hard. the way he always count from Greg Maddux. had— 75 pitches every third day— into spring He wants his teammates to training and beyond— when he and the team know h ell always be watching, ok decided he was ready. He has been in the ro­ fering his endless support He just tation ever since. asks them to play as he did throughout his 16-yearcareer.

T im es are tough, but don’t give up. hat is it that a pitcher learns in his lf you truly believe in your abilities, heart when h e is struck, as he says, good things will come. though by the g od s, in the m ost T his w as always the beauty of peculiar way. w here w-hat has sep ­ baseball and athletics to Butler. arated him most from others suddenly hangs It illustrates the scope of human from his shoulder, a lame and u seless wing. an possibility. T he inconceivable is extension not so much of his greatness as of conceived, and then it is accom plished. his own frailty and likeness to other m ortals5 Butler is ready to test those limits again.

Bret Saberhagen may or may not undergo “Even though the doctor said more than capsular surgery. He has done everything he likely Brett cannot play this se a so n ,” says can— short of su rgery— to build his arm back Eveline Butler, his wife. “Brett has a way of from the injury. B ecause he is a veteran, has overcom ing the odds. Rem ember, they told been to a World Series, has had his career, he him he was too little to play baseball. T hey has in som e w ay prepared him self to leave the told him he wasn't good enough to play base­ gam e he loves. Still, it is not easy. ball in high school. He ended up spending 16 “I'm not scared anymore." he says. "I was years in the major leagues. in the beginning when I realized I might not “W hen they told us h e had cancer, our first be pitching anym ore— becau se, you know, thought was. ‘No. h e ll never play again.’ But this has been my career, this is what I ve been now we re leaving all of our options open. He successful at and I have no idea what I might mav want to com e back. He mav even want do afterward But I know this: I won't hang lo play for another year or two." around the gam e and try to b ecom e a junk Butler was told originally h e needed his pitcher. I ve always been a power pitcher, and ton sils taken out. His throat had bothered if I can't pitch the way I want. then I'll step him all spring."but he didn't want to hurt the aside and give the bail to som eon e else. JI) def­ team and derided to postpone surgery until initely go through the surgery because I want after the season. to continue, but also because the way things W hen he could no longer continue and de­ are now I'm not goin g to be able to go out and cided to have surgery May 3. it w-as the first throw batling practice to my kids. Iv e got two time he even imagined it could be something boys and a girl and I want to be able to g o out more serious. The doctor delivered the news and play catch w ith them .” that this w-as no child's disease. This inflamed . But like the green est rookie, the only reali­ tonsil turned out to be a tumor the size of plum. ty .saberhagen understands n o w is that h e can­ Doctors say his type of cancer has a 70 per­ not pitch T here is still that mountain range cent five-year survival rate but that his chances loom ing in the distance ♦ might be better considering he's an athlete.

“Is there any such -thing as good cancer?"

D a v i d F a lk n e r is a c o n tr ib u tin g u 'n te r team m ate Todd Worrell savs. “I don’t think fo r Tm SpoKtim. News

BASEBALL REPORT

Butler takes on cancer, like baseball, head-on

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there is."

Butler, who will turn 39 in June, likely has played his final gam e. He w*as not planning to return to the D odgers in 1997 anyway, figur­ ing his services would not be needed.

Yet, if by som e miracle he could return by the end of this season, who knowns?

“Talking to all the doctors and everything.

I d o n ’t know if th ere is a ch an ce that I can com e back." Butler says. T h i s chapter in my life could be over. Then again, we're not go­ ing to close any door right now.

T m not giving-'up on this thing. We’re g o ­ ing to beat this thing. One of th ese days I’m goin g to be back out there tipping my hat. and hopefully everything will be all right" It is not known what caused the cancer, but Butler says people are jumping to conclu­ sions to say it was caused by chew ing tobac­ co. Butler says he chew ed tobacco for two or three years bul stopped 15 years ago. lf any­ thing. his doctor says, his exposure to s e c ­ ond-hand sm oke m ight have caused the can­ cer. Both h is parents, w ho died of cancer. were heavy sm okers.

Still, Reds reliever Jeff Brantley, a former team m ate of Butler's in San Francisco, and several other players weren't taking any

chances. Brantley cleared the cans of smoker less tobacco from the top sh elf of his locker, walked to the trash can in the middle o f the Reds clubhouse and dumped them.

“That’s it" he says. T m finished."

Brantley, w ho began chew ing tobacco nearly 11 years ago. says he quit the habit be­ cau se of Butler.

“He’s a very d o s e friend of mine, and when I heard of the cancer." Brantley says. “I de­ cided to stop then and there.”

Butler will undergo his s e c ­ ond surgery Tuesday to remove a cancerous lymph node and ail the lymph n odes on the right side and back o f his neck. Sur­ g e o n s also will go through the mouth and rem ove m u scle tis­ su e that surrounded the cancer­ ou s tonsil. He will be hospital­ ized for six days and will under­ go radiation treatm ents five tim es a w eek for six w eeks.

“H e's dealing with two em o­ tions." Eveline Butler says. “ ‘I know G od’s in control. I know God has a better plan than HI ever have.'

“T h e r e s the other side that wants to look at the worst-case scenario. The side, where. Yeah.

I may die.*...

"Oh. mercy. It has been real tough, and probably a lot b e­ cau se of what we went through a year ago with B rett’s mom (w’ho died of brain cancer on Au­ gust 9). T hen, having to deal with this all over again."

T he D odgers, stunned by the news, still are trying to recover emotionally-. First baseman Eric Karros was th e on))' D odger to talk im m ediately with Butler on a the telep h on e, but o n ce he I heard Butler’s voice, h e was f overcom e with em otion. He 1 couldn't speak.

2 “I thought I was going to say | something." Karros says, “but I * didn’t know what to say. He al| way's talks about things happena ing for a reason, but Trn not sure what the reason for this w as.”

T he center fie ld e r s job g o e s to rookie Roger C edeno. who w'as supposed take over in 1997. anyway.

C edeno wept when he heard the n ew s of Butler's cancer. He couldn't help but recall those days of spring training.

T here w ere the m ornings Butler took him to the batting cage for bunting practice.

T h ere w ere the afternoons Butler took him out to the outfield and show ed him how to play defense. T here w ere th e nights Butler simply talked to him about how to be a major league player.

T h a t ’s why I cry so m uch w hen I found out about his cancer." Cedeno says softly, wip­ ing his eyes. “Last n ig h t I couldn't even g o to bed because I feel so bad. You have no idea how bad I feel. I hurt inside.

“Brett kept telling me one day that I would take his job. and h e prepared m e for this day.

I mean, what h e did for m e was incredible.

We play the sam e position, and he kept show ­ ing me how to get better. He w^anted me to be the one to take over for him one day.

“I rem em ber him telling me. Roger. I want to teach you how to take my job. I don’t w-ant to give it you. I want to teach you how to take i i ’ He gave me everything I needed.

“Now. I want to m ake him proud.

“We all do."

May 20.1996

BASEBALL • 15

Please leave

gave up 38 earned runs in 28 starts in 1995. ' Orioles shortstop Manny Alexander, but it He has given up 21 earned runs in eight starts I would likely cost them pitcher Tim Worrell or Its time for M arge Schott to go. pitcher Scott S a n d ers.... The Marlins are priW hat is she going to tell us next. how slav­ this season.

Do you realize White Sox first basem an f! vatelv• w orried about T e rrv0 Pendleton, wonery was an economic boon? Or the bubonic ' Frank Thom as has never gone more than two \ dering w hether he can stiH be an effective plague's positive impact on overcrowding? consecutive gam es without reaching base5 ... third baseman at age 36.... Ken Griffey'Jr. has Hey. if you can put a positive spin on Adolph Cubs second baseman Ryne Sandberg is play­ I lost about 20 pounds the past few weeks and Hitler, th e re s no historical hurdle too high.

Schott recently said: "Everybody knows i ing like a man who retired 14 years a g o .... It j has no explanation. Scary. appears more and more likely that Twins out­ , Look for the White Sox to go on a tear. The that he (Hitler) w-as good at the beginning, but he just went too far." ; fielder Kirby Puckett's season is over, and like­ I only team they played in the first six weeks ly- his career. His eye simply is not improving. I with a current sub-.500 record w-as the Royals.

0 Please. Bud Selig. exercise the best-interesl-of-baseball powers vested in the commis­ ... The Padres would like to get their hands on i They now play 22 consecutive gam es against sioner's office to coerce Schott to sell her con- j trolling interest in the Reds. Let her be a lim- ; ited partner, if she can’t be made a silent one. ! .Are we really supposed to be appeased by i her lame apology? This woman uttered almost j C a m d e n Y a k *) s i.;.. F e n w a y M . k . . . J the same words three years ago and still I si • : * ;© = r keeps a swastika in her home.

I f — ; - i:R " J I s i n "She has to recognize, and baseball has to J recognize, th e re s a problem here and some- j thing further has to happen.” says Kenneth Ja­ cobson. assistant national director of the .AntiDefamation League. "She needs further train­ ing as to the meaning of the word prejudice . v s i V and possibly training on the Holocaust. Major League Baseball, recognizing this is a recur­ ring them e, m ust look into other steps to address this situation....

“S h e s an em barrassm ent to baseball and to the Cincinnati Reds. She has to recognize th e re s a serious problem here and it requires some serious remedies."

Says one prom inent Red: T d love to see it happen. I know we'd play better baseball.

T hat’s why it's so m uch easier for us when w e’re on the road. I ts a damn circus when w e're at hom e because of her.

“You!! see one hell of a party if that day com es when s h e s gone."

the Brewers. Blue Jays and Red^ Sox. ...

Rockies manager Don Baylor went into a 21sentence diatribe in which he used a certain expletive 28 times while talking about a loss to the Braves in which Colorado blew a threerun lead in the ninth. The Rockies now are unraveling. Mark it down. They will finish last in the N .L West. ... Hey. if m em ory serves, wasn't M arge Schott good at the beginning, but she just went too far5 ♦ Bob Nightengale covers the Dodgers fo r the Los Angeles Times.

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Around the bases Astros third basem an Sean B erry has been keeping it a s e c r e t but he is playing with a tom right rotator cuff that requires cortisone shots and medication. Y et he thinks he would let the team down if he left and is trying to de­ lay surgery until after the s e a s o n .... Top can­ didate to m anage the expansion Tam pa Bay Devil Rays is Braves third base coach Jimy j Williams. He would be the perfect c h o ic e ....

T here is growing unrest am ong M ets officials with m anager Dallas Green. It was a surprise that G reen retained his job this season. It would be a shock if he is back in 1997.

W hen the Indians signed first basem an Julio Franco to a two-year contract last winter, they included a $50,000 bonus if he is selected to the All-Star team. T h e re s one little prob­ lem. The Indians did not put Franco on the .Alk Star ballot. Club officials chose to list Eddie M urray at first base. ‘ It bothers me. It would j bother anyone." Franco savs. "But what can I I do’’ ' ' I The P adres do not have a player who has : hit m ore than five home runs and don't expect j anyone to finish with m ore than 15 or 20.... I .Astros manager T erry Collins won't say it pub- i licly. but the .Astros could be running away J with the awful N .L Central if they had a de- j cent bullpen. They are interested in .Angels re- I liever Lee Smith, but the .Angels want no part of Greg Swindell in r e tu rn .... The .Angels' ro- j tation is so bad they might have no choice but ; to trade prized left fielder G arret .Anderson for I a quality starter.

Hmmm. you don't think G reg M addux m isses catcher Charlie O'Brien? Let's put it j this way. Maddux is not the sam e pitcher he j was a year ago. Sure, he's still g re a t but h e ’s I no longer in a league by himself. "Well, he’s I not God." outfielder Ryan KJesko says. But j h e's not M addux, either. This is a guy who j

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16 • BASEBALL

The Sporting

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Fish story

THE BOOK OX...

After Al Lei ter and his wile finished cheir pregame meal at their favorite Chinese restaurant Saturday afternoon in Plantation. Fla., he opened his fortune cookie to this message: “Soon. you will be on top of the world."

He had no idea how soon. That night. Leiter. a lefthander whose ca­ reer before this season could be de­ scribed as nothing more than mediocre, threw the first no-hitter in Marlins history and the first of the major league season in an 11-0 victo­ ry over Colorado He lifted his record to 6-2. lowered his ERA to 2.33 and solidified his career-year course.

This was not one of those walk-aBthe-top-batlers. scramble-to-the-finish no-hitters. This was clean, this was domination. Leiter walked two. hit one and faced only one batter above the minimum. No exceptional defen­ sive plays were necessary, and only two balls were hit out of the infield.

Before striking out Eric Young to end the game. Leiter retired five Rockies on five pitches.

This from a pitcher who led the tru d e game: Letter surprised the Rockies by throwing fastballs consistently on theirfists, American League in walks and wild displaying the improved control that is at the foundation of his rise from mediocrity. pitches a year ago. If Henry Rod­ riguez (see The Book On) and Leiter were bookends this sea­ side all night Inside up, inside down, inside middle, rd never seen a pitcher before who came inside all the time. That prob­ son. the books in between would be written by Grimm.

“I am just numb." says Leiter. 30, who began showing signs ably helped him. Everyone was looking away and he kept com­ of late blooming last season w'hen he was 11-11 with a 3.64 ERA ing inside."

Largely because of Leiter, who had one-third of their victo­ in his final year with the Blue Jays. “Its like when Joe Carter ries, the Marlins were showing signs of becoming a legitimate hit the home run to win the Series in *93. We ran out there and a lot of us didn’t know what had just happened. On a personal fish story. They had won seven games in succession entering the week. and a potentially embarrassing season had some note, this is right up there ” Leiter. who signed with the Marlins as a free agent in the hope attached to it A home run by Charles Johnson in the bottom of the ninth offseason, threw 102 pitches, 82 of which were fastballs. It was an extremely low total for Leiter. who has struggled with con­ gave them a 7-5 victory Sunday, completing a four-game sweep of the Rockies. Manager Rene Lachemann. who has been un­ trol throughout his career. der fire, could breathe a little easier, though some fans aren’t “He changed speeds a lot." Rockies slugger Dante Bichette savs. “He threw harder, harder and hardest. I don’t know if letting up. During Sunday’s game, a plane flew over Joe Robbie theres another lefthander in the league who throws as hard as Stadium with the message: “Send Lachemann to the minors."

Thanks to Leiter and his sudden dominance. Lachemann he does."

Rockies first baseman .Andres Galarraga says, “He threw in­ may not have to go.

M a t aaa*

• • • • • • • • • • • ■ • • • • a

SPARKES CORNER Any time you start talking about baseball, one subject you can be sure is going to pop up is the designated hit­ ter. Truthfully, we could ar­ gue this for 1,000 years. But if we are all supposed to be of sound mind and want to do something for the fans like we always say we do. then there’s an easy way to solve this problem.

We must allow the fans lo vote on the DH. They get two choices: “Yes." and the DH is in for evervbodv.

• + or “No." and the DH is gone forever. .And there’s an easy solu­ tion how to get the voting done. Each team is designat­ ed a pair of three-game home series during the season to have the vote. Both series must be over the weekend. when the crowds are bigger.

Everybody who enters the park gets to vote once each game. #

♦

If a fan goes to all six games, he gets six votes. But then that’s the end of it Then you wiD have a true decision of what the fans really want Now for my view: If the OH is so good, why doesn’t bas­ ketball have a specialist’ .All that guy would do would be to shoot free throws. Every time th eres a foul, he goes to the line. In essence, isn’t that what we’re doing with the DH? Baseball has always meant one thing: lf you step onto that field and you are in the lineup, then you’re sup­ posed to participate. ‘ Sparky Anderson is a regular contributor to T h e S p o r t in g N e w s on Am erica Online. For more from Sparky, or to catch him live at IO p.m . E T Thurs­ days, the keyword on A O L The Sporting News. Not vet accessible to M acintosh users.

*

NIGHT MOXLS Henry Aaron, the man who has hit more major league homers than anyone, has a simple explanation for the rash of homers: The ball is juiced.

“Baseball has to do some­ thing to create publicity," says Aaron, a senior vice president for the Braves.

“What’s the best way to do it?

Hit balls out of the ballpark.

“The ball is definitely wound a lot tighter this year.

I saw (Braves third baseman) Chipper Jones hit a ball to dead center in Philadelphia, and he just stuck his bat out there. The ball’s definitely tighter.

“But I think its good for baseball It’s a positive thing.

The fans want to see homers.

Nobody in the stands comes here and wants to see a no-hit­ ter. The most popular things are homers and triples."

So. in a season in which

Amo the ball is juiced and the pitching is lousy, could Roger Maris’ home-run record of 61 finally fall?

“Oh, hell yes." Aaron says.

“You look at Barry Bonds.

The ball doesn’t need to be wound tight for him to hit it out of the ballpark, but he could do it “I don’t see enoii|h pitch­ ers pitching inside. If some­ body sticks their butt over home plate and you knock somebody down, you got a fight on your hands, and that's ridiculous. So pitchers don’t pitch inside."

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♦LEFTHANOCD

BRAVES

FLORIDA MARIANS W -L 18-21 Place: 4th Lots to celebrate: WTiat a weekend for M arlins fans: the team ’s first no-hitter. followed by its 200th win. on a dram atic ninth-inning hom e run.

C atcher C harles Johnson's gamewinner capped a four-game sweep of the Rockies, gave the team a sevengam e winning streak and avenged a three-gam e sweep in Denver the weekend before. The hom er wasn’t Johnson’s only heroic effort last Sunday. In the eighth inning, he en­ tered the game as a defensive replacem ent and threw out Eric Young trying to steal third base to stop a Rockies ral­ ly Johnson joins Chuck Carr and Terry Pendleton as M ar­ lins to win a gam e with a last-inning hom e run. .After a hor­ rendous start last season, when he was h ittin g . 143 on June 22. Johnson has hit .299 (88 for 294) with 18 hom e runs. in­ cluding three in three gam es in the Rockies s e rie s .... For the second consecutive start, pitcher. Kevin Brown was smacked in the shin by a ground ball. He was limping when he was taken out of the gam e. “It looks like som eone planted a softball under his skin." m anager Rene Lacticmann said later.

E.R. update: Hard-throwing rookie reliever .lay Powell was back at work after being disabled with a rib-cage injury. He returned last Friday with his sixth scoreless appearance.

On the same day. shortstop Hurt AbbwU and second base­ man Quilvio Veras were put on the Drfc: Abbott is trying to relieve recurrent dizzy spells, and Veras suffered a strained left ham string Shortstop Edgar Renteria, the team 's minor league player of the year in 199*vjtnd second basem an Ralph Milliard were called up ...O utfielder .Andre Dawson was lacing his 12th knee operation, this one an arthro­ scopic procedure to remove a cyst from hts right knee. He is expected to be out three or lour weeks At 41. he is the league'* oldest player . L-fl fielder Jeff Conine s contactfens problem may be out of sight, oui of mind He starter! the week with a If‘-cann* hitting streak ~ — SCOTT TOLLEY

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W-L* 23-14 Place: 2nd Bullish pea: Jason Schmidt was the odd man out in the four-man rotation the Braves will use this month and was sent to Class AAA Richmond to get som e work. Lefthander Tom Thobe was recalled from Richmond, increasing the bullpen to seven re­ lievers. “I just looked at the schedule, and if we need some­ one. we can piece a start together with the bullpen." man­ ager Bobby Cox says. “Schmidt has been doing fine (before games) in the bullpen, but he needs to pitch to hitters, that’s obvious. We’re going to play it by ear and see how it goes." lf it goes good here, then he can keep pitching. W hen he comes back hell have three or four starts under his b e l l" ...

Most of the load in the bullpen has been carried by three re­ lievers—Greg M cM ichael Brad Clontz and Mark Wohlers.

They have worked 54 h innings of the 87^ innings of relief.

The other three relievers— Mike Bielecki. Pedro Borbon and Terrell Wade— have been effective. Bielecki has a 2.45 ERA in eight appearances, Borbon hasn’t allowed a run in five gam es and Wade is perfect after 12 appearances.

Chipping away bad habits: While Bren Butler’s throat can­ cer shook the Braves clubhouse, no player was more con­ cerned than Chipper Jones. He has chewed tobacco for nine years and though he's not sure there s a link between But­ ler’s disease and tobacco, he's making another try at break­ ing his h a b it T h e r e ’s always som ething that scares you into quitting, but then you put one in your mouth without even thinking." Jones said. “Irs like a ritual before the game.

Before you know i t you’re right back in it" ... It's ironic that Tom Glavine. the club's player representative and the Na­ tional League representative, is about to join the ranks of owners. He. John Smoltz and StevrAvery have become lim­ ited partners of the Southern Minny (Southern Minnesota) Stars, the independent Prairie League team that form er Braves catcher Greg Olson m anages.... Avery, Smoltz and Glavine rank first third and ninth in N .L EHA.— Bu Lux

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MONTREAL EXPOS W-L* 26-12 Place: 1st What's left? Pitching depth continues

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to be tested. First, it was news that lefthander Carlos Perez had a torn labrum and incomplete rotator cuff tear and would be lost for four months after arthroscopic surgery.

Then lefthander Kirk Rueter was disabled with left knee irritation. Rueter. who had arthro­ scopic surgery on the knee last winter, thought about wear­ ing a brace but discarded it in spring training. The knee hurts when he pushes off. so he will wear it when he re­ turns. Compounding matters, righthander Tavo Alvarez had a start pushed back two days because of a hamstring injury. Top pitching prospect Ugueth Urbina was called up from Class AAA Ottawa to replace Reuter. ... Urbina, a righthander, talks like somebody who plans on making his promotion permanent “I know I have the stuff, but I still have to go out there and win a couple of games." he says. ... Manager Felipe AJou stuck with Dave Silvestri at third base, allowing Shane .Andrews to work with hitting in­ structor Tommy Harper. Abu will continue using Andrews and Cliff Floyd off the bench while the team is winning.

Late shift Righthander Mike Dyer arrived at the ballpark in the 11th inning and was the winning pitcher in the 13th in­ ning last Saturday against the Astros. Dyer spent two days in California with his ailing wife before returning to Mon­ treal. “I missed a connection in Newark because the plane rinded for an hour and a half. Then, when I got to my ho­ tel room in Montreal and flipped on the TV set. I saw they were in the ninth inning. I called the clubhouse and they said. *Cmon down.’ " Dyer says.... Pedro Martinez lasted Ah innings last Saturday, his shortest outing of the season. ... Alou was pleased to see center fielder F.P. Santangelo playing well while Rondell White is injured- "'This is a man who has been in our minor league system for seven years," Abu says. “He never gave up on his dream and accepted whatever we offered hmm."

— JEFF Buifi

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W -L 15-20 Place: 5th Basebrewf: No one will be surprised if National League president Leonard Coleman suspends at least Pete Harnisch for the pitcher's role in the ex­ tended brawl that interrupted the Mets-Cubs game last Saturday. And there was the likelihood that discipli­ nary action would be taken against other ejected Mets— catcher Todd Hundley, closer John Franco, reliever Blas Minor and bullpen coach Steve Swisher. A hit batsman— Cubs pitcher Kevin Foster—and tight pifches^&ceded the brawl But it was the righthand punch/slap/push Hamisch threw at Cubs catcher Scott Sem is in the'Sfth.inning that ignited the 16-minute brawl. Cubs re li^ fr Terry Adams had thrown a pitch low and behind Harnisch outs and no one on base. But nothing happened until Harnisch made a move on Sem is. “Pete took it to another level by throwing a punch," says Servals, who played with Hamisch in Houston for four seasons and considered him a friend.

The hostile feelings from the incident could linger because several Mets players, ineluding Franco and Rico Brogna, believe they were sucker-punched. ’The man who really precipitated it," manager Dallas Green says, "was Sammy Sosa. He beat us two games in Chicago last week (May 3 and 5) and hes still standing. Some of the old-timers wouldn’t understand the way we do things today. I don’t think Mr. (Don) Drysdale would have liked that" Moving op? Alex Ochoa could be the next prospect pro­ moted. Green spoke with G.M. Joe McDvaine about that possibility after Green had become disillusioned by the pro­ duction of right fielders Butch Huskey and Carl Everett and Everett’s demeanor. Ochoa, a strong-armed right fielder, was batting .355 for Class AAA Norfolk when the Mets played Norfolk last Thursday. After Green made his con­ versation with McDvaine public. Huskey hit his second homer and Everett drove in both runs in a 2-0 victory against the Cubs the next day.

— HARTT NOBH

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Bullinger says "That s been one of my problems. I've been thinking about too many things and getting too far ahead of myself out there. I need lo just think about making the pitch I ’m about to throw and leave it at that." Bullinger was 1-3 with an S 02 ERA before he pitched a two-hit shutout last Sun­ day against the Mots. He hasn’t thrown the ball that well since last August, when he was 10-2 with a 2.71 ERA.. “ I think about last year when I got off to the good start and I remember going out there every time knowing I was going to win the game no matter what," Bullinger says.

Frankly speaking: Frank Castillo is just one of the team s frustrated starters, starting the season 1-4 with a 4.32 E R A .And after dropping a 2-0 decision to the .Wets in New York last Friday. Castillo couldn’t hold it in any longer. “Nothing against Butch Huskey, but I mean the guy has two home runs." said Castillo, shaking his head. “I threw a fastball high and away and he got on top of it but I thought it was just a line drive to lolls (Gonzalez) Its just frustrating. One mistake and I'm 1-4 "... Jaime Navarro also couldn't hide his anger after a loss in Montreal. “I don't feel like talking tonight guys." Navarro said as he slammed his chair in dis­ gust. "lf you want to talk to someone, talk to Scott Servals.

He's the one who catches here." Two days later Navarro made amends, saying he was sorry he directed reporters toward Servals and tailed to answer questions He also said he had no difficulty throwing to Servals and says their Re­ lationship is fine “ I have no problem with Scottie. He's a .great guy." Navarro says. "I was just frustrated, and I'm sor­ ry I said what I said after that gam e."... The Cubs got off to a great start at home but lost 12 of their first 16 road games, reversing a trend from the past few years — BARUT ROZNER

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ters string together one morbid at-bat after another. G M i>ee Thomas turned to Glenn Murray with the hope the muscular outfielder could do what Mark Whiten didn't do during the first 34 games of die season: drive in runs "I am hoping he can provide us with a spark with the bac" Thomas says "God knows we need it." Asking Murra> to carry the club may be a mistake Although he has posted impressive home run numbers the past three years in the minor leagues (76). he has also struck out 354 times in 1.276 at-bats. In 29 games at Class AAA Scranton "WilkesBarre this year Murray made better eonian, striking out 17 times in IDI at-bats. He hit .356 with five homers and 16 HBI s. As for giving the Phillies a jumpstart. Murray down­ played that .'ingle "I am going to play and just help the team." he says. “I am not going to be the man " Schilling tor your thoughts: Curt Schilling promises his re­ turn from shoulder surgery isn't just window dressing. “If you watch me warm up. there In a pretty gixxi chance the bookie^ would bet against me." s a y s Schilling, who was slat in! to pitch Tuesday for the first time since last July. "But vince the game starts I ieel fine. I am coming back lo pitch and win This isn't a triai-and-error thing." Schilling’s re­ turn has financial attachments If he makes 22 starts or pitches 175 innings In* is guaranteed S3.5 million next year Atter being impressed with 21-year-old pitcher Rich Hunters poise in spring training and during his first three major league starts, the Phillies began to see a crack in Hunter's makeup against Houston on May 6 Not wanting him to lose confidence, they sent Hunter to Scranton Wilkes-Barre In six starts. Hunter was 1-2 with a 6.35 FR A “ He didn’t show the same demeanor he had in the previ­ ous games." manager Jim Fregosi says ... When I>ee Tins* 'ley went vin the 15-da> IL L with a strained right ribcage. the Phillies signed Ruben Amaro.

— GEORGE A. KINS III

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“James needs to get in a groove, and Tm comfortable com­ ing off the bench." Collins expects May to strengthen the bench, while Mouton should provide better coverage in the outfield. But Mouton is aware of rumors that the Astros plan to trade him and turn left field over to rookie Bob Abreu. one of the best prospects in the Pacific Coast League. T ve heard the Astros are showcasing me." Mouton says, “rd really hate to leave here now. I have a chance to play regularly, and I want to make the most of it" Initial results of the move were mixed. Mouton homercd and singled in his first game as a regular, then struck out in six consecutive at-bats.

Eosebio surgery: No. 2 catcher Tony Eusebio will miss about three weeks as he recovers from arthroscopic surgery to remove a cyst from his left w rist The cyst in­ fection has hampered him since spring training. “I just haven't been able to drive the ball the way I normally do." says Eusebio, who hit 299 last season but was batting just .233 when he was placed on the disabled list The Astros called up Je rry Goff from Class .AAA TucsonJo replace Eusebio. The Expos took advantage of a major league record-tying she passed balls by Goff to score five unearned run in a 7-6victory over the Astros last Sunday.... Shortstop Orlando M iller committed two errors in the first 25 games, then made four in a three-game span.... When Darryl Rile went seven innings and beat Montreal last Thursday for his fourth win. he equaled last year's win total. — Aum TRUEX

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W -L 16-18 Place: 2nd Grant’s arar- In April 1994. when Grant Jackson was bullpen coach, the team claimed lefthander Pete Schourek on waivers from the Mets.

Schourek's gradual rise to Cy Young runner-up in 1995 became one of the more interesting turnaround stories last season, but Jackson claims he never got the credit he deserved for correcting Schourek's mechanics. Now as pitching coach for Class AAA Indianapolis. Jackson says he noticed a similar mechanical flaw in the arm position of Derek Lilliquist. a lefthander picked up in .April. Lilliquist. a reliable reliever for the indians last season in their drive to the American League title, put about 6 mph back on his fast­ ball from the 80-81 mph he threw when he arrived at Indi­ anapolis (American Association) and had a 1.13 ERA in his first seven games there. Team officials decided they need­ ed a lefthander in the bullpen to go with Chuck M cElroy more than they needed to wait for swingman Tim Pugh (10.57 ERA) to work out his problems. Lilliquist didn't ex­ actly overwhelm in his debut Summoned last Saturday to resume, a suspended game with the Reds leading the Padres, 5-3. in the seventh inning, lilliquist gave up a triple, double and single before being taken out Taroannrad: The Reds followed their nine-game losing streak with a seven-game winning streak, their longest since winning nine straight from May 22 to 31 last season. The rotation's resurgence helped starters compile a 2.66 ERA through last Saturday.... Righthander Jose Rijo is throwing again after undergoing a second surgery on his right elbow .April 8. His return to the pitching staff is nowhere near im­ minent ... Even though closer Jeff Brantley started the sea­ son on the disabled fist two saves last Saturday (the com­ pletion of a suspended game and the end of the scheduled game) gave him nine for the season. Last year, when Brant­ ley registered a career-high 28 saves, he didn’t record his ninth save until the team’s 43th game.

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W-L: 16-21 P la ce : T 4th From the top: W ith its offense sput­ tering. the team continues its search fo ra reliable leadoff man Its woes can be traced to having one of the league's worst on-base percentages. at .321, while its leadoff hitters have been on base only 27.9 percent of the time Second baseman I ahs .Alicea, who has been at the top of the batting order most of the season, was hitting .250 as the leadoff man. Shortstop Royce Clayton was hitting .152 in the leadoff spot and .309 anywhere else in the ’lineup.

W hile their bats lacked pop. leadoff hitters' patience at the plate also was lacking They drew- 14 walks in 37 games.

Opponents outscored the Cardinals in the first inning. 3515.... Starting pitchers Todd Stottlemvre and .Alan Benes combined for LM strikeouts in back-to-back games, but the team lost both. Those losses in a weekend senes with the Dodgers ran the team s home slide to eight losses in IO games. "W e need to start doing the Fundamental things." center fielder Ray lankford says. “W e ’ve got to start exe­ cuting h '< going to take every guy on this team to drive in some runs and make some things happen "... Despite his Mrikeoul performance against the Dodgers. .Alan Benes gave up three home runs. Team pitchers have surrendered 4r> m 37 games Bottom dollars: Pitcher .Andy Benes was having less suc­ cess than hi- rookie brother, losing five games in a row.

Benes, who signed an >> I million free-agent contract in the offseason, gave up 3<i runs and 41 hits over 26 innings “ Nunetimt*s you've got to hit bottom." Benes says . Own­ ership ended a 5b-year partnership with St Petersburg.

Ma . when it cosigned a letter of intent with the Expos to be tenants al a new spring training complex in Jupiter. Fla.. beginning in 199F The oniv break came during World W ar ll Baserun ners are l7-lor-31 stealing second. 7-for-S when going tor third H ie team lias been outscored 305 in the seventh inning — RICK HUMMEL

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W - L 16-21 P la c e : T 4th Ro relief: Dan M ic e li’s demotion to Class AA Carolina (Southern) means ^ more shuffling in the bullpen Team ■' - officials hope M ice Ii can reclaim the closer s role “ H e’s still the No. I can­ didate." manager Jim Ley land says.

H ie club wants Miceli to work a jot of in n in g s at Carolina rather than close. In his absence. Iv y ­ land will use le e Hancock and Jon I jeb er in long relief. J a* Min Christiansen and rookie M arc W ilkins to set up and Dan Plesac and Francisco Cordova to dost* It isn't ideal, but its all Ireland has. .Although he has used this approach before, “ anyone who says Jim Ire la n d doesn't want one closer is out of his mind." he says .. It only took a couple o) weeks to discover those bad numbers reliever Jo e Soev­ er posit’d with the Tigers last season were no fluke W ilkins was called up from Class A A whe/V he had success in short relief after struggling as a starter. Team officials say W ilkins is best suited tothrou hard in short bursts. I/iok tor the bullpen juggling to be an ongoing process .. A de­ cision is coming this week on a fifth starter John Hope probably has pitched himself out oi the job Darrell May was unimpressive tn his only start.

Comeback kids: Carlos Garcia and Orlando M erced are ex­ pected to return from hamstring injuries this weekend.

Garcia, who has missed 25 days with hamstring injuries, says he can’t afford another First baseman M ark Jo h n ­ son has found success by cutting down on his swing and exaggerated leg lift. Coaches want johnson to keep his body steady, believing be will make consistent contact with less movement. "H e mav not hit home runs as far as he did 9 last year. but I think he’ll hit more of them." Ivyland says.

"H e's a much better player." Ivyland is looking for ways to get johnson more at-bat> against righthanders .. M idre Cummings opened some eyes when he filled tn for Merced. “ I'm seeing the talent the scouts talked about with him."

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W-L: 18*20 Place: 3rd A mound of questions: Ramon Mar­ tinez comes off the disabled list this week. and manager Tommy Lasorda decided Pedro Astacio would remain in the rotation instead of Chan Ho Park. w-ho was 2-2 with a 2.43 ERA in six starts. Several veterans privately agreed with the decision, saying it w'as based on merit, not influenced by Park's immense popularity'.... Another pitch­ ing problem concerns Hideo Nomo's ineffectiveness on the road. He is 4-0 with a 1.91 ERA at home; 1-3with a 7.08 ERA on the road. Pitching coach Dave Wallace says he can’t pinpoint the reason for the big difference.

Offensive woes: The Dodgers' offense reached such depths that they scored only two runs in 21 innings in back-to-back losses in Cincinnati, wasting strong pitching perfor­ mances— .Astacio went seven innings, allowing two hits and retiring the first 15 Reds and the next day Park gave up three hits in six innings. Three batters in the heart of the or­ der— Erie Karros. Raul Mondesi and Mike Blowers— weren't hitting their weights. And Chad Fortville, who took over the leadoff spot from Brett Butler, dropped from .395 to .254.... One hitter in the middle of the order who wasn't having any trouble was Mike Piazza, who hit his ninth homer last Sunday and sixth in his iast l l games.... Todd Hollandsworth hit his first two homers of the season in a 4-2 win last Saturday in S l Louis.... In 120 at-bats, spread over 31 games. Karros has four home runs and 17 RBIs. .At the same point last season, he had eight homers and 28 RBIs and was hitting .359. Karros was 3-tor-34 during the ninegame trip that ended Sunday in St Louis.... After 38 games last season, the Dodgers were also 18-20 and then went on to win thr division title. This season, however, they have 15 losses on the road. more than any team in baseball except for the Tigers.... Greg Gagne entered the week with a 10-game hitting streak (12-for-36).... The team had committed onlyone error in its last 12 games.

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W-L: 15-21 Place: 4th Power outage: It s getting more diffi­ cult to dismiss Dante Bichette's power loss as just a slow start. Bichette didn't hit well in spring training, and _______________ although he has kept his batting av- erage above .300. he has only two home runs through 3b games. This from a player who hit 40 homers, had VIS RBIs and finished second in the M \ ? race iast season, “ii I hit four in a week. then I'm on pace for 30. and that was one of my goals for che season. 30 homers." Bichette says. “Have no fear, the run production is still here."... Bret Saberhagen says he's beyond the point of no return. The rehabilitating right­ hander will do everything he can to pitch this season, be­ cause he believes he already has waited too long to have re constructive shoulder surgery to ensure a healthy return in 1997. "lf I was going to have the surgery. I should have had it a month ago." he says. Saberhagen took another step last week when he threw off a mound for the first time since having arthroscopic surgery last October. “Theres no sore­ ness." he says. “ I would say rust I have a long, long way to go." Saberhagen's plan is to return no later than Sept I....

Mike Farmer faced long odds in his first major league stare pitching against four-time Cv Young Award winner Greg Maddux in .Allanta-Fulton Countv Stadium. But after seven innings. Farmer left with a 4-2 lead before the Rockies blew the lead and the game. Farmer's brother Howard also made his first major league start against the Braves, in 1990.

Trouble with Atlanta: The Rockies' struggles against the Braves (6-33 in regular-season play) have been wellchronicled. but Atlanta's recent three-game sweep pro­ duced two unusual statistics. Facing five pitchers in 28 in­ nings. the Rockies didn't draw a walk. Meanwhile. Col­ orado pitchers allowed 15 runs in the series, all with two outs.... Bill Swift was scheduled to return from the disabled list last weekend. But after throwing 24 pitches in a simu­ lated game, his return was delayed.

— Tour DEMARCO

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W-L: 22-15 Place: 1st Set well SOOen Life without third base­ man Ken Caminiti is difficult — to the surprise of no one. The team lost its first four games without Caminiti. who was sidelined by hamstring, shoulder and hip injuries. "He’s the one guy we can least afford to lose.” Tony Gwynn says, l^ast Friday. Caminiti woke up with abdominal pain that he and medical personnel thought might signal a hernia It was determined he has a lower abdominal strain. Caminiti's absence came when his backups. Archi Cianfrocco and Craig Shipley, also were sidelined by injuries. Cianfrocco (hip strain) is eligible to come off the disabled list Tuesday. ... Which minor leaguer is most likely to be promoted this summer5 Lefthanded reliever Ron Viilone. 26. who pitched 11 scoreless innings to begin the season with Class AAA Las Vegas. The team has no lefthanded relievers.

Top catch: Though his average dipped to .192. catcher Brad Ausmus is starting more frequently this season because the club values his defense. ".Ausmus is the best/ the Pirates' .Al M artin said after Ausmus threw him out trying to steal third. But Ausmus* six errors in the first 37 games matched his 1995 total. Reserve Brian Johnson has more power, but team officials, who signed Ausmus. 27. to a two-year deal, consider Ausmus the better defender. He also has more speed.... The Padres went 6-5 on the longest homestand of the season.... Entering the week, the club was 11-1 in games in which Trevor Hoffman pitched.... Steve Finley’s eightgame hitting streak (14-for-34) raised his average to .264 from .218.... Even in a loss last Saturday, starter Joey Hamil­ ton (6-2) looked impressive. He allowed three hits in eight innings, but John Sm iley and the Reds prevailed. 1-0. ...

Gwynn is 6-for-33 1.182) in his career against Smiley, who is >1 in his career against the Padres. He hasn’t lost to the them since 1988.... Players and staff members sav « • the Reds' decision to play last Friday’s rain-delayed game led to un­ safe playing conditions.

— TOW KRASOVIC

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ers allow seven runs in one inning and l l the next game. G.M . Bob Quinn issued a stern warning to his bullpen. “Throw strikes, or there will be personnel changes." he said.

Late-inning control problems have been a major contributor to the big-inning misery.

Opponents had scored five or more runs in an inning IO times: seven or more runs four times “ Now the word is going to get around the league to stay close and get into the bullpen." manager Dusty Baker says. "You don't want that reputation around the league, because then teams won’t quit." The bullpen hit rock bottom when the Cardinals scored 11 runs in the eighth inning of a 16-8 loss and W illie M cGee hit the fourth grand slam off Giants' pitching in five games. Baker plans to stick with Rich D e lir ia . Mark Dewey and Doug Creek in iate-inning situations, even though they have been inconsistent lf the problems persist, the team may pursue Florida reliever David Weathers, whom )t scouted heavily in spring training before settling for Mark Gardner War Bonds: When he wasn't scolding reporters. Barry Bonds was punishing opposing pitchers. He hit IO homers and drove in 24 runs during a torrid 13-game span, shift­ ing attention from a clubhouse altercation with a writer W itnesses confirmed the writer’s claim that Bonds twice pushed him in the chest. Bonds later described the inci­ dent as a "miscommunication.’' although he often express­ es his contempt for reporters loitering in the clubhouse.

Qumn says the team will not take disciplinary action against Bonds.... Rod Beck converted his eighth consecu­ tive save opportunity at Pittsburgh, where he had a lifetime 7.82 ERA in 11 gam es.... Kirt Manwaring has started tak­ ing live batting practice and is expected to test his broken left hand soon by c a tc h in g ly pitching He is shooting for a return from the D .L later this month — MAW GONZALES

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Swprtse deaottoo: Right fielder Tony Tarasco was just starting to swing the bat weD when the team optioned him to Class .LAA Rochester last Saturday and called up Luis Polonia. The move was a shocker, because Tarasco had been on a minor roll his last eight games (.321) and had delivered important run-scoring hits in back-to-back games— after struggling badly for several weeks. The move makes sense because Bobby Bonilla has convinced the team that he has to play full time in the out­ field (as soon as he returns from a sprained ankle) and Tarasco is not viewed by the dub as a designated hitter can­ didate. Mike Devereaux. who has been playing in center field while Brady Anderson works his way back from a thigh strain, will probably move into the DH spot Polonia was called up after threatening to walk away from his minor league contract and Bonilla was moved back into right field after weeks of insisting that he could not adjust to a full­ time designated hitter role.... Manager Davey Johnson has beal forced to juggle his lineup because of injuries, though none was serious. Anderson, Bonilla and Roberto Alomar all have been grappling with nagging injuries, and starter David Wells missed a start last week with a case of gout Bcttpe* rgattgaaegt The team activated righthander Alan M ills last weekend, hoping to shore up a shaky middle re­ lief situation. Journeyman Keith Shepherd was sent back to Rochester to make room. lf M ills works out—and Arman­ do Benitez is not too far behind— the Orioles could be close to fielding a very imposing and overpowering middle relief threesome. Lefthander Arthur Rhodes already has come up big in that ro le.... Just when the team thought it was time to look for another starting pitcher, beleaguered No. 4 and 5 starters Kent Mercker and Jim m y Haynes pro­ duced solid starts back-to-back to calm fears the rotation was disintegrating. S till don't be surprised if the team be­ gins serious trade talks as early as June.— PETO SC H W !

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flexor) and Kevin M itchell (ham­ string) were activated last week from the disabled list and will become reg­ ulars in the outfield. Canseco will play left and Mitchell right with Troy O'Leary moving to center. Manager Kevin Kennedy wanis to have the pair, along with desig­ nated hitter Reggie Jefferson, in the lineup as much as pos­ sible. Outfielder Phil Clark and catcher Alex Delgado were sent to Pawtucket to make room on the roster.... Shortstop John Valentin, who had 27 homers last season, hit his first this year in the team’s 31st game. The homer gave him nine RBIs; last year he had 102.... Long reliever Mike Maddux missed several games because of arm stiffness. Last year he walked only 15 in 89S innings and struck out 65. This year he has walked l l in 19K innings with only seven strike­ outs. ... Mo Vaughn was the only Sox player to appear in every inning of every game until he was hit on the right el­ bow last Saturday by Toronto’s Brian Bohannon and had to come out of the game.

Bdipet woes: The bullpen, considered one of the teams strengths before the season, has lost nine leads this year, and the team has lost all nine games. Stan Belinda, one of the mainstays last year, has been removed from the setup role. He is 0-1 with a 9.42 ERA and has allowed 15 runs in 14^3 innings.... Tim Wakefield was the victim of his teams horrible defense when IO of the 11 runs he allowed against Toronto were unearned. But he had to shoulder some of the blame after giving up IO hits in 5^ innings.... Righthander .Aaron Sele is 1-3 with a 7.42 ERA in six starts, but Kenned)’ says he is not ready to dump him from the starting rotation. ... Lefthander Brad Pennington, who exhausted Kennedy's patience by not being able to throw strikes (15 walks in 13 in­ nings). was designated for assignment Righthander Brent Knacker^ was summoned in his place. He’d last pitched in the majors with the Mariners in 1990.

— JO I BUUOTTI

28• Al. EAST

The Sporting News

DETROIT TIGERS W-L: 12-27 Place: 5th Staying ttw course: .^though the team leads the major leagues in losses and is on a pace to set a club record for de­ feats. there will be no attempt at a quick fix. General manager Randy Smith and manager Buddy BeD admit the team has struggied more than anbapaled after a greater emphasis was placed on scouting and pla>’er de\*elopmenL Bul their commitment to building starts v^ith owner Mike Ililch. w-ho cites the huge turnaround his Detroit Red \Mngs have undergone since he bought them in the mid-‘8 0 s .... It doesn’t promise to get much better soon.

The eight-game homestand begirming this weekend features the \\Tiite Sox and Indians for six of the g am es.... Look for Chris Gomez lo play more at shortstop. He lost his starting job to .Man TrammeD because of poor defensive pla>' in spring training, bul Trammell. 38. slumped as everyday pla>' began to catch up to him. HTiether Gomez is the long-range answer al the position remains uncertain.

CaHiOf all lefties: The predominantly righthanded lineup will be a lefthander short now that outfielder Bobby Hig­ ginson is out with a right arch injury. Higginson was injured while making a leaping catch against the fence in Texas last Fridas-... Lefthander Scott .Mdred was dropped from the ro­ tation after an eight-run. Thinning outing last Saturday against the Rangers .Mdred has forsaken his cun-eball re­ cently in favor of the fastball. He was replaced by Brian Williams, w ho had been the closer. Gregg Olson, who b ^ gan the season in the minors, is in line to be the clo ser....

The hitters are starting to feel pressure lo produce beyond their abilit>- In a six-game span, they endured the following streaks of ctipsecutive barters retired.- 26. 13. 16 and 23.

Their impatience also is resulting in few walks. ... Greg Ck)hr piicht'd into the ninth inning, the longest outing of his career, in last Thursday's 4-2 \ia o r y at Yankee S tadium ....

Reserve outfielder C urtis FVide got his first .Mnerican U ag u e hit and hom er last Saturda> — RHD CreaSB

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W -L 21-14 Place: 1st Cone of silence: Yankees officials are mum about a possible return date for ace pitcher David Cone, who had an aneurysm in his nghi shoulder sur­ gically repaired. Team doctors say they believe Cone eventually will re^ turn lo full strength but won't set a tim etable Their caution may have som ething to do with pressure from Creorge Steinbrenner. who w-as said lo be ac­ tive behind the scenes during this crisis Club officials were told not to count on Cone this year. However, when pressed further, doctors told them its possible Cone could be back in Septemb(*r Doctors were encouraged that there were no complications during the surgery to replace the aneurysm. . Scott Kamieniecki replaced Cone in the rotation. The Yankees look wise now for hoarding all that big-money pitching this winter, then holding onto it. Part of it. though. was that they received no gtvod offers for Kamieniecki. who is to make s i I million, pius 8700.000 in incentives.... The N'ankws have some insurance on Cone's co n lraa. but club officials refus<‘d to say how much money they stand to re­ cover of Cone's .86..S million salary .. Kenny Ropers, signed lo a 82t» million fret'-agent contract, is struggling Rogers. who has averaged T I walks per nine innings the past three years, is averaging 6.8 walks after five starts key a key: .After watching Dwight (n>oden throw his third straight good game and earn his first win since 1 ^ 4 . gent*ral m anager Bob \Valson says he’d stack (Wooden. Rogers.

Kaniienit\*ki and .Andy Petlirte against anyone's four *The only question mark is Oimmy) Key. how far can he go?"

Watson sav s Key dropped to M after a loss to the iast-place Tigers bul isn’t pitching poorly He has astounded everyone bv making it back this quickh' .. Wade Boggs strained his back Rvently. but the injury is not believed to be se rio u s....

T orre gave Tino .Martinez a rare day off and inserted ihird'itnng catcher Tim M cIntosh as the first baseman. Mein.tosh hadn't played since his .April \9 recall, — JOH HeymAH

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The Sporting News

STARTERS

CLEVELAND INDIANS

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up eight home runs in 94 innings, it appeared the rotation was due for an­ other shakeup. The club has had problems finding a No. 5 starter, first because of an injury to Chad Ogea and more recently because of Lopez's ineffectiveness. In three starts plus a relief ap­ pearance. Lopez was I-J with an S.S3 ERA and on the verge of being sent back to Class AAA Buffalo, from where he was recalled April 21. "A bie has not been able to get his curvebail over the plate, and his changeup has been in­ consistent." manager Mike Hargrove says. “He's had to keep throwing his fastball, and it's been out over the plate too often." Ogea. out with tendinitis in his right shoulder, is a candidate tor a rehabilitation assignment this week. That means Brian .Anderson or John Farrell could be called up to make Lopez's start on Saturday. T h e re s a chance that w ell carry 12 pitchers when Chad comes back." Hargrove says. “But I don't know how great that chance is."... It took Eddie Murray I IO at-bats to hit his first home run. May 5 in Seattle. He went deep tor the second time 16 at-bats lat­ er. against the .Angels last Saturday in .Anaheim. That pushed his career total to 481.16th on the all-time list.

Error time: Omar Vizquel's 3$-game errorless streak ended May S. He made another error last Saturday. The major league record for fewest errors by a shortstop is three, set

by Cal Ripken in 1991. “I would reel very good about myself if I did that." Vizquel says. Vizquel. a three-time Gold Glove winner, has had as few as seven errors in a season.... The pecking order of backup outfielders seems to have changed.

"Most of the at-bats probably will go to Jeromy Burnitz as far as starting." Hargrove says. “But if I make a defensive move late in games. Ill go to Wayne Kirby. That's what I planned to do coming out of spring training I don’t look at Kirby as just a defensive specialist. But Bumitz's stronger talent is hitting: Kirby s is defense " — SHEIKH! O d ®

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believe it but Jose Offerman has be­ come the defensive difference for the Royals No. not at shortstop, where .Offerman struggled mightily in six Los .Angeles seasons. But at first base. where he has been nothing short of sensational. The team made 22 errors in its first 19 games with Offerman at shortstop and struggled to a >14 record.

But on .April 23. Offerman, who had been displaced by David Howard, took over ai first base and the team went on an 11* 7 run. Over that 18-game span. the Royals committed only seven errors— none by Offerman, who was lunging for sen­ sational stops and digging throws out of the dirt. His hitting also picked up after the switch— .373 (22-for-59).... With the infield defense tightened, the pitching improved and the hit­ ting picked up. The team reeled off six consecutive victories (hat included a four-game sweep at California,... The team still ranks last in home runs, but it picked up the pace with 21 over that winning 18-game span Fasano's shot Rookie catcher Sal Fasano has impressed manager Bob Boone and is getting a shot at displacing reg­ ular Mike Maciariane. Boone puts it simply: "He's one of the best catchers in baseball." Righthander Mark Gubicza. who worked with Fasano in a victory over the .Angels, says.

"For a guy who has played so few games in the big leagues. he has a good feel tor it He knows what he's doing. He's a keeper" The big concern is Fasano's hitting. Batting .133 with no homers, he broke out with homers in back-to-back games at California and Seattle, his First two in the big leagues. . Third baseman Joe Rands underwent arthro­ scopic knee surgery but is expected back soon. Chris Stvnes replaced him on the roster and had IO hits in his first five games .. Tom Goodwin's 13-game hitting streak ended the same day as the teams six-game winning streak in Seattle. "It s amazing." Boone says "When Goodwin gets hot. it ignite* everything “ — DICK KOEGEL Hr

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when the bullpen phone doesn't ring for Eddie Guardado. As the only lefty in the Twins' pen. Guardado, in his second full major league season, is in demand as often as the president at commencement time. W ith 23 ap­ pearances in the club's first 35 games. Guardado was on pace to break the major league record of 106 appearances in a season, set by Los Angeles’ Mike Marshall in 1974. “I feel great." Guardado says. “M y arm is greater than it ever was." Guardado has never yet claimed fatigue, and his ERA has dropped from 9.00 to 4.50. 'W e're using him more than we like." pitching coach Dick Such says. "We check to make sure he’s ail right We’re trying to win ballgames, and you have to do those things."

Here's Kirby: Kirby Puckett made his first on-field appear­ ance of the year when he took batting practice before a game last Saturday in Oakland. He still isn't expected back any time soon, however, “i h it Whoop-de-doo." Puckett says. “I can h it I can hit the ball. I just can't see well enough to play in a game. I can h it though." It certainly looked that way. Puckett drove three pitches over the fence and sent several other line drives screaming up the middle and into right field. He hit for IO minutes in a group with Greg My­ ers and Chip Hale and seemed to relish it Still, he says he wouldn't attempt to hit in a game. "If somebody threw me a curveball. I don't think I'd have a chance to see it ’ Puckett say-s. “Theres no way I could hit it in a game. No way. Its unthinkable."... Paul Molitor, on former major leaguer Dar­ ryl Strawberry’s signing with the Independent St. Paul Saints: “I thought he was swinging the bat real wed last year when he was with the Yankees. I don’t blame a guy for want­ ing to come back. He's trying to get his life straight, and we're hardly in a position to judge."... The Twins are hop­ ing to send pitcher Rick .Aguilera on an injury rehabilitation stint to Class A Fort Myers this week.

— SCOTT M a la

Bt) McOoruxa ' Agggjftfgodj at Mxxesqt* Tvms, Mat 17 20

W Q n rB o n w

W«l: 15*19 Place: 4th Feeling tire squeeze: Throughout spring training, manager Phil Gamer proclaimed that Kevin Seltzer would be a valuable bench player. Now that first baseman/DH Dave Nilsson has returned from the disabled list Seltzer has moved into the starting spot at third base. That means Jeff Cirillo's playing time will diminish, which goes against everything Garner and gen­ eral manager Sal Bando said about building the team for the future. Cirillo. who hit 27b and had a 10-game hitting streak the first month, is a promising 26-year-old. Seitzer. who is a step slower and has a weaker arm. is 34. “I don't un­ derstand it/ Cirillo says. “But I still have a job to do. I'm not going to lie and say I don’t want to play every day. I know I'm a big-league player. I have to make the best of it and be ready when I get the chance."... The return of center field­ er Chuck Carr might mean less playing time for Pat Listach.

Listach started in center and batted in the leadoff spot dur­ ing Carr's absence, but he win have to improve his on-base percentage to win second base back from Fernando Vina.

Send in tire clowns: A series of nightmarish outings by the bullpen prompted Garner to hold an hourlong meeting with his pitching staff and catching crew. The final straw came when Marshall Boze. Mike Fetters and Mike Potts combined to walk eight batters in three innings and turn what would have been a one-runyictory into a tworun loss. ... Greg Vaughn's ninth homer of the season was a two-run monster off Baltimore’s Jimmy Haynes and gave him SOO career RBIs. Vaughn quickly slipped into an 0-for- IS slump and w-as given a rare day off.... Listach hasn't been hitting well. but he is third in the American League in stolen bases and has surpassed IOO for his career.... Righthander Cal Eldred, recovering from Tommy John surgery, had anoth­ er solid outing at extended spring training in .Arizona and should be headed for a rehab assignment in the minor leagues shortly after Memorial Day. — DREW fllSOK

KLUEVER

sta rters

The Sporting News

3 0 • A l W EST

CALIFORNIA ANGELS W-L: 19-18 Place: 4th Eggplant hats on Angels’ hairs: Ready for the mighty .Anaheim .Angels wear­ ing tea] and maroon uniforms? Actual­ ly, the color* seriously being consid­ ered are called teal and “eggplant" Next year, with Disney Sports Enter­ prises in complete control. Gene Autry's old baDclub will get a facelift A remodeled Anaheim Stadium will have teal and maroon as its exterior colors, which an* already the colors of the Disney-owned .Anaheim Mighty Ducks.... During four games against Kansas City, the .Angels drew 60.606. They've drawn more than that for a sin­ gle game 25 times.... Damion Easley is back from the D .L. but his chances of winning a starting job look slim. Easley will be used as a utility infielder W ith rookie (George .Arias now in the minors, the third base job is open, but Easley’s competition includes Tim Wallach and Jack Howell.

Pitching a f it The .Angels have been looking to trade l>ee Smith so they can establish T rev Peraval as the bullpen clos­ er. G.M. Bill Bavasi proclaimed Percrval as the closer after Smith came off the D .L. but the next day. manager Marcel lachemann restated that he had promised Smith the job.

“One thing I do not do is go back on my word.’ Lachemann said. “lf my word is no good with Lee Smith, its no good with anybody else. If that causes a problem, Ill deal with it." The next save opportunity went to Smith, which he blew. Bavasi's comment "lf Lach wants him (Smith) to close, he closes."...

W ith Mark 1-angston on the D .L foDowing arthroscopic knee surgery and another spot in the rotation in a state of flux, the .Angels are struggling to find answers. Shawn Boskie got an audition but ended up back in the bullpen. Phil Leftwich was called up. got a couple of starts, then was sent back to Class AAA Vancouver. Scott Sanderson came off the D .L and is trying to hold down a spot now. jason Grimsley came up from Vancouver and has pitched well at times.

Meanwhile. Langston isn't expected back for another six to eight weeks.

— DAVE Cl— QMM

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Pt o f t w prt o The A's continue to confound the American League.

They added league champion Cleve­ land to the list of believers, beating the Indians two out of three games in Oakland. ‘ I remember coming in here in the eartv * ‘90s and the A's had McGwire. Steinbach. Canseco. Stewart. Eckersley, Lans­ ford and Rickey." Indians manager M ike Hargrove says.

“We'd come in and play them tough. What it did for us is give us confidence in our abilities." The irony is that the In­ dians and A’s have reversed roles from a few years ago. The A s win over Cleveland was their first since Ju ly 21.1993. a span of 13 consecutive losses. ... Center fielder Ernie Young, who lost his rookie status last year, hit three home runs in a win over Minnesota last Friday. Young joined a list that includes Reggie Jackson. Dave Kingman. Jose Canseco. Harold Baines. Dave Henderson and Mark M c­ Gwire. who did it twice, as Oakland players to have a threehome run game “Young had a pretty good week (in one gam e)." Minnesota manager Tom Kelly said after the A’s I >5 win In the same game, the A's tied club records for homers in one inning (three) and total bases (38). The only other time the A's had 38 total bases was June 14. 1969. at Boston when Joe DiMaggio was hitting coach.

Unabashed return: McGwire slammed what was conserva­ tively estimated as a 462-foot home run May 7. The ball traveled into the third deck of what will one day be a luxu­ ry loge section for the N F L Raiders. M cGw ire has also stopped talking to Bay .Area media. He said he's upset that his integrity was questioned after he left a 1-1 game against I alifornia rwo weeks ago. M cGwire, who missed the first four weeks after recovering from a torn arch, is on a spring training-like schedule in which he is playing seven or eight innings per game .. Reliever Jim Corsi w-as eligible to come off the D L last Monday, but its more likely he won’t ke back until May 21.

— PEDRO GOMEZ

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A.L WEST • SI

May 20,1996

5TJUrr»s

SEATTLE MARINERS W-L 20-17 Place: 2nd Mending Mariner Relief pitcher Bob­

by Ayala is at his home in .Arizona re­ covering from injuries suffered in an off-the-Seld incident neafly^“ two weeks ago. General manager Woody Woodward sa>-s the organization is monitoring Ayala’s recovery. “But that’s it at the moment I haven't seen him or talked to him. and there is no timetable for him rejoining the team," he says. Ayaia is expected to miss most of May. recovering from cuts he sustained when he apparently punched and broke a window April 24 at a hotel in Chicago. Ayala began the season with three scoreless outings, but he surren­ dered 15 earned runs in his next five appearances and 8b innings, leaving him with a 13.06 ERA.... The bat first base­ man Paul Sorrento used to hit the Mariners' major leaguerecord 44th home run last month has been sent to the Hah of Fame in Cooperstown. N.Y. The 44 homers in April are six more than White Sox hit in 19B4. ... Righthander Paul Menhart had his best start of the season May 4. hold­ ing the Indians to one run over 5b innings. He was sent to the minors the next day. The Mariners won’t need a fifth starter until May 25. So rather than move Menhart to the buDpen. he wih stay busy in Tacoma’s starting rotation.

No colacMetce: The Mariners bolted to a franchise-best 12-4record but have found tough sledding ever since. Pan of the reason is Randy Johnson’s health problems. The left­ hander has been slowed by nagging lower-back problems traced to an irritated nerve. The Mariners are 4-7 in May. and johnson lasted only two innings in his first start of the month. *^e’ve missed sending a pitcher to the mound who gives you about an 80 percent chance of winning.” manag­ er Loa Piniefla says.... Edgar Martinez’s longest hitless streak since 1994 ended last Saturday. His double off Tim Belcher snapped an 0-for*13 skid. Martinez's longest drought last season, when he won his second batting htie with a 356 average, was O-for-8.

— J m SthST

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W-L 24-13 Place: 1st Short stwy: Manager Johnny Gates, reversing his previous statement, says Kevin Bister will keep his start­ ing shortstop job when Benji Gil comes off the dis£d)fed fist “If I want to keep my job as manager of the Texas Rangers, rd be pretty Stupid to take Bister out of the lineup right now with the way he's playing." Oates says. “If K ei^ Bister continues to pl^ the way he’s playing. Benp’s going to have to wait his turn. Ben­ ji is the Rangers' shortstop of the hiture, but Td like nothing better than for Kevin to continue afl year just the way he's playing.” Through 36 games. Bister was hitting 269 and led all shortstops with seven home runs and 28 RBIs. He had made two errors. GA was sttB a week away from complet­ ing his 20-day medical rehabilitation assignment Ort agalo: Outfielder Juan Gonzalez has been placed on the disabled list for a third time in the past two years with a par­ tial tear of his quadriceps muscle. Team officials expea him to miss three weeks. Gonzalez was leading the team with 30 RBIs when he injured the leg running out a grounder.

While he’s out Damon Buford and Warren Newson will pla­ toon in right field. Rikkert Faneyte was called up from Ok­ lahoma City as a reserve outfielder.... Jeff RusseD has set­ tled into his setup role. not allowing a run in his first 84 in­ nings while holding opponents to a .138 batting average.

“Russell is throwing the ball extremely well." Oates says. “lf I’m not mistaken, he's throwing the ball better than he did last year. We’re very fortunate to have a guy like that He’s a gu>’ a lot of teams would love to have as a closer."...

The team talked to Las Vegas officials about moving its spring training headquarters to Nevada in 1998. but later decided against it The Rangers probably will pick up a fiveyear option on their Port Charlotte (Fla.) facility.... Ken Hill set a team record by retiring 31 consecutive hitters, but he downplayed it “Pm not concerned about records." he says.

“Records are not going to win pennants." — T.R. SnilVJUI

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NHL • 33

May 20,1996

Beware the Penguins, now that Ken Wregget is saving their defense with his unorthodox goaltending B y La r r y W

ig g e

he scouting report is simple against the Penguins: Get in deep on the defensem en and wait for them to give up the p u ck It hasn't changed all season. T h e re s still no defense for the defense of the Penguins, who finished 20th of 26 teams in goals against in the regular season and gave up the puck deep in their zone time and again in the first two rounds of the playoffs.

But a disclaim er has been added to that gam e plan in the name of Ken Wregget.

A journeym an goaltender who had stints with Toronto and Philadelphia and has been the No. 2 man for m ost of his four-plus sea­ sons in Pittsburgh. W regget. 32, is clearly making the kind of saves that could help the Penguins get back to the finals for the first time since they won the Stanley Cup in 1991 and *92.

This is the kind of underdog story every­ one can get into.

Since replacing No. I goalie Tom Barrasso after the first period of Game 4 in the four­ overtim e victory over the Capitals, W regget has confounded and frustrated opponents.

His playoff record went to 7-1 after his 29save perform ance in a 7-3 victory last Satur­ day. giving the Penguins a surprising secondround series triumph over the Rangers in five games.

Reminds you a little of Lou G ehrig step­ ping in at first base for the Yankees when Wally Pipp was ailing, doesn't it5 B arrasso's back spasm s gave W regget a chance in the spotlight. .And he has delivered. W regget used his unorthodox style of flopping around the goal crease to cover up for the Penguins’ defense, frustrate the Rangers' scorers and give time to M ario Le mi e LIX and Jarom ir Jag r to ac­ count for 15 of the 21 goals Pittsburgh scored in the series.

After helping the Penguins make it to the conference finals. W regget was asked to m ake one m ore glove save— as Lemieux flipped him the gam e puck after time expired.

■That was som ething special for Mario to do th a t it meant a lot," W regget says, laugh­ ingly calling it his best glove save in years.

“It's been a long season. T here were tim es

T

His eyes are on the pack

but Wregget’s mind is on ane thing—stop everything he faces and give Lemieux and Jagr plenty of time to score

earlv on when I wasn’t sure w here I stood on this team after winning 25 times in 38 starts last season (three m ore wins than any other goalie in a lockout-shortened season). I had to sit and watch while Tommy played. It was frustrating. I knew I could help this team, help somebody."

Speaking of frustration, how do you think the Rangers feel? “We could see cracks in their gam e and tried to take advantage of them," Rangers coach Colin Campbell says, “but every time it seem ed like Ken Wregget was there to frustrate us."

Form er Penguin Luc Robitaille had two great scoring chances early in Game 5. but his slap shots were turned back by Wregget before Lemieux scored the first of his three goals on a shorthanded e ffo rt “He was like a wall out there." Robitaille says of W regget “And when he wasn't there to m ake the saves, his effectiveness got us confused and caused us to shoot high and wide. lf he keeps m aking those kinds of saves, the Penguins are going to be tough to b eat" 0

e's lying on the ice with a teammate and an opponent on top of his legs.

He can't reach out with his arm s to cover a loose puck during a goal­ m outh scram ble. Helpless? Not W regget who uses his helmet to nudge the puck away from the goal line for one of his 40 saves ear­ ly- in a 4-1 Game 4 victory over the Rangers.

"I didn’t have much choice on that one."

W regget says with a grin. “I've never tried that before— and I’m not sure I will any time soon, either."

Don't count on it. At this time of year, a goaltender will use every m eans to stop the puck, because every goal can make the dif­ ference in a game— or series. Besides, -the head-nudge save was vintage W regget. w hose sometimes-awkward style will never be used to teach Goaltending 101.

T ’ou're right about that," W regget says. “I don't stand up like Ken D ryden did. I don't have the classic butterfly style of Patrick Roy or the quick reflexes of Grant Fuhr.

“W hen I look back. I som etim es wonder how I ever managed to stay in the league. My

H

style isn’t pretty, is it?"

No. but you can't argue with W regget‘s numbers. He had a 20-13-2 record in the reg ­ ular season and since replacing Barrasso in the playoffs. Wregget has stopped 285 of 303 shots.

arrasso earned the reputation of be­ ing a money goaltender tor the Pen­ guins in their consecutive Stanley Cup runs. He was rew arded with a contract that calls tor $2,517 million per year W regget m akes $425,000. but he is clearly the money goaltender now. F.ven though Barrasso is healthy again, this playoff season has become W regget time.

It all started when he stopped 54 of ;>5 shots against the Capitals in the four-over­ time victory. .Aside from Game 2 of the Rangers series, when W regget was defeated.

6-3. he has allowed 12 goals in seven gam es Now. vou understand why he has that mischievous smile behind his mask as he stones opponent after opponent

B #

^

34 • NHL

The Sporting News

i

Checkmate

the team’s 21 goals in the series. As a . result, the Penguins beat the Rangers in the playoffs forthe third rime since 1.989, “I think E.J. did a goodjob of getting his; top players cutin a hurry in Game 3 and ^ kept os guessing when he would and ^ i wouldn’t put Lemieux^d-dagrtnitthere: for the rest of iheseries,” Rangers coach • Colin Campbell says.*^ou have to give \ credit to the two best players in the world right now. They were too much for us in every area.

After the Ranger? won Game 2 in Pittsburgh, things didn’t look promising for the Penguins. That’s when coach Eddie Johnston went to his secret weapon.

Johnston surprised the Rangers when he put stars Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr on the same line. It was a seriesturning move. Lemieux scored twice in the three-goal first period of Game 3. and Lemieux and Jagr combined to score 15 of

“With them out there, matchups became nonexistent indian? matterwho we putout there against tbefr^rthey scored at will.*.

Clearly, the Penguins’ killef^insfirtct is^ intact/The fast grim es the’Pens^ve i V •' beeh ihia position to finish ofta s§ries,c they have won 12times* Thei^wafonet^*sobering messageamid the celebration,*. howeverr^tarceiiter Ron Francisbuffered a broken leg in the series finaleandts tost for the remainder of the playoffs/ ^ ♦ - —L m r Wb k

c/fQfL. >/ inz^S

Rat t o ? L£e Lemieux, Jagr also had three goals at thefinale to polish o fftile Rangers.

Tile winner is...

Though theflangersippeared to be Ute big winner in the late-summer trade in which they acquired high-scoring left wing loc Robifaille and crafty defenseman Ult Samuelsson for talented defenseman Sergei Zubovand underachieving center Petr Nedved, the Penguins dearly have the edge now. And Nedved is the difference.

With the Rangers, Nedved was accused of not being able to play defense.. not being able to score big, * goals and being too soft in the playoffs.

Switched to left wing on . a line with Ron Francis and Jaromir Jagr and given important minutes, Nedved produced a careerhigh 45 goals and 54 assists. Robitaille, by . comparison, had 23 goals M . and 46 assists. In the “ playoffs, Nedved has played tough, killed penalties, scored key goals (the finishing shot in the four-overtime game with the Capitals was one of his two game-winners) and taken a lot of important faceoffs.

Nedved’s former team targeted him for cheap shots in the second-round series, but he responded by playing harder.

Is he a soft player?” Penguins coach Eddie Johnston says when asked about Nedved’s problems in New York. ^All I know is he goes to the net I put him in crucial situations on power plays and penalty lolls, lf he was soft I wouldn’t trust him in those situations” Nedved, who has gbnefrom Vancouver to St Louis to New York and to Pittsburgh, has definitely found himself a home.

“I don't think I ever really had a chance to show the Rangers what I could do,” Nedved says.

“Thats what makes this victory so nice.” ♦

The Dominator. Hasek's superior performance has made unorthodox acceptable form now

“ ll s funny lo set* the reaction of the Capi­ tals' and Rangers' players atter they fail to score, lls like. 'Who's thai guy5' " Wregget says "U f Samuelsson came over to me the other night and sajd I was a lucky SOB I said.

'Ufu*. I'd rather be lucky than good.* * At a career-highlight time like this, its also tunny that Wregget would recall John Chap­ man. his junior coach at l>ethbridge. It was Chapman who taught him discipline and tried to get him to be a standup goaltender. . “He didn't like it when we flopped around."

Wregget says. “He would lie his goalies to the crossbar in practice and make us stand there like we were ducks in a shooting gallery if we got into the habit oi'going down to the ice and Hopped around.

"When I came into the N H L standup goalies were the way to go Bul the whole game, as far as goaltending is concerned, has changed since Dommik Hasek came along He always looks like a fish out of water, but he gets the job done, so its sort of become ac­ ceptable to go down to the ice and swim around to make a save or two."

Mibstance over style has gotten Wregget this tar—and is a-key reason the Penguins have a chance to win it all. ♦ IA rr?

has covered hockey-forint S h *K71m. Nkw* since 1969.

A super endorsement Lemieux (right) had a hat trick in the finale, but he showed his appreciation for Wregget's uork against the Rangers byflipping him the puck.

Would you like to see fewer teams in the playoffs?

We asked thro* top minds in hockey their viewpoint on tough questions about the game. Here's what they said .

Scotty Bowman Head Coach, Detroit Red Wings

Teemu Selanne Right Wing, M ighty Ducks “No. I don't think that would be a good thing at all. The -.great thing about the playoffs right pan is that there are always solos surprises^ I d rather see more: team :lh ;the/,playoffs than Isas r im like to see is the top 10* learnt in'\ the league make the playoffs, rather than eight from “ one conference and eight from the other — because some divisions are a lot stronger than others."

*> ;Presented by

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fterssxitti G L U ,H ew York Rangers

“I wouldn’t. Fewer teams in the play­ “No. It ’s im portant in hockey to offs would .create a real economic dis­ have a higher percentage of teams aster for our league. There’d be so make the playoffs because of in* ■ m any meaningless games in February < Juries. The original intention of the 1 1 form at was so a team that, hart had ^ be hurting ourselves box office. I thought Injuries, but had gotten strong at a lot of interest last the end of the schedule, should have a chance at success. Sometimes a high level team can have a stibpar season because of injuries, which is really out of their control."

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Walsh the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on ESPN and FOX.

nim * 3 5

May 20.1996

NHL REPORT

W

The $33 million question A ddin g Luc Robitaille and LII S am u elsso n from P ittsb u rg h late last s u m m e r w as su p ­ posed to b e the final piece of th e R an g ers’ puzzle. Then, getting M arty McSoriey. Ja n K urri and S han e C hurla w as su p ­ posed to be th e g u a r­ a n te e of a Stanley Cup. In stead , it proved only an e x ­ S ile n c e d : The expensive additions pen siv e lesso n that were no help to Messier in the playoffs. you c a n ’t buv* a # cham pionship. ch eatin g th e fans if we didn't P itts b u rg h 's big guys. m ak e th o se m oves, lf we M ario Lem ieux and Jaro m ir w eren 't close. I’d adm it we Jagr, sco red IS goals in five m a d e a m istake. But b e­ g a m e s against th e R angers. c a u se we didn't win d oesn't T h e R a n g e rs' big guys. m ean it was a m istake going M ark M e s s ie r and Brian for those veteran players."

Leetch. had three. .And they T h e R an g ers' p ro b le m s got no help. b eg in with th e te a m 's 1*5 “I’d like n o th in g b e tte r re co rd at h o m e in th e play­ than to have an av erag e age offs. Now. toug h q u e stio n s of 25 and have 96 p o in ts.” will be ask e d about the genera] m a n a g e r Neil Smith R angers' 533 million pay­ savs. “But I felt w e'd be

% l e a d e r Of th e puck: Sakic. the Blackhawks Jeremy Roenick says, is the best breakaway goal scorer in the N H L Sakic has earned the Avalanche Kith three overtim e goals in the playoffs Mario Lemieux and Sergei Fedorov “H e's con sisten tly been a 100-point man th ro u g h his career. It's just that h e was stuck up th e re in Q u eb ec with no playoffs to show­ off his ta le n t Now. h e 's got ev e ry o n e talking about him."

roll— h ig h est in th e N H L B ased on R obitaille's e x ­ pensive salary and q u estio n ­ able p e rfo rm a n c e this sea­ son. h e is h isto ry in th e Big Apple. Pat Y erbeek and Jeff B eu k e b o o m will be highpriced free agents, with only Y erbeek expected back.

But th a t’s only the begin­ ning of th e end.

reer. people w ere looking for a savior. T h e h a r d e s t thing for W ayne G retzky is to play up to w hat W ayne G retzky did m aybe 12 years ago."

G retzky didn't stop there, either, g ettin g one goal and one assist in a 3-2 victory in G am e 5 to give th e Blues a 32 lead in th e se rie s against th e powerful Red Wings.

Great expectations

Icy bits

W h e n W ayne G retzky w ent nine g a m e s w ithout a goal but led the league with 12 assists, e v e ry o n e w on­ d e re d what was w ro n g with him. S om e c h a n g e d his nam e from T h e Great O ne to T he G rev One. .After h e s c o re d a b r e a k ­ away goal in a 1-0 victo ry last Friday to pull th e Blues into a 2-2 tie in th e ir se rie s a g a in s t th e Red W ings.

G re tzk y a d m itte d h e h e a rd th e stinging criticism .

“Now I know how G reg N o rm a n felt after losing at the M asters." G retzky says.

“I'm probably my own worst enem y. .After all the things I’ve accom plished in my ca­

T h e P hoenix C oyotes— nee W innipeg Jets— are pre­ pared to go the extra mile in signing tree agents this sum ­ mer. T h e y ' v t talked about d e fe n s e m a n Phil H ousley and right wing S te p h a n e Richer, both with th e Devils.

But each p ro spective free agent will be put u n d e r a mi­ croscope. ‘ Being in Phoenix could definitely be a plus, fi­ nancially." G.M. Jo h n P ad ­ dock says. ‘ But we have to m a k e su re we look at the p lay ers v ery carefully. We have to m ake su re it's not a player w ho's just going there for the nice w e a th e r for two 9v e a rs to collect so m e mone v " ... l o o k for th e Covotes

T h e people in D enver are finding out what th e people in L e th b rid g e le a rn e d in th e 19H5-86 re a s o n W hen Joe Sakic is on a sion. it’* to u g h to sto p him from re a c h in g his goal. T h is tim e. that goal is th e stan ley Cup.

to b ring back an old Mar from the World H ockey As­ sociation's P h o en ix Road­ r u n n e r s — Robbie Ftorek. w ho is ex p ected to replace T e r r y Sim pson as coach.

F to rek h a s refined his c o a ch in g skills with two g re at sea so n s with the Dev­ ils' A lb anv farm club in the .American Hockey le a g u e .

C apitals rig h t wing Pat P eake learned th at he will be on c r u tc h e s for th re e m o n th s *and won t be al­ lowed to begin skating until S ep tem b er after h e suffered a m ultiple fractu re of his right heel w hen he crash ed into the b o a rd s in the first round of th% playoffs. .An 90 p e rc e n t’ re c o v e ry is e x ­ pected T he Red W ings are not about to swallow the 1.3 m illion' c o n tra c t of g o a lte n d e r Bob E ssen.sa any longer. E s s e n s a .w h o played all of last seaso n at Fort W ayne of th e in tern atio n al H ockey l e a g u e , will likely g o to E d m onton, with th e O ilers s u rre n d e rin g a m id­ dle-round draft ch o ic e and Detroit eating about

NsOo.iXXi of E ss e n sa 's c o n ­ tract. E ssensa would c e rta in ­ ly do b e tte r than Joaquin G age and Fred B rathw aite backing up C u rtis Joseph S tars G M Bob G ainey m ight not re-sign e ith e r of his free-agent goalies. Andy M o o # and D arcy W akaiuk. after w atching Roman T u re k help C zecho slovakia win a gold m edal at th e world c h a m p io n s h ip s in Austria.

T u re k . 25. w as th e team '" fifth-round draft ch o ic e in 1990. but he's first-round quality ♦

iM rry Wigge has covered hockey fo r Th:-.

St’O k n v . NKW" sin c e 19B9.

FOR UPDATES on Larry Wigged TSN Hockey Report, call 1*900-880-4400. 95 cents Der minute. In Canada, call 1-900-451- 3234.

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IU -

hat you s e e is w hat you get w ith Joe Sakic. H e ’s not y o u r typical s u p e rs ta r. He p u ts on no airs. In fact, h e h ates talking about him self.

Sakic c a rrie s a b u rden. He has since De­ c e m b e r 1985. w hen h e w-as in his first year in ju n io r h o ck ey and his L eth b rid g e team b u s ran off th e T ra n s-C an ad a H ighw ay in S askatchew an and c ra sh e d . A lthough Sakic escaped injury, four team m ates w ere killed, including th e te a m 's top two sco rers.

“I w as pretty close with th e whole team ."

Sakic says. “We played in a v ery sm all city, and the accident w-as really to u g h on e v e ry ­ o n e on th e team and in the city. IT n ev e r for­ get th o se guys."

Sakic is fast b e c o m in g th e best h o ck ey player nobody know s, b ec au se h e re fu ses to talk about him self o r his past in g re a t detail. .At a g e 16. Sakic took control of that junior team in L eth brid ge after th e loss of h is team ­ m ates. Now. h e ’s sh o w in g the sa m e kind of

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Larry WIGGE

leadership on the Avalanche after they folded last season u nder adversity*.

Down 2-1 in g a m e s to th e R angers, th e th e n -N o rd iq u e s a p p e a re d to have go tten back into th e series. T h ey held a V ) lead in G am e 4. only lo have a goal disallowed that com pletely distracted th e m — and cost them the series, after thev had re c o rd e d the second-best record in the NHL du rin g the re g u ­ lar season.

S kep tics w-ondered about th e Avalanche again this se a so n — their first in D enver— af­ te r th ey lost an o v e rtim e decision to the B lack h aw k s in G am e 3. But Sakic opened and closed the scoring in the next gam e, g et­ ting th e gam e-w inner four m in u tes into the third overtim e.

It was h is third overtim e goal of playoffs.

To u n d ersco re his im portance to the team . IO of S akic’s leag ue-leadin g 12 playoff goals have been sco red at crucial times.

"W hen w e’ve got a ch ance aro und th e net. t h e r e s nobody on o u r team I’d ra th e r have with th e puck than Jo e Sakic." co ach M arc Crawford says. “H e’s been th e guy ev e ry o n e h a s looked to ever since the playoffs began."

He isn’t tail like Mario le m ie u x or Eric Lindros. He isn ’t th e sk a te r that Jaro m ir Jag r is. .And h e d o e s n ’t have th e m enacing stare of a M ark M essier. But Sakic is clearly putting in his bid to be m en tio n ed in th e sam e breath with th o se superstars.

“I’ve w atched how m any tim es people have tried to ru n him . and they've boun ced right off." B lack h aw k s c e n te r J e re m y Roenick says. “In my eyes, h e ’s th e b e s t b reakaw ay goal s c o r e r in th e N H L Yes. b e tte r than

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Bus crash or Avalanche, this is no ordinary Joe

T ile Sporting News N

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Nothing is sudden anymore

overtim e of a Gam e 4 three-overtim e loss w hen Jerem y Roenick was on a breakaw ay and was pulled down from behind by defensem an Saudis Ozolinsh.

Forget the replay. Another pair of referee’s eyes would do the trick.

In this year's playoffs, it has been either sudden death or marathon.

Entering the week. IS overtim e gurries had been contested, and the old axiom that most are decided in the early m om ents was taking a beating.

Of the 15. l l had lasted fewer than IO m inutes of sudden death before they were decided; five ended in the first five min­ utes of overtime. But the four that extended beyond IO min­ utes were indeed m arathons— Chicago beating C algary in three overtim es and Pittsburgh stopping Washington in four in first-round series; Colorado beating Chicago in Game 4 of a second-round sen es when center Joe Sakic scored 4 minutes.

33 seconds into a third overtime period. And last Sunday Flori­ da beat Philadelphia 2-1 8;05 into the second overtim e period.

That marked the first time since 1930 that three playoff s e ries had extended three overtimes or more. .And the 15 over­ times were three short of the 18 that were contested in the play­ offs last year. The playoff record for overtimes is 28. set in 2993.

The rash of overtim es can be explained by the closeness of competition am ong NHL teams. T hree of the first four gam es in the Blackhawks-Avalanche series went into sudden death.

More ref bashing

Ooobie, doodle, doc: Beware the Penguins (above), who made

short work of Richter and the Rangers in a second-round series.

No wonder They call him Stevie Wonder, and D etroit’s Steve Yzerman has provided plenty of sweet music on ice over the years. This year’s music is even sw eeter because many fans and socalled experts had written him off as a serious con­ tributor. .After scoring his third career playoff hat trick and fifth goal in two gam es in a 5 4 Game 3 overtime loss in S i Louis, the Red W ings captain joked that he was celebrating his birthday a day early. ‘ My 26th." he says with a laugh.

Yzerman. a 31-year-old center, had fought with coach Scotty Bowman over

DON'T LET YOUR BOSS SEE THIS AD

The demons live Mike Richter can say he doesn't see any dem ons w earing P enguins’ sw eaters, but a second-round loss to Pittsburgh forced him to relive a haunting memory.

On May 9. 1992. Richter let a 70-foot shot off the stick of Ron Francis get past him in Game 4 of the division finals. The Penguins went on to win the game in overtime. 54. and tie the series at 2-2. The Rangers never won another game in that series.

With his 14 playoff record this season.

Richter's career m ark against Pittsburgh dropped to 9-17-1 with a goals-against average of m ore than 4.00.

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the team ’s stifling defensive style, which he complained did not allow for enough creativi­ ty on offense. But Yzerman. not wanting to rock the b o a t accepted Bowman’s wishes and helped the W ings post the m ost victories in NHL history this season.

Now. suddenly. Yzerman is finding scoring success while also getting the job done de­ fensively.

“I always felt when you hit 30 th a t’s your prime.’ he says. I feel like Tm one bf the guys now. I feel com fortable, maybe because they feel com fortable with me. They're not afraid to ridicule me about my age or anything."

••• *

URS!

Flyers general m anager Bobby Clarke nev­ er has been fond of referees calling soft penal­ ties. He played the gam e hard and tough, and he expects everyone to play that way.

After the P anthers com plained about the Flyers taking lib erties in the series. NHL vice president Brian B urke show ed up for Gam e 4 and Clarke w ishes he had stayed away.

T he Panthers were awarded eight powerplay chances, the Flyers seven. .And the Pan­ thers won. 4-3. in overtime.

T h is happens every time Brian Burke flies in from New York," Clarke says. “Everyone kisses his Harvard ring, and lots of penuries are called. Somebody complained about the gam e the other n ig h t so this happens. The referees are taking the gam e away from the players. They’ve got to prove that they’re the bosses."

Rings of fire Blackhaw ks cen ter Jerem y Roenick and Avalanche goaltender Patrick Roy continue their hilarious trash-talking.

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IWO referees, please! .After watching M urray Craven standing in the goal crease screening Patrick Roy when Joe M urphy scored a Game 3 goal that shouldn’t have counted. Avalanche coach M arc Crawford went ballistic. He says he doesn't blame referee T erry Gregson or the linesmen; he blames the system that allows som e goals to be video-reviewed and pro­ hibits that process for others, such as players standing in the crease. “(NHL vice president) Brian Burke has as­ sured me he will bring it up al the next m eet­ ing." Crawford says. “How do we protect the integrity of the game? T hat's what we will bring up at the next meeting. “lf you look at films of the gam e in the 1970s. it was slow. but the game is so fast now that we have to have alternatives. The ref is behind the net and he's got a goalie in front of him. He can’t see i t The linesmen have the right to tell the ref. but they didn’t see it. ei­ ther."

T he B lackhaw ks won G am e 3 in over­ tim e. but they will arg u e that the referee blew an obvious tripping call in the first

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Music Bas; Yzerman is singing a goalscoring

tune while getting the job done defensively for Bowman s Red Wings. .After Roenick was tripped in the ■first over­ time of a Game 4 loss at Chicago. Roy says it didn’t m atter that no penalty shot was called because he would have stopped Roenick any­ way.

“I just want to know w here Patrick was in Gam e 3 when I beat him in overtim e."

Roenick said sarcastically after hearing of Roy’s comments.

Back to Roy. who said: "I can’t really hear what Jerem y says out th ere because Iv e got my two Stanley Cup rings plugging my ears." ^ After Roenick broke up Roy’s shutout in Game 5. the Blackhawks center pointed to the earholes in his helmet as he took a victory lap around Roy’s goal crease.

‘I just told him to check the score in the game and the score in the series." Roy says. ♦

MBA • 37

M ay 2 0 .1 9 9 6

The pivotmen of the Bulls have been derided by officials and cast aside by other teams, but together they continue to play an important role in Chicago’s title chances Bv

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They have perpetual grin s paMed on for no m ore reason than they re still w ean ng uni­ form s in Stay. "If you have a problem with that a s a player, of accom m odating the w orld s g re ate st player, p erh ap s hiM ory's gre ate st player." la n g le y say s, 'th en you've got an ego problem . Then you're too big for your boots. " A b t of people take them­ selv es too seriously, and you can't take you rself loo seri­ ously when you’re playing with th ese ^ y s . " G razing inconspicuously am on g the p ed igrees, the cen ters of the B u lls are not exactly the creme de la creme of NBA big men. to be sure.

Betw een the four of them, they have the com bined — LUC lo n g ie y sp eed of a Zam boni. They have been derided by NBA officials, c ast asid e by other team s and are generally regard ed a s the w eak link of this team . Together, however, they continue— as B u lls cen ters have done in the past— to hold their own against the leagu e's elite.

■*rm like any good scab ," Longle>‘ said, how­ ever indelicately, earlier this seaso n . “You can pick at m e and pick a! me. but HI keep com ing back." For m ore tangible evidence of the re­ silience of the B u lls’ foursom e, look no further than this postseason , where they have already humiliated M ourning, in the first round, hold­ ing M iam i's m orose center to IO and 14 points in the first two g a m e s of the eventual s w e e p before he padded a G am e 3 blowout with 30 points— and only six reb ou n d s per gam e.

In the secon d round. Patrick Ewing aver­ aged 22 points over the first two g am e s on 43 percent shooting and 13 rebounds. .Although

‘I’m like any good scab. You can pick at me and pick at me, but IMI keep coming back.’

The Sporting News

38 • NBA JORDAN’S RELATIONSHIP

WI TH

HI S

CENTERS:

ter such as David Robinson. No biggie for the Bulls.

■The more tough centers we come across, the better it is for my credibility, and I like that." longley says. T h ats what Xrn here for. Tm not here because I'm a great 3-point shooter or an incredible post player. Tm here because Tm a fair post player and a good defender."

He’s here, a starter in Chicago, primarily because he is 7-2 and nearly 300 pounds, just the big body coach Phil Jackson and assistant Tex W inter like in the middle; and because he accepts the role that Stacey King, whom he was traded for two years ago. wouldn’t and couldn’t fulfill.

“We all give this team what it needs." says Wennington, 7-0. who played in Dallas. Sacramento and Italy be­ fore finding a home in Chicago. ‘ Sure. we’re not going to be a Hakeem Olajuwon. but if you put Hakeem Olajuwon on this team, we’re a different team.

H e ’s not going to be happy shooting three or four times a game."

W inter laughingly says he would gladly take Olajuwon. should he ever arrive on the Bulls’ doorstep, just as he would take any of the top centers in the league. “But I think they’d have to understand the role they play in this offense." W in­ ter says. “I had Elvin Hayes when J was head coach of the Houston Rockets, and he was probably one of the most selfish ballplayers that ever played the game. In his case, it w^as difficult for him to make the adjustment to be the feeder because he wanted to score every time he touched the ball and we don’t want our centers to do that" In W inters triangle offense. which is as difficult to explain as it is to combat everything is predicated on flexibility and get­ ting the ball to the open man. presumably for the easiest shot And while that open man invariably turns out to be Jor­ dan. the bail must go through the center’s hands first T h e centers in our system have to recognize their roles, and their roles are not what most people think centers would be." W inter says. T ve al­ ways said that the center is the apex of the attack. So that makes him pretty important be­ cause the easiest penetration we can get is passing into the post From that position, we’re not concerned about him being a big scorer. We revolve around him. so he becomes very im­ portant “First we want him to be a big target an easy target which | Luc is at 7-2. so we can get the I bail inside, because thats penc­ il; tration. It depends how we read | the defense as to how the center S reacts. But first he’s a feeder." | Wennington says its not that the | centers aren’t capable of scoring 5 more (together they average about 13 points per game).

“Everyone’s always talking about the lack of a dominant

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he was much more successful last weekend af­ ter making adjustments to Longley* game and scored regularly in the fourth quarter for the first time in the series, the Bulls' decision not to doubleMeam him enabled them to focus on the Knicks' other scorers Next up could be Shaquille O'Neal, and if the Bulls advance, perhaps another elite cen­

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‘It’s not getting out of his way, it’s getting to a position where, if he so chooses to, he can get you the ball.’ — Bill wennington

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Alter g o in g through a sh a k y adjustment period, he u n d e rsta n d s what to do and w here to go w h en J ord a n h a s the ball.

center here," he says, “and basically, we’re do­ ing what’s required of us. We’re not required to go and score 30 points a game. ‘ Offensively, we’re going to be limited as to what we can do. That’s not to say we couldn’t post up and shoot the ball 23 times a game, because (Luc and I) would love to do that But its not required of us and we both fit into the system here very well. and we’re willing to take that step for the team."

Longley. who has underrated finesse down low but sometimes lacks authority in finish­ ing. concurs. “Unless you’re a franchise. ADStar-type center, you don’t have delusions about how much attention you get or how of­ ten you get the ball." he says. T h at kind of stuff is reserved for guys with big egos and big contracts, the big names. This is an ideal situation for a player like me or Bill. who are complementary players, who do our thing, but do it reasonably quietly."

Of course, they’d better do it quietly when Jordan is around, especially when he is on.

Perdue, now with the Spurs, learned that the hard way when Jordan bounced him around verbally years ago in practice. Longley figured it out when Jordan-returned last spring and gave notice that if the soft-spoken Australian didn’t get his head out of his jersey. Jordan would “take his head o ff with his next pass.

T h e biggest adjustment for Michael when he first joined the team was knowing what to do once the ball got into his hands," Longley says. “It tended to stop the offense a lot be­ cause he's so offensive-minded, and to be honest, our rhythm was different as a team.

It wasn’t so much a case of him not getting his way as it was knowing the best way to make use of yourself when Michael had the ball.

For me. it took until this season to get used to it and I think for M ichael too. It’s a symbiot­ ic process."

NBA *39

May 20,1996

Wennington. who is usually the first center off the bench, also paints a different picture of Jordan's relationship with the centers. I f s not getting out of his way, ifs getting to a position w here, if he so chooses to, he can get you the b all" he says. “And obviously, if you're stand­ ing directly between him and the basket, he can’t get you the ball because your defensive man is going to crowd him also. So ifs a mat­ ter of just reading w hat h e ’s doing with the baD and stepping, not out of the way, but off to the side w here you are an outlet pass, or w here you can get the baD from M ichael on a penetration a la against the New York Knacks in Madison Square G arden last year (in Jor­ dan’s 55-point game).

“M ichael drove to the b a sk e t Patrick went to him. I didn’t get out of the way, but I gave him the room and still made myself available to get the ball (for the game-winning dunk) * W ennington m ade him self available again in last Sunday’s 94-91 victory. His two field goals, one of them a dunk over Ewing, in the last two m inutes proved to be the difference. efensively, the centers present dif­ ferent strengths, not all of which they’re willing to advertise. Last sea­ son, Langley, W ennington and Perdue made up the aptly nam ed three-head­ ed m onster, but it was a concept that nearly backfired, as virtually everyone acknowl­ edged that part of their strategy was to use up fouls, particularly against the Magic.

N eedless to say, Jackson no longer sub­ scribes to this philosophy. “The reason.’ he says with a laugh, “is because last year, I was com plaining about a foul on Luc Longley to the referee, and the referee said, ‘W hat are you complaining about’ You have 18 fouls to give on O’N e a l’ .And I said, H ow do you know this kind of stuff? T h a fs my job. T he feet that we have th ree centers, or that they’re out there to foul him, is not your business.’ Ym not going to let him have th a t” Longley and W ennington recently have begun to shed that albatross, partially because of their experience. But Longiey has another theory. “I f s a respect thing with the officials,’ he says. “I like to think ifs because I don’t bitch at them very much. I give diem re sp e c t I don’t complain, really. T hey’re doing their job, and hopefully they'll let me do mine." This business of being polite, however, som etim es extends to Longley’s treatm ent of opponents as well, som ething his team m ates and coach­ es have been working on with him.

At one point early in the season, D ennis Rodman decided Longley was too soft and that he was just the person to toughen him up. first getting into a shoving match with him in prac­

D

tice and then taking credit for Longley s next game, in which he had 13 points and eight re* bounds against the Knicks.

“People have labeled Loc as a soft pussycat for so long." Rodman said. “I told him, ‘You're 7-2 and 300 pounds. If you have a guy who's smaller than you, you take him to the basket and you dunk on him.' lf a guy com es down the lane, you knock him on the floor and take a cheap foul. People will respect you. and they won't come in there anym ore.’ ’ Longley has toughened up enough that he can keep Ewing from dominating down low After the Knicks lost the first two gam es in Chicago, they used Ewing m ore on the perim eter because he wasn't having as much success inside as expected.

Longley already has gained some respect from Jordan, who says the weak spot label doesn't fit T h e y said the sam e thing about Bill Cartwright, and then he proved himself."

Jordan says. “Luc's going through the same thing. He's a com plem entary player, but he still is an important part of our team."

W inter says he is trying to work with Long­ ley to develop one or two go-to moves he can count on offensively and improve in his “in­ stinctive reaction."

“Basically his strength is his size.” W inter says, “but I don’t think he really has learned to utilize i t to recognize how effective he can be with the size he has. But I think he's im­ proving and he's learning." Of the four. Lon­ gley is the best post-up player, Wennington. the superior jum p shooter. Salley, the best p a s s e r and Edwards, the most reliable scor­ er with his patented fadeaway out of the low p o st “We've had a tradition here w here we've tried to spread the wealth in the middle." gen­ eral manager Jerry Krause says. “That way we don’t depend on one guy. We get better results by playing more guys. They ail understand the system, but individually, they would ail be bet­ ter o th er places." Edwards and Salley don't want to find o u t “W hen I played with D etroit I was the first option on offense, and here I’m the last op­ tion," Edwards says. T h a t's understandable when you’ve got guys like Michael and Scottie (Pippen) and Steve (Kerr) jum ping off the picks, lf those guys aren't open. then I start looking for my shot at that point as opposed to looking for my shot when I first get the bail.

T h a fs just fine with me."

“I agree." Salley says. T m just happy to be here." ♦ M e lis s a Isa a cso n is a s p o r ts w r ite r f o r the C hica go T r ib u n e . H e r book 4T r a n s i t i o n G a m e " c h ro n ic le d the H ulls' f ir s t sea so n a fte r M ic h a e l J o r d a n 's r e tir e m e n t.

Even in an election year, one turkey stands clearly above the rest.

WILD TURKEY

40 • NOA

The Sporting News

NBA REPORT

POWELL

ennis Rodman has been accused of being many things over the years, but not what he really is these days: sm art.

He is keeping his distractions off the c o u rt where he can enhance his strange and m ar­ ketable image, not on the court, w here he could dam age the Bulls' chances for a title.

One night he's grabbing 19 rebounds and helping the Bulls win a playoff game in their series with the Knicks. Tile next day he's dressed in drag and autographing copies of his controversial (what else?) new book.

“Bad .As I Wanna Be " .As long as Rodman keeps his two personas separate in the playoffs, the Bulls will benefit and he will. too.

This wasn't the case in San Antonio last season, when Rodmania was out of control.

D

Wounded Tiger Livingston s health may score teams away

•

Draft watch The smell of big money and instant fame wasn't enough lo sway 6-10 center Tim Duncan from Wake For­ est. Had he declared for the June 26 draft, he could have been chosen first overall.

His om ission was a mild surprise when last Sunday s deadline for applying for the draft passed. But there were som e bigger surprises: Sh are d

A M u r - R a b im .

points and eight rebounds.

U ke Kevin G a rn e tt AbdurRahim (6-9) has great skills, but his body hasn't had time to develop A small forward now. a power forward later, but a lottery pick in June.

Antoine Walker. Not or.lv did he spend only two seasons at Kentucky, he was mostly m asked by Rick Pitino’s 10-man rotation. Wal­ ker. a 6-8 forward, showed prom ise in the postseason, but som e NBA scouts were surprised by his decision to turn pro. “With another vear. he could've been a lottery pick." one personnel director says. "We haven't seen enough of him."

Dontae’ Jones. The re­ n e w s are mixed for Jones, who leaves Mississippi State after one season (he starred in junior college). Some love his shooting stroke; others see holes and w ander if h e ’s this year's Scotty Thurm an.

Randy Livingston. Had he avoided-the devastating knee injuries that ruined his career at LSI'. Uvingston had a chance to be the mostdesired point guard avail­ able.

Erick D a m p e r. Dampier.

; • I •

I

He m ade an instant impact j as a freshm an at California j by averaging just over 20 i

a 6-11 wide body who didn't exactly dominate in college, is the third-best player, in term s of skill, on this year’s Mississippi State team. If he isn't chosen high in the lottery, which is a good possibility-. Dam pier will probably return for his senior vear.

0

Central question The Knicks have a big decision this su m m e r Should they trade Patrick Ewing?

Since star quality is im­ portant at M adison Square G arden, w here courtside seats go for $1,000 a pop in the regular season. Ewing still holds trem endous value to th i,franchise. He isn’t sur­ viving only off his name. Ew­ ing still is a productive cen­ ter after 12 seasons and would be attractive for any team without its own Shaq.

Olajuwon. etc.

H ere's the catch; Ewing tu rn s 34 in August, and though his age isn’t much an issue now. how about Au­ gust 1997. when a 35-yearold Ewing will be a free agent?

Not only is Ewing a year away from free agency, but

MIWA

Shaun

Rodman didn't cost the Spurs their W estern Conference cham pionship series against the Rockets— Hakeem Olajuwon vs. David Robinson was the decisive factor—but he dis­ rupted a team that was fragile and sensitive to any form of abnorm al behavior. T he Spurs went nuts last spring when Rodman appeared on the cover of a national magazine wearing hot pants and a halter top and fingered Rod­ man for their downfall after he refused to join team huddles.

The Bulls are different WTien Rodman's book hit the stands two weeks ago, they merely yawned. Distraction?

Please. M ichael Jo rd an ’s thought process wasn’t disrupted during a gam e because he kept harking back to the M adonna chapter.

Scottie Pippen didn’t blame his poor shooting in the Knicks series on Rodman’s frank dis­ cussion on suicide. The Bulls are beyond us­ ing Rodman's antics as an excuse.

"We're only' concerned with what happens inside the 94-foot space on the c o u r t’* Bulls coach Phil Jackson say’s. “Anything that goes on beyond that is the player’s own business."

One reason the Bulls are im m une is be­ cause they have experienced it before. D ur­ ing their cham pionship years, there was al­ ways infighting and dram a being played out behind closed doors. Two years ago, they refused to allow Pippen's infamous sit-out to disrupt the team chemistry- The Bulls have a knack for putting aside the nonsense and go­ ing about the business of basketball.

Not every team, however, is c a p jb l| of do-

Kl IS* R/ASSOCIATED PM S i

Don’t expect Rodman to be a drag on the Bulls

Ring, Worn? There may not be many peaceful moment between Rodman and referees such as Bernie Fryer, but Rodman will be smart enough to avoid head-on collisions as he aims for the title. m g this.

T m sure there is an elem ent in New York that would love him." Knicks CEO Dave C hecketts says about Rodman. “As far as Tm concerned. I think its awful. W hen I saw the picture of him showing up on the motorcycle with the m akeup job. I couldn’t believe this is what it has come to. I guarantee you that as long as Tm running die Knicks, he will not be on this club. That probably is just fine with him. But the distraction and the way that m ust play in the locker room, that’s extraor­ dinary.”

T he only distraction Rodman is causing now is to his bank account. T he public and Madison Avenue are buying his a c t He has two com mercials in circulation in the Chica­ go area. He has endorsem ents. His book. filled with candid discussion on several titil­ lating subjects, is the kind that sells. He al­ ways wanted to transcend sports and tap into the going rate for centers fig­ ures to be trem endous by then, and agent David Falk will probably seek $10 m il lion-plus for his clienL lf the Knicks still qualified as title contenders, then trading Ewing would be to­ tally’ out of the question. But the Knicks are graying and CEO Dave C hecketts has al­ ready stated he plans to give the roster a tuneup, if not an overhaul, this summer.

U nless the Knicks can sign a pair of A-list free agents this summer, it might be wise for the team to allow Ewing to seek his first cham­ pionship elsew here and get what it can for him now.

Qnt/f w attm : Should the Knicks trade an aging Ewing?

the entertainm ent m a rk e t and by ail indica­ tions. he has.

Y et Rodman is wise enough not to lose his tru e meal tic k e t basketball. You get the sense he will not get himself ejected from a gam e, or do som ething stupid such as head­ butt a referee, or anything that would actual­ ly fit the definition of “disruption."

T h e other day I told PhD I was thinking about w earing a dress (during the gam e)," Rodman says. “He said. 'W hat m akes you think th a t’’ instead of getting all crazy and scared. If I do som ething real crazy, he won’t flip out because he’s been through it himself.

“Phil and (general m anager) Je rry (Krause) have pretty m uch left me alone.

They know that I’m in control T h e re s noth­ ing to be scared of. I’m not going to ruin the organization. I'm not going to ruin the people on this team. I’m not going to blow up. and they know I’m not going to blow up."

Around the league Does L arry Brown have his walking boots on again?

He says he isn’t looking to leave die Pacers. But if some team wants Brown badly enough to give him a per­ centage of the club, then Pacers president Donnie Walsh wouldn't stand in the way of his old friend. The M avericks and Knicks— two team s with interest in Brown— aren't willing to m ake him a part-owner.

M ore likely, the exodus in Indiana will com e from am ong the players, not the coach. Antonio Davis and Reggie M iller are free agents, and Dale Davis is ex­ pected to exercise his right to free agency, too. Of the three. Antonio Davis is most likely to leave. He could land in Miami as backup help for Alonzo M ourning. ... The buzz around the Lakers has general m anager Je rry West shopping Cedric Ceballos but keeping Nick Van Exel.

The H ornets. Sixers and M avericks have Bulls assis­ tant coach Jim Cleamons on their list of coaching candi­ dates. but Bulls general

m anager Je rry Krause won’t allow team s to interview Cleamons until the Bulls are done with the playoffs. That m ight not be until June 19. the last possible day of the NBA Finals. T he draft is June 26. and m ost team s would like a coach in place well before then.-Cleapions isn't com plaining, becaifse h e's w orking on his fifth cham pionship ring—he has th r ^ w ith the Bulls and one as a player with the Lak­ ers— and can afford to wait for the ideal job. In the past two years, Cleam ons has turned down the Blazers and Raptors. “I’m in a win-win sit­ uation." he says.

If the H ornets renounce their rights to Kenny Ander­ son as expected, they would not be able to sign him until January, which m eans .An­ derson w on’t play for Char­ lotte. Look for the Bullets to m ake a run for h im .... The Nets may make another run at Rick Rtino. now that own­ ership has been divided up again. But if he leaves Ken­ tucky for the Jersey swamps, it'll be a surprise. +

Shaun Powell covers the SB A for Sewsday

NBA * 4 1

May 20.1996

ferent defenders at him on the same possession.

The result Olajuwon. who entered the series averaging 29.7 points in the playoffs over the last three seasons, scraped to­ gether 23 points in the first two games combined. He had five No one has stood taller in the playoffs the past two years assists in 75 minutes. He regained his shooting touch in than Hakeem Olajuwon.

Games 3 and 4. combining for 50 points, bul the Rockets' 3But in four games and nine short days, the Supersonics' re­ point shooters never hit consistently. lentless defense cut down Olajuwon and the Rockets.

‘T hey send three people at me." Olajuwon said. “If they do Many coaches around the league dismiss Seattle's trapping, that. that means two people are open. So I have to make them switching defense as a gimmick. They whisper the Sonics will pay by finding the open man." never win a title relying on that scheme. This theory gained The Rockets made an adjustment after Game 2. They put credence the last two years, when the Sonics were knocked Olajuwon on the right side of the lane— opposite from where out in the first round each time. he normally sets up— to create different shot opportunities.

What the Rockets series proved, however, is that the Son­ Tomjanovich also told his team to run more pick-and-rolls and ics' frenetic defense was slash to the basket. the ideal counterpoint to a Olajuwon responded in Game 3 with 24 points. 13 predictably efficient Hous­ rebounds and nine as­ ton offense that revolved around Olajuwon. This sists. Still, he committed seven turnovers, several was no fluke. The Sonics on crucial late posses­ have beaten the Rockets sions . He totaled six turn­ in the last 13 meetings. overs in the fourth quar­ Houston guard Kenny ters of Games 2 and 3.

Smith calls Seattle, “the “We got a little too pre­ king of the illegal de­ fense." Rockets coach dictable in the fourth quarter trying to get the Rudy Tomjanovich and ball to the big fella." Rock­ his players complained ets sw agm an Mario Elie about the supposed Son­ 5, says.

“He made some ics' zone all series. Seattle good passes. But a couple coach George Kari dis­ of times, he hesitated. cards those allegations as Against a good team, you the frustration of a team can't hesitate, lf you do that couldn’t adjust that. they ll steal the ball."

“I don’t think we're ille­ Olajuwon. the most gal at a ll" he says. “We valuable player in the Rdon’t play man-to-man.

I nals the last two years, got But our guys know where they can stand when an S h o w of h a n d s : Vincent Askew (top), ShawnKemp and the Sonics first so frustrated he began to opponent is standing in a floored Lionel Simmons and theKings with pressure, then the Rockets question the system that yielded consecutive titles. certain position. That “I don’t mind passing, as long as we do something with it," doesn’t mean we’re going to cover that guy. T h eres nothing he said before Game 4. “What’s frustrating me is I shouldn't be that says we've got to cover the guy with the ball." restricted to one place on the c o u rt I’m a versatile player. I Even Tomjanovich concedes. “Ifs not the easiest thing in should be creating, finding the open man. Doing things that the world to call when there is so much movement." have been successful for us. But I can't really go out and free­ Against the Rockets, the Sonics gave center Ervin Johnson lance out there." one responsibility: take away the baseline, Olajuwon’s favorite The Sonics’ defense will disrupt the Jazz or the Spurs in the spot As soon as fee ball went to Olajuwon, he was swarmed by Western Conference finals. The question is to what extent. at least one and often two additional defenders.

Kari Malone and David Robinson set up farther from the bas­ Seattle is a quick, athletic team wife strong perimeter d e ket at the point of attack, which can force the Sonics lo alter fenders. The Sonics have the ability to drop down for fee double-and tripleteam and still get outside to contest 3-point shoot­ what was successful against the Rockets. ♦ •—David Moore ers. The Sonics confused Olajuwon even more by running dif-

Sonic broom

Giant steps Sometimes playoff heroes come from unlikely sources.

Jazz forward Bryon (Don’t call me Byron) Russell in his third season out of Long Beach State, averaged 23 points in the regular season and played fewer minutes than any other player on fee Jazz's playoff roster.

But because of a knee injury to David Benoit, Jazz coach Je rry Sloan has used the 6-7 Russell as part of fee rotation. He responded by hitting big fourth-quarter baskets and play­ ing strong defense against the Trail Blazers in Game I of that series, and he continued his solid play against the Spurs, averaging 11 points and hitting on IO of his 14 3-point at­ tempts.

During the Blazers series. Jazz guard Jeff Hornacek was asked if he had ever seen Russell play so well.

Hornacek laughed. “In practice, he’s done it a few times," he said.

Kart’s mark The contract of Sonics coach George Karl is only partially guaran­ teed for next season. After fee Sonics

lost in the first round last year, he worked out a compromise in which he wouldn’t be fired after this season but that he also wouldn’t have his con­ tract extended. Now here he sits, with probably the best team he has coached, in the midst of a season he calls fee most satisfying of his career, and seemingly with no clear idea of where hell be next season.

But despite all the rumors about his future, Kari has no regrets about his Sonics years. “AD I can say is that I’ve made friends on this team like I've never made in my coaching ca­ reer.” he says. “There are five or six guys on this team that I’m sure IU stiD be having beers with 20 years from now.

“I’m very peaceful with what Ive done here."

One interesting theory has Kari taking the Hornets job to position himself geographically for his dream job— North Carolina as Dean Smith's successor.

T rn not going to bite on that ques­ tion," he says. T h a t ’s a big fish to hook" —Steve fa in

THE HOOK ON...

While P anola college at Illinois, Nick Anderson foura atole model. Though he grew up in Chicago,* however, he did not want to be Iike;Mike.

“I love Joe Otmtars," he says. “He’s beenmy idol since before I got in the league. He ustehls lhteQigence;.thal’s what intrigues me most about him."

He was in trig ^ i tbo. by Ournare' V^; work ethic. And bytryifjfl todupflcate it, -

Anderson rrade himself a player. Coming out of lllinqjSi scouts didnt expect him to develop Into a wefl-rocmded scorer and one of the leagued better 3-point shooters. Hfrhas, even if he doesnl get the bulkof tha scoring opportunities with the MagffrVv- • ~ ' Entering the: week, Anderson was averaging-1^pointsIn the playoffs and was bne reasorribe Magic bad yet to lose

titer

................ ........

Uwasnt a shooter and I couldst ptajr dgtehse,” Anderson says, “t remteiberall'tfiaL’But I think every year rvegoteafiflfter.?-1 / ’ ' Wrat the way.tbe Magic are playing.

AndBiterftSay get another chance to win a ring arid be tike Joe. ♦

THE NBA DRAFT How are your favorite players expected to fare in the d ra ft0 How high will they be selected? How low0

F in d

DOM

o u t In :

LEVENTHAL S D R A F T R E PO RT

PART ONE (Ready May 31st) D r a f t o r d e r ( a n d h o w t e a m s a c q u i r e d 1 9 9 6 1st a n d 2 n d - r o u n d p i c k s ) List o f t h e t o p 2 0 0 p l a y e r s a v a i l a b l e fo r t h e d r a f t Top ten p lay ers at e a c h p o sitio n *Td»p t e n u n d e r c l a s s m e n a t e a c h p o s i t i o n List o f t h e t o p 125 p r o s p e c t s a v a i l a b l e fo r f u t u r e d r a f t s In fo rm a tio n o n th e 1 9 9 6 early -en try c a n d id a te s R e p o r t s o n p o s t - s e a s o n c a m p s in P o r t s m o u t h (Va I a n d P h o e n i x L ists o f t h e N B A s r e s t r ic t e d a n d u n r e s t r i c t e d f r e e a g e n t s In fo rm atio n o n U SA B ask etb all s su m m e r te a m s Final 1 9 9 6 N C A A M e n s B a s k e t b a ll s ta tis tic s (lo n g v e rs io n ) S u p e r in -d ep th sc o u tin g re p o rts o n T b p 7 5 p la y e r s a v a ila b le for t h e d ra ft

PART TWO (Ready mid-June) R ep o rt o n C h ic a g o Pre-D raft C a m p R e v is e d r a n k in g s o f t h e t o p 5 8 p la y e r s a v a ila b le for th e d raft A lo o k at e a c h N BA te a m s n e e d s a n d p o s s i b l e c h o i c e s in t h e S c o u t m g r e p o r t s o n fo re ig n p la y e rs e lig ib le for th e d raft L is t o f f u t u r e I s t - r o u n d c h o i c e s t h a t h a v e b e e n t r a d e d L ate b re a k in g d raft-related new s

ALL FO R J U S T S 2 5 . 0 0 (First Class Postage included)

DON LEVENTHAL PO. BOX 2 4 3-A WILLOW GROVE. PA 1 9 0 9 0 1 -8 0 0 -^ 5 0 -3 2 0 1

draft

42 • NFL

Tile Sporting News

The Steelers raise the curtain on a shaky j|uarterhack si^ation and a shift hack in styie B y G erry D ulac jhe VSiMr plane from Buffalo at Pittsburgh Inlernaiional Airport and the flight attendant g e ts on the intercom lo an nounce the arrival.

“W elcom e to Pittsburgh.* sh e says plane sc re e ch e s to a halt on the ru n w ^-. "the cit)* N^ilhout a q u arterback ."

M ore than th ree m onths have elapsed since the 27-17 loss to the Cowboys in the Su­ per Bowl, and the q u arterb ack everyon e blamed is gon e, of f lo the Je ts for $ 2 5 milDon. l e tt e r s pour to the editor G ood riddance.

Neil. T han k s for nothing. Neil. Hey. Neil, don't the let the d o o r ... well. >*ou know t)nly realih' rem ains. It co m e s in the form of a question Can the Steelers gel back to the ■% jper Bowl \siihoul Neil O 'D onnell who. desprte his Super Bowl pt'rform ance. prodded low-misiake, dependable play^ Inside the op­ eration. you find the normal optimism ‘T h e re s no doubt in my mind." says Chan Gaik'v, the Steelers* new offensive coordinator. ^ ■ ‘It's not like you look at our offense and say we ne<*d a big-time qu arterback to make this g o ." says Tom Donahcte. the d irector of UK)ibaIl operations “ll s a learn (bing and re­ ally has been for our offense the last four

T

a-ears

*'

O utside the organi/Tation. th ere is skeplicisni “W ith the loss of O ’Donnell. I don't know that th ere s a favonie in the .APC C en ­ tral." sav s new Ravens co ach Ted M archibroda. w hose Colts lost t(j the .N eelers in the AFC cham pionship gam e last season “Thai V ertainly h u rts the S teelers losing him. los­ ing (offensrve tackle 0 ‘rm) SeariT It not only lakes the abilit>- of th e q u arterb ack away. it lak es away a lot of lead ersh ip .'

W ith O 'D o n n ell the S teelers kept laking 'sm all, m easu red step s tow ard their ulbmaie

^goal.'Firsl-round playoff loss* i - e s rn the Bills and Chiefs, fok ^ o w e d by the h eartb reak in g ■ loss IO the C h a rg ers in the . .APC cham pionship gam e. A few m onths ago. the Steelers : trailed the Cowboys bv three a s -^ e I points in the fourth q u arter I when wide receiv er Andre H astings turned inside left and O ’Donnell threw outside . right. \M \ai L a rry Browm . stole was not an ilktimed pass i but the coiiective-h eart of a ; cit)- that is still hurting.

Now. if the S te d e rs are to J lake the next step, if they are lo u'ln the Super Bow l. they J must do it with a quarterback still lo be picked from a trio thai includes JI-y e a r veteran M ike T o m czak . third-year ; player Jim M iller and multi; talented K ordell S tew art.

Slash flash: Sfeuwrf is easily the most gifted o f the diree quarterbadts but has a lot ofground to make up because of ^ The S teelers did not go into tncxperience. In the end. look for him to have an increased 'Slash'role thai might include eight to IO snaps per game. the free-agenl m arket for a quarierback b ecause. Galley can cut down on his interceptions and play as hile they break in a new- q uar­ says. “T h e re w asn't anyone out th ere who he did in 199-1. when he won two big gam es terb ack. the S teelers will try to could walk through our door and right away for the S teelers and didn't throw an intercep­ invert their offensive philosophy be the starter." tion in 93 attem pts. If Tom czak stru ggles, the of '95 and go back to the run.

The> marie som e o vertu res toward B ernie S teelers won't w aste any tim e turning lo Last year w-as a d eparture from Steelers’ tra­ K o sa r th e Dolphins' backup who played in .Miller, a sixth-round pick from M ichigan dition. what with five-wideout sets and a quar­ Cleveland when Steelers coach Bill Cow her Slate in 1994 who had a good preseason a terb ack lining up at receiver. T h e r e s u lt was an assistant there. .And thev considered y ear ago. By the sixth gam e of the regular but never pursued Cincinnati’s Da\id Wingier though, was an AFC-high 407 points and sev­ season — if not so o n er— .Miller likely will be and the Raiders* Jeff H osteller. “O f the peo­ eral individual and team re co rd s for passing.

I ple who were out there." Galle) says. “I didn’t the man entrusted with replacing 0 ‘D onnell T h is season, they want to em phasize the run see a dram atic jump from the th ree guys w-e T h e \-ariable. though, is how m uch of the of­ early and often and keep the pressu re off the ■ had h e r e " fense Stew art can pick up during offseason q u arterb ack . That is why they signed \V11!

Cow her says he w ill begin the quarterback quarterback sessions with Galley.

Wolford to play left gu ard, m ade a draft-day . com petition based on seniorit>\ m eaning “It’s going to be a case of developing a guy trade for Je ro m e B ettis and drafted mam ­ Tom czak. 33. will com e to training cam p as w ho’s m ost co n sisten t," C ow her says, “not moth offensive tackle Jam ain Stephens in the the starter. The Steelers are hoping Tom czak the guy who learn s the q u ic k e s t' first round.

I

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W

p

The Steelers will rely on their old formula: control the bal]. limit mistakes, punch through some field goals and win with a bigplay defense that loses only Kevin Greene and benefits from Rod Woodson’s return. T m not taking anything away from O'Donnell or Pitts­ burgh’s offense, but the SteeJers got to where they are by playing aggressive defense and getting efficient play from their q u arter­ backs." Oilers coach Jeff Fisher says. “I don’t think their quarterback situation is going to hurt the Steelers. I ts not going to change what they do on the field and what m akes them successful."

Though the Steelers are good enough to re­ turn to the playoffs, maybe even to the AFC title gam e. the QB uncertainty makes them a long shot to get back to the Super Bowl. They are clearlygoing to miss O’Donnell and the rapport he had developed with his re­ ceivers. U nder form er offensive coordinator Ron E rhardt. who left for the Jets and helped recru it O'Donnell there, O'Donnell be­ cam e adept at finding his second and third targets. He was reli­ able. if not spectacular, and his developm ent allowed the Steelers to open the offense.

As for his replace­ ment, h e re ’s an analy­ sis of the three candi­ dates: Pass or fail: Tomczak: He has not Tomczak (top) has started as many as half the job for now, but the gam es since 1992. look for Miller to be when he was 4-4 with starting by the sixth the Browns, but he has game, if not earlier. perform ed solidly in his caree r when surrounded by good players. During the Steelers’ seven-game winning streak in ’94, he produced an overtim e victory against the Dolphins and a road triumph over the Raiders.

“G etting back to the Super Bowl really stirred up the juices and rejuvenated me as far as getting back behind center for 16 gam es again." Tomczak says.

Tomczak has even received the endorse­ ment of Woodson, the te a m s Pro Bowl cor­ nerback and spiritual leader. “I believe the starting job has to go to Mike." Woodson says. “H e’s been through everything. And h e ll run with the ball. too. which is a nice di­ mension for your quarterback to have."

But Tomczak also brings a turnover di­ mension the Steelers want to shed. He tends to get locked onto his first option and force the ball. Last season, he threw one touch­ down pass and nine interceptions and has 58 TDs and 77 interceptions in his career. Tom­ czak has enough arm strength, though weak­ e r than M iller and Stew art, and team m ates respect him for his toughness. But he is more suited to be an experienced backup than a seasonlong answer.

M iller The Steelers drafted Miller ahead of the R edskins’ Gus Frerotte in 1994 because they liked his size and arm strength.

But Miller suffered a broken thum b in training camp and spent the season as the team ’s third quarterback. Last spring, he played for Frankfurt in the World League before sustaining a broken right wrist.

But when he replaced Tomczak last sea­ son against Miami. Miller was impressive, completing 18 of 29 passes for 210 yards in a 23-10 loss. The coaches cam e a wav convinced he could one day be their q u a rte r­ back. That day may be the fifth exhibition gam e this sum m er, which is when Cowher says he would like to anoint his starting quarterback.

“I think I’ve improved quite a bit. and it showed in the way I played." says Miller. 25.

“I’m not going to improve sitting on the bench. The ball is in my court, and I have to take advantage of it.

You couldn’t ask for a better situation."

T• 4|K^r.

The Steelers like Miller’s com mitment to the offseason pro­ r A v jo y is iii gram and improving his fitness. He was a pudgy 2 2 7 pounds on a 6 -2 frame when drafted, but he has trim m ed his weight to 2 1 0 . He has a strong arm, but ques■ I bons remain about his accuracy and m o­ bility. He has improved each year, and the Steelers are confident he will con­ tinue to progress. which is why he is the odds-on choice to *"* >'Y]Va, win the job eventual­ ly. It’s Tom czak’s to I lose, but at the first sign of trouble, look J H S 5 for Miller.

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to make up.

“I think the key for them is how far along Kordell is in his development." Fisher says.

“It’s going to take him some ume because I doubt he spent a great deal of time learning the quarterback position after he became a m ultipurpose player. Once they determ ine he’s a quarterback, hell spend all his time at that position."

But that’s the problem. In the back of their collective minds, the coaches know Stewart is an invaluable weapon when used like he was last season. He lined up at receiver, quar­ terback and running back and even poochpunted in the playoff victory over Buffalo.

Slash did everything. He finished the reg­ ular season with 14 receptions, including a 71-yard TD that beat the Bengals. He com­ pleted 5-of-7 passes for 60 yards and pro­ duced a memorable 2-yard TD pass against the Browns that finished off a sideline-to-sideline scram ble. He also ran 15 tim es for 86 yards, som etim es on the option, sometimes after lining up as a wingback. That's what he did against the Patriots when he took a pitch from O’Donnell and scored on a 22-yard run.

“You haven't even seen Kordell vet." savs wide receiver Charles Johnson, the Steelers’ No. I pick in 1994 who played with Stewart at Colorado. “He can make all those great plays as a quarterback. He just needs the ball in his hands."

“He’s got such a strong arm and he's so fast: there’s got to be a possibility hell be a great quarterback in the NFL" says the Seahawks’ Christian Fauna. Stew art's tight end at Col­ orado. “When I would talk to other teams, they would say they want him to play something else and fd be like. ’You got to be kidding me.’

That’s ridiculous. People think Steve Young can run. H e’s not anyw here near as fast as Kordell."

E rhardt says. *1 thought Kordell was a guy with the abilities of (Steve) .McNair, but only at a higher level of com­ petition."

Certainly no one questioned Stew art’s arm strength, not af­ ter he launched the ball more than 70 yards to complete the M iracle at M ichigan. “S om e times in practice I didn't want to catch anymore because mv hands hurt," Fauna says. And Stewart always had special speed (4.47 in the 40).

Now. though, with O'Don­ nell gone. Stewart wants to work that magic with the Sleek ers— at quarterback. He has refused interview requests on I the su b ject preferring to wait I until the season to s e e what | his role will be. In the end. the I guess is he will be given an in% creased Slash role this season. § Look for him to get eight to 10 snaps from scrim m age, ap­ peasing his desire for quarterback time. and more opportunities as a receiver and running back. With a shaky quarterback situation, it behooves the Steelers to keep opponents offbalance with the Slash-and-burn strategy.

“He has the talent." Gailey says. “He can make som ething out of nothing. He's got a very strong arm. and he proved last year that when he did get under center he made good decisions."

Now it is the Steelers who must make a good decision. A city's fragile psyche awaits. ♦ G erry D ulac is a T S S correspondent a n d c o v e n the S te e le n fo r the Pittsburgh Post -Gazette. *

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S te w a rt The Steelers insist they will give

him every chance to be the quarterback.

Right now. he com es in four or five days a week. with Miller, for classroom sessions with Gailey. The Steelers say Stewart will work only as a quarterback when training camp opens, but don’t look for him to remain a pure QB unless Tomczak and Miller stagger and fall.

Stewart. 23. has the strongest arm of the three quarterbacks, but he took very few snaps in practice last season, working mainly as a scout-team receiver before becom ing “Slash." the multidimensional threat who re­ energized the offense. He has a lot of ground

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Chan reaction It has been a curious offseason for a team that went to the Super Bowl.

The Steelers lose their quarterback and a highly regarded offensive tackle in free agency. A running back gets indicted by a Texas grand jury on two counts of drug possession. They announce their plan to emphasize the running game more this season. This, after firing offensive coordinator Ron Erhardt, who knows more about the running game than Disney does about marketing.

Into the scene steps new coordinator Chan Gailey, a form er college quarterback 'Whose specialty is the passing game. Gailey sits in his office and smiles.

"I know that doesn’t sound like a guy w ho’s been involved with five-wide receiver Gailey form ations."

Gailey says about his fit in a runoriented attack.

Gailey, 44, was the Steelers’ receivers coach the past two years but was elevated to coordinator when coach Bill Cowher decided not to retain Erhardt.

The decision was an odd one because Erhardt had built a running offense that was consistently powerful. Last year.

Erhardt made the switch to a passoriented attack that produced an AFChigh 407 points.

But Gailey was receiving interest from other teams,, and Cowher. fearful that •' Erhardt. 65.’w ould retire in another year or so. didn't want to lose both So he promoted Gailey. It was Galley who suggested the pass play in which Neil O'Donnell hit Em ie M ills for 37 yards. setting up the winning TD in the AFC cham pionship game against the Colts. “ lf we can run the bail, we will." Gailey says, “lf I had my choice, if i could run it down People's throats all gam e . every game, that’s what I would do."

Gailey’s first, and m ost critical, assignment: Find a replacement for O’Donnell. His assessm ent of the three candidates: Mike Tomczak. “He brings experience. He's played in big games before. He’s won at home, he's won on * the road. But he’ll sit in here and tell you. he needs to not throw interceptions."

Jim Miller. “Has a good football mind. a very quick release. When he makes up his mind that the ball is going to go there. fr£m that point to the time the ball leaves his hand is not very long.

He’s not very quick, but he slides very well rn the pocket. Dan M arino is going to the Hall of Fame, in part, because of that slide."

Kordell Stewart "He and Jim have proved it at the other level (college). But they still have to do it here. (Stewart) * has the strongest arm of the three. His weakness is the unknown. (Stewart and Miller) may not have weaknesses, and yet they may, but we don’t know That's what we need to find out." ; — G am r OiflJtc

4 4 'NFL

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The Sporting News

A sold-outmodel Because Michael Irvin seemed to be so caring and responsible in his ride to the top, his fall has been particularly galling

Paul ATTNER

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rt»member lmer\iewing Jimmy Johnson a few years ajro. The OU

subject was the Cowboys* offense. and you expected him to spend most of his time talking about Troy .Mkman and Emmitt Smith. After all. they were the arm and legs that made the Cowbo)^; so menacing. Bul instead. Johnson wanted to discuss Michael Irvin. Irvin had been parbcularh' outstanding in practice the previous day and Johnson couldn't stop thinking about what he had witnessed.

You rem em ber Johnson‘s words so vivddh'. Irvin, he said, was such a tremendous worker. A coach’s dream. He never stopped pushing himself, whether 'n was in the o ffs ^ s o n or when his legs grew sore in December. Johnson sat there and looked at you and said it so cleari>’. Wouldn’t it be wonderful, he gushed, if he could coach a team full of Michael Irvins?

You rem em ber everything else that seemed so good about Irvih. How he grew up in a famih’ of 17 chDdren. how he used sports as a young^er to keep himself out of trouble, how he preached positive words to kids about life and the evils of drugs. alcohol and crime. How he would fly in underprivileged children to training camp.

How he would stand in the locker room and dazzle the media with his glibness, his insights, his obvious pride in what the team had accomplished. How funny and loud he aAvavs # was.

You rem em ber all that as you sort through w'hat has becom e of Michael Irvin. a player whose work habits and will to win were considered so extraordinary among the Cowboys thai he emerged as a role model’s role model. And he did nothing to deflect the worship: instead, he relished it and embraced the responsibilities thai come with the bile, Yet since the last Super Bowl. this same Michael Irvin has been caught in a hotel room with two women, neither one his wife The room contained drugs; he later was Indicted on drug charges. He declares he is innocent Then a ForfW orih television station releases videotapes showing a man it claims to be Irvin talkjng about buving and using cocaine He is speaking to Dennis Pedini. a paid informant of the station that fitTned the conversation using a camera hidden in the back seat of a car T h e man identified as Irvin offers Pedini

cocaine. Pedini declines, saying it could stunt his growth. The man identified as Irvin chuckles and sa>'s: "I already been stunted then, lf that’s the case. I should’ve been stunted a long lime a g o .... Boy. I can’t wait to get me a line or three." You rem em ber wha! Irvin once said about him self “I crave things."

You rem em ber that nothing has been proved in court, that the television station say.s it sat on the tape for weeks before it was aired, just in time for the sweeps period, which makes you wonder about its I news judgment and credibilil)*- But you also aren’t naive enough lo think Irvin just happened to wind up in a hotel room containing two strippers and drugs. He is emerging as ever>lhing that you don’t want to see in today’s athlete, a guy who has sold out his standards and put himself afc^ve you and me and his team and his league* Here w-as a man Jimmy Johnson thought was the ideal star, more so than even an Aikman or a Smith. Yet would you want your youngster walking around today, wearing a Cowboys jersey with No. 88 on You rem em ber the question you are asked by nearly anyone who knows what you do for a living. Why does everyone write so much about the off-field stuff? D on’t these athletes deserve a private life? And there always is an Irvin popping up to serve as an answer.

You rem em ber something else they ask you. Can’t any­ thing be done to make sports fun again? You don't offer many words of encouragemenL You are convinced the Michael Irvins of the athletic world wiD continue to emerge because pro teams and leagues aren’t n e ^ as committed as they must be I lo clean up their m esses. You might have laughed when you heard that Je rry Jo n es pro­ posed .NFL clubs take over the league’s drug-testing pro­ gram— why not let the owners referee gam es, too?— but do you realh think the NFL and its m em bers are exerting every effort to erase their off-field embarrassments?

Instead, thev' hide behind talk of “second ch an ces" and character checks: give them a talent like Lawxence Phillips and watch how they scramble lo justif>drafting him near the top of the first round.

The clubs complain about how agents erode influence and flatter their clients so obscenely that it distorts their thinking and contributes to a lot of these problems. Vet agents rouiineh pop up in NFL locker rooms, with permission. One agent in Miami even occasionally sits in tile parking lot of the Dolphins’ complex, w-orking his

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car phone and visiting with players, some of whom are not his employers. Is he evicted?

Hardh.

You rem em ber thinking ac one time that m essages about drugs and abusive behavior and drunken driving would be so telling the>‘ would even penetrate the egos of men like Michael Irvin. How naive.

In Dallas. Irvin lives a life that has little relation to what we experience. Not just his income level separates him or the gaudyway he dresses or the flashy jewelry he

wears; h is more than th a t It is the way be is worshiped by fens, d)e way be is treated by the Cowboys— when he used profanity on national televisioii last season, no team official reprimanded him pubbdy— & e way doors everyTvhere in the region open for h in t Stars such as Irvin have Uttle account-abflity anymore: teams don’t want to find out bad news about th em They’d rather look away than risk losing a key part of their success. After a ll without Irvin, the Cowboys’ Super Bowl prospects diminish considerably. He knows that, too. and the way he struts around, flaunting his status, reflects his attitude of disdain.

You rem em ber all this and then you think back to when the first Irvin tapes were shown on that television station. That same weekend. Emmitt Smith received a diploma from the University of Florida, keeping a promise to his mother. And you wonder how long it wiU be before there are no more Smiths around to s c ^ n the anger when the Michael Irvins tumble off the pedestal.

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Paul Attner is a sen ior writer fo r THE S po rtln c N e w s

NFL *45

May 20,1996

4. C h s Dishm an.

M a rcu s Robertson, Darryl] Lew is and Blaine Bishop. W ith R o b e rtso n ’s re tu rn from in ju ries and th e re-sig n in g of D ishm an, tin s could be th e NFL’s b est seco n d ary .

Few have th e cover skills of co rn erb ac k Lewis o r th e co n tro lled a g g re ssio n of safety Bishop.

T h e O ilers had th e' le a g u e 's fifthra n k ed d efen se last year. T h is y ear it sh o u ld be even better.

5. The Steelers, R avens.

Ja gu a rs and Bengals. Face it. T he re st of the .AFC C entral is a m ess. T h e S teelers don't have a q u a rte r­ back. th e Ravens don ! have a ru n n in g back, th e Jag u a rs d o n ! have en o u g h e x p e rien ce and th e B engals have a bad Prayers answered? Sanders and other slick young Oilers could mot e attitude heaven and earth in Houston before the team packs its tents for Tennessee T he O ilers, m ean­ while. won th re e of th eir last five g am es, losing only to th e play­ nine touchdow n recep tio n s in '95. .And thirddow n b ack H arm on can co v er for ai! th eir off-bound S te e le rs and bon-* d u rin g that span. m istakes.

3. Anthony Cook and Gary Walker.

"I re m e m b e r my days with Bud G rant and T h e se w ere th e tw o b est b o o k en d ro o k ie the M innesota V ikings, tim es with no locker d efensive linem en last y ear th at nobody has room , no p ractice facility, w orking out in parking lots." R eese says. "I learned then that h e a rd of. C ook had 4~ sa c k s d e sp ite injuries, and W alker w as voted to som e all­ ad v ersity can pull you to g eth er. T h is could ro o k ie team s. happen h ere."

NFL REPORT

Lame-duck Oilers will be mighty ducks in ’96

Bill PLASCHKE loyd R eese w as n e g o tia tin g on th e p h o n e w ith a ro o k ie free a g en t recen tly wdien a n o th e r page su d d en ­ ly tu rn e d in th e su sp e n se th rille r that h as b ecom e th e H ouston O ilers.

T h e line w ent d ead . R eese ra p p e d the p h o n e a co u p le of tim es and w aited ... and waited.

Soon th e g e n e ra l m a n a g e r realized th at e v e ry p h o n e in . th e O ilers' m ak esh ift offices— w h e re th ey re c e n tly m oved after th e ir lo n g tim e b u ild in g w as c o n d e m n e d — w as dead.

R eese ran o u tsid e to his car. pulled out his cellular phone, redialed th e free a g e n t... and w as told th a t th e kid had ju s t sig n ed with som eb o d y else.

"W e’ve se e n it a ll" R eese says.

Soon, it will b e th e re st of th e N FL w ho is se e in g it all.

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Chip off the old Don T h e ea rly le a d e r in th e c a te g o ry of “b e s t o ffseaso n m ove" is th e h irin g of offen­ sive c o o rd in a to r M ike Shula

by B ucs C oach T ony Dungy.

Ju s t ask q u a rte rb a c k T re n t Dil/er.

On a re c e n t W ed n esd ay a fte rn o o n on th e a irp o rt lan d in g strip th a t th e B ucs call a train in g facility. Shula w as tu to rin g D ilfer on re ad in g defen ses.

He told Dilfer to throw a pass as if he w ere facing a “Cover 2" zone. Dilfer thought Shula said. “Cover 3."

“So it w as a lousy pass, a terrible play." Dilfer says. “But it was only b ecau se I h eard him w rong. M ost coaches would have seen it. sh ru g g ed and said try again."

N ot S hula. T h e 30-yearold son of th e coach w ith th e m ost N FL w ins ju m p ed up with a D on S h u lilik e glare.

"You c a n n o t ta k e a play off out h e re , not ev en one." h e said sharply.

M o m en ts later. Shula was tu to rin g Dilfer on th e differ­ en c e b e tw e e n th ro w in g a ball at a g u y ’s s h o u ld e r and th ro w in g it 6 in c h e s lower.

T h e O ilers a re stu c k in H ouston am id scan t su p p o rt for at least a n o th e r y ea r b ecau se of a foolish m an nam ed B ob Lanier. a m ayor who is co m m ittin g political suicide by holding them to th eir lease. T h e O ilers are cram m ed into a tiny practice facility and three m akeshift offices.

But s tre n g th e n e d by youth and bonded bych ao s, th e s e lam e d u c k s a re g o in g to be m ighty ducks. And fu tu re bride N ashville, fit­ tingly. is going to fee! like the p ro tag o n ist in a c o u n try m usic song.

Five re aso n s th e O ilers will m ake the play­ offs in '96: 1. Jell Fisher. T h e team 's n u m e ro u s offfield p ro b lem s play directly into the h an d s of th e le a g u e ’s b est young coach.

H e h olds co n stan t m eetin g s to u p d ate th e players on th e h ap p en in g s and rem in d s them that su ch h a p p e n in g s are no excuse. T h e re is a re a so n m o re p lay ers sh o w ed u p for sp rin g w o rk o u ts in good sh a p e than at any o th e r tim e in recen t O iler history. F ish e r has th em believing th ev could actually pull this off.

2. Steve M cNair, Eddie George, Chris Sa n d e rs and Ronnie Harm on. By playoff tim e, th e s e im p ressiv e offensive -weapons sh o u ld all be in use.

Q u arterb ac k M cN air finally is learning the system . R unning back G eo rg e is too big and sm a rt to b e a n o th e r H eism an b u s t No re g u ­ lar re ceiv er in football averaged m o re yards p e r catch than S an d ers (23.5). who also had

lim ite d ability.

H e so im p re sse d B ears coach Dave W annstedt durin g th re e y e a rs as an assistan t w ith Chi­ cago th a t Shula w ould h av e re­ placed offensive c o o rd in a to r Ron T u r n e r if T u r n e r h ad b e c o m e a h ea d co ach e lse ­ w here.

S h u la will call all th e B ucs' plays th is seaso n . Look One-two punch: With Mike Shula on for him to be call­ hand, Dilfer’s prospects are on the rise. ing all th e sh o ts, w h e re it is m o re catch ab le. p erio d , for so m e N FL team Dilfer. w h o se s u c c e s s may w ithin five vears. d e te rm in e th e fate of the On the back fra n ch ise th e re , w as im­ p ressed . of the big fella "S hula h a s in cred ib le W ith Jim m y Johnson on atten tio n to detail," h e says. the sideline in Miami this "And to be talking ab o u t not year, two things seem certain: tak in g plays off w hen it is a 1) T h e D olphins will have m o rn in g in th e m iddle of th e ir first 1.000-yard ru s h e r M ay ... th a t's so m eth in g . I in nearly 20 y ea rs, since th in k w e're g o in g to w ork Delvin W illiam s gained g re a t together."

1.258 y a rd s in 1978.

S h u la is no silver-spoon 2) T h e D olphins will aver­ type b u t. ra th e r, a fo rm e r age at least 4 y ards p er c a rry h a rd -k n o c k s q u a rte rb a c k w ho su c c e e d e d at th e Uni­ for th e first tim e since 1987.

W h at is not so c e rta in is v ersity of A labam a d esp ite

w ho will g et m ost of th e carries.

Would you believe Karim A bduL Jabbar3 T h e D olphins have a passc a tc h in g back in T e r ry Kirby. a sh o rt-y a rd a g e guy in B ern ie P arm alee and a sp eed y o u tsid e guy in Irving Spikes.

But AbduLJabbar. a thirdro u n d d raft ch o ice from UCLA, can do all of it pretTy well. B esid es th at, h e 's s m a rt and w o rk s h ard . so m eth in g th a t w as evident d u rin g th e D olphins' recent m inicam p.

“T h e r e are a lot of th in g s we see in him." Johnson says.

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How s m a rt is defensive en d T ra c e .A rm strong3 I m ean, do you really w ant to be a m e m b e r of a Jim m y J o h n so n team who comp lain s ab o u t too m u ch hitting in practice? .A rm strong, th e NFL P layers A ssociation p r e s id e n t w'as cited as one who form ally com plained to th e union th at Jo h n so n w as b re a k in g no-hitting ru le s d u rin g a re c e n t m inicam p.

N ot th a t Jo h n so n will re­ m em b er th is d u rin g th e long

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days of b o n e-cru sh in g w o rk ­ o u ts in D e c e m b e r but ... jo h n s o n will re m e m b e r this.

So D ave S h u la and th e B en g als d a re d Dan (Big D addy) W ilk in so n to be g re a t. T h e n e rv e of th em .

T h is is w hat h a p p e n e d last w eek afte r tw o full d a y s of m inicam p: S h u la su m ­ m o n ed W ilkinso n into his office and c h a lle n g e d a g o o d player to re a c h th e h e ig h ts expected from a No. I overall draft pick. Upon w hich W ilk in so n w alked out of cam p and d id n 't com e back, m issin g th e final minic a m p w o rk o u t and th e b e g in n in g of "v o lu n tary " w o rk o u ts. No. Big D addy is not a dog. He had eig h t sa c k s last year. ty in g San D ie g o 's S haw n Lee for th e m ost sa c k s by an .AFC tack ­ le. H is w eight, ab o u t 330. is not totally d isg u s tin g . I t s h is h e a r t th e B e n g a ls are w o rrie d about. .And you c a n ’t blam e them .

T h e reaso n th e se c u rre n t Bills will be re m e m b e re d as th e m ost re silie n t team in N FL 'h is to ry w as ev id en t again recently w hen several team m e m b e rs p h o n ed re c e iv e r .Andre R eed and

convinced him to re tu rn for one last sh o t at a ch am p i­ on sh ip . R em ind u s again.

How m anv 4 9 ers called D eion .Sanders last y ear before he left th ere?

“T h is h a s b eco m e m ore than just a team . it's a family, and you have to th in k th a t's th e re a so n we k ee p co m in g back e v e ry year." o w n er Ralph W ilson says. "Just look at m y S u p er Bowl p a rty in P hoenix. It w as filled w ith a bu n ch of b u sin e ss types, but g u e s s who sn o w ed u p 3 Yep. Jim Kelly. T h u rm an T hom as.

B ru ce Sm ith." ♦

B ill Plaschke covers the S F L fo r the I m s Angeles Times. Bob Glauber's colum n returns in the Ju n e 3 issue.

FOR UPDATES on Bob Glauber's TSN Pro Football Report, call 1-900-860-4400, 95 cents per minute, In Canada*,call 1-900-451-3284, $1.45 per minute.

Callers under 18 must have permission. The ser­ vice is accessible from touchtone and rotary phones.

46* AFC

The Sporting News

defenses extremely well which he should do since he has been in the league for a while/' The only change quarterbacks coach Don Strock made with Testaverde was an adjustment with his grip when he throws the ball.

Secret agent mao: Agent Drew Rosen* haus’ name could become a household word in Baltimore during the next week. Rosenhaus, who represents Jets tight end Johnny Mitchell, says he has had serious ne­ Relocated quarterback: Testaverde impressed coach Ted Marchibroda with gotiations with the his play during the Ravens' minicamp.

Bengals, Chiefs and Saints, but only “elementary" discussion with Baltimore. The agent also says he expects to begin negotiating with the team about Uni­ Passing the te s t New coach Ted Marchibro­ versity of Miami linebacker Ray Lewis, the da had heard some of the stories around the Ravens’ second pick in the first round of the league questioning quarterback Vinny Tes* draft.... Tight end Frank Hartley showed up lavender decision making, but Marchibroda for the second week of minicamp. He could was impressed with the veteran after a two- not be fined, however, because he is not un­ week minicamp. Testaverde got his first taste der contract. ... Owner Art Modell. recently of the no-huddle offense and the shotgun for­ stricken with a blood infection, has been re­ mation. “Sometimes, you hear a lot of stories." leased from a West Palm Beach hospital and expects to move to Baltimore within the next Marchibroda savs.

"But Vinnvr has better arm # strength than I thought he did. and he read week.

— MOH PRETO!

BALTIMORE RAMDAS

[SPB I^ T ALLTm

ats

BUFFALO BILLS

CINCINNATI BENGALS

Reed retPBS Andre Reed is back. And the team’s receiver spot sud­ denly shapes up as one of the strongest and deepest in the NFL A key to Reed’s return was a decision by coach Marv Levy during the May 3-6 minicamp to have six veteran leaders—including quarter­ back Jim Kelly—use the speaker­ phone in his office to call Reed to clear the air and express their de­ sire to have him back. “I did not feel that it would be good for us to try and have Andre come back here and have a certain tension that existed between the guys that were here and Andre." Levy says.

With second-year man Justin Ar­ mour expected to return from foot surgery and several free agents Reed vying for roster spots. Russell Copeland could be the odd-man out Feller Fisa: Offensive tackle John Fina checked into minicamp weighing in the upper 290pound range, several pounds heavier than last season—when his weight hovered in the upper-280s. However, his body fat has dropped from 16 to 14 p e r c e n t... Now that steady long-snapper Adam Lingner has re­ tired. the team has the chore of replacing him.

The candidates are centers Kent Huff and Tom Nutten and reserve tight ends Rob Coons and Jay Riemersma.

— V c CASUCCI

Shota u p set After the first two workouts of camp, defensive tackle Dan Wilkinson was told by coach Dave Shula that he wasn’t in shape.

Wilkinson, who came in about 20 pounds over the 310 the team would like him, left camp for one practice and was fined $1,000. He re­ turned for one day, then angered Shula again when he didn't show for a voluntary camp. Wilkinson says he can get in shape at his own pace and doesn’t want the team to mother him. Shula also was upset receivers Carl Pickens and Darnay Scott didn’t show for the voluntary camp.

Happy thoughts: Of the players who participated in the voluntary camp, the Bengals liked what they saw of running back KUJ ana Carter, offensive tackle Willie Anderson, and defensive end Jevon Langford. Carter didn’t run the 40-yard dash, but he went through drills and scrimmages with his left knee show­ ing no negative effects from last year’s surgery'- Anderson was the team’s best pass protector, and the team is considering putting him at left tackle. Expect a decision next month. Langford came as advertised, showing fire and hustle. He has to go from 260 pounds to 270, but don’t be surprised if he is the start­ ing right end soon.

—feOFF Hi: |

]

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• i

B a rc e lo n a D r a g o n s a t A m s te rd a m A d m ira ls

R hein Fire at Scottish C la y m o re s

Saturday. May 18, 1:00 pm E/P

S u n d a y , M a y 19, 10:00 a m E/P

UFO *47

May 20,1996

training camp and well into the season and has warned his players not to complain. He may learn, however, that some of the veterans are not great practice players. Last year, players often were allowed lo skip practice or take plays off. The lack of discipline often showed on Sundays. Something is going to have to give. The bet is Johnson will send the less than enthusiastic players packing.

Heady m o tr In an effort to instill camaraderie, offensive line coach Larry Beightol has promised the linemen they can shave his head if the team gains 225 yards rushing in a game ... .After playing last season at 247 pounds, line­ backer Chris Singleton has trimmed down to a lean 238.

— ARMANDO SALGUERO

DENTER BRONCOS Tag team: Apparently, the only thing better than one designated passrusher is two. It was with that logic that the Bron­ cos signed former Raider Aaron Wallace. In Wal­ lace. the team now has a player it can use to keep Alfred Williams fresh at right defensive end. either by rotating series with him and Wallace or by spotting whichev­ er player matches up best against a particular opponent Because Williams and Wallace are considered speed rushers rather than power rushers, the team is going to have to keep fresh legs in the lineup for either one to be ef­ fective. The Broncos would have preferred a younger player for Wallace’s role but were un­ able to find one in the draft In rookie firstrounder John Mobley, however, the team will have another speed rusher to line up behind Williams and Wallace, which should make their blindside attack doubly tough to stop.

New stadia* The best homefield advantage in the NFL— Mile High Stadium— may be on short time if local voters approve a bill to ex­ tend a sales tax for a new $260 million stadi­ um for the team in a referendum scheduled for November 1997. T h e bffl barely passed the legislature last week.

— jQS&ti SJUOSZ

HOUSTON OILERS Tennessee waltz; In the aftermath of the Ten­ n essee referendum that approved the last $80 mil­ lion in tax money for the Oilers’ $292 million stadi­ um. the players were melancholy. The vote means the Oilers will move to T en nessee in 1998 unless they can buy out the last year of their lease in 1997. Owner Bud .Adams finally ordered season-ticket renewals to be sent out T h e team estim ates average attendance will be around 25.000 with a chance to increase if the team plays wefl and competes for the play­ offs.

New tool tor Fisher: T h e player who stood out most at the minicamp was veteran running back Ronnie Harmon. The players and coach­ es praised the newcomer for die crispness of his routes, soft hands and the way he helped the younger players.... For the first time in his nine years with the Oilers, cornerback Cris Dishman signed early. He was designated as the franchise player, and Dishman. 30. signed a one-year deal for $3.06 million. He expects to be unrestricted next year when the Oilers will probably use the franchise tag on outside linebacker Micheal Barrow or strong safety Blaine Bishop.

— Jowl McCUffl

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS ^ f

t

\

Johnson to t o end: T h e \

Colts had hoped to find a way to get Ellis Johnson

00 m ^ apparently they have done just that. The thought process heading into training camp is to move Johnson from a backup tackle spot to the starting job at left defensive end. At 6-2.

290. possessing excellen t speed and quick­ ness. Johnson could be the m issing link in term s of finding a player to complement the I

I

-v A d

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS D e lie n b a ch e n d a n g e re d :

Tennessee shuffle: Football fans in Nashville celebrate the passage o f a referendum that will help fund a new stadium in their city. The victory all but assures that the Oilers will move to Nashville. play of Tony Bennett at right end. The Colts front seven will now have Johnson and Ben­ nett at the ends. Tony McCoy and Tony Siragusa at tackles, with Stephen G rant Je ff Herrod and Quentin Coryatt at the linebackers. • Bell signs: The signing of quarterback Kerwin Bell to a free-agent contract should give the Colts plenty of options in training camp. Last year coach Ted Marchibroda wanted to give all the snaps to newcomer Craig Erickson to help him learn Undy Infante’s offense. This time, they will have Bell, the former Florida quarterback with seven seasons of experience in the CFU who not only will be an extra arm in camp, but also could compete with Paul Justin for the No. 3 job beh in d jim Harbaugh and Erickson.

— TERRY HtfTCHBB

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS Change at guard? Left guard will be one of the most hotly contested po­ sitions at camp. Incum­ bent Shawn Bouwens. who missed seven games with a knee injury, win be pushed by Ben Coleman.

Je ff Novak and possibly Marcus Price. All of those players played with the first team dur­ ing the team's minicamp. Bouwens. who has one year left on his contract, wasn’t happy with the competition: “I guess you can't get hurt Cif you want to keep your job). I feel like I played w ell... I just happened to get h u rt" Coach Tom Coughlin’s love of size could be a factor. Coleman, Novak and Price all weigh more than 305 pounds. Bouwens weighs 293.

Hand It to him: One of the most-improved play­ ers is Jimmy Smith. During the minicamp.

Smith displayed skills that could win him a job as the outside speed receiver. Smith caught 22 passes in ’95. all in the final eight*games. ...

The team has opened negotiations with its draft picks, but unlike a year ago. don’t expect them to be signed by June I. Michael Huyghue, the vice president of football opera­ tions, will handle negotiations. T he Jaguars have $4.07 million to spend, and much of it will go to No. I pick Kevin Hardy. — PETE PWSCO

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS

(

Wily veteran: Lake Daw­

A

Coming on the heels of the team drafting three offensive linemen, its signing of former Cardi­ nal ta r r y Tharpe as a free agent was not good news to veteran offen­ sive lineman Je ff Delienbach. When Dellenbach signed with the Patriots as a free agent a year ago. they were desperate for a center That and Dellenbach's versatility got him a $1.8 million-a-year contract to leave the Dol­ phins and come to New England. Tim es have changed. Delienbach was injured early last season and then wasn't able to regain his starl­ ing-center job from rookie Dave VVohlabaugh.

Dellenbach's decision to spend most of the offseason in Miami instead of working out with the team in Foxboro won't help his chances of getting into the second year of his three-year contract.

Quiet times coming: Don't look for the team to make a lot of moves the rest of the offseason. .Although the Pats are well under the salary cap. there isn’t much room on the roster.

Tharpe's signing puts their roster size at 79 players, one below the league limit. ta o k for Tharpe to compete with Max Lane for the starting right tackle spot.

— KEYW Ma/OHX

son may be only 24 and have two years of NFL experience behind him. but he's suddenly the old 51 man of the Chiefs receiv­ ing corp. Others may have a couple of calendar years or a season of NFL experience on him. but none has played more. Willie Davis and W ebster Slaughter are gone, leaving only Dawson and Victor Bailey as receivers with extensive NFL experience. .And Bailey, who came from Philadelphia in a trade a year ago. has yet to play a down for the Chiefs. It will be interesting to see how Dawson, a complimen­ tary receiver the past two seasons, responds now that he’s a main target. The same goes for Hughes downs: Pass-rush­ Tam arick Vanover, a raw talent who also will ing specialist Hugh have a larger role in the offense in 19%.

Douglas, last season's Special help; Two recent re-signings attracted J e t s little attention, but special teams coach Mike !

D NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year with a teamStock certainly noticed when the Chiefs h ig h -JO sacks, hasn’t agreed to term s with two reserves, wide re­ convinced the staff he'^ ceiver Danan Hughes and offensive lineman readv tor full-time duty.

Danny Villa. Hughes' main skills are on spe­ The Jets would like to start Douglas at right cial teams, where he excels in coverage and end. but he must prove in training camp that as a part of the return units. Villa took over he can hold up against the run That would last season as the deep snapper after Joe Va­ allow Marvin Washington to move from nght lerio experienced problems. — A m u TEICHER end to left end and Erik Howard from left end to left tackle, his natural position. Left tackle Marc Spindler would provide much-needed in­ terior depth.

Attitude adjustments: Linebacker Bobby Hous­ Early Intensity: Several ton has returned with a revitalized attitude. players called the NFL Last season. Houston didn t like his role— he Players .Association to was platooned with graybeard W ilber Mar­ complain about some of shall— and he struggled to learn the new de­ the drills at the team's re­ fensive schem e to the point he considered net cent minicamp. The play­ returning this year. “I wasn’t playing well and ers association respond­ we weren’t winning. Hell. the bottom fell out." ed with a letter of warn­ Houston says. It didn't hurt that Marshall was ing to coach Jim m y Johnson, asking him to released in February, leaving the strong-side keep physical contact within guidelines of the linebacker spot solely to Houston. ... Ijnecollective bargaining agreem ent, which pro­ backer Kyle Clifton. 33. will return for a 13th hibits hitting in minicamps. T here could be season. T h e club’s blockbuster offseason was fallout from the players’ complaints, however. a big factor in his decision.

— R IC H C l u m Johnson has vowed to work his team hard in

NEW YORK JETS

*

MIAMI DOLPHINS

0

48 • AFC/NFC

Tile Sporting News

0.4JKLAND RODERS Avotdln^ the T^pp: De­ fensive back Jam es Trapp vows he will chance his undis^'iplined ways in 199b. Trapp be­ came a svmbol of the te am s troubled slate late last season, when his ex­ plosive !emt>er led to several costly penalties.

Trapp say> a “blowout m eetin g ' with fellow cornerbacks Terry. .McDaniel and .-\Jbert lx»wis. am ong others, m ade an impact "I've come to understand there are better w-ays to make my point on the field. Those guys rt*all\' made me understand the game in a much bet­ ter lighL' Trapp says. "I was just truing to help the team. I wasn’t oui of control. It's just the way I play—aggressively.' Many Raiders fans were surprised when the team recently re­ signed Trapp lo a three-year contract “Im a relaxed guy on' the field.' Trapp says “On the field, the com peiiiiveness brings out the best in me. Some people say its the w orst.'

Dodley's debut: No. I pick Rickey Dudley imprt'ssed coaches and team m ates with his albielic ability at a recent minicanip. He looks as big (6-b. LMS) and fast {AAS 40) as the scouting rep o rts suggest. "He's a stud." quarterback Billy Joe Robert says. “I shook his hand, and he atK>ui swallowed me “ — f lw KroichicX «

pounder, adm its he was shocked w hen he heard M eans had been cut. “Yeah, because that s a Pro Bowl running back.” Hayden says.

"Bul they got to do what they got to do." T^e team is hoping Hayden, a second-year man. can approach the 93.4-yard average he com ­ piled over the last five gam es. His 127 yards against the B ro w is were the most by any C harger in 1995.

Sign here and here and here: The team re­ signed punter D arren Bennett (four years). s<iet>’ Eric Castle (two years) and long-snapper Dave Bion (two years). Seven roster play­ ers remain unsigned; guard Joe Cocozzo. line­ backers Lewis Bush and Dwa\*ne (cordon, de­ fensive tackle John Parrella. safety Rodney Harrison, lighl end Shannon MitcheD and cen­ ter Greg Engel.

— JAY PlSIS

SEATTLE SEAEAWTvS

At wtBl price: T he d u b is nearing a critical dedsion on punter Rick Tuten. In the past four seasons.

Tulen has been to one Pro Bowl and could have gone lo two or three oth­ ers. Tight salary-cap con­ siderations are preventing the club from offer­ ing him m ore than a three-year. S2.1 milbon contract The Buccaneers. Oilers and Raiders might be willing to pay him more. Last season, the Seahawks surrivc^ an economic dowmsizi ing at kicker, losing John Kasay to Carolina and signing Todd Peterson to the NFL minimum.

Cornel helps: with the Peterson made 23-of-28 field-goal attempts. departure of outside line­ More bad lock: C enter Kerin Maw-ae learned that his brother, who had just taken a high backer Ke\in (ireene to Carolina, the Steelerschool coaching job. w-as killed in a car acci­ will concentrate on get­ dent. Seahaw ks players have been dealing ting third-year linebacker with tragedy for several years, starting with a Jason Gildon ready to car accident that left defensive tackle Mike lake his place. Bul the Frier p ^ ly z e d and continuing last July with team alsAi (»btained some backup help by draft­ the fatal shooting of Brian Blades* cousin. ing Ste\'e Conley of .V kansas with its second Charles. ... The club reached agreem ent to pick. Conley is a form er track star whose sign left tackle Jam es Atkins. The four-year. brother. .Mike. is an 01\7npic gold medalist in 85.3 million deal gives the team long-tefjn flexthe triple jump Steve was a two-time Illinois ibilit>- along the line because Atkins can play stale champion in the triple jump. but. like his guard or tackle.

— Jowl (^YTO* brother, also participated in the long jump. \\'h en bv got lo .Arkansas, Steve walked onto the Razorbacks basketball team. The follow­ ing year. he went out for football. He had eight sacks as a junior. 14 as a senior.

Line depth: The Sleelers hope they don't have lo use .No I pick Jamain Stephens, the 337pound offensive tackle, this season. Stephens will need a season of polish before working his way into the starting lineup. If left tackle John Jat*kson has any injury problems, the Steelers can alw-ays switch U’olford troni left guard. .. The team opens the preseason with a gam e July L*9 against' San Diego in Tokyo.

The Sleelers like the extra game for their quar­ terback competition.

— Gb WY DuiAC

PITTSBURGH STEELERS

ber keyed a 28*27 upset that put the team in the playoffs. N egotiations with G eorge have been stalled for weeks, I . , Ho SwaoD song: Defen­ loading up: The team has reach an agreem ent with free-agent offensive lineman .Antone sive tackle Erie Swann is Davis, pending his passing of a physical. The p ard d p alin g in the vok move rirtualK guarantees that form er No. I untar>- veterans camp, pick Lincoln kennedy will not return. Davis, and conirarv to his who can play guard or tackle, started 74 agent’s statem ents, says gam es over the past five seasons for the he would be happy in a Eagles. Davis, a 6M. 335-pounder, helps the C ardinals' uniform this fall Swann has been involved in contract ne­ line depth.... The team also signed free-agent gotiations for about a year, and the team tried ( linebacker Jam es Williams, who previously played for the Saints and J a g u a rs .... Receiver lo trade him before the draft. Swann wants a J J . Birden has agreed to a restructured con­ multiyear deal averaging S4 million. The team tract that includes a salan* reduction and doesn't have m uch money under the cap and incentive opportunities.

— TofY FABRIZIO would have lo do considerable m aneuvering lo give Swann that much. Defensive end Chrie Sim m ons and linebacker Seth Jovmer have been asked lo take pay cuts.

Scratching the sorface: C oaches have intro­ duced about 15 percent of the offensive and Pnntiag change? The defensive schem es and would like to install team m ight have a newthe rest during the veterans c a m p .... Several punier next season. Tom­ rookies im pressed Coach \ln c e 'Tobin in the my B am hardt was re­ minicamp. First-round pick Simeon Rice, a de­ leased at his request af­ fensive end. showed speed and quickness. ter declining to take a Second-round choice L e la n d McEIroy fits in pay c u t He was sched­ as a returner. Third-round pick Johnny u l e lo m ake S450.000.

McWilliams, a tight end, caught the ball well bul the team wanted him to play for the veter­ but was overw eight. Free agent receiver an minimum of S275.000. If B arnhardt doesn't Kerin Jordan had a solid cam p and could find a better offer, team president M ike M c­ make the team.

— KSfT Stl l . ' l a x Corm ack says he might be interested in re­ signing him. If B a rn h irit doesn't return, there wiD be competitjon for the punting job among three players with no .NFL experience—Aaron Kanner. who spent the past two years in the CFU Sean Terry, a free-agent rookie from lusorance buy: W ith Jeff G eorge unsigned. Bob­ Texas A&M: and Kevin Feighery. who was on

by H ebert has re­ the Panthers' practice squad part of last season and now is playing in the World League. Bam ­ claim ed the startin g hardt also was the holder. If he doesn't return, q u arte rb a ck position one of two backup quanerbacks. Steve Beuertem porarily.

H ebert lein or Kell)’ Stouffer. will assum e that role. signed a one-year. negotiating game: T he team hopes to re-sign $800.0(X) contract linebacker Darion C onner before players re ­ loaded with incentives. H ebert, who tu rn s 36 in August, is a gritty com petitor who has ex­ port for coaching sessions June 3. Conner, a cellent com m and of the run-and-shoot of­ starter in ’95. is an unrestricted free agent, but fense. H ebert h a sn ’t played m uch the past Carolina owns the right of first refusal and Two seasons, but his two-touchdown relief thus can match any offer.— Charlb ChaidlER perform ance against the 49ers last Decem-

ARIZONA CARDIN.ALS

CAROLINA PANTHERS

ATLANTA RALCONS

SAN DIEGO CHARGERS Risen Stan Running back .Aaron Hayden, who look over when N airone M eans suffered a m id­ season groin injury last year. was preparing fur a K ‘ training-cam p battle when the news broke; The team had released M eans “I’d be lying if I said I w asn't happy.' Hayden says “My whole purpose of com ing back this season was I w-anied to push him. I was looking al it ! Man of th e mlllBnnium: The Bean exercised their option on the contract o f Wannstedt. meaning he like. I w-as going to sta rt.’ Hayden, a 6-0. 218is hired on ta be their coach ^trough 2000. The team is 2> 23 in three seasons under iVannsiedL

CHICAGO BE.ARS Stayin’ aramid: T he team didn't announce it at the tim e, but on M arch I it exercised the option clause in coach Dave W annsiedt’s original contract, putting him in line lo be the team 's coach in 2000 in w hatever new stadium the team, do* and stale work o u t “Being here in Chicago and getting a taste of how meaningful it is to this dry. I'm in this for the long h a u l" W annsledl says.-iLW annstedt stays through 20(X). he will have the third-longest tenure of any coach in franchise history. (George H ah s had four 10-year stints and M ike Ditka was head coach for 11 years. T he Bears are 25-23 in W annstedt's three years, including 9-7 the past rw'o seasons.

OB shopping: T he team wanted to wait until after June I to sign a veteran backup quarter­ back bul had Dave K rieg in for a visit. The tim etable was moved up by Bobby H eb ert’s coming to term s with the F re o n s. Steve Stem Strom's continuing lackluster play (he didn’t play well in a post-minicamp coaches school and is haring trouble with the speed of play) is another factor. Sienstrom may yet be the future, but coaches want a m ore experienced backup to Erik Kramer.

— JOKH MUUH

NFL • 49

May 20,1996

did e a rlie r to lin e b a c k e r B ro d eric k T h o m as (w eapons ch a rg es) and defensive end Jam es H a m s (dom estic ab u se, bigam y ch a rg e s) ..

P ittsb u rg h 's .Ariel Solom on signed as a back­ up offensive linem an.

— CURT BROW*

DALLAS COWBOYS Slim pickin’: S hould Mi­ ch ael Irvin b e unavail­ able for any o r all of the 1996 seaso n , th e re isn't a h u g e selectio n of u n re ­ stricted tree-a g e n t wide receiv ers. W ith Billy B rooks signing last week with th e R edskins, th e list in clu des aging vet­ e ra n s A rt M onk. Ricky S an d ers. Vance Jo h n ­ son and M ark Ingram a s well a s fo rm e r Cow­ boy Kelvin M artin . D esm ond H ow ard. S a te Lewis and Floyd T u rn er. For th e tim e being, the C ow boys will continue to work with Deion S anders. Follow ing th e team s first m inicam p, q u a rte rb a c k T ro y A ikm an gave ro o k ie re ­ ceiver Stepfret W illiam s his stam p of approval, saving th e th ird -ro u n d draft ch o ice had th e ability* to help th is season.

Lost safety: D efensive back C harlie W illiam s. a special team s player last season as a rookie, likely is out for th e seaso n after te a rin g liga­ m e n ts in h is left k n ee. T h e lo ss leaves th e team se a rc h in g for safe tie s and gives sixthround pick W endell Davis of O klahom a a b et­ te r c h a n c e of m ak in g th e t e a m .... S tretch in g exercises and rehabilitation h av e b ee n p re­ scrib e d for tig h t end Jay N o vacek’s so re low­ e r back. He will be re-exam ined in a m onth to se e if s u rg e ry is n eed ed . — MICKEY S paBKOU

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

9

It'S a s tre tc h : Holden (36). the Saints'first-round selection, is reaching for a large signing bonus and a contract that could take nearly h a lf the team's reserve for rookie salaries. m inicam p. W aldroup could back up T racy fensive tackle John M ichels to step in tor vet-, I S cro g g in s on th e rig h t side. ... .After putting eran Ken R u ettg ers eventually, but R uettgers.

34. isn't co n ced in g his c a re e r is n ea r th e end. rookie Je ff H a rd n g s at left g u a rd and veteran M ike C om pton at rig h t g u ard , th e Lions will “I d o n 't have a c ry sta l ball.” R u ettg ers says.

“S o m etim es I w ish I did." — Tom StLtfBlSTElM have th e m sw itch positions. — TOM KOWALSKI

MINNESOTA VIKINGS

GREEN BAY PACKERS

DETROIT LIONS

Tackling a new career As One to go: O ne of th e if Reggie W hite w asn’t al­ te a m 's re m a in in g h o les read y la rg e r than life, he w as filled w hen it signed will soQn be co m in g to Bills v e te ra n tig h t end you on th e big sc re e n .

P ete M etze la ars. w ho W hite h a s b ee n film ing will back up David Sloan.

Reggie's Prayer, a full­ V eteran s Ron Hall and le n g th m ovie sch e d u le d R odney H olm an w ere for re le a s e la te r th is fall. T h e w riter and di­ waived and Kevin H ickm an suffered a knee in­ rector. Paul M cK ellips. cast W hite for the lead ju ry d u rin g th e M ay m inicam p, leaving th e i b e c a u s e h e w as looking for a positive role team w ith o n e h ealth y tig h t en d. M etzelaars m ode! to play th e m ain character. T h e m ovie will be used m ostly in a blocking role in twois ab o u t a professional football player w ho re ­ tig h t en d form ations, b u t th e team also n eed ­ tires to beco m e a te a c h e r and coach at a P o rt­ ed a pass-catching th re a t at th at position. .Also. land hig h school, w h e re h e eventually m ust coach W ayne F o n tes w anted an ex p erien ced save th e life of a tro u b led s t u d e n t ... Special player available in case Sloan g e ts in ju r e d .... team s ace M arcu s W ilson is re h a b b in g from a T h e last u n se ttle d position is s tro n g safety. to rn A C L but h is re tu rn to th e P a c k e rs is T h e team w an ts B en n ie B lades back and is doubtful. B ecause h e is solely a special team s try in g to find m o re m oney to pay him . player, th e P ack ers d o n 't th in k they can c a rry Left o a t Left d efen siv e en d will be a busy him on th e ro s te r w hile h e is recovering. place w hen train in g ca m p o p e n s in July.

A tight re p # T h e P ack ers still are in terested in S ta rte r R o b ert P o rc h e r m ay play only “ru n ­ re-sig n in g K eith Ja c k so n to be th e ir sec o n d nin g ’' dow ns b ecau se lin eb ack er .Antonio Lon­ tight end. but h e is k eep in g open his options. don is a b e tte r p ass ru sh e r. .Also. ro o k ie fifth... T h e P ack e rs drafted S o u th ern C alifornia ofro u n d pick K erw in W aldroup looked good at

PRIM ESi Ut'

I

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Players who cao be claimed after 2 PM od Mw ., 8 May 20th, and before 11 PM on Sos.. May 26th. 9 and be do year team for games beginning Moo., 10

p re s e n ts

B a s e b a ll F r e e A g e n ts

r n

Benam y/K Jee M /E S h e p h e c d D avid Sappir Clary Friedm an Frank H ogan BUI Cam aron Don O lson Frank Vhr+no Doug H ilton Qary Brand

PLAYER/TEAM SALARI Charles Johnson, Florida $250,000 Fran* Thomas, Chicago $1,760,000 Bret Boone, Cinchwati $800,000 Wade Boggs, Sew Tort $850,000 Chad FomrtUe, Los Angeles $680,000 Marty Cordon, Minnesota $1.460,000 Pedro Meno*. Oakland $610,000 Mike Mnssiaa. Baltimore $1,240,000 AJten Watssn, San Francisco $530,000 Trevor Hoffman. San Oiego $1.690,000

Eg CT J oh n B akSacci j 2 Dan K elly

A lph aretta, CA I T oledo, OH Haw York, HY J( 3 4 Su ffern, HY H ew C an aan, CT 5 E. H am pton, CT 6 F orest City, (A 7 8 N ep tu n e, NJ F lo ren ce, ICY 9 10 R a cin e, WI

May 27th.

PQ IP 0 34 IB 101 26 ZI 3 38 313 SS 411 OF 516 OF 584 SP 805 SP 916 RP1115

Eye to th e fo tu ra rW jth th e draft and th e rnajoritv of tree-agent shopping com pleted, th e o rg an iza­ tion i< try in g lo ex ten d th e c o n tra c ts ot “fran­ c h is e ” lin em en W illiam Roaf lotlV nsivr tackle) and W ayne M artin (defensive tack le! Both have a y ear left on th eir co n tracts, but g e n e r­ al m anager Bill K uharich w ants to extend Roaf for an o th er six to eight y ears and M artin lour to six. Roaf is a two-tim e P ro Bowl selection with a base salary of $700,000. M artin is a onetim e Pro Bowl player with a base of >3.1 mil­ lion-. “I would like to get th em done before the start of th e seaso n just to rem ove th e d istra c ­ tion." K u h arich savs. M artin h as 43 •; sack s over the last four seasons. 23 over the last two The future is now: T h e ag en t for first-round pick .Alex M olden say s his client is see k in g 45 to 50 p ercen t of th e clu b 's 1996 rookie pool of approxim ately $3.05 million. M olden will want a large signing bonus, unlike 1995 No. I M ark F ields, w ho opted for c o n tra c t g u a ra n te e s .

“I’m not in terested in what they did with M ark F ields last year." ag en t .Angelo W right says “We don't want g u a ra n te e '' on th e back end of th e co n tract. I have no in terest in that. We want o u r m oney up front. " — MIKE STROM

Call for details 1*800*

Mark R atcliff Brad B oney S h e na Vtm ig Bill C aba] Louis. Ida r a se lo J a m a s ONeiU BUI Ward Paul R adtke

Homecoming: After going into a free-agent holding p a tte rn for th re e m o n th s, the team signed c o rn e rb a c k Rod Sm ith, w ho sta rte d ev e ry g am e last seaso n for th e Pan­ th e rs. S m ith sig n ed a one-year deal w o rth $4o0.000 plus incentives.

It will be a ho m eco m in g for Sm ith, who grew up in th e Twin C ities. His addition w as sm a rt for two reasons: C o rn erb ack De w ayne W ash­ ington stru g g led th ro u g h a m ediocre second se a so n and re c e n tly u n d e rw e n t sh o u ld e r su rg ery , and the team was criticized locally for b y p assin g popular G olden G o p h ers ru n n in g back C hris D arkins in the draft.

Instant replay: D efensive end F ern a n d o Sm ith was jailed for falling m ore than >40.000 behind in child su p p o rt. His 5-year-old d a u g h te r is liv­ ing on w elfare in M ichigan. C oaches had been p raisin g S m ith 's new m aturity w hen th e em ­ b arrassin g disclosure becam e public. H e's still co n sid ered a sta rte r, w hich explains why th e team is relu ctan t to put him on w aivers like it

9

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NEW VORK GIANTS QB sw eepstakes: T he signing of Dave Brown to a four-year. $13 million deal solidified his status as the No. I 'quarterback, but coach Dan Reeves says backup Tommy Maddox will be given an opportunity in camp. T he idea of Maddox beating out Brown is far-fetched, but as Brown says. ‘T h is organization firmly believes in competition. The choice will be m ade based on playing rath er than sh eer num bers and length of contract" By drafting Florida State’s Danny Kanell. the team set up a three-way competition for the No. 2 and 3 jobs am ong Maddox, Stan W hite and KanelL W ith a 1996 salary-cap value of $954,000 and a 1995 passer rating of 0.0. Maddox is vulnerable, but don’t expect Kanell to be ready immediately.

Homebodies: Punter Mike Horan signed a twoyear deal, bringing to seven the num ber of un­ restricted free agents left to re-sign. Keeping its own free agents was a team priority. ‘'What we planned to do. we pretty much got done as quietly as possible." G.M. George Young say's.

“We maintained as much continuity as we could.” ... The team will play five of its first six gam es at Giants Stadium, including a “road” gam e against the Jets.

- “HflL BEST

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES Changing times: Dick Daniels, who was hired in F eb ru ary as director of football operations, is giving the club’s scout­ ing departm ent a facelift He began by firing two ' regional scouts. Bill Bak­ er jr. and Todd Brunner. The future of college scouting director jo h n Wooten also is uncer­ tain. W ooten's contract is up next m onth. “I can't say John will or will not be affected at this p o in t” Daniels says. “I am restructuring the departm ent and looking at the entire scouting operation." lf Daniels lets Wooten go. ii could create som e fireworks. Wooten is a close friend of coach Ray Rhodes, who has made it clear he considers Wooten a valuable m em ber of the organization.

Void Filling: Rhodes says third-year man Marc W oodard can fill the void at left linebacker created by the loss of Bill Romanowski.

W oodard filled in occasionally for Ro­ manowski last season. Woodward also was one of the team 's top special team s players.

“H e's going to camp as our starter.” Rhodes says. Rhodes also plans to convert fourthround draft pick Ray Farm er, a 6-3. 225pounder who plaved-safety in college, into an outside linebacker. ' — PAUL BOMOWTTCH

ST. LOUIS RAMS

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UB search: While Steve Walsh and M ark Rypien battle it out for the start­ ing quarterback job next season, the team plans to give rookie Tony Banks plenty of attention. The Rams want Banks ready to com pete for playing time in '97. “I don’t think he's a major project" coach Rich Brooks says. “We would not be expending a 42nd pick on (someone who) we think is going to take three years." The first quarterback taken in

the d raft Banks looked the part of big-league quarterback at a recent minicamp. He dis­ played good mobility and his arm was as strong as advertised. W hat he lacks is a work­ ing knowledge of a sophisticated offense— he didn’t play in a p ro sty le passing attack at Michigan State until his senior season-—and the confidence to run one.

Marking time: Contract negotiations between Rypien and the team have been slow. It is be­ lieved the team is offering him nothing close to the two-year. $2 million, incentive-laden contract Walsh signed in April. But Rypien feels so strongly about playing in SE Louis that he participated in the team 's first minicamp without a contract and recently closed on a hom e in the St. Louis area.

— Jim THOUS

SAN FRANCISCO 49E R S Shaping Bp: Coach G eorge Seifert is not happy about the condi­ tioning of his players.

Seifert usually ends spring minicamp with an analysis of how the team is progressing. But this time he criticized players for being in their worst physical shape in years. It was difficult to identify Seifert's prim ary targets of disaf­ fection. He m ight have just been sending a m essage that, because of last year’s playoff loss and aD the lineup changes, this was going to be a tough spring and summer. W ide re­ ceiver Je rry Rice, w hose own conditioning work is legendary, supported his coach bysuggesting m ore of his teammates should get into his offseason program .

PmnpBd-up: Q uarterback Steve Young, who suffered a shoulder injury that kept him out of five gam es last season and continued to bother him during the playoffs, has been on an accelerated rehabilitation program . Young has becom e a dedicated weightlifter.,..

Defensive end Israel Ifeanyi. the 49ers' top draft choice, show ed up at minicamp with a slight ham string problem and couldn’t take part in team drills. But he should be ready for the June minicamp.

— b u MfilER

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS World class: Quarterback Kelly Holcomb and re­ ceiver Marvin Marshall have been playing well for Barcelona of the World League. Holcomb. who spent 1995 on the practice squad, ranks among the World League’s passing leaders and says he’s ready to com pete with Casey Weldon and rookie Scott Milanovich for a backup job.

M arshall, who joined the practice squad last November, has been the league’s leading punt returner. He will compete with Vernon T urner and rookie N ib Silvan for return d u ty .... The team is high on Milanovich and Silvan, athletes w hose draft stock was h u rt by off-field inci­ dents in their senior seasons. Milanovich, who broke several passing records at Maryland but went undrafted, says he wifi be disappointed if he doesn’t m ake the roster. Silvan, a sixthround pick, has 4.38 speed in the 40.

Hew (teak Drew Rosenhaus. the agent for run­ ning back Errict Rhea, met with general man­ ager Rich McKay in Tam pa last week. R hea w'ants to renegotiate his co n tract and Rosen­ haus says a deal is in the works. But McKay wants to sign the team ’s draft picks and eval­ uate the salary-cap situation before tearing up R h e a s old co n tract — NICI PUGLISE

W ASHINGTON REDSKINS

Ead of tea lino? It was m ore of a disappoint­ m ent than a surprise, but Jim Lachey flunked his minicamp physical.

T rainer Bubb T yer says the three-tim e FYo Bowl offensive tackle's right shoulder is two to three m onths from being strong enough to judge w hether it can with­ stand the rigors of NFL blocking. T he prob­ lem is the Redskins can I wait until then to find $2 million to re-sign halfback T erry Allen.

W ashington may have to cut Lachey and— if his shoulder heals— then re-sign him to a contract with a much lower base salary plus incentives for playing and staying healthy.

Lachey has said h e ll retire rather than play elsew here, jo e Patton, who stepped in when Lachey tore his rotator cuff last September, re­ mains the starter at left tackle with top draft pick Andre johnson next in line.

Brooks signs on: The Redskins may have pulled off a frce-agency coup, signing receiver Bill Brooks for $325,000. including a $125,000 bonus.

Brooks, 32, led Buffalo with 53 catches for 11 touchdow ns in *95. He likely won’t challenge H enry Eilard and M ichael W estbrook, but h e ll put pressure on incumbent third re­ Giant Step: Brown resigned for four years and $13 million, but coach ceiver Leslie Shep­ Dan Reeves says the starting quarterback job remains open. herd.

— David t i m

COLLEGE FOOTBALL/COLLEGE BASKETBALL • 51

Mav«* 20.1996

looks b ig g e r than th e Pirate b ritch es. Road trips to Miami.

Virginia Tech. West Virginia and South Carolina are waiting, along with a season finale against N o rth Carolina Male in the new C arolinas Stadium in C h arlo tte T h e Wolfpack sc h e d u le d the gam e only when a 'ta te legislator d em an d ed it a> a condition tor re­ leasing funds to h elp co n stru c t N o rth Carolina Male*- new b a s­ ketball arena.

“It s going to be >.»«*» people. a rock-and-roll altair." D>gan savs. ' N

COLLEGE FOOTBALL REPORT

E. Carolina-Conference a slam dunk *

Ivan MAISEL - r f - '

h e big cigars of college football have m ade a habit of m akin g fun of East Carolina. Its place in college football isn’t easily defined, and not just b e c a u se its n am e d o e s n ’t give you a (Greenville. N.C.). East Carolina is a school without a co nference in a state that tolerates football only until N o rth C arolina basketball coach D ean Sm ith blows his whistle.

T h at's just the way coach Steve Logan likes it. T h e Pirates have sp ent m ost of th e 1990s popping bigger, better-know n schools in the m outh. In th re e of th e last five seaso n s. East Carolina has g o n e to a bow! gam e. T h a t s on a level with UCLA. O k la h o m a and G eorgia,

T

COLLEGE BASKETBALL REPORT

Bozeman’s blue as Cars spring exodus continues

Mike OeCOURCY h e sig h t of an o th e r California player h e a d e d for th e exit d rove Todd B ozem an to tears. H e had finished th e se a so n on a th re e -g a m e losing streak, and that slu m p co ntinu ed into season . claim ing his th re e b e st players.

S o p h o m o re g u a rd Jelani G a rd n e r tra n s­ fe rre d to P e p p e rd in e . S o p h o m o re forw ard T re m a in e F ow lkes d ec la re d h im self a free agent, looking h ard at F resn o State. T h e one that got to B ozem an, th o u g h , th e one h e fig­ u re d m ig ht be com ing but hoped would noL was th e d ec la ratio n by fre s h m a n forw ard S h are ef Abdur-Rahim that h e was placing his nam e in the NBA D ra ft T h o se th re e w ere such highly re g ard ed re­

T

c r uits that Cal was co n sid ered to have m ore y o u n g talent last season than any Division I school. P e rh a p s even too m uch talent, given th e B ears' in co n sisten cy and 17-11 finish.

W ith tho se th ree gone, and with junior center M ichael S te w a rt also having ask e d for a tra n sfe r rele ase, th e re is u n d e rsta n d a b le speculation the p ro g ram is in turm oil.

“Say w hat you want, b u t I g u e s s I just don't look at it in th e sa m e way a s o th e r people are looking at it," Bozem an says. T o me. if it hap­ pens, it’s G od's will, and you d o n ’t buck that.'

B ozem an re g a rd s all th e se ca se s individu­ ally and c o n te n d s each had different re a so n s for d e p a rtin g . With A bdur-R ahim . he is ac­ cepting. W ith Fowlkes, h e is und erstanding .

W ith G ardner, h e is disappointed.

Abdur-Rahim. B ozem an w as not the only e rso n w ho b ro k e dow n at th e new s thep off­ c o n fe re n c e w hen A bdur-Rahim a n n o u n c ed his intentions. T h e kid was crying, too. Citing the need to help his family, h e is leaving Cal I against his will. “S h are ef going to th e NBA is a tough thing." B ozem an says. ‘b e c a u se V. * __________ t J - ____! _ —I H had a choice, h e would stay in school.

A bdur-R ahim . 6-10. is as good a pro prospect as th ere is in college, with the fram e to play inside and th e dexterity to o perate on the perim eter. Had he stayed. Cal would have been an im proved team next season because a

No Cardinal Sin: Even though Larry Shannon dropped this ball. East Carolina beat Stanford in the L b erty Bou l.

Bulls will begin FAA play in 1997. .And down the road. East C arolina has its eye set on th e Big East, which would like to g ro w from eight team s lo nine o r IO C on­ necticut is e x p e cted to m ove up from LAA into th e big lim e. East C arolina will get a close look for the o th er slot. especially if Tem ­ ple d oesn't b re a th e life into its program For this season. East Carolina still has an a g re e m e n t with the l ib e r ty Bowl. T V M em ­ phis gam e will take eith er the P irates or tho G U S A c h a m p io n — th e b o w ls ch o ic e — to play the fourth pick from the Big East. Digan has th e talent to force th e l ib e r ty Bowl to m ake a choice. Fifteen s ta rte rs re tu rn from a 9-3 team , including q u a rte rb a c k M arcus C randell. who already h a s b eg u n rem oving Jeff B lake's n am e from th e P irates' re co rd book, as well as Twin safeties D aren and David H art. w ho co m b in ed for 137 tackles and four interceptions.

East C arolina h a s a n o th e r s c h e d u le -th at

Extra points

T h e Big East a n n o u n c ed last week that it had closed a loophole -hat Miami nearly -q u e en ed th ro u g h last tail T h e co n ­ ference h a s adopted a c h a m p io n sh ip tiebreaker, som eth ing it didn't have fast sea­ son. T h e om ission could h av e b e e n e m b a r ­ rassing tor the league Virginia T ech and Mi­ am i tied for the c h a m p io n s h ip with A-1 re c o rd s Virginia Tech defeated Miami. 13-7. w as ra n k e d 13th and h ad a b e tte r overall re co rd '9-2) If the NCAA h ad n t stepped in with s t' bowl ban. e ith e r th e O ra n g e or the X ig a r Bowl would have taken th e L 22ndranked H urricanes. U nder th e tieb rea k er ap ­ proved last w eek. in a twi»-wa\ tie. th e Alhance bid will go to the Mrari-fo-heari w inner even :i it i ' ranked five ' p o t ' '-.ewer than tile loser 'th e exception wnijj(j b r •[ jMM*r is ran k ed No I o r No J and rh u - would get a national cham pionsh ip g am e slot > T h e r e are also three- and four-way tie b re a k e rs + I r a n M a is e l c o r m ro ileg r fo o tb a ll fo r S c w sd a v .

of e n h a n c e d c h e m is try and leadership.

Fowlkes.

N am ed Pacific-IO C o n feren ce rookie of th e #vear in 1995. h e e x p e cted to advance tow ard player of th e year in '96, but he got him self a half-season suspension for accep tin g a loan from a form er ag en t to buy a car.

W hen he re tu rn e d .

A bdur-Rahim was an estab lished star. Fowlkes.

6-7, c h o s e not to accept a dim inished role.

Crying tim e? Abdur-Rahim 5 tearful decision was out o f the hands Following his re tu rn . o f Bozeman, who nonetheless believes California will bear up.

Cal w ent 7-7. including an B ozem an may have been talking as m uch e m b a rra ssin g first-round NCAA to u rn a m e n t about him self a s th e players by that point. He loss to Iowa State. claims to be looking forward to coaching a se­ “I kind of feel for him." Bozem an says. “I nior-dom inated team with sh o o tin g g u a rd s really tried to w ork with him to u nd erstand .

Ed Gray and Randy Duck, point g u a rd .Anwar “You ju st have to work to g et th ro u g h this M cQ u een and ru g g e d ju n io r fo rw ard Tony year. We just can't stop in m id stream and try Gonzalez, p re su m in g he again e sc a p e s from to c h a n g e to fit you.' It just didn't w ork out th e Cal football team . .Although S tew art that way. and h e felt a s th o u g h h e n ee d ed to ask ed for his release and B ozem an says h e is go so m ew h e re else." free to leave, he is expected to return.

Gartner. As his s o p h o m o re se a so n pro­ i “S o m etim es you lose som e talent, and you g re s s e d . h e played less like a tru e point gain so m e chem istry." B ozem an says. a tin g g u a rd , fru stra tin g B ozem an into b e n c h in g th is y e a r's NBA Sonics as an example. ‘You him. G a rd e r's assists declined by nearly half his first *vear: his assist-tu rn o v er ratio lose agendas. rfrom n‘ I feel good about w h ere th e p ro g ram is.

Silent from nearly 2-to-l to alm ost even.

I “I just think in every player's career, it g ets T he players in the pro gram are all good kids. work extrem ely hard. You don't see oft'-courl to a point w h ere th e re are ad ju stm en ts to be J A U / \'fn rv % o n 'O ** I n o n t I/\ L* i t it I C problem s. W h en you look at all th e positives. made." Bozeman says. ‘ I don't look at it as b r ­ they far o utw eigh the negatives E very pro­ ing any different than w hat any o th e r kid had gram has lost players. T his is no d iife re n t." 4 to w ork th rough.

M ik e D e C o u rc y covers college ‘Ju st b ec au se you have a bum py road, that b a sk e tb a ll f o r T h e C o m m e r c ia l A p p e a l in d oes not m ean it is over You have to stay pos­ M e m p h is . T en n . itive. I've never seen a successful pessim ist." a

iXSCI MAUS. SAA!RAMly;0 OWWClf

p ro g ra m s with tar g re a te r reso u rces. In the past two years, the Pirates have beaten South Carolina. Syracuse and Stanford, bowl team s all. T h e latter o c c u rre d in the Liberty Bowl. w h ere th e P irates b ro u g h t 15.* >00 fans for a second consecutive #vear.

T h i s is not like N o rth Carolina. Duke and N o rth Carolina State." Logan says. "At East Carolina, you b etter win the football gam es.

T h a t s what m ak es us th e football school in the state. Football is No. I here. T hat's why th o se schools haven't sched u led us."

C om e next seaso n . East C arolina won t have to w o rry about its sch ed u lin g C onfer­ ence USA. w hich will b egin as a six-team league th is tall. is expected to issue East C ar­ olina a football-only invitation a! a league m eeting Ju n e IO. “I think w e're going in." Lo­ gan says. “It looks like a slam dunk. They location want to expand by one. and w e're the one."

Actually. C o n feren ce USA is looking al .Army as well. and may go to eight te am s for 1997. T h e ex p an sio n m ust b e approved by nine of the le a g u e ’s 12 basketball institutions and by ail six football schools. Down the road. c o n fe re n c e bask etb all m e m b e rs AlabamaB irm in g h a m and S outh Florida likely will m ove into football. T he Blazers will play their first se a so n of I-A com petition th is fall. T he

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Paym ent: Payment with order or cnarge your MasterCard. Visa . Discover or American Express account C hecks and Money or­ d e rs should ce rr.ace out :c th e SPORTING NEW S THE S P O R T IN G N E W S rese'"/es the ngni to refuse ar>y acvedismg order Only puoiication cf an aC'^ettisemen! shall constitute *»nai a c ­ ceptance cf an cree' ^vbijcat cn coes not ccrst'tute an agreeme*"! for contmuec Pupucaticr’ A ll or ders are sue ect 'c *•“«' acci'caoie rate 23’ C CCC es of wn.rcn are ava#faoie j o c n written reouesisent to address provicec

THE CLOSER

54 T S N

M

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M

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The Sporting News I

E

S

The longest game four hits in the game for Cato* ?t> Boggs. It was also about 2 in * N k a t» i d 3t> the morning. “ (My wife) Corry Oh didn’t know whether to hug O w " p©*dh O n * o r * (r~ < Sh-i me or slap me,” he says.

LOV* LO v*nr p * - lb The players tried to stay BoMrKn « H a* pO-lf warm and alert by building S«rth « 0 4 H xrrw ooC ri bonfires, going into the H on p*»-r< b 2 BotM rr t i 12 0 clubhouse as much as pos­ Kapp** t ll 0 P b u o a b P»> I sible, drinking lots of coffee I U m b o r^ rr p 0 A 0 O A P and snacking on candy 0 0 Spec* 9 0 > •« p 9 9 ?

T tna+i 21 3 3 UA bars. “After the ninth, S d w r^ Jrr p 0 B y M ark SHIMABUKURO 0 UwMwr P everyone was kind of tired.”

2 9 b Ab IDS Tm h 2 18 says Marty* B arrett Paw­ OOO OOO IOO OOO OOO OOO OOI OOO OOO OOO OOO - 2 S tc O rU r' n the frigid, early morning hours of April 29. 1981, Paw­ OOI OOO OOO OOO 3 OOO OOO OOO OOI OOO OOO OOI Pm »cw < tucket’s second baseman w m m ttq rv* tiO r td H ow WM tucket reliever Luis Aponte finally made it home, his Sat­ so IP H fi BB to c fc ru rr ER w*ho now works as a broad­ urday night complete. Actually, it was already Easter Sun­ 7 5 2 I I 0 O 8 5 ^ 2 S d w i fe' caster for the Class AAA A day. He had been out all night with his teammates, and he 2 6 b I I 9 0 IO 4 0 0 ' Las Vegas Stars. “Then a1] of was readv for bed. Then his wife. Xiomara. confronted him at CUerO* iry 0 I 0t I I I (L 0 - 3 ) 0 0 0 0: 1 Sera a sudden in the 17th—to the door. so IP H « BB C« P a tric k * 4 3 I b* 3 I Part* like the 24th or 25th— Where have vou been? she asked.

9 2 4 0 0 0 3 4 3 0 0 2 everyone was kind of up At the ballpark, he said. Convinced he was lying, she refused 0 3 5 0 3 ^ 2 S w ib s o a . 3 49> 4 3 I I and punch drunk again.

Bt — n i m ) to let him in. Poor Luis, he was telling the truth. He was a part 3 0 0 I 5 3 r«c* 3 0 0 5 2 Then the emotions went N » ru of history.

O 0 0 i I I o*<u cw 9.si down, and it was like, ‘Gosh,* P « tc * d ie ta r* * b a t t * * rn On that night 15 years ago. Aponte and Pawtucket, the Class t P itc h e d I© CkM-f b a t t e n HI thorny. U rrrt letis just finish this thing.’ " t P itc h e d t a a m t b a t t e r hi U u rty -U irfl AAA affiliate of the Red Sox. began playing Rochester, the Ori­ 181 -K O U At about 3:45, in the 32nd C - E a t o a L© **a B o o m er. V a H t t D P - R a c h n t r r 4 P » m -tucket 3 LOB - R o c k i e r 3 0 oles* affiliate, in what became the longest game in professional P a w tu c k e t 2 3 2 6 - K u a 2 W a t t e ' B 0 9 7 S H op© ** S B - C a t o * S h - W rit**** 2 (. 0 9 4 © inning, Tam burro finally baseball history. When it was over, the line score, a monstrous KWT, H a p * * 2 S F - u r n * * H I P - B r S c h n e id e r ( L i n t * * ) try P a rk * ( E a t # * ) by A po«t» ( B r r ) b y O r t * ( B a r n e t ) W P - J o o e i H a m S m it* © " T - 8 2 S A - I 7 4 0 reached Cooper, who told binary code containing more goose eggs than a World Cup the umpires to stop the round, m easured 33 innings. And Pawtucket had won, 3-2, 8 game if it w*as still tied after the inning. Only hours. 25 minutes and 66 about 20 of the 1,740 fans were still around. days after the first pitch.

“You could hear every word they were saying,” The game began at Barrett says. “That was real strange.’’ At 4:07, about 8 p.m. April 18 at the game was suspended.

Pawtucket's M c C oy Sta* As the players made their way home, they dium. in near freezing could see the sun beginning to rise. tem peratures and with a On June 23. the gam e resumed, l l days into heavy wind blowing in. the major league players’ strike and in front of Rochester led. 1-0. in the 5,756 fans and more than IOO reporters, some bottom of the ninth when from as far as japan and England. Cal Ripken, Pawtucket designated hit­ who, like most of the position players, played ter Puss Laribee drove in every inning, singled in the top of the 33rd off Chico Walker with a sac­ Bob Ojeda, but he was left stranded. In the bot­ rifice Av. The marathon tom half, Rochester’s Steve GriDi, who had been was on. „ with Syracuse when the game began, hit BarThe wind took balls | rett with the first pitch. Walker singled him to that appeared as if they I third, then Grills walked Laribee intentionally were going deep and 1 to load the bases. With Koza up, and Boggs on swept them back toward 2 deck. Rochester manager Doc Edwards the infield. Rochester Marathon men: Ii took 18 minutes for Koza (center) to finish what had taken eight hours to brought in his fifth reliever, Cliff Speck. On a 2center fielder Dallas start. But like most of the position players in the game, he played every inning.

2 curve. Koza singled to left, bringing Barren Williams went 0-for-13. “I think I w^ent from .310 to .270.” says Williams, now the White Sox’s hitting in­ home, and the longest game was over in 18 minutes.

Forty-one players saw action. Of those. 31. including Barrett and Rich Gedstructor in the Gulf Coast League. “A lot of guys had a lot of fun with th a t” Thev also had fun with Laribee. who sandwiched his sacrifice Av with an 0-for- man and Bruce Hurst, played in the majors. Some, like outfielder Drungo ll showing that included seven strikeouts. “Hey Russ.” someone yelled out Hazewood, made only a cameo, while others, like Koza, a righthanded hitter with a swing made for Fenway, never got the call. But all of them made it to the next day. ‘Abu had a bad week last night.”

International League rules stated that, except in the final series between two Cooperstown, where a display commemorates the game. And for many of clubs, no inning was to start after 12:50 a.m. But the umpires didn’t have those them, the memories will never fade.

‘T h ere were even times in our big league career that (Ripken and I) would instructions included in their manuals, so they kept the game going. Pawtucket general manager Mike Taraburro tried calling International League president chat about it," Barrett says. “Ii the wind was real nasty in Baltimore and Boston.

Harold Cooper several times at his home in Columbus. O.. to get a ruling. or cold. I’d get on second or he’d get on second, and we’d say. ‘It’s not like that one n ight though.’ " ♦ There was no answer.

Rochester took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the 21st. But first baseman Dave M ark Shim abukuro is an associate editor fo r TH E SPORTING NEW'S. On April Koza hit a double on a popup that second baseman Tom Eaton couldn’t handle, 18, 1981, M ark was 12. He thinks the longest gam e he played that year was 12 and Wade Boggs followed with another double, scoring Koza. It was one of innings— a STRAT-O -M ATIC clash with a neighborhood friend- M ark lost.

On a cold and windy night in 1981, Pawtucket and Rochester began a baseball game; 33 innings and 66 days later they finished it

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