The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 203

wwwtainessean.com THE TENNESSEAN Sunday, August 17, 2003 5C STOKIS: BASEBALL. MEDIA Hampton findin old form in Atlanta On verge of 8th straight win after 2 dismal years "5 K- By PAUL NEWBERRY Associated Press ATLANTA Welcome back, Mike Hampton. You remember Hampton? A 22-game winner in Houstoa Helped the New York Mets reach the World Series. The last two seasons, Hampton's sinker took a sabbatical in the thin air of Colorado, transforming this once-dominant lefty into a batting-practice pitcher. In the muggy, thick air of Atlanta, Hampton has rediscovered his most important pitch and success.

He's won seven in a row for the Braves. "If nice to help my team win, be a plus," Hampton said "I don't have to answer all those questions about 7 9-2 for Colorado in 2002, then went 12-26 with a 6.62 ERA over the next year and half. Last season; he was 7-15 and had the highest ERA (6J5) in the majors among qualifying pitchers. "I had no clue," Hampton recalled. "I was just out there trying something." Over his last eight starts, Hampton is 7-0 with a 357 ERA numbers that are more in line with his stats from the pre-Colorado days.

Hampton's is beginning to remind folks of the guy who went 22A for the Astros in 1999, and in 2000 he helped the New York Mets win an NL pennant-Looking back, Hampton believes the thin air at Coors Field limited the downward movement on hLs sinker. He started tinkering with his windup and got all screwed up. Last season, he had a worse ERA on the road than in Colorado. He was still struggling to regain that sense of normalcy through most of the first half this seasoa After getting routed at Florida on July 1 giving up nine runs and 10 hits in four innings Hampton stood at 3-5 with a 4.70 ERA "It's amazing how much different I look now than when I first started here," he said. "I would throw three good ones, then three bad ones.

Consistency that's what it's all about" Braves pitching coach Leo Maz-zone doesn't want to reflect on what happened in Colorado. Instead, he's focusing on Hampton's much-brighter future. "I just prefer to look at where he's at this year," Mazzone said, "and where he's at this year is at the top of his game." whaf wrong. Irs taken a long time to get to this point I still feel like I can improve, but I'm getting close to the point where I was before." Hampton (10-5) pitched three-hit ,7 HAMPTON LARRY MCCORMACK STAFF Sounds radio annoucer Chuck Valenches works alone when calling all 72 road games for the Triple-A baseball team. ball over eight innings to beat San Diego on Wednesday night He could have gone back out in the ninth to try for his second straight complete game, but Manager Bobby Cox saw no need with the Braves cruising to a 7-1 victory.

"His ball was moving all over the place," teammate Gary Sheffield said after Wednesday's game. "When he's moving it all over the strike zone, it's difficult to guess with him. You think he's coming in with a little fastball, and it dips away like a changeup." In comparison, Hampton started 1.:,. Sounds at Rainiers Next game: Today at Tacoma When: 3:35 p.m. MO Friday's box score RAINIERS 4, SOUNDS 3 bi bi 0 0 0 Tacoma ab Strongcf 3 Lopez 3b 2 Borders 3 Nashville ab Alvarezcf 4 Doster 2b 4 Davsrf 4 Mckowiak1b4 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 2 1 2 0 1 Phillips 1b 4 0 11 Rgueroa3b 4 0 10 2 1 One-man broadcasts usually brutal, force announcers to show creativity 0 Barkett rf 3 0 0 0 Connorsdt! 3 0 10 Rogelstadlf 3 0 0 0 Hyzdu Gulan3b Barthdc De la Rosa Kingo Bennettp Brooks Sanchez 1 1 Castillo ss 3 Wrightp 0 Looperp 0 Putzp 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 3338 3Totals 28 4 7 3 in the field somewhere.

You may not pick it up until 15, 20 minutes later depending on how the game goes. You have to pick and choose your spots, and make sure it's a story you can finish within a short amazing how many guys don't describe what is going oa "How's the infield playing? How's the outfield playing? Is the batter right-handed or left-handed? How's his stance? Is the pitcher Nashville Tacoma 3 0 4 7 0 020 001 000 102 000 01x By PAUL KUHARSKY Staff Writer The radio booth for the visiting team in a Pacific Coast League baseball game is typically small and plain. A broadcaster such as Chuck Valenches of the Nashville Sounds sets up his stuff and leans into a microphone just like he would at a home game. But if there is a seat next to Valenches he might as well prop up his feet, because no one is going to be sitting in it. As the lone voice calling a game, a broadcaster is the camera and the paintbrush, the play-by-play and the color.

It's a job that calls for focus and concentration as well as a major knack for timing. If the guy in the headset doesn't blend those qualities together, stories bleed into the game and listeners get a disjointed picture. "Hearing somebody work alone, you can tell who's got it," said Mike Keith, play-by-play man for the Titans. "It's the ultimate broadcasting truth serum. It's not easy.

I've done it and it's hard. "YouVe got to make sure you're going to complete thoughts, because you have no one to complete a thought for you or with you. There's nobody there to laugh at your joke. You have to turn all the knobs and grab all the stats yourself, and you can just forget what you are talking about" When he worked in Knoxville, after two or three years of periodically calling Lady Vols basketball games solo, Keith didn't expect baseball would be much different "I did a four-hour talk show every day by myself, and I thought This won't be so Keith said. "Then I started doing midweek baseball games against smaller schools by myself.

And it's brutal" Valenches has one of three different sidekicks for home games Brad Gulder, Eric Jones or John Meltoa But on the road he's on his own. "It forces you to prepare for being the only one. out there, it forces you to fill the time yourself," Valenches said. "If you're telling a story with two strikes and two outs in the bottom of the third, and the next pitch is strike three, it may take you a little while to get back to it "You start the top of the inning and the guy involved in the story is the fact and you gear up for it, you get through the game the best that you can. At home you make up for it, take a few innings off, get your sanity back." Sportscaster Mark Howard of WTVF-5 did solo play-by-play in the early 1980s when he was starting out, calling games for the Triple-A Wichita Aeroes.

Smiling at the memories, he tells stories of nearly being decapitated by a foul ball and leaving dead air for three or four minutes as he made a desperate run for the bathroom. Occasionally, for a double-header, the next day's starting pitcher would work a game with Howard. "It was like a vacation with a second guy," Howard said. Charlie Mattos, who calls most Vanderbilt women's basketball games on his own, said he has it easier than a baseball announcer. "Baseball you can have a two-hour, four-minute one-hitter or a 13-12 game that lasts 4'i hours" he said.

"You can be keeping people company for a long time. Basketball is pretty much self-contained to a two-hour time period, unless you get a fluky triple overtime game." Mattos doesn't get lonely as long as he's got a good halftime guest, and said he has no problem laughing at his own jokes. But he said sometimes when a game is over he sounds like Bill Clinton after a day of campaigning "The toughest part is hoping your voice holds up," he said. "I love nothing more than a Diet Coke, but you have to avoid the caffeine or your throat is going to dry out. And the pregame popcorn some places can be very evil" Valenches dreams of a major-league job, but knows opportunities are hard to find and said if Triple-A Nashville is as far as he gets, he's got it better than a lot of broadcasters.

Should he get a call up to the bigs one day where he's guaranteed a partner, he might even get an occasional inning off, which Miller said is a great thing. "If there are two of you and you're off for a little while, people might miss you," Miller said. "They might say, Where is my Paul Kuharsky is a staff writer for The Tennessean. He can be reached at (61 5) 259-8024 or pakuhaaoi.com DP- Nashville 1 Tacoma 1 Nashville Tacoma 4. 2B- Doster (25); Del a Rosa (10); Phillips (13); Rgueroa 118) 38- Strong (1).

HR- Hyzdu (3); Borders Friday at a glance Losing pitcher Duaner Sanchez (4-4). Big stick: Adam Hyzdu, 2-for-4, home run. How they lost Tacoma's J.R. Phillips hit a double down the right-field line to score Mickey Lopez with the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth. Transactions: The Pittsburgh Pirates acquired second baseman Bobby Hill from the Chicago Cubs on Friday to complete last month's trade that sent Aramis Ramirez and Kenny Lofton to the Cubs.

The Pirates added Hill to the 40-man roster and assigned him to Triple-A Nashville. Pitcher Matt Bruback acquired from the Cubs in the trade was taken off the 40-man roster and designated for assignment. Bruback, eligible to be claimed on waivers, was 2-2 with a 4.91 ERA for the Sounds. -STAFF REPORTS PCI standings AMERICAN CONFERENCE Central Division Pet GB Albuquerque (Mains) 67 60 .526 Cd. Springs (Rockies) 65 63 .608 2Vi lowa(Cubs) 62 66 .484 5'A Omaha(Royals) 61 66 .480 6 bb so (1).

CS- Alvarez (7); Strong (9); Lopez (12). Ip Nashville 1 1 2 2 Bennett Brooks Sanchez 4-4 Tacoma Wnght Putz amount of time and budget it in that inning." Jon Miller, who calls games on radio and TV for the San Francisco Giants and calls ESPN's Sunday night games with Hall of Famer Joe Morgan, has not worked alone much. But he said the emphasis of a radio play-by-play broadcaster should be the same with or without a standing tall or bending over to take the sign? When you listen to a game, you don't want all those areas blacked out If there is a hit to the gap, is the outfielder cutting it off or is it going to the wall?" Dan Karcher may provide such color. But the broadcaster who was recently in town with the Colorado Springs Sky Sox said he knows Vv Eastern Division Pet GB 55 .563 62 516 6 64 .500 8 PCL schedule Friday's results Tacoma 4, Nashvifte 3 Oklahoma 9, Fresno 0 New Orleans 4, Iowa 3 Colorado Springs 3, Memphis 0 Albuquerque 3, Omaha 2 Las Vegas 7, Portland 1 Sacramento 10, Tucson 8 Yesterday results Nashville at Tacoma Oklahomal, Fresno 0 New Orleans 10. Iowa 2 New Orleans 10, kwa 2 Colorado Springs 6, Memphis 5 Omaha at Albuquerque Portland at Las Vegas Sacramento at Tucson Salt Lake at Edmonton Today's games Nashvie at Tacoma Fresno at Oklahoma Iowa at New Orleans Memphis at Colorado Springs Omaha at Albuquerque Portland at Las Vegas Sacramento at Tucson Salt Late at rSmonton 71 66 64 55 Nashvie (Pirates) New Orleans (Astros) Oklahoma (Rangers) Memphis (Cardinals) 72 .433 16 PACIFIC CONFERENCE Northern Division FOR THE TENNESSEAN Charlie Mattos is usually alone at the microphone for most Vandy women's basketball broadcasts.

62 Pet GB 63 .496 64 .492 14 66 .480 2 71 .441 7 Edmonton (Expos) Salt Lake (Angels) PorrJand (Padres) Tacoma (Manners) Western Division 61 56 going into a road trip that he simply has to make it through games. "On the road you make due with what you've got" Karcher said. "Your mindset is you know you're doing the whole game. You accept "Most young broadcasters feel the key to baseball is having interesting things to say between pitches," Miller said. "You need to have things in case there Is a blowout or a fairly uninteresting game with 8 million walks.

But it's Pet 47 .630 57 544 62 512 77 .394 GB 11 15 30 Sacramento (Athletics) 80 las vrjgas (Dodgers) 68 Tucson (Diamondbacks) 65 Fresno (Grants) 50 Photo of Williams head briefly on Web Tennessee State University Tigers vs South Carolina State University Bulldogs S41-?" -v I'm wtf 44 tcJ Tennessean Newsservices Larry Johnson admits that he briefly posted a photograph of Ted Williams' severed head on his Web site and asked for "donations" to view it and others. But the man who blew the whistle on the lurid conditions in which Williams' body is stored at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Scottsdale, Ariz, says he did so only to draw attention to the plight of Williams' remains and to help pay his mounting legal bills. "In retrospect, I regret putting the pictures on the Web site," Johnson told the New York Daily News on Friday. "There was a series of photos, but only one was of Ted and that wasn't identified. It was a mistake.

But at the time, I wanted to educate the public as to what goes on at Alcor and what Ted went through, and I was hoping to get some donations to help me out" Johnson, Alcor's former chief operating officer, disclosed details of the state of Williams' body in a Sports Illustrated article this week. According to Johnson, Williams' head was removed after his death Jeremy Giambi will have season-ending surgery ruesday to repair a torn ligament in his left shoulder. Giambi has been on the disabled list since Aug. 5. Injuries: Oakland Athletics pitcher Tim Hudson left yesterday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays after getting hit on his right wrist by Dave Berg's line drive in the seventh inning.

Hudson was taken for precautionary X-rays. Boston Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra was scratched from the lineup 30 minutes before yesterday's game against the Seattle Mariners because of lower back spasms. Dfefice erupts after ejection: Kansas City catcher Mike DLFelice threw coolers and a trash can onto the field after being ejected following a wild play at home plate in the first inning against Minnesota Once he reached the dugout, DiFelice began throwing stuff onto the field and raging at the umpire. Royals manager Tony Pena, who was still on the field arguing with Layne, ran back to the dugout and herded DiFelice into the tunnel! and placed in a nitrogen cylinder. Johnson said he came forward because of the horrific conditions in which Williams' body is stored and the unethical practices of Alcor.

He said on Friday he is cooperating with authorities who are investigating Alcor and has received death threats since the Sports Illustrated article appeared. Pirates trade Simon to Cubs: First baseman Randall Simon was traded yesterday by Pittsburgh to the Chicago Cubs for Ray Sadler of Double-A West Term. Simon is best known this season for hitting one of the Milwaukee Brewers' racing sausages with his bat last month, drawing fines from local authorities and Major League Baseball in addition to a three-game suspensioa The left handed-hitter is batting 274 with 10 homers and 51 RBIs. "He can play first base and he's got a quality bat off the bench," Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said. "He's almost a lifetime 300 hitter.

He's got a good personality." Jeremy Giambi to have shoukfer surgery: Boston Red Sox reserve Wild Card Glance American League Pet GB Boston 71 52 .577 Oakland 70 53 .569 1 Chicago 63 59 .516 7V4 Minnesota 63 60 .512 8 Saturday's Games Minnesota 14, Kansas City 5 Boston 5, Seattle 1 Oakland 6, Toronto 4 National League Pet GB Philadelphia 68 54 .557 Florida 68 55 .553 V4 Arizona 64 58 .525 4 Chicago 64 58 .525 4 St. Louis 64 59 .520 4Vj Los Angeles 63 59 .516 5 Montreal 63 60 .508 5'2 Saturday's Games Los Angeles 10, Chicago 5 Montreal 4, San Francisco 1 Philadelphia 5, St Louis 4 Atlanta 10, Arizona 6 'Q'l Downtown Coliseum Saturday, August 30 6 pm Pre-Game Show 7 pm Kick-off Post-game show Classic Concert featuring Sean Paul, Choppa, T.I. Comedian Shawty Shawt Sunday, August 31 7 pm, TSU Gentry Center Tickets for the game and concert are both available at the TSU Ticket Office, 963-5841, and all Ticketmaster outlets, 255-9600, or on-line at ticketmaster.com. For more information and a complete listing of all Classic Events, visit www.tnstate.edujmc.