The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 18

1 i niiini H'J-. i l- i 73 ri sirnoN fijWQ C-D 2CSCORKB0ARI) 2CRUNNIN(i 3CBASKBAI.L TVieTENNESSEAN 19X8 How Swede it is for champion Edber; 7 JOE 11 MIKE D-W1S SporH ntrr i mi. He's always in my memory. And now I have won Wimbledon. It's pretty funny, actually." Not to Becker.

It wasn't After beating defending champion Pat Cash and No. 1 -ranked Ivan Lend), he was thoroughly outplayed yesterday. "I had done everything I had to do. and yet I was still playing," Becker said. "It made it tough to get up for the match.

I couldn't push myself when I needed it most." Becker won the first set and stayed on serve throughout the second until reaching the tiebreaker. And from that point forward, Edberg played the match of his life. Most Importantly, he was a volleying wizard. His quickness from baseline to net was astonishing. His deft first volleys, executed with a deceptively supple touch, were almost always penetrating and well-directed.

"I felt I could hardly miss the ball." Edberg said. Edberg appeared to be feeling nervous when he served for the match at 5-2. He missed all six of his first serves in that game. But he somehow got to 40-30, and on match point he got lucky for perhaps the only time all day. The third of three rapid-fire volleys was a weak pop-up.

Becker charged In, wound up for a roundhouse forehand aimed right at Edberg and put it in the net Uunneil A ru Service WIMBLEDON, England Obviously. Stefan Edberg Is not the second coming of Bjom Borg. His game is a tot different His personality is even more low-key. If that's possible. But what the heck, he's only a rookie at this.

And he's already got the cup-kissing routine down to near-perfection almost as perfect as his sword-stroke volleys, which he used yesterday to dispose of favored and two-time champion Boris Becker to win the Wimbledon men's singles championship. One day and four rain delays later than scheduled. Edberg. 22, defeated the West German 4-6, 7-6 (7-2). 6-4, 6-2 to become the first Swede since Borg In 1980 to win here.

And It laid to rest, once and for all, the notion that Edberg didn't possess the mental toughness needed to win a major title. A notion Becker, 20, had expressed after the semifinals when he suggested he was mentally stronger. "I think I've responded to that," Edberg said. "I've proven a lot Today he didn't play as well on the big points. I think it (mental toughness) was turned around." Edberg's third career Grand Slam victory (he won the Australian Open in 1 98S and '87) also is the first Wimbledon triumph by a member of Bjorn-again generation, that army of Boris Becker, right, congratulates Stefan Edberg, young players who emerged from Sweden's disciplined development program after taking their inspiration from his run of five consecutive titles here (1976-80).

"I watched all of his Wimbledon finals on television, and he was a big Influence not on my game, but as a person," said Edberg. whose serve-and-attack style is In many ways the antithesis of the topspin baseline game popularized by Borg. "All of us grew up watching him. i 'mm Ju a t'A-' 'v'-'i'V Ricky Rogers Stall Sounds play musical managers The Atlanta Braves aren't the only team having one crazy summer. How 'bout those Nashville Sounds? This season.

It seems they've experienced most every aspect of the game of baseball. The team that has flirted with inconsistency. Attendance has been low. They have a better record on the road than at home. And just when everything seemed to have fallen in place when the crowds are lining up to enter the game long after it begins, when the Sounds are a few games ahead of .500 and threatening to go from fourth place to second in the American Association Eastern Division, when a former popular skipper comes back to take over the team, when hitting Ls timely, pitching is reliable and enthusiasm and Interest are peaking the Sounds start playing musical managers.

FOUR DIFFERENT skippers in eight days. As of Wednesday, they would have witnessed five managing changes in 10 days. Another might be forthcoming. The fourth manager. George Scherger, stepped down from the controls after just one day at the helm.

Sounds president Larry Schmittou said such is not a rarity, however. When he was with the Texas Rangi-rs organization in 1982 he saw the team go through four managers in four days. He aLso said it's not unique to the Sounds. He said in 1985 Dave Bristol managed one spring training game "and said he should be in the big leagues so he quit." But Schmittou added, "It never occurred during the regular season." No wonder they call baseball a funny game. THERE WAS joy in the park Sunday night.

Things began to sail smoothly. Wayne Garland and Jim Hoff, interims until Scherger arrived, combined for a 5-1 record. Four of those five wins came on the raid. The Sounds were comfortably ahead of .500 for the first time in a long time. Sunday marked the second consecutive time the Sounds drew over 1 4,000 at home.

When Scherger came aboard Sunday, he received three ovations. Three. He said his crew had a winning attitude. Last night when the Sounds embarked on stormy waters, Scherger made what he considered a few bad moves. He figured they cost the Sounds the game.

"Right now I feel bad," he said after the game. "The kids played good, but I didn't do a good job of managing. We had a few opportunities to score. With a game like that it's up to the manager to win the game." Despite his obvious dejection, Scherger didn't let on that the move was eminent He didn't seem any more dejected than any other manager or coach who felt a decision he she made cost the team the ball game. HOWEVER, YESTERDAY morning he stepped down from the helm and went back home to Charlotte, N.C creating for the Sounds a pool of questions, a puddle of answers and a sea of confusion.

"Needless to say it was unexpected," said Garland. "But it did happen the season is not going to stop, though. We have to keep on playing ball." Gotta give credit to the Sounds players. They're hanging in. But ask anyone connected with the game and they'll tell you.

Managerial switches often come as a surprise, but they are just as much a part of the game as runs and RBIs. Some former major league stars, like Hank Aaron and Brooks Robinson, say they have no aspirations of being a manager. Aaron says it's too political and he wouldn't want to tarnish a good career as a player with a bad managing record. Robinson echoed what many say: a manager is only as good as the team. There is no doubt that a manager knows his days are numbered and replacements are ultimately inevitable.

Asked last week if he saw an article in Sports Illustrated focusing on the frequent firing of managers, Lind replied, "The magazine's in my locker." The field (akes off at the sfart of the Firecracker 5000 road race yesterday morning at Met ro Center. Blind runner last winner' in race Scherger quits after one game JOF BURRIS Sptrl. rilrf Nashville Sounds manager George Scherger resigned yesterday after one game at the helm, creating a void at the position for the second time in eight days. Scherger. who in 1979 led the Sounds to an 83-61 record and the Southern League Championship, was named to replace fired manager Jack Lind on June 27 and took over the team for the first time Sunday night Scherger's resignation came as a surprise to Sounds president and general manager Larry Schmittou.

who yesterday said pitching coach Wayne Garland would serve as Interim manager until tomorrow and Cincinnati Reds field coordinator Jim Hoff would serve as acting manager after that Both served as interim managers last week until Scherger arrived. "It caught everybody by surprise," said Schmittou. "The Sounds, Cincinnati, everybody." ON 3C Sounds lose 3-1 The Sounds are the Triple-A affli-ateofthe Reds. "The only reason he gave me was that he made a mistake and he was going to correct the mistake and go back home," Scherger, who lives in Charlotte, N.C could not be reached at his home yesterday. "He was so enthused the day before the game," said Schmittou.

"He was glad to be back in .1 can respect his feeling. I'm disappointed it worked this way. "(Reds manager) Pete Rose called me today. He loves the guy. I told him the same thing.

Scherger said, 'I made a Scherger. 67. was disappointed after the Sounds' 3-1 loss to Oklahoma City Sunday night and blamed himself for the defeat But he did not indicate at that time that he felt he had made a mistake in returning to the helm. "I called Garland this morning to ask if something had happened that I Turn to PAGE 4C, Column 1 Graham falters as Charles wins Seniors event RANCHO MURIETA, Calif. (AP) Nashville's Lou Graham, attempting to win his first PGA Seniors event, yesterday watched histwostroke lead fade as Bob Charles captured the $350,000 Senior Gold Rush.

Graham, the 1 975 U.S. Open champion and a Seniors Tour rookie, took a two-stroke lead into the final round at Rancho Murieta after back-to-back 68s. But he double-bogeyed the fourth hole yesterday on his way to a 74. Charles birdied three of the final eight holes for his third straight 69 and held off a charging Gary Player. The win was worth $52,500.

Graham's 210 total in the 54-hole event left him in a four-way tie for third. He won $18,750. "One of the big disappointments to me, as a golfer, is that more people don't play the game left-handed." said Charles. i 1 la do it" Jarrard said. "I really appreciate Ken running with me." While out there running, the rope that connects him with Winter usually isn't taut but it keeps him on course.

"I get a lot of my cues from noise, from listening to Ken and everything around me," said Jarrard, who played high school basketball In Gainesville, Ga "Ken runs well enough to talk. I'm usually huffing and puffing." At 35 years old, Jarrard has written five No. 1 country songs: There's No Way and Vou' ve Got the Touch for Alabama; What's a Memory Like You for John Schneider; the Forrester Sisters' Lonely Alone, and Don Williams' Nobody But You. He works for The New Company, whose copyrights are administered by Warner Bros. Music.

"I think there's naturally a period of depression," Jarrard said about his blindness. "But I didn't get Into the music business until I lost my eyesight and I didn't do any competitive running before then, so hopefully I'm over the worst of It." And he plans to keep on moving ahead. "What is it you said about the Olympics?" he quipped at Winter. CAROL STUART Spurts Hriler "Is Daddy going to be the last winner?" young Amanda Jarrard asked her mother, Beth, as they waited at the finish line. John Jarrard, a successful Nashville songwriter who ran yesterday's Firecracker 5000 road race, is blind.

Attached by a makeshift shoe-string rope to running partner Ken Winter, Jarrard received the biggest round of applause even if he did finish at the end of the pack. His time was 4 1 minutes, 18 seconds for the 3.1-mile5-kilometer course. "It hurts just as bad," Jarrard joked while catching his breath. "It really was tough. I think I must have picked up some energy from the crowd." It was not Jarrard's first time out to race, but it was the longest distance he and Winter had run since returning to competition at the first of the year.

About five years ago, they were into running "seriously" and went to races together for about 1 12 years. The two got matched up when Jarrard, who lost his sight about 1 0 years ago due to diabetic retinopathy, sought Winter's help in finding a partner. "For months I tried to find somebody and I couldn't so I did it" said Winter, who is in- 1 Ricky Rogers Stjtt Blind songwriter John Jarrard, left, runs with sighted partner Ken Winter. volved in running apparel sales. "We've become very good friends." "I enjoy it and I'm very thankful I'm able to Hautmann wint cIom race, 2C Brief traces 'collusion' by baseball owners Giles wrote down numbers next to Andre Dawson's name on Jan.

28, 1987, which matched the contract offered to Dawson by the Chicago Cubs five weeks later. The notation was "5-700 Dawson." Dawson, who made $1.5 million with the Montreal Expos the year before, was paid $500,000 by the Cubs for 1987 with bonuses that raised him to $700,000. Giles dismissed it as coincidence, telling the AP: "It was probably what I was thinking what the (player was) worth." At a meeting on Feb. 26, 1987, Ueberroth requested and received updates from teams on their player ne- ble and and predictable," Rona said in a statement that the PRC would confine its comments to its own brief. However, he defended Ueberroth's actions as consistent with baseball's collective bargaining agreement, and spokesman Rich Levin said the commissioner would let Rona's statement speak for him.

Copies of the brief were distributed by the union to players involved in the case, their agents and members of the union's executive board. The brief contained portions of meeting minutes and notes which showed: RONALD BLUM Asstkiated Press NEW YORK Baseball teams consulted each other on contract offers to free agents between the 1986 and 1 987 seasons and kept their competitors advised of player negotiations, according to documents and closed-door testimony. The testimony and documents were cited in a two-volume, 182-page confidential brief filed March 22 by the Major League Baseball Players Association in its second collusion case, expected to be decided by arbitrator George Nicolau sometime this month. The brief was obtained by The Associated Press last week. ON 4G Eight key cases.

Although baseball executives deny acting in concert documents trace a pattern of information trading at the urging of Commissioner Peter Ueberroth in an attempt to hold down spieling player salaries. "Be honest with each other, exchange Information," Ueberroth is quoted as telling a general managers meeting. Barry Rona, executive director of the owners' Player Relations Committee, accused the union of leaking the brief to give "a distorted, one-sided version of the case." Calling that unethical, "reprehensi Complete scores, 2C Philadelphia Phillies owner Bill I Turn to PAGE 4C, Column 1 Prep coaches fear parched fields, 3D jUJS. gets 1994 World Cup, ID: i.