The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 24

1 1 9 8C Wwlnwdav, March 1 1993 THE TENNESSON Dibble back in White Sox black IK' teams that work out dally In different locations. The 46-man replacement team, one with virtually no recognizable names or faces, dresses In the McKechnie Field clubhouse that Jay Belt, Don Slaught and Al Martin normally call home each March. The rest of the 1 10-player camp, even the minor leaguers willing to play in exhibitions, practices two miles across town at the Pirate City minor-league complex. EXPOS: While Felipe Alou concedes his support of the players union is a thing of the past, he says managing the Montreal Expos this season Is by no means a certainty. Yesterday he conditionally backed off his promise to manage a team of replacement players during spring training and on opening day.

"I'm giving you a little he said from West Palm Beach, Fla. "If we have to go into the stadium with the national guard and the police protecting us, I'm not going to lead a team Into ORIOLES: If the Baltimore Orioles don't reverse their position against playing teams using replacement players, their entire spring training schedule will be canceled today. The decision to cancel the games was endorsed by the baseball operations committee, an arm of the commissioner's office. REDS: Pedro Borbon, 48 years old and 15 years removed from the majors, signed for real as a replacement player, threw in the bullpen and declared himself ready to pitch. MONEY LOSERS: San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds would lose the most money of any player If the strike goes into the season, $42,350 per day according to a study by the Associated Press.

TENNESSEAN NEWS SERVICES LABOR TALKS: While peace didn't break out yesterday between striking baseball players and owners, both sides talked calmly again In Scottsdale, and actually reached preliminary agreements on some side Issues. "I don't want to suggest that everybody's lovey-dovey far from it," union leader Donald Fehr said. "I do want to suggest that there are efforts being made to avoid the kind of discussions which produce hostility for Its own sake." Talks at the Gainey Ranch will resume today, when the exhibition season starts with a game between the California Angels and Arizona State. Rather than trading and rejecting proposals with specific numbers, the sides are discussing how the pieces of a deal would come together. Two meetings were held yesterday: a morning session devoted to non-economic Issues and a smaller afternoon session devoted to the central topics, such as luxury taxes, free agency, salary arbitration and revenue sharing.

DODGERS: Former Cincinnati Reds left-hander Tom Browning auditioned for Los Angeles yesterday. Browning, who has a 123-88 career record in 11 big league seasons, fractured his left arm while throwing a pitch last May 9, ending his season. The Reds did not pick up the option on Browning's contract, making him a free agent. General Manager Fred Claire offered no indication whether he's interested In pursuing Browning once the freeze for signing free agents Is lifted. PIRATES: Trying to diffuse tension over which minor leaguers will defy the striking major league players union and play In exhibition games, Pittsburgh has split Its roster Into two Ex-Red reliever not expecting old form SARASOTA, Fla.

(AP) Rob Dibble stared into the sun, a new black hat sitting on his head. He was sweaty and, for the moment, incredibly happy to be playing baseball again. "I'm back," he said after his first spring training workout with the Chicago White Sox. Dibble, now 31, admits he may never throw pitches at nearly 100 mph again, as he did during his best seasons as a reliever with the Cincinnati Reds. But his shoulder, cleaned up and repaired last April by arthroscopic surgery, has healed to the point where he impressed the White Sox enough to get an invitation and a minor-league contract Dibble is known for his fastball and for his lack of control with both his pitches and his temper.

He has been suspended six times during his major league career for antics that included throwing a ball into the stands, striking a fan. He once wrestled in the clubhouse with then-Reds manager Lou Piniella after an argument, dumped a bucket of ice water over a writer's head, flipped a bat into the screen after giving up a hit and was accused of throwing a ball at a base runner. "Let's start new," he said. "To me it's a new career, I'm starting over in a new league and with a new uniform. My philosophy is the same, to go out there and win at all costs.

"If it smears my reputation a little and the team wins, that's the bottom line. It's not like I'm carrying around baggage. I think the media carries that around in the back of their minds. "I'm a perfectionist in this game and I hate to lose. I hate to lose in checkers.

Just ask my wife. important and has fun coming to the park. Those are the types we think we can win with." Dibble, who twice made the All-Star team with the Reds and saved 88 games during his six seasons, was bothered by arm problems in 1993 and 1994, and only pitched on a rehabilitation assignment last season. He's been working out at his home in Connecticut after pitching winter baseball. "Being close to what I want to be and where I once was are two different things," he said.

"I don't think I'll ever be the way I used to be, because obviously I had surgery on my shoulder to repair damage. I think I can get close to where I used to be. "It was not a career-threatening injury. They went in and cleaned out my shoulder. When you are not healthy you can't be competitive.

When I'm healthy and throwing strikes, I don't think there is anyone in the game who can beat me." Throwing strikes became a problem in 1993 for Dibble after he punctured an ear drum in spring training and then broke his forearm covering home plate early in the season. He never regained the form he'd shown when he saved 31 games in 1991. Now, after surgery and workouts, the velocity on his pitches is back in the mid-80s. Dibble made it clear yesterday he is not in camp to be a replacement player, will not play in exhibition games and has signed the Triple-A contract so he can work his way back to the majors if the strike ends. He said he would be content with a middle relief or setup role to closer Roberto Hernandez.

"The last three or four months I've been learning to pitch again," Dibble said. "The surgery interrupted my playing time for a year. I'm capable of pitching in 75 games. In my most successful years, I threw a lot" AP Rob Dibble realizes shoulder surgery probably sapped some of his best stuff, but he expects he still can be effective. I've thrown the board at her a few times," he said with a laugh.

Are the White Sox worried about Dibble's history of problems? "We don't want choir boys," General Manager Ron Schueler said. "Being a free spirit, guys who aren't afraid to say anything, not afraid to have fun in this game, a guy to whom baseball is very Radio broadcasts moved to WAMB Columbia and Pulaski as we see how everything develops. We had a similar situation before when our games were broadcast on WKDA." Barry's station, which he said has a signal that "covers Davidson and parts of surrounding counties," has carried a variety of sports play-byplay broadcasts, including the Atlanta Braves, University of Memphis football, Lipscomb University basketball and Vanderbilt women's basketball. Schmittou somewhat jokingly said that "getting rid of the Braves in Nashville should be worth $100 a game" in increased revenues, then seriously added that Barry's 20-year ownership of WAMB "gives us the kind of stability we need." Barry said he liked the idea of having the Sounds on his station. "I'm glad that we can have the local team.

The Nashville Sounds are Nashville's team, and we're very pleased to have them," he said. "It's a good opportunity for us, and we hope this will be a long-standing relationship." By LARRY TAFT Sports Writer Qub President Larry Schmittou said yesterday that having a Mid-state region network of radio stations should offset any loss of signal for Nashville Sounds, who are switching their flagship station to WAMB. Schmittou and Bill Barry, owner of WAMB (1160-AM and 106.7-FM), jointly announced a multiyear contract that calls for the local easy-listening station to carry Sounds games. Steve Carroll will continue to do play-by-play. WAMB is a daytime station, though it drops to 1,000 watts at night WWTN, a station, had carried the Sounds games the past two years, but that station is now owned by Gaylord Entertainment which might change the format "After talking with officials at Gaylord, it became evident in my mind that a programming change was coming in the near future, and we can't jeopardize losing our radio coverage in midseason," Schmittou said.

"We will work quickly to put together a network so that Sounds broadcasts can be heard within a radius of about 100 miles. "We already have WDBL 94.3-FM in Springfield that gets us into Clarksville and Southern Kentucky. We're certainly going to be looking to do something in the Dickson area, Rutherford and Williamson counties and even further south to LTfFtl.V.E N4iJ ML lUirXTClM hI IWARRfclTYl WARRANTY Duralast Alternators EVERY DAY EVERY DAY EVERYDAY 99 97 5)95 Distributors Remanufactured. For most vehicles. Store stock only.

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