St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 31

ST. LOUISPOST-DISPATCH SECTION THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1996 JEFF GORDON COMMENTARY Spit Proves That Unions, Lawyers Rule Baseball SPORTS jiikiiih mili hu -t' The moment was caught vividly on IV fV IV r- videotape, suitable for rebroadcast over and over and over on every sports show this side of Minsk. Enraged Baltimore Orioles star Roberto Alomar is screaming at um fi; -Art i pire John Hirschbeck, stomping around, screaming some more and then spooovhey! Alomar didn't spit in Hirschbeck face, he hosed it. Unbelievable. Then he dragged the death of Hirschbeck's son into the issue, as if to explain why Hirsch beck was crazy enough to walk in front of his spit.

i This outrageous episode recalled Blues defense- man Rick Zom- bo's inexplica ble slash on linesman Kevin Collins. Like Alomar, Zombo is a consummate profes sional who just had one of those painfully human lapses. D)dDD(B "Everybody makes mistakes in life," Alomar saiclafter helping the Orioles beat the Indians 10-4 Tues day. "We are all men here." And men are born, not manufactured. We have rv no circuit boards, gears or battery packs.

Who hasn't done regrettable things? v. But as unfortunate as this spit fit was, the chaos that ensued was tougher to forgive. Once again we saw that Our National Pastime is ruled by unions and lawyers rather than courageous leaders. Instead of decisions and agreements, we get injunctions and St. Louis Cardinal? The competitive side of Cardinals pitcher Andy Benes (photo at left) and the family side (above) with his wife, Jennifer, and their children (from left) Drew, Bailey, Shane and Brynn at Busch Stadium.

strikes. When historians look back at the decline of American civilization, they may well cite major-league base ball as a classic case study of our litigious society. Ex-Padre Considers Pitching A Privilege And Pleasure American League President Gene Budig suspended Alomar for five games, a pittance. Zombo, by con By Mike Eisenbath Of the Post-Dispatch Statt trast, got a 10-game NHL suspension Cardinals vs. Padres By nightfall, Andy Benes could be the equivalent of a 20-game banishment in baseball.

That's what Alomar deserved. National League Division Series -V, i-r saluted as a hero. He will be the starting pitcher this afternoon at Busch Stadium against his old team, the San Diego Padres. There's more. Not only did Alomar 3" "Si 1 A victory would leave the Cards Vt one shy of sweeping the National League Division Series.

get a fourth of the punishment necessary, he gets to serve his time in April. Do games that month even count? Please. We know that major-league baseball doesn't want to disrupt the competitive balance in the A dominating day by Benes could make him a part of St. Louis postseason lore. He'd love to come through for the Cardinals and their fans.

postseason. Think back to 1972 when Cards lead best of five, 1-0. Today: at Busch Stadium, 3:07 p.m. Starters: Andy Benes (18-10) vs. Scott Sanders (9-5).

TV, Radio: KPLR (Channel 11), ESPN cable, KMOX Radio (1120 AM). Tickets: About 750 single seats on sale 9 a.m. today at Busch Stadium ticket windows, adjacent to Hall of Fame Gift Shop. Will-call window also opens at 9. Heck, he's been one most of his life, too, so he understands.

But he'd probably prefer being Oakland A shortstop Bert Campan-eris got a 10-game suspension for hurling a bat at Detroit pitcher Ler-rin LaGrow in the playoffs but that banishment didn't include the World Series. called something other than a hero. He seen heroes his wife, his daughter Bailey, his mom, a teenager in the hospital. Cowardice! Like Bowie Kuhn, Bu 1 He's a pitcher. This is a baseball game.

Those guys at the plate are men with bats in their hands. played the night before, it's easy to get engulfed in the madness of the! morning routine. "I will have no part of that tombf row, that much I know," Benes saitE Wednesday afternoon. "My wife wilt make sure all of that is taken care of without me. I'll be able to do what I need to do.

Tomorrow will be one 61 the few days I'm not in on the 6 crunch to fix breakfast." Such reality might be out of sight on occasion. But it's in the back of his-mind. That's part of what made this sea' son special for him. After signing as a free agent with the Cardinals last winter, Benes; started by losing seven of his first eight decisions. Other pitchers might have fretted away the rest of the season.

They might have thrown, things, tinkered too much with their pitching motions, piled misery on top of failure. I But when Benes went home during April and May, Drew still wanted to; play. The girls still wanted him -to sing at night, even though he saysie can't sing. They still needed milk oh their breakfast cereal. There was more.

"I was able to visit a 16-year-old at Children's Hospital who just harHj heart transplant," Benes said. "Having a 1-7 record after that doesn't amount to a whole lot. My one daughi ter (Bailey) had surgery a month and a half ago. My mom had a cancerous tumor taken out of her wrist in the middle of the season, and she was going through radiation treatment in Houston. "All those things get you to the point where you try to compete ie the best of your ability, give it yout See BENES, Pagel dig didn't want to influence a series outcome.

So Budig was willing to wait until after the playoffs to consider Alomar's appeal. This was standard baseball procedure. In fairness, the NHL, which Realizing all of that has helped Cardinals' Lankford closer to playing. 4D. Osborne says he is ready to pitch in Game 3.

4D. Padres' Sanders has Hannibal, connection. 4D. Final AL, NL team-by-team statistics. 6D.

make this season Benes' most successful. It's helped put him in position to take the mound this afternoon. does an otherwise admirable job pun "Baseball is very important to ev ishing miscreants, also wimps out come playoff time. Only aptly named erybody involved," Benes said. "It's our job.

But you have to get away from it." National Basketball Association Com Benes has little trouble getting away from it. If you think staring 60 feet 6 inches ahead at Ken Caminiti in front of 50,000 fans and a national TV audience is unnerving, try waking up in a house with energetic Drew Benes, almost daughters Brynn, Orioles' Alomar drops his appeal and baseball owners and umpires head back to court. 4D. Orioles go up two games to none over the Indians. 5D.

Braves open with extra-inning win over Dodgers. 5D. Yankees even series with Texas with a 12-inning victory. 5D. AP Ray Lankford jokes before Tuesday's playoff opener with the Padres.

The injured Cardinals outfielder is making progress. almost 3, and Bailey, almost and son Shane, born in February. The hero of the house is Jennifer missioner David Stern stands tall in the postseason. When is there a better chance to punish (and deter) deviant behavior than the playoffs? The umpires association threatened to strike if Alomar was allowed to wait until spring to do his time. Baseball got a federal judge to coax the umpires to work Tuesday and Wednesday isn't this sport exciting when the briefcases click! but Budig moved up Alomar's appeal to today.

Perhaps sensing he lacked a defense yelled 'spaghetti splat' at him and my lips slipped." Or: "Well, at least I didn't goober Alomar then dropped his appeal. Shockingly, Budig let him off. That five-game suspension won't start in the playoffs, as many owners Benes, Andy's wife and mother of their brood. The ballpark might seem nutty these days, what with all the reporters and demands. But life at home has its moments.

home, coming off a road trip and being with the kids." Benes likes to play with Drew. He sings his daughters to sleep at night. No matter how late the Cardinals ing three kids less than 3 years old," Benes said. "We have some great help at home, though. And I love spending time with them.

The thing is, out here I'm doing what I've been prepared to do. Nobody prepares you to be a parent. You're just a parent. "But my wife is great about making it easier for me to do what I do. It really is relaxing for me to be at "It's a lot different, especially hav- CBC's Hughes About To Say SLU Will Fit The Bill For Him Shuffling Of Roster Has Rams In An Unsettled Frame Of Mind demanded.

"It was a tragic event, but By Mike Eisenbath oral commitment last week. Neither player can ci(7n an nffirial tattr nf in Of the Post-Dispatch Staff St. Louis University's basketball teams land ed one of the country's most sought-after coaches a few years ago in Charlie Spoonhour. The Billikens' home attendance has ranked in the nation's top 10 the last two years. new teammate Billy Milner.

"We're in a state right now where we're doing a lot of shuffling," cornerback Todd Lyght said. "We're trying to find ourselves. We've got a good team, but we're not finding ways to win. "It's almost a situation where it's like desperation, where we're doing anything we can just to get a win. But the thing about it is, no one on this team has really panicked." But given some of the recent player moves, it might look as if the front office has panicked Jerome Bettis and Sean Gilbert, who were See RAMS, Page? By Jim Thomas Of the Post-Dispatch Staff Lately, the Rams don't know what to expect when they show up for work.

One day Steve Walsh gets a vote of confidence as the starting quarterback. A few days later he's third team. Ernie Conwell goes from fullback to starting tight end (probably) in a couple of weeks. One day Troy Drayton is a Ram. The next day he isn't.

And how many 53-man rosters in the National Football League feature three right tackles? Zach Wiegert and Darryl Ashmore, say hello to Now, theyve hooked one of the nations premier high school players. CBC guard Larry Hughes will give Spoon- hour an oral commitment and make that decision public Friday at an assembly at his school, sources said. major-league baseball must move forward with resolve that no such thing ever happens again," Budig said. Yeah, right. More cowardice.

The umpires have been given little choice but to stage a wildcat strike. Once again, baseball will generate lots more headlines that include no game scores. How tiresome is all this? The umpires can be a fairly arrogant lot. Some try to steal the show with their confrontational antics, inciting needless arguments while marching around like roosters. Then again, players often carry on like pouty teen-agers.

They soak up the adulation, cash monstrous paychecks, and let other people carry their luggage. So any perceived slight is interpreted as an affront to their manhood. It's no wonder this is a sport of great expectorations. Baseball is in dire need of adult supervision. Perhaps sometime we'll' see it.

Hughes, a 6-foot-5 senior, is considered one tent until the early commit- Hughes ment period begins Nov. 13. The Billikens' first official practice of the preseason will be telecast nationally on ESPN. Their annual Midnight Madness workout will be included with coverage of similar workouts at UCLA, Kansas, Tulane and Texas in the wee hours of Oct. 15.

The doors at SLU's West Pine Gymnasium will open at 10:30 p.m. Oct. 14, and the team will take the floor at midnight. SLU athletic director Doug Woolard has been working with ESPN on the concept for a couple of years. "I'm pleased we're getting this opportunity," Woolard said.

"It says a lot about what national media thinks of our program." Scheduled as honorary coaches for the Billikens' intrasquad scrimmage will be Isaac Bruce of the Rams, Brett Hull of the Blues and Pro Football Hall-of-Famer Jackie Smith. of the nation's top point guards and led the St. Louis Eagles to the 17-and-under Amateur Ath letic Union national championship this summer. He earned Post-Dispatch All-Metro first-team recognition last season for CBC. i Hughes apparently has chosen SLU after also having visited Syracuse and Michigan.

He probably will cancel scheduled visits to Illinois and Kansas. SOUND OFF: Fans have praise for the Cardinals, harsh words for Mizzou football 80' THE BLUES' roster features plenty of newcomers for Friday night's opener 2D He gives SLU two recruits from CBC 6-6 teammate Justin Tatum gave Spoonhour an.