The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 21

Section PORTS MONDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1987 THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR 7" f. frvrr Colts post 6-0 victory over Jets Related stories, pictures, Page 3 Strike talks off, Page 4 mance in Colt history and 39 yards shy of the record 1 98-yard effort of Norm Bulatch against the Jets In 1971. While the BanksJordan heroics supplied the offensive firepower, it was the defense which turned on the 34.927 customers who opted to cross the Invisible picket lines. There were 7,471 no-shows and the paid attendance was the third-best on the second Sunday of games featuring non-union players. New York never seriously threatened to cross the goal line In the first shutout registered by the Colts In 163 games.

The last team to be blanked by the Colts was also the Jets in a 20-0 game in 1976. The losers managed Just 211 yards total offense 145 passing and 67 rushing against a defense which intercepted three passes, recovered two fumbles and had four quarterback sacks. The Colts' team defensive See COLTS Page 3 MiliiSiiliiSfei a -t STAR STAFF PHOTOFRANK ESPICH New York's George Radachowksi (25) brings down the Colts' Chuck Banks with help from Scott Mersereau. These Colts not just dreaming By JOHN BANSCH STAR STAFF WRITER Victory cost the Indianapolis Colts more than they wanted to pay Sunday. Four starters.

Including quarterback Gary Hogeboom, went down with serious injuries in a shaky 6-0 triumph over the New York Jets in the Hoosier Dome. Hogeboom suffered a cracked sixth rib on a quarterback sneak In the fourth period and has been lost to the team for an indefinite period of time. He was "gored in the back," on the play, according to coach Ron Meyer. Even before the injury, it had not been a great afternoon for the Indianapolis quarterback. His 15 pass completions in 28 attempts grossed Just 1 1 5 yards.

At least five of his throws were dropped by open receivers and another was Intercepted. This Is the third major injury suffered by the quarterback since he was acquired from Dallas. Last season, Hogeboom missed 11 games with a shoulder separation. This year. Hogeboom missed the final preseason contest and the first regular-season game with a detached ligament at the base of his left thumb and still wears a cast to protect the appendage.

Also carted away from the struggle between two National Football League replacement teams were outside linebacker Bill Benjamin (torn knee cartilage), running back Chris McLe-more (sprained right knee) and tight end John Brandes (deep bruise on lower left leg). Benjamin faces surgery, McLemore two to three weeks on the sideline and Brandes may miss next Sunday's contest at Pittsburgh. The medical report put a major damper on the decision, which lifted Indianapolis (2-2) Into a first-place tie in the AFC East with New England, Miami and the Jets. The victory marked the first time since 1983 the Colts' record was at .500 four games into the season. Steve Jordan, the mustachioed kicker from Southern California, provided all of the points, drilling a 35-yard field goal with 1:57 remaining in the opening half and a 25-yard three-pointer midway through the third period.

Both kicks slipped through close to the right upright. Jordan was wide right on two other 42-yard field goal attempts. Running back Chuck Banks, taking over on the game's second series for McLemore, accounted for nearly all of the Colts' offense, knifing his way through the Jets' defense for 159 yards on 25 carries. It was the eighth-best rushing perfor- Rahal claims Laguna race, CART crown Sports Over Lightly By BOB COLLINS have leaped at the opportunity to put on pads one more time. Benjamin had a good game against Buffalo, and was well on his way to becoming Indianapolis' favorite Walter Mltty.

Read him his rights now and he'll go quietly. In a few years he'll remember Miranda as a quarterback he sacked for a minus three. Benjamin tore up a knee Sunday. He's through. But he's the only IPD cop who can say he played linebacker for the Colts.

Chuck Banks' professional football career was history. But he ran for 159 yards Sunday. Steve Jordan was working In his father's construction business in San Francisco. He kicked the two field goals that made it 6-0. What is a man without dreams? Call It what you like even if you don't call it football.

If the strike ends tomorrow, the men who have played the last two weeks for the Colts built enough dreams to last a lifetime. And let's not forget Gary Hogeboom. who may be Indianapolis' first candidate for sainthood. He stoically took the hits when the A-team was in front of him. He left Sunday with a cracked rib.

He never complains. There have been dark hints that all will not go well for Gary when the strikers return. Any so-called team player who deliberately opens the gates and lets him take a blow should be given a fair trial then hanged. 'THE PRINCE TOOK one look and decided he'd rather be a frog. So the princess will stay in a coma forever.

There was no way the prince, charming as he is. would get involved in what transpired at the Hoosier Dome Sunday. And if the princess had been awake and reasonably alert, she probably would have spent the afternoon with her hands In front of her eyes. Picasso would have trashed it. Van Gogh would have missed his ear by several inches and cut his throat.

It was the mighty Colts 6, New York Jets 0. in front of 34,927 citizens who couldn't testify in court because they weren't sure what they saw. There were moments when the Hoosier Dome was like Rhodius Park with a roof. You almost expected somebody to pass a blanket at the intermission. But the mighty Colts (2-2) now are tied for first place in the AFC East.

As I see it. the only thing standing between them and the Super Bowl Is the end of the strike. Once the fellows with strong mouths and weak tackles return, the level of play undoubtedly will improve. But that doesn't mean the Colts will win two in a row. Or two for the rest of the season.

It's easy to make fun of the people who have been laboring for the Colts the last two weeks. But they are fulfilling a wish. You remember dreams. We all had them at one time or another. We usually woke up before the best part.

But the cross-over play- By RICK SHAFFER STAR STAFF WRITER Monterey, Cal. There's nothing like winning the battle AND the war. Bobby Rahal can certainly appreciate the feeling as he won the Champion Spark Plug 300 kilometer Sunday at Laguna Seca Raceway and the CARTPPG World Series title as well. The 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner and defending CART champ averaged 118.879 miles per hour and collected $58,410 as he won his third race of the season before an estimated 55,000 fans. "I can't think of a better way to win the championship.

Last year, we won with an "eighth place at Miami. It's much more satisfying to have won both the race and the championship." Rahal said. Rahal won going away with a 23.6-second margin in the Bud-welser TrueSports LolaCos-worth over runnerup Danny Sullivan and In doing so. captured his fourth straight race at Lagu-See CART Page 6 ers (I'll never call them scabs) took theirs all the way. They were on the field In front of nearly 35,000 people.

And they won. It was their second victory in a row. Some of them have been out of shape and out of football for a while. It may take a fork lift to get them out of bed this morning. But Sunday they made like Kamikazes.

And like Kamikazes, they missed a lot. But it wasn't from a lack of trying. It was boot camp all over again. And some of the Colts moved like they were wearing boots. There were missed missed blocks, missed tackles, dropped passes, bad passes, plays that looked like they were written in Arabic.

But they still were flinging their bodies at everything that moved. Take the case of Bill Benjamin. A few weeks ago he was a beat cop. His pro football career began at ground level, then dropped. He had two chances to get into the Hoosier Dome buy tickets or sell popcorn.

But the strike gave him another shot to chase his dream. And you can't convince me that there aren't a lot of people patrolling the picket lines, who, given the same chance, wouldn't Giants blow away Cards for 3-2 lead if 1 mmmm Twins near brink after 5-3 victory UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL Detroit One of the biggest baserunning blunders in baseball history leaves the Minnesota Twins perched on the brink of the World Series. The Twins, inexperienced in postseason play and vulnerable on the road, grabbed a 3-1 lead in the American League playoffs Sunday night with a 5-3 triumph over the Detroit Tigers. Kirby Puckett and Greg Gagne each broke out of slumps with home runs and 40-year-old Darrell Evans was victimized by a rookie mistake on the bases. "The pickoff play loomed pretty large," said Minnesota catcher Tim Laudner, whose snap throw to third baseman Gary Gaetti in the sixth inning picked off Evans and subsequently prevented the tying run from scoring.

"Gary and I have a predetermined signal and, if he feels we have a play at third base, he puts it on. When I see the signal, I'll throw it down there." A season-high crowd of 51,939 braved temperatures In the low 40s as the Twins took command of the best-of-seven series. In today's Game 5 (WTHR-13. 2 p.m.) at Tiger Sta- See TWINS Page 5 The Giants, who stole Just 126 bases to St. Louis' 248 this season, swiped three in the first four innings.

That's more than the Cardinals have stolen In the series. Kevin Mitchell homered and drove In two runs and Jose Urlbe's two-run single sparked a four-run rally In the fourth Inning that made It 6-3. "We don't have the speed like they do," Craig said. "But we got some hits and runs and we had some hlt-and-runs." The Cardinals finally contained Jeffrey Leonard, who went 0-for-4 after homering in the first four games, but could not control his teammates. Joe Price pitched five innings of shutout relief, allowing one hit.

"It was a super day," Price said after his first appearance In the playoffs. He struck out a season-high six and walked one. "He looked like (Hall of Famcr) Rube Waddeil today." Herzog said. Craig promised before the game that his team would add a new dimension and it showed immediately. Robby Thompson and Mitchell stole bases in the first inning and Uribe stole another in the fourth after his two-run single.

See GIAliTS Page 5 ASSOCIATED PRESS San Francisco San Francisco Manager Roger Craig hinted this one might be different. The San Francisco Giants used their usual power game and copied a little of the St. Louis Cardinals' base-stealing tactics, sprinting to a 6-3 victory Sunday and a 3-2 lead in the National League playoffs. "We found out some things about their pitching and found a way to steal some bases." Craig said after San Francisco got the Cardinals on the run and ran them out of windy Candlestick Park. The Giants are within one victory of their first World Scries appearance since 1962.

They can get there by winning Game 6 Tuesday night In St. Louis when Dave Dravecky, who pitched a shutout In the second game, opposes John Tudor. Cardinals Manager Whltey Herzog knew something was strange when the first two Giants' batters stole bases. "They looked like the Gas-house Gang today and we looked like a bunch of leadfoots," Herzog said. "We couldn't get them out with a cannon." This best-of-seven series had been billed as power-versus-speed, and thii Giants had both.

ASSOCIATED PRESS The Giants' Jose Uribe (left) tags out St. Lyuis' Willie McGee during a rundowrt in the 4th inning..