The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 23

BaseballD2-3 GolfD4 CollegesD5 ScoreboardD6 Auto RacingD8 Sports The Indianapolis Star fjf www.lndyStar.com Monday, April 15, 2002 Section InfoLine: 624-INFO (4636) Hamstring injury forces Giants' Bonds to leave gameD3 Bobby Labonte wins NASCAR raceD8 0 Pacers manage to keep hopes alive Indiana nearly lets its lead and game get away to a bunch of rookies and reserves in Washington. Bob Kravitz By Mark Montieth mark.montiethindystar.com WASHINGTON Of all the things that could eliminate the Indiana Pacers from the playoffs, imagine the frustration if it had been a rookie-filled bunch of And the fact the schedules for the players' postseason physicals and exit interviews were posted on each player's locker before the game was blatant evidence that the Wizards didn't have much to play for. Except for pride and for next year. And that was nearly enough. "I owe it to the rest of the NBA not to lay an egg," Wizards coach Doug Collins said before the game.

"If Indiana beats us, I want them to earn it. Isiah's my buddy, but I don't want to show up and be Red Klotz and the Washington Generals today." In the first quarter, the Wizards did a fair imitation of the team that played the stooge for the Harlem Globetrotters for so many years. The Pacers jumped to an 11-4 advantage, and led by 12 at the end of the period. But when the reserves were called in, the Pacers crumbled. Washington went with rookies Kwame Brown, See Pacers, Page D7 Race for the playoffs The Indiana Pacers are tied with the Milwaukee Bucks for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Pacers must finish a game ahead of the Bucks, however, because Milwaukee owns the tiebreaker. How the race shapes up: Pet. GB Toronto 41 39 .513 10 Milwaukee 40 40 .500 11 Pacers 40 40 .500 11 Remaining games Pacers at Cleveland, Philadelphia Milwaukee Toronto, at Detroit Toronto at Milwaukee, Cleveland Inside Lift off bench: Mercer gives Pacers more than just scoringD7 Bucks win: Ray Allen scores career-high 47 points to lead MilwaukeeD7 u0 da Li PACERS 8( WASHINGTON 8( Next game: at Cleveland, 6 p.m. Tuesday, WTTV-4, WIBC-1070 AM reserves from a losing team. It nearly happened Sunday, but Ron Mercer and Reggie Miller led a bullet-dodging rally games to get a game up on the Bucks, who own the tiebreaker.

The players watched some of the first-half action of Milwaukee's game before catching their flight to Cleveland for Tuesday's game. But they know that no amount of watching and hoping will make the Bucks lose. All they can do is keep winning and hope fate delivers an assist in the form of a Bucks' loss. "You run your race," Pacers coach Isiah Thomas said. "You stay in your lane and you don't go in the other guy's lane.

And when you hit the tape you turn around and the winners are posted." The Wizards, who were officially eliminated from the playoffs on Friday, were a susceptible opponent for the Pacers. Starters Michael Jordan and Jahidi White sat out with injuries. Rick Bowmer Associated Press that gave the Pacers an 86-80 victory over Washington at MCI Center. With Milwaukee beating Charlotte later in the afternoon, the Pacers remain deadlocked with the Bucks in eighth place in the Eastern Conference. That leaves the Pacers two To the line: Jermaine O'Neal (7) draws a foul from Tyrone Nesby of the Wizards driving to the basket.

IMlSX ru i mil ru Ml III A hole-by-hole look at how Tiger Woods, Retief Goosen and Phil Mickelson played the final round: 8Ma togey CEl 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 Sunday 4-day Relation Total Total To Par 16 17 18 In Tiger Woods 4 (3)T 3Tj (2)T4 5 T4 34 I 4 iJQ 3 1 5 4 (4) 3 tCJ 4 37 71 276 -12 Retief Goosen jUT 5,4 T1 '4 3 4 Pjl3 4 HO 13 t5 4 () 4 4 35 74 279 -9 Phil Mickelson (g) (4) LUF L4J fj" Tl) i lllJ ,4.. 36 4 1 4 L3 5 iTX-lT ,71.. 280 '8 En 4 5 4 3 4 3 4 5 4 36 4 4 3 5 4 5 3 4 4 36 72 ii. II ii.iM-.iiuillL.il 1 ill Ml HI JW HUI1 1 1 I. i i 1 -i'CT9- 7 winners Eleven players' have won as manyi; as seven major golf tournaments.

Tiger Woods, 26, is i the youngest player to reach that milestone. The list of leading "ma- jor" winners: Jack Nicklaus 18 Walter Hagen 11 Ben Hogan 9 Gary Player 9 Tom Watson 8 Tiger Woods 7 Harry Vardon 7 Bobby Jones 7 Gene Sarazen 7 Sam Snead 7 Arnold Palmer 7 Inside We tried: Others in the top 10 are used to the feeling04 Tougher: Changes at Augusta National produced rounds that, on average were one stroke higher than last yearD4 You name it, it probably has a price Many years ago, I was walking with former baseball great Keith Hernandez, who was finishing up his career by collecting a paycheck from the Cleveland Indians. We were making our way from one of the outer fields at the Tribe's spring training complex in Tucson, when a bunch of eager, fresh-faced kids stopped Hernandez. "Can you sign these?" they asked plaintively. Hernandez, barely acknowledging the kids' existence, shook his head.

"Why didn't you sign for them?" I asked as we moved on. Hernandez didn't break stride. "Because they're working for adult collectors," he said, "and those collectors will sell them." I then broke one of the first rules of journalism, which says, "Never anger a guy when you want to do an in-depth piece that probes the inner recesses of his soul." I said, "So what? Who cares if somebody makes a few bucks off your autograph? What if one of those kids came here thinking, 'Keith Hernandez is my He shrugged, couldn't have cared less. I might as well have been speaking Yiddish. I stopped caring about the recesses of his soul.

The good part of this little tale? I still have the tape of that exchange, and will be putting it up for bid on eBay this week, alongside Luis Gonzalez' used gum, Ty Cobb's dentures and, for all we know, the recently discovered chunk of Evander Holyfield's ear that Mike Tyson mistook for a canape. The bidding begins at $19.95, but I'm quite sure memorabilia collectors around the globe will push the bidding far higher. Interested buyers should note that 10 percent of the proceeds will go toward the Kids Who Were Blown Off By Pro Athletes And Have Been Psychologically Scarred For Life As A Result Fund. Listen, for just a few dollars, or maybe the money you set aside for Junior's tuition at Harvard, you can enjoy hours of family fun, listening to Hernandez act like an unrepentant jerk to a bunch of little kids, some of whom might have been orphans, for all we know. And for no extra fee, you get to hear me, a no-name journalist who eventually became, well, a no-name journalist, call Hernandez out on his lack of civility.

Can you get this kind of entertainment from pre-owned gum? And what are you going to do with a bunch of Honus Wagner baseball cards? If you're a single guy, do you think you're going to impress the women by saying, "Hey, you wanna see my 1926 Babe Ruth card? It's in primo condition." At this point, you're probably thinking, "A tape of Hernandez and a bunch of kids, why, it just can't get any better than that." Ah, but it caa I will be putting the following items up for auction on eBay just as soon as I beat this bogus forgery rap. I have: A six-fingered winter glove worn by a tiny Antonio Alfonseca. (A guy recently asked the Cubs' closer if he was "born that way." The man's brain already has been donated to science.) A rare video of Austin Cro-shere in action for the Indiana Pacers. Yes, Austin Croshere. Remember him? No? A Mike Davis talking bobble-head.

It's one of only 10 produced by my kid's pottery class. Touch the doll's head, and it says, "I want a raise. I do. I want a raise. I do.

Really. I want a raise." A sunflower seed once chewed and spit out by Barry Bonds. I have DNA results available upon request. Hey, I'm not saying everything is for sale. No.

I'm not that callous. Some items, you've got to pay list price. Bob Kravitz is a columnist for The Indianapolis Star. Contact him at 1-317-444-6643 or via e-mail at bob.kravitzindystar.com 3rd Masters title as no one offers a serious threat By Phil Richards phil.richardsindystar.com AUGUSTA, Ga. Golfs greatest closer didn't need the help, but he got plenty Sunday at Augusta National Golf Club.

Five of the world's top seven players went into the final round of the 66th Masters with a shot at Tiger Woods. They spent the afternoon getting out of his way. This wasn't a case of Woods putting the hammer down. No need. He played to the fat side.

He kept it out of the ditch. He laid up. He lagged. No one came after him, and he wasn't coming back. Woods might as well have been treading water, appropriate enough in this marinated Masters.

He shot 1-under-par 71 to finish at 12-urider 276 and win by three shots and behind the 18th green shared quiet hugs his mother, Tida, his father, Earl, and his coach, Butch Harmon. "This is why we hit all those balls as kids, dreaming of beating Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer," Woods said later. "I've been fortunate. I'm living my dreams." This dream brought $1,008,000 and a seventh professional major championship. It's an achievement that landed Woods in distinguished company, tied for sixth on the list behind Jack Nicklaus (18), Walter Hagen (11), Ben Hogan and Gary Player (9) and Tom Watson (8).

Harry Vardon, Bobby Jones, Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead and Arnold Palmer are the only other players who have won seven major championships (Jones when the U.S. and British amateurs were considered majors). None did it so young as Woods, 26, who has won six of the past 10. "Besides Jack Nicklaus, Tiger is the best player," said South African Retief Goosen, who started the day tied with Woods, shot 74 and earned $604,800 for finishing second. "Give him a couple more years and I think Tiger will be greater than Jack.

It's only a matter of time." See Tiger, Page D4 Doug Mills Associated Press In control to the end: Tiger Woods has entered the final round of a major tournament with a share of the lead seven times. He has won on all of those occasions, including Sunday, when he broke from a tie with Retief Goosen to win by three shots. Jacket maker keeps low profile Cincinnati company is the exclusive manufacturer of highly visible tradition worn by Masters champs. his so much after his victory in 1997, he wore it to bed that night. The jacket's color closely resembles Kelly green, but has been dubbed "Masters green." It was selected to match the rye grass that Augusta Na-; tional uses on its fairways.

The color might look gaudy to some, but noted fashion critic Richar4 Blackwell put it on his Best Dressed List among sports fashion statements "Perfectly cut and tailored simple, stylish and sporty," Blackwell was quoted in Golf Illustrated in 1999. "It's a fashion statement," said Woods of the jacket first awarded to Sam Snead in 1949. i The Cincinnati Enquirer contributed to this story. Call David Lewandowski at 1-317-444-6730. 4 (' By Dave Lewandowskl david.lewandowskiindystar.com The most coveted garment in sports is made of wool and polyester, costs about $250 and is available to a select clientele.

Tiger Woods on Sunday became the latest to model the green blazer that is as much a part of Masters Tournament tradition as pimento cheese sandwiches. Hamilton Tailoring Co. of Cincinnati takes about a month to produce each three-button, single-breasted, single-vent blazer, which is fitted with brass buttons inscribed with the Au gusta (Ga.) National Golf Club logo and the club insignia patch. Hamilton Tailoring chooses not to profit from its most distinctive product at least not through publicity. "They (the Augusta National board) don't like us talking much about this," company chairman Ed Heimann said.

"It adds to the mystique." Heimann's company has made the blazers for 35 years. "We were formed in 1909, and I'm a golf nut, so the fit is natural," Heimann said. So is the jacket's fit. Woods liked Dave Martin Associated Press Making a statement Tiger Woods has put on the green jacket at the Masters three of the past six years. Andretti gambles and wins Long Beach if have hustled around," Vasser said.

"Michael and Max were not a factor in my mind. For some reason, I didn't think about them." Vasser subsequently caught and passed Papis, who wound up third, and then chased down Andretti, but that was as far as he got. The tight, 11-turn layout yielded no passing room unless Andretti made a mistake. He didn't. "I was driving as hard as I can drive," he said.

Ironically, a mental lapse by Andretti in qualifying helped Vasser secure the pole. Andretti wrecked late in the final session to close the track with Vasser atop the speed chart. "What goes around comes around, at least that's what people kept telling See Andretti, Page D8 By Steve Ballard steve.ballardindystar.com LONG BEACH, Calif. Out of sight, out of mind. And for Jimmy Vasser, out of victory lane.

A brief memory lapse by Vasser allowed Michael Andretti to slink in and out of the pits without surrendering the lead and hang on for the 42nd victory of his storied career Sunday in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Andretti's second Long Beach victory the first came 16 years ago and was the first of his career was the result of intentionally getting out of pit sequence after a poor qualifying effort left him 15th on the starting grid. Andretti assumed the lead on the 62nd of 90 laps around the 1.968-mile temporary street circuit when Vasser and the rest of the leaders made their Fender banging: Bobby Labonte wins Virginia 500 at MartinsvilleD8 Dominating: Michael Schumacher takes San Marino Grand PrixD8 final stops. Andretti and Max Papis, operating on the same pit strategy, moved nearly 30 seconds ahead of the field but were in need of another stop. They caught a break when rookie Mario Dominguez made contact with the wall, bringing out a full-course caution, then caught another when Vasser slowed dramatically to await the pace car.

Afterward, he accepted full blame and admitted to forgetting he had two cars ahead of him. "I thought I heard the team telling me on the radio to save fuel, but I should have known better. I should Rich Schmltt Associated Press Out front: Michael Andretti makes his way through the hairpin turn on his way to winning the Long Beach Grand Prix. Andretti also won the race in 1986. Jim i.