Indiana Gazette from Indiana, Pennsylvania • Page 11

S.W. Jack continues winning ways Page 12 Sox cut Cleveland lead to one Page 13 Irvin plot slows jury progress Page 15 The Indiana Gazette Saturday, June 29, 1996 Page 11 Free agency, trades on hold as NBA seeks labor peace 1 A By CHRIS SHERIDAN AP Basketball Writer NEW YORK The MBA's free agent market is on hold until July 9. An eight-day moratorium on trades, signings and negotiations was the biggest surprise to come out of a tentative agreement Friday between the league and the players union that finalizes the collective bargaining agreement. The six-year deal was reached last summer, but the leadership of the union changed in February and the St. Louis pulls offer to Gretzky By JIM SALTER Associated Press Writer ST.

LOUIS The St. Louis Blues say they did everything they could to keep Wayne Gretzky, but he and his agent wanted more than the team could give. That is how team officials explained why The Great One, the NHL's career scoring leader and perhaps the league's biggest marquee name, will become a free agent on Monday, the day after his contract expires. "We didn't work months to acquire him to let him go to free agency, but we were aware that was a possibility," Blues coach and general manager Mike Keenan said. "I think there's some disappointment, but I think it's more of a surprise to me," team president Jack Quinn said.

"They came back and tried to put some extra whipped cream on the table, and the table wouldn't hold it." Quinn said the Blues have pulled their offer to Gretzky, though he did not rule out signing him. The Blues, already the league's oldest team, acquired the 35-year- old Gretzky in late February for highly regarded forwards Craig Johnson, 23, Roman Vopat, 21, and Patrice Tardif, 25. The Blues also gave up their 1997 first-round draft pick and a fifth-round selection in last week's draft. The deal was part of a win-now strategy, aimed at putting the middle-of-the-pack team over the hump in the Stanley Cup playoffs. St.

Louis beat Toronto in the first round, thanks largely to Gretzky, who set a team playoff record for a six-game series with nine assists. But Gretzky struggled at times in the second-round loss to Detroit The Blues had initially offered Gretzky just under $23 million over three seasons, Quinn said. But when he sputtered against Detroit, the Blues reduced the offer to two years for about million. The team recently upped the offer to three years million and other incentives. "The ownership of this franchise made him an offer that won't be duplicated," Quinn said.

As recently as last week, Keenan was optimistic that Gretzky would be back with St. Louis. Gretzky's agent, Mike Barnett, did not return phone calls from The Associated Press on Friday. On Thursday, he told the Post-Dispatch, "The decision was not based on economic factors." He didn't elaborate. But the St.

Louis Post-Dispatch, citing unidentified sources close to Gretzky, said Gretzky will leave the Blues over conflicts with Keenan. The sources said he'd take less money to play elsewhere rather than play for Keenan again. After Game 2 of the Detroit series, Keenan berated Gretzky in front of his teammates and then publicly raised questions when he said, "If he's not injured, then something must be bothering him." Keenan said he may have "overstepped" in making those comments, but denied a rift with Gretzky. "I apologized and we both moved on from there," Keenan said. "It wasn't an ongoing thing it certainly wasn't something that was a distraction." Earlier, Gretzky said any decision he would make regarding St.

Louis hinged on whether the Blues would commit to keeping close friend Brett Hull. But he also told ESPN thai he would be interested in ending his career alongside another close friend, Mark Messier of the New- York Rangers. Hull and Keenan have bickered since Keenan's arrival prior to the 1994-95 season. Keenan and Quinn said there are no plans to trade Hull, but stopped short of guaranteeing it wouldn't happen. Keenan said he expects to pursue free agents and make plenty of changes in the offseason.

In 18 regular-season games with St. Louis, Gretzky scored eight goals and added 13 assists for 21 points. That brought his NHL career totals to 837 goals, 1,771 assists and 2,608 points, all league records. new regime challenged several aspects of the deal. It remained unsigned, and the whole matter ended up in court until the two sides met for four straight days this week at a Manhattan hotel.

The deal was announced Friday afternoon. "We feel like we did real well, especially because we've achieved financial independence. The NBA got some things that they wanted, too," said Jeffrey Kessler, lead attorney for the union. Free agency, trades and negotiations will be barred from July 1 to July 9 at noon EDT while players vote to re-ratify the agreement. Ballots will be delivered Monday.

"We expect approval to be nearly unanimous," Kessler said. "The owners were insistent on that eight-day period. They wanted to make sure there are no misunderstandings this time. We accepted it reluctantly," Kessler said. The deal was finalized more than 48 hours before a Sunday night lockout deadline.

Negotiators went though a list of about 16 disputed issues, and the last sticking point was the amount of money the league should pay for use of the union's logo. Talks broke off Tuesday night when the union asked for $31 million, and the league ended up paying a couple of million less money that will be used for union operating funds. "We're glad we've been able to conclude our negotiations," deputy commissioner Russ Granik said. "And we look forward on July 9 to re-focusing our energies on continuing the worldwide growth of the sport over the next several years." The eight-day moratorium took many agents by surprise, including Leonard Armato, who thought he would begin fielding offers Monday for Shaquille O'Neal. "In a sense, we're disappointed that we won't be able to begin the process July 1, but there's no gain in taking a militant stance against it," Armato said.

"The horses are at the gate and ready to run, and now they have to wait eight days for the door to open. I just hope the horses don't overheat." Included in this summer's free agent market, the biggest ever, are Michael Jordan, Dennis Rodman, A once-dormant ball field in Parkwood now teems with baseball action nearly every night, thanks to the Indiana Baseball Boosters. (Gazette photo by Tom Peel) Boosters retain goals despite rapid growth By BILL BALINT Gazette Sports Writer According to Indiana Baseball Boosters President Tony Sgro, the success of that organization is directly tied to its very simple mission. "We just had a dedicated group of people that believed that any young boy that wanted a chance to play baseball should have that opportunity," said Sgro. "That has always remained the purpose of the booster organization." Even though there has been seven junior legion teams representing the area covered by the Indiana Area School District in recent years, that league has never provided a spot for all boys who wished to play after Little League.

As a result, some boys aged 13-15 used to be faced with being left out of organized baseball. But that regrettable scenario is no longer the case because of the work started by a small group of concerned adults four years ago. "We approached the (Indiana Ar- ea Recreation and Parks Department) in 1992 about starting a program for those kids who didn't get picked up for Junior Legion," said Sgro. "We started that first year with 22 kids. We have over 190 now." Originally known the as Rec League, those 22 youngsters played on the Penelec Field prior to" its demise in 1994.

Sgro notes that several national sponsoring organizations were contacted before the league opted to remain unaffiliated. "We talked with the VFW Teener people and Senior Little League people, but we just decided to keep to ourselves," said Sgro. "We weren't willing to give up control of our program and that's what we would've been doing." Over the first couple of Rec League seasons, parents and other supporters formed the Indiana Area Baseball Boosters. The club's primary focus was the support of the league and it eventually took over administrative control. The turning point for the league came after the A DA SPOTLIGHT Penelec Field ceased to exist.

Desperate for a field, the organization found a little-used softball field near Parkwood. "We really have the Armstrong Township supervisors to thank," said Sgro. "We asked if we could convert the softball field and we met the guys at 7 o'clock one morning. Within a week, we had a field. Later, we went back and asked for more open ground and were able to construct a second field very quickly." With a permanent home now secured, the league was able to accommodate older players more easily.

The loop divided into two divisions, with the Pony Division comprised of 13- and 14-year-old players. Those aged 15-18 were placed into the Colt Division. Even though the vast ma- jority of players reside in the Indiana Area School District, no one is denied a chance to participate. "We have kids from several other districts playing," said Sgro. "We also have one Pony team from Young Township and one Colt team called Kiski Vafley and that is made up of players from the Apollo'area." Participation has increased nearly tenfold from just four years ago and numerous junior legion players are now participating in both leagues.

A total of 14 squads now play at the two fields in Armstrong Township. The league has also sent all-star teams to both Junior and Senior Legion tournaments within the past year. "In all honesty, this program has exceeded all of my expectations." said Sgro. "We've had a lot. of growing pains.

But when I can look out and see some of these kids that have been in the program since the beginning, it is well worth the effort. Some of these older kids even um- Continued on page 12 Gary Payton, Dikembe Tim Hardaway, Reggie Ju-; wan Howard and Kenny Anderson. O'Neal, Miller and Payton will be; playing on the Olympic team, which' opens camp Monday'in Chicago, and! all three will probably be forced to. buy catastrophic injury insurance- for the period between July 1 and the'; day they sign their new contracts. "They may be reluctant to prac-, tice without the protection of a contract, but they would have been more so if there had been a lockout," Kessler said.

Officials hung up on phones By JOAN KIRCHNER Associated Press Writer ATLANTA A pay phone company that had its temporary Olympic phones shut down because of price gouging and other violations said it will correct the problems before the games open next month. The Public Service Commission said Atlanta-based Metro-Tel Inc. also was illegally placing time limits on local calls, prohibiting callers from using the long-distance carrier of their choice and failing to equip phones for the hearing impaired. Based on inspections of about 50 phones, the PSC ordered BellSouth to cut off service to all Metro-Tel pay phones on Friday, spokesman Shawn Davis said. "Hopefully, our inspections have, prevented a good deal of heartache; for our Olympic visitors," PSC" chairman Dave Baker said.

Carl Worboys, Metro-Tel's attorney, said most of the problems! probably could be attributed to inad-; vertent errors made when the, phones were first turned on from the company's central computer. "We'll go back and test them and: correct anything that's Worboys said. Metro-Tel has 30 days to correct! the problems and seek permissions from the PSC to restart the pay phones. The Summer Olympics gin in three weeks. At least 1,000 Metro-Tel phones- have already been installed in ta, Athens and Conyers.

Metro-Tel sales manager Pat "Snider told the Athens Banner-Herald two weeks-, ago that the company planned to install 3,400 temporary pay phones for the games, then take them down Aug. 31. Davis said the Metro-Tel pay hones are recognizable for their ick of identification on the also a violation of Georgia law. PSC' inspectors were able to identify the- phones through other markings and with the help of BellSouth records, Davis said. PSC inspectors found at least three Metro-Tel pay phones near the Olympic stadium that charged just to get a dial tone for a local call.

"I've never heard of that," boys said. "That's a definite prob-; lem." Other Metro-Tel pay phones charged the usual 25 cents for a local call, but all had time limits of three minutes. The state prohibits pay phone companies from imposing a time limit on local calls. The Metro-Tel pay phones also prohibited customers from reaching. the long-distance carrier of their; choice, forcing them to pay the price set by the long-distance carrier: chosen by Metro-Tel.

In addition, the PSC found that- none of the inspected Metro-Tel I phones were equipped for the hear-. ing impaired. Osborne tosses five-hitter as Cards silence Pittsburgh By The Associated Press ST. LOUIS Donovan Osborne figures he's made the transition from hard thrower to finesse pitcher, and perhaps even All-Star team member. "I can't throw like I used to.

I have to use all my pitches instead of just relying on a fastball," the left- hander said after allowing one run on five hits in the St. Louis Cardinals' 6-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night. The Cardinals moved into a first-place tie with the Houston Astros, who lost at home to the New York Mets. "After I missed that whole year with surgery, I had to adopt a "new approach," Osborne said. He missed the entire 1994 season with shoulder surgery and was 4-6 last year.

Osborne said he feels like he is a veteran now, and that requires a different approach to the game. "I think about the hitters before the game more than I used to," he said. "I have to use some finesse now, and it works." Osborne, (7-4) said he isn't thinking about the All-Star game, even though the idea was being discussed in the clubhouse Friday night. "I don't worry about that. If it happens, it happens," he said.

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said he thinks Osborne pitched an All-Star worthy game in 93-degree heat. "He's pitched well all year and kept us in almost every game." La Russa said. "If that d'oesn't make you an All-Star pitcher, I don't know what does." La Russa said he expects Osborne to pitch well every time he takes the mound. "I may have more confidence in him than he does," La Russa said. "I think there's only been one game this year where he didn't pitch well.

The other games he lost were because we didn't score enough runs." La Russa made several moves Friday to counter Pirates starter Denny Neagle (8-4). Ray Lankford batted second for the first time in his major-league career and Royce Clayton, who usually bats second, was moved up to the leadoff spot. The moves paid off. Lankford doubled in two insurance runs in the eighth and Clayton two hits and drove in a run. Lankford, who had been O-for-14, said he doesn't worry about where he hits.

"I let the manager take care of that. I just try to take advantage of the situation," Lankford said. The game was close until the Cardinals scored four runs in the eighth. Pirates manager Jim Leyland said both pitchers had strong outings. "The Cardinals beat a good pitcher," Leyland said.

"Both of them were outstanding, it's a shame one of them had to lose. Neagle said he had to admire Osborne's performance. "He's not going to blow anybody away, but he kept everything at the knees and below. That makes him hard to hit." The last-place Pirates trailed the Cardinals by two games at the start of the weekend three-game series, and won't be able to catch them by Sunday even if they win the next two games. "We're in a pennant race and every series is big, particularly in your own division," La Russa said.

The Cardinals and Pirates each play the next 20 games against division rivals. The Cardinals put the game put of reach with four runs in the eighth, including a two-run homer by Ron Gant. "I think you can see Ronnie's getting more confident every day," La Russa said. Gant missed five weeks with a strained hamstring. Pirates shortstop Jay Bell is a bit tardy with the tag Roytt.

Clayton steals second. (AP photof.