St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 16

jr- 3 OCT 31996 4D SPORTS ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1996 I 1 Lankford Limbers nis arm, To Play Saturday I fciVvj 1- jt if -J Wayne CrosslinPost-Dispatch San Diego Padres pitcher Scott Sanders talks to members of the media on Wednesday. Injury May Have Been Blessing For Padres Pitcher Sanders By Rick Hummel Of the Post-Dispatch Staff Ray Lankford felt so good Tuesday he thought about lobbying manager Tony La Russa for a chance to start Game 2 of the National League Division Series today at Busch Stadium. Lankford never got that opportunity, and just as well. La Russa said there was "no chance" Lankford would be able to play in the field today, although Lankford again made marked progress in his recovery from a torn left rotator cuff.

"I don't think it's a good idea to risk talented people," La Russa said. "There's no need to. I don't care what the stakes are." During a two-hour workout, Lankford swung the bat freely and with some pop, although the pitcher was coach Dave McKay and not San Diego's Scott Sanders as it will be this afternoon. Lankford also threw lightly, but only from about 30 feet. La Russa said, however, "He'll be available and, for more than to just pinch run." La Russa fully expects to use Lankford as a pinch-hitter and is hopeful he might be able to play Saturday when the series goes to San Diego.

"If he could play Saturday, it be a huge plus for us," La Russa said. "We were thinking about not making him available (on the playoff roster). Obviously, we are all really excited. But he's going to have to throw the ball better than he did." Lankford admitted, "It's a different story hitting in batting practice and hitting in a game. But I'll be ready for however he wants to use me." After his batting practice, Lankford said his timing was off a bit.

"Other than that, I felt fine." Lankford made sure not to take any wild swings. "I was pretty much swinging to make contact with the ball," he said. CARDINALS NOTEBOOK Osborne Says He's Ready For Saturday By Rick Hummel Of the Post-Dispatch Staff Pitcher Donovan Osborne had a 20-minute stint in the bullpen Wednesday and fully expects to pitch Saturday in the third game of the National League Divisional Playoffs. Osborne said he had no trouble with his gashed left thumb, or with a previous finger blister on his pitching hand. "I'm ready to go," Osborne said.

"It's thumbs up." Location was a big problem, Osborne said, but this wasn't surprising because he hadn't pitched in 10 days. Throwing a slider also would be difficult, Osborne said, "but that pitch has been killing me all year anyway. I'm going to stick that pitch in my back pocket." Osborne cut his thumb when he came into contact with a broken champagne bottle as he tried to pull one out of a tub of ice in Pittsburgh last week. "When I cut it, I thought I was done," he said. "There was blood all over the clubhouse and the training room.

"Next time, let's just use plastic." This has been a long year for Osborne from his spring training auto accident when he suffered badly bruised ribs to his visit to a Houston police station early one morning after he was arrested at a night spot for public intoxication and criminal trespass. "There have been a lot of things off the field," Osborne said. "On the field, I'm fine." Osborne had a half bandage on his thumb Wednesday. He will not be allowed to wear that Saturday, so as not to distract the hitters. By the time he makes his start, he will have rested for 12 days, a fact that Osborne said does not concern him.

"Pitching is my life," he said. "If you miss two weeks, it's not really going to help you. My arm's in shape. It's just the mechanics of going out there and doing it." 1 Asked how Osborne looked, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said, "He looked good from far away and (pitching coach) Dave Duncan was up close and said he looked really good." Duncan said he and La Russa wouldn't worry about having somebody to back up Osborne should he not be able to pitch. But he said, "We'll have somebody to back him up, just like the other guys.

We've got Alan Benes and Danny Jackson in the bullpen. In the early innings, these are the kinds of guys who can give you a lot of innings." San Diego manager Bruce Bochy said he again would start Rickey Henderson in left field today. Henderson was an active player on Tuesday with a homer, single, a walk and a dialogue with the fans. "He gets hooted on more than any player in modern baseball," La Russa said. "He's been a marked man so much he knows exactly how to handle it.

I think he enjoys it. "He knows it's baseball but it's entertainment. What's wrong with having a little fun with the fans between pitches? I can remember Jose (Canseco) in Boston and everybody is yelling, 'Steroids, and he'd be flexing his muscles." Traditional wisdom says that the visiting team in a five-game series is By Mike Eisenbath Of the Post-Dispatch Staff To use the words of another favorite son of Hannibal, reports of Scott Sanders' death were greatly exaggerated. All right, they thought only Sanders' pitching arm was dead. The young San Diego Padres pitcher had a fastball that couldn't have gotten arrested for speeding in Montana.

He gave it all the gas in his tank, and still he couldn't throw harder than 81 mph in the middle of November last year. Sanders said he was "five minutes away from making up my mind to have 'Tommy John a ligament transplant in his right elbow. That's about as serious as it gets for a major-league pitcher. Today, he will take the mound at Busch Stadium. He'll be the Game 2 starter for San Diego as the Padres try to even the National League Division Series.

His fastball is trucking along regularly at 9 1-92 mph. "I thank God every day that I was talked out of the surgery, that I worked hard and that the rest and therapy brought me back," Sanders said. "If I had the surgery, right now I'd be rehabbing and getting ready to go to winter ball." He actually wonders if the injury became a blessing. He's a better pitcher because of it. While regaining arm strength, Sanders pitched out of the bullpen the first half of the season.

He changed the way he thinks about pitching generally and the mechanical way he pitches specifically. Sanders faced the Cardinals twice this season, both in one-inning relief appearances. He didn't make his first start until July 5. He compiled a 9-5 record and 3.38 earned-run average, struck out 157 and walked only 48 batters. All in just 144 innings.

"If I would have started all year, I'd be going downhill about now," Sanders said. "I would have picked up about 200 innings by now. But I've got about 150 innings, and I feel as good as I did on opening day." His fastball has returned as his best pitch, his slider is his "out" pitch, and he's managed to develop an improved changeup. He said he was ready to put it on display and pitcher Scott Sanders, lineup linchpin Ken Caminiti, catalyst Steve Finley. The question is raised where the Padres might be without their splendid late-inning relief ace Trevor Hoffman.

"We would hate to think about where we would be without him," Bochy quickly said. "He's along the same lines as Ca miniti when it comes to intensity and competitiveness. He wants the ball and he wants to be in there with the game on the line. He's been outstanding." Hoffman Hoffman, who turns 29 Oct. 13, is now a commodity baseball teams salivate over.

He is the nail in the coffin, the all-she-wrote, check-please, curtain-dropping closer that elevates a team from competitive to complete. After registering 31 saves last year, Hoffman had 42 saves in 49 opportunities this season. He ranked third in the NL in saves and was tied with Cincinnati's Jeff Brantley atop the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year standings. Brantley won the award by virtue of the first tie-breaker, which was save percentage. But Brantley, you will note, is spending this October watching baseball on TV.

The Padres, on the other hand, are still playing, thanks in large part to Hoffman. He finished the season by clamping down his final 18 save opportunities. In the crucial final series at Los Angeles, he saved three consecutive wins as the Padres overtook the Dodgers to win the NL West. Hoffman allowed one hit and one walk over those last three appearances. Banjo-hitting Hoffman Became Padres' Ninth-Inning Conductor 7 didn't feel a lick nervous after pitching in one must-win situation last weekend in Los Angeles.

Sanders is one reason the Padres could have one of the league's better pitching staffs for several years. He heard rumors to the contrary early this season. Apparently, his name continually popped up in trade rumors. Other teams were asking, team President Larry Lucchino told Sanders, but Lucchino assured him, "We won't think about it unless someone knocks our socks off with an offer. Don't plan on going anywhere." That Sanders will be pitching arguably the biggest game of his life at Busch against the Cardinals is a bonus.

He was born in Hannibal, about 115 miles north of St. Louis. Though he moved with his family to Thibodaux, when he was an infant, his grandparents still live in Hannibal. He visited them each summer and occasionally would watch a ballgame at Busch. "I was always a Cardinals fan," he said.

"Until I got drafted by the Padres, at least." "It was gratifying, but it was a great accomplishment for the whole team," Hoffman said. "The Dodger series was really a lot of high pressure each day. That's what is great about this. We got through that and now, even though this is the playoffs and people talk about pressure, it's more a fun kind of pressure." Pressure is something Hoffman has learned to respect and accept since coming to San Diego. After his conversion to pitching, he was picked in the first round of the 1993 expansion draft by the Florida Marlins.

The pomp and the circumstances convinced Hoffman he would be a Marlin for a long time. "I really thought I was going to be a fixture there for 20 years or something," said Hoffman, who was born in Anaheim, Calif. "They had drafted me No. 1 and it was a new franchise and everything. It was exciting." Hoffman was 2-2 with two saves and a 3.28 ERA for the Marlins, and by June 24, he was gone.

With San Diego divesting itself of high-salaried players, the Marlins had a chance to acquire slugger Gary Sheffield and the potential-packed Hoffman be- came the central part of the transaction. He went from a team just starting out to a team that was selling out. "My first reaction was, 'Wow! I'm actually going to leave Hoffman said. "I was shocked. It took me a while to get over it.

And when I came here, yes, I did feel some pressure because they had traded Sheffield. "But as it turned out, it really was for the best. San Diego gave me a chance to go out there and pitch, take my knocks and develop. And I've been able to establish my own following with the fans." allowed per 1 innings pitched. nopes "I feel I can get out there and play.

With Willie (McGee) out there, you've got a veteran who can still play the game, run and hit. You couldn't ask for a better replacement. "He probably won't play me the way I'm throwing the ball now." Lankford said that when he first was hurt, "I didn't think there was any chance I could play. But it's come all along really well. "I'm getting a lot of treatment.

I'm more tired now getting treatment than I am if I'm playing." Right fielder Brian Jordan said he doubted whether it was a good idea for Lankford to try to play today. "I know he's determined to play. But I really don't want to see him damage his (career)," Jordan said. "But if he wants to play, I'll be there so he can flip the ball to me." Lankford laughed and said, "If (the Padres) get runners on second and third, Brian and Ronnie (Gant, the left fielder) have got them all." La Russa said he wouldn't hesitate to use Lankford, if he is able, even if the Cardinals are ahead by two games to none on Saturday. "If we happen to be in that circumstance, our whole idea would be to try and win the next game we play.

I don't care how the series stands. If he wasn't ready to play, we don't play him. Whenever he's ready, he plays." Lankford is only a .174 hitter (eight for 46) against the Padres this season with 18 strikeouts in 46 at-bats. McGee was nothing for four on Tuesday, although he played center field well. "The thing is," said La Russa, "Willie is more comfortable if Ray plays.

He wants to be in the role that he's been in all year. "Whenever he's had to play because of injuries to Brian or Ron, it's very difficult physically and mentally" Of i could finally take a deep breath and relax. Seattle has all kinds of superstars, and I was on a staff with Randy Johnson. I could just do my thing and go unnoticed. "Maybe I should have been a lot more happy in San Diego.

I got to sign where I wanted to this year, so I'm happy where I'm at." Benes attended three banquets toasting the Cardinals in February. "All three were sold out, and there were three Hall-of-Famers at each one," he said. "Right there, I knew this would be a little different different in a special way." It's a thrill to wear the uniform he adored as a boy. It's a thrill to see former stars such as Bob Gibson and Lou Brock constantly passing through the clubhouse. It's been a thrill to watch the season of love between the fans and veterans Ozzie Smith and Willie McGee.

Maybe once, Benes would have felt a twinge of intimidation at facing the Padres. He always will feel something in his heart for his first team, he said. Former teammates such as Padres Tony Gwynn and Joey Hamilton can't really be the enemy. But it's a game and he's a pitcher doing his job. He's a Cardinal and he couldn't be happier.

"I have the opportunity to come to the ballpark and do this for a living," Benes said. "It's a special thing to do. When you start bad and then good things happen, maybe that brings a smile to someone in a hospital somewhere. "I'll do the best I can and if it's not good enough, it's not good enough. I just know that come tomorrow afternoon my teammates know and I know I'll give it my best shot." '1 Wayne CrosslinPost-Dispatch Andy Benes (right) and pitching coach Dave Duncan in Wednesday's Cardinals workout at Busch Stadium.

By Dan O'Neill Of the Post-Dispatch Staff As often happens in life, the sky over Trevor Hoffman's baseball career was darkest right before the dawn. After a fine career at Cypress College and the University of Arizona, Hoffman had a hard time adjusting to the professional ranks. In 1990, his second year in pro ball, he was batting two dollars and 12 cents as a shortstop for Class A Charleston in the Cincinnati organization. He had hit only .249 for Billings the year before. He was establishing himself as a commodity that has a short shelf life in baseball a banjo-hitting infield-er.

Like two-bit lawyers or second-rate restaurants, weak-hitting in-fielders arrive and disappear quickly. Unless the glove is made of All-Star material, the bat is poison. "I had been a pretty good hitter with an aluminum bat in college," Hoffman said. "But I had trouble adjusting with the wood." Thus, the wood turned to pine, as in the kind used for dugout benches, and Hoffman's career turned to mush. But management tossed him a life-line.

The player development types suggested he try pitching. "They were pretty much going to release me at the end of the season," Hoffman said. "I wasn't getting any younger. I wasn't having any success playing on a regular basis and I wasn't having any fun. I didn't have to think about it much." Flash forward to Wednesday at Busch Stadium.

The National League West Division champions are working out, preparing for Game 2 of the Division Series with the Cardinals. Manager Bruce Bochy is answering inquiries about Game 2 starting satisfied with a split on the road, then hoping to take two of three at home. La Russa doesn't buy into it. "It's really a simple game," he said. "Sometimes you listen to different formulas but all that stuff is nonsense.

You line up and take your best shot. You don't try to get too fancy." La Russa was impressed with the Busch Stadium crowd on Tuesday. "I told somebody they really helped us," La Russa said. "I hope they get a little louder on Thursday. It was a special atmosphere and they were part of it." La Russa said he talked to former Pirates manager Jim Leyland on Wednesday about potential managing jobs and said he pointed out the positives to Leyland, especially about the American League possibilities in Boston, California and Chicago.

"All three have winning nucleuses," La Russa said. Cardinals right fielder Brian Jordan appeared wired more than usual for Tuesday's first game. "It was my first experience in the playoffs," he said, "and seeing all the fans, there was electricity. And I don't need too much more. But that electricity from the fans pumped me Benes From page one best shot, and that's all you can do.

I do that, and I can accept the results. Those things are so much more important than baseball. Not that baseball isn't important, but it gives you some perspective." Bailey is fine after the double hernia surgery. Benes' mother seems to have recovered splendidly. The last Benes heard, the transplant recipient is healthy, too.

As for Benes, well, he's recovered well himself. He ended the regular season with an 18-10 record, the best showing of his seven-year big-league career. That included a 10-game winning streak. The Cards went 20-4 in his last 24 starts. The Padres planned those things for him when they made him the first selection overall in the 1988 draft.

The teams weren't always winners in San Diego, though. Management often tried to meet budgets by trading talent. Crowds shrunk. Benes remained a nice guy with great ability and frustrated numbers. He eventually wanted out, needed a fresh start before it was too late.

The Padres traded him to Seattle last season in time for him to help the Mariners charge into the playoffs. He pitched in three postseason games, then left for the Cardinals. "I'm really happy," Benes said. "I went through an awful lot, and I feel like that's made me a better person and a better pitcher. "I was carrying an awful lot of burden in San Diego.

Maybe tht was my own fault. When I got traded, I Playoff Schedule Pitching Matchups NATIONAL LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES Game 3: Friday, New York at Texas, 7:07 p.m. Game 4: Saturday, New York at Texas, 12:07 p.m. (if needed) Game 5: Sunday, New York at Texas, 3:07 p.m. (if needed) Cleveland vs.

Baltimore Game 1: Baltimore 10, Cleveland 4 (WP: Wells. LP: Nagy) Game 2: Baltimore 7, Cleveland 4 (WP: Benitez. LP: Plunk) Game 3: Friday, Baltimore at Cleveland, 3.07 p.m. Game 4: Saturday. Baltimore at Cleveland, 12:07 p.m.

(if needed) Game 5: Sunday, Baltimore at Cleveland, 6:30 p.m. (if needed) Note: St. Louis Times. 5 San Diego vs. Cardinals Game 1: Cardinals 3, San Diego 1 (WP: Stottlemyre.

LP: Hamilton). Game 2: Today, San Diego at St. Louis, 3:07 p.m. Game 3: Saturday, Cardinals at San Diego, 6:37 p.m. Game 4: Sunday, Cardinals at San Diego, 10:07 p.m.

1 (if needed) Game 5: Monday, Cardinals at San Diego, 3:07 p.m. 1 (it needed) Tentative times, 1 6:37 or 10:07 p.m.; 2:07, 3:07 or 6:07 p.m. Atlanta vs. Los Angeles Game 1: Atlanta 2, Los Angeles 1 (10 inn.) (WP: Smoltz. LP: Osuna).

Game 2: Today, Atlanta at Los Angeles, 7:1 1 p.m. Game 3: Saturday, Los Angeles at Atlanta, 3:15 p.m. Game 4: Sunday, Los Angeles at Atlanta, 12:07 p.m. (if needed) Game 5: Monday, Los Angeles at Atlanta, 6:1 1 p.m. (if needed) AMERICAN LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES Texas vs.

New York Game 1: Texas 6. New York 2 (WP: Burkett. LP: Cone) Game 2: Wednesday, Texas at View York, night up. There is a limit, though, said Jordan, who said he exceeded it when he struck out in his last at-bat. "I was so pumped up that last time I swung at a bad pitch.

I've just got to calm myself down in certain situations." Ozzie Smith is expected to start at shortstop today in what ouId be his last gamd at Busch Stadiuni. I NATIONAL LEAGUE MATCHUPS 1 996 1 996 vs. Opp. Last 3 starts TODAY'S GAMES W-L ERA W-L IP ERA W-L IP ERA -HW SD Sanders (R) 9-5 3.38 0-0 2.0 0 00 0-1 18 0 4.50 130 atSIL An. Benes (R) 18-10 3.83 1-0 6.2 2.70 1-1 19.0 3.32 11.4 Ati Maddux (R) 15-11 2.72 1-0 160 1.69 2-0 16 0 1.69 7.3 atLA VaWesIR) 15-7 3.32 1-0 14 0 3 86 2-0 21.1 2.53 8.4 -HW Average hits, walks.