St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 13

.3 JUL 151987 Sports ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH July 15, 1987 Faun WoUe's oftHa IHlave Heart Commentary NATIONAL LEAGUE AMERICAN LEAGUE Eastern Division Eastern Division Pet. GB St Pet. QB St CARDINALS 56 30 .651 1 New York 55 34 .618 1 Montreal 47 39 .547 9 W3 Toronto 51 36 .586 3 1 New York 47 40 .540 9'2 W3 Detroit 48 37 .565 5 L1 Chicago 47 41 .534 10 L1 Milwaukee 42 43 .494 11 W1 Philadelphia 42 44 .488 14 L2 Boston 41 47 .466 13V L1 Pittsburgh 39 48 .448 17Vfr W1 Baltimore 35 53 .398 19V W1 Western Division Cleveland 31 56 .356 23 L3 Pet gb st Western Division Cincinnati 47 41 .534 L3 Pet GB St Houston 44 43 .506 2' L3 Minnesota 49 40 .551 L1 Francisco 44 44 .500 3 1 Kansas City 46 41 .529 2 L1 Atlanta 41 46 .471 5V W2 Oakland 46 41 .529 2 1 Los Angeles 39 49 .443 8 WT California 46 43 .517 3 1 San Diego 30 58 .341 17 LI Seattle 45 43 .51 1 3' 1 ST: WinLoss streak Texas 41 45 .477 6' W3 Chicago 34 51 .400 13 1 TUESDAY'S GAME ST: WinLoss streak What's more, the likes of Kirby Puckett Mark McGwire (33 homers) and Tim Wallach (.299, with 65 runs batted in) were overlooked by the fans, who typically opted to vote for more familiar names such as Dave Winfield, Don Mat-tingly and Mike Schmidt. We could go on and on here, but you get the idea.

Fan voting, writes Peter Richmond, the fine and usually perceptive sports columnist for the Miami Herald, is "akin to giving plastic explosives to an 11-year-old they vote on past records, they vote on names they're used to seeing, they vote on the urging of their partisan home announcers, but they don't vote with their minds." Wait a second. Plastic explosives? Cripes, it's an exhibition game, the most meaningless contest between the termination of spring training in April and the commencement of spring training in February. Sure, two extra umpires patrol the premises, and red-whlte-and-blue bunting adorns the decks, and the game is watched by a television audience that might even rival that for a "Cosby" rerun. Does that mean America's baseball fans the people who are jacked around whenever collective-bargaining talks reach a standstill and strike threats start surfacing, the people who cursed Dwight Gooden's rather inevitable dalliance with the drug scene, then tendered him a standing ovation when he returned shouldn't have a say in the spectacle? Whose game is it, anyway? So the fans are utterly incapable of making intelligent selections, huh? Who, then, should be graced with the chore? The players? (As if they don't enjoy enough privileges.) The managers? (As it is, they choose the pitching staffs and the reserves.) The media? (The baseball writers are responsible for the Most Valuable Player, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year and Hall of Fame selections, engendering controversy at every turn. The baseball writers don't need to dictate the makeup of the All-Star game, as well.) It's funny.

Every four years, American voters are encouraged to vote for a president, and in a very tangible way help define the future of both the country and the planet. Regardless of the outcome, the process Isn't merely tolerated, it's celebrated, as well it should be. But give The People the chance to pick a team of All-Star baseball players they'd enjoy watching on a single midsummer night, and it's "akin to giving plastic explosives to an 1 1-year-old." The fans don't vote with their minds? Well, no, they don't- they vote with their hearts, the way every person who ever held a ballot in his hands does. So Don Mattingly (struggling along at .326) starts and Mark McGwire doesn't And a has-been like Mike Schmidt (who surpassed Ernie Banks and Eddie Mathews on the career home-run list over the weekend) starts at the expense of Tim Wallach. Honest now, who would you rather watch in an exhibition game featuring the sport's most illustrious names: Mike Schmidt merely the best third baseman who ever lived? Or Tim Wallach, a player of such unfathomable celebrity that he was sentenced to the trading block all winter? If you want to simplistically reduce this to a "mind vs.

heart" duel, then give me the heart, thank you. Give me the names I revel in, the names I'll remember when Tim Wallach is a bandy-legged old-timer. Give me the fans' vote, then finalize the feast with a maraschino cherry: appoint one active player on each squad, selected by, say, the league president to play as a kind of meritorious achievement reward. That would mean Reggie Jackson would be taking at least one mighty home run swing in an A's uniform Tuesday night and the Reds' Dave Concepcion would be scuttling to his left on a 6-4-3 double play. Honor them, applaud them, maybe even get caught up in a little show-biz schmaltz.

Then hold your breath, and watch. TUESDAY'S GAME By John McGrath 1987, The DenyerPost The great thing about the All-Star Game Is that It allows baseball's high-browed connoisseurs the opportunity to remind average fans of their second-class genealogy. Yes, you, John Q. Fan, are a dunce, a doddering dunderhead, an occasionally kind-hearted but essentially worthless organism usurping space suited for more Intelligent forms of life. Like artichokes.

Since Bowie Kuhn (speaking of worthless organ-Isms) gave the All-Star vote back to the fans in 1970, each starting roster has been scrutinized, then analyzed, then probed with a fine-edged knife before being deemed unworthy to perform In the public view. No matter that the game, above and beyond all else, Is an exhibition, cultivated by The People, staged for The People. But The People, or so we keep hearing, are hopeless fools, unable to detect anything more subtle than catastrophic atmospheric changes and (during an all-too-rare intellectual breakthrough) the difference between ice and scalding water. How Infuriating, then, that baseball fans should be entrusted with something so sacred as choosing as many as eight players from each league's 28-man All-Star roster. The most glaring atrocities this year include the enigmatic Darryl Strawberry starting in the Na-.

tional League outfield (over Dale Murphy and Tony Gwynn, among others); the overrated Gary Carter as National League catcher (over Bo Diaz and Ozzie Virgil); the workmanlike-but-bland Cal Ripken Jr. as American League shortstop (over Tony Fernandez, who's simply sensational); and the erratic-armed Terry Kennedy as American League catcher (over Matt Nokes, the Tigers rookie who, at .311, is hitting 44 points higher than Kennedy). All-Star game in Oakland, night MONDAY'S RESULTS No games scheduled TODAY'S GAMES MONDAY'S RESULTS No games scheduled TODAY'S GAMES None scheduled THURSDAY'S GAMES (St Louis Times) Cardinals at San Diego, 9:05 p.m. Atlanta at Montreal, 6:35 p.m. Cincinnati at New York, 6:35 p.m.

Philadelphia at Houston, 7:35 p.m. Pittsburgh at Los Angeles, 9:35 p.m. Chicago at San Francisco, 9:35 p.m. None scheduled THURSDAY'S GAMES (St. Louis Times) Toronto at Minnesota, 12:15 p.m.

Cleveland at Chicago, 1 :30 p.m. California at Milwaukee, 1 :35 p.m. Oakland at Boston, 6:35 p.m. Seattle at Detroit, 6:35 p.m. Baltimore at Kansas City, 7:35 p.m.

New York at Texas, 7:35 p.m. THROUGH JULY 12 ill's Baseball aceeE: 3rd And Lorn Club Home Road vsEast vsWestvsLHP vsRHP Grass ArtH Cardinals 28-17 28-13 26-17 30-13 20-13 36-17 18- 7 38-23 Atlanta 24-25 17-21 23-20 18-26 18-14 23-32 31-36 10-10 Chicago 26-23 21-18 20-24 27-17 12- 7 35-34 33-30 14-11 Cincinnati 25-24 22-17 21-22 26-19 13-13 34-28 11-11 36-30 Houston 26-19 18-24 20-23 24-20 17-21 27-22 10-11 34-32 Los Angeles 22-18 17-31 17-26 22-23 12-19 27-30 34-27 5-22 Montreal 22-19 25-20 22-21 25-18 16-13 31-26 12- 7 35-32 New York 23-15 24-25 26-18 21-22 16-11 31-29 32-24 15-16 Philadelphia 23-21 19-23 20-24 22-20 9-15 33-29 8-14 34-30 Pittsburgh 24-22 15-26 17-27 22-21 15-21 24-27 9-13 30-35 San Diego 15-24 15-34 9-34 21-24 13-19 17-39 24-40 6-18 San Francisco 16-22 28-22 21-22 23-22 10-17 34-27 31-33 13-11 I ft A 4 Through Sunday Through Sunday r. CARDINALS BATTING AVG AB 2B 3B HR RBI SB Forsch .375 32 5 12 4 0 1 6 0 Tudor .333 4 1 2 0 0 0 2 0 Ford .323 161 24 52 9 4 3 22 10 Oauendo .321 156 31 50 9 0 0 16 2 Pendleton .315 333 54 105 16 0 7 52 10 Clark .311 293 68 91 18 1 26 86 1 McG .302 324 42 98 18 6 6 69 6 Smith 316 58 95 19 1 0 46 23 Coleman .288 316 66 91 3 6 0 23 52 Lake .280 132 17 37 5 2 2 16 0 Morris .277 65 9 18 1 3 2 12 3 Herr .270 259 46 70 14 0 1 39 12 Mathews .257 35 2 9 1 0 0 2 0 Pena .255 165 22 42 7 2 1 22 3 Tunnell .250 16 1 4 0 0 0 3 0 Horton .214 14 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 Dawlev .200 10 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 Lindemn .191 89 10 17 8 0 3 15 0 Perry .167 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Cox .143 42 2 6 0 1 0 0 0 Masrane .091 22 2 2 1 0 0 1 0 Davlev .000 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 Johnson .000 300000 00 LaPoint .000 30000 0 00 Worrell .000 400000 00 Lawless .000 8 2 0 0 0 0 01 Conroy .000 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 On disabled list. CARDINALS PITCHING Vs. East Home Rood Totals Chicago 4 2 5 1 9 3 Montreal 1 4 2 1 3 5 New York 3 0 3 3 6 3 Philadelphia 2 12 14 2 Pittsburgh 2 2 2 2 4 4 Totals vs.

East li I 26 17 Vs. West Home Road Totals Atlanta 12 5 16 3 Cincinnati 3 0 1 2 4 2 Houston 2 1 3 0 5 1 Los Angeles 5 112 6 3 San Diego 2 1 2 0 4 1 Son Francisco 3 3 2 0 5 3 Totals vs. West 16 8 14 5 30 13 Overall Totals 28 17 28 13 56 30 Won Lost Day 24 6 Night 32 24 Shutouts 3 0 1-Run Decisions 19 15 Extra Innings 10 1 Vs. Righthanders 36 17 Vs. Lefthanders 20 13 Grass fields 18 7 Artificial fields 38 23 Cards Opo- Double Plays 92 80 Stolen Bases 126 54 Home Runs (Home) 27 33 Home Runs (Away) 29 34 Left On Bases 626 613 ATTENDANCE Home Road Totals 1.60Z059 1,145,424 A pected.

I try to keep a positive attitude about things, and me being a Christian has really helped to keep my attitude along those lines." Gill, 24, says he hasn't reached his prime and expects better days. His play progressed enough last year for the Indians to promote him to AA. He has a dream of one day coming home to play at Arlington Sta- dium, and he hopes to make that a reality within two years. "Things are going pretty good and I'm happy," Gill said. "That's what it is all about" The Indians "have been very patient and know what kind of talent I have.

I feel like I can only get better because this is the first time in my life that I have concentrated on just one sport Minor-league baseball has been a great and humbling experience for me." Gill wasn't drafted for football and received only a few offers to try out at wide receiver or defensive back. He thinks the NFL isn't ready for black quarterbacks. "I was told by Oklahoma coaches that same thing coming out of high school, that Nebraska would never play a black quarterback. I'm just thankful that coach (Tom) Osborne thought enough of me to give me an opportunity. I didn't know if any NFL teams would believe in me because of my height (6-1) and the fact that we didn't throw very much at Nebraska.

That's why I didn't pursue it I figured that I would go over to Canada and put some numbers on the board and prove that I could throw the ball if given the opportunity." In two CFL seasons. Gill passed for nearly 5,000 yards and 22 touchdowns. He also gained more than 800 yards rushing. Gill says be no longer thinks about football and lost chances but says beating Oklahoma three consecutive years is his fondest memory in sports. He says baseball is a tougher sport to play.

"At least in football, you get six days to prepare yourself and get over the injuries," Gill said. "Baseball is an on-going thing. You play every day and don't have time to worry about injuries. "God has a plan, and it's all for the better. I'm very fortunate to be able to play both sports on a professional level.

I think I can play baseball as well as I played quarterback. I'm glad things worked out the way they have because the Montreal situation was always a fiasco when I was there, and now they have folded." The odds are against Gill playing shortstop for Cleveland. The Indians 1 987, Fort Worth Star-Telegram "And, now, batting for the Wil-liamsport (Pa.) Indians, shortstop Turner Gill." A year after his professional debut Gill says he has made the mental transition from football to baseball. He says he has heard and survived all the jokes and questions about a football player trying to make it in baseball. He is determined to prove skeptics wrong, and points to Kirk Gibson of the Detroit Tigers and Bo Jackson of the Kansas City Royals as examples of players who have made the transition.

On the field, the transition has not gone so smoothly. Gill was hitting .183 after 235 at-bats. He had only 12 runs batted in, 43 hits, nine doubles and two homers, and had struck out 55 times. Still, Gill says this is not a pipe dream he is chasing. Four years ago, he was quarterback of what many considered the greatest offensive machine in college football history, the 1983 Nebraska Cornhuskers.

For Gill, that was another lifetime. He was one of the triplets on the Huskers' potent unit that featured Heisman Trophy winner Mike Rozier and Irving Fryar, the National Football League's top draft pick that year. But those days have passed. Gill doesn't miss the tackles or concussions that sent him to the twilight zone. A series of concussions when he was quarterback of the Montreal Alouettes drove him out of football.

In 1986, before the start of his third season in the Canadian league. Gill underwent a battery of neurological tests. He was advised by a team of doctors to give up football. Instead of sulking or feeling sorry for himself, Gill moved on to his next love, baseball. Though be hadn't played since his junior season at Nebraska, he was signed by the Cleveland Indians and sent to Class A Waterloo, Iowa.

His rustiness wasn't so evident In his first 30 games, Gill batted .268. He had the game-winning RBI in his debut. As last season wore on, it became apparent that Gill needed work. His fielding was most suspect "I wasn't expected to come in and tear up the league, but it would have been nice," Gill said. "I struggled at the plate and in the field last year.

I wanted to improve on that and become a more consistent player. I feel like I'm doing that Even though I'm batting just .185, 1 feel like I'm getting my stroke going again. It hasn't been as tough as maybe some people ex A IP BB SO 21.1 16 11 20 48.1 48 17 45 69.2 69 18 34 72 2 65 22 46 125 2 140 46 70 46.0 34 12 23 101.2 91 45 53 64 0 58 21 43 950 111 23 42 51.2 65 17 35 40 2 48 25 22 16 1 26 7 8 11.0 17 5 5 ERA SV 1.69 2 3.17 18 323 7 334 0 3 65 0 3.72 1 398 0 4.22 2 4.74 0 5 05 0 5 53 0 6 06 0 6 55 0 Davley Worrell Horton Magrane Cox Perfy Malhews Dowlev Forsch Tunnell Conroy Tudor LaPomt Cardinals Games Coming Up Today open date Thursday at San Diego 9:05 o.m. Friday at San Diego 905 a m. Saturday at San Diego 2:20 p.m.

Sunday at San Diego 3:05 p.m. On disabled list. UPI Turner Gilt, shown in 1983 when he played on the baseball team at the University of Nebraska. Today, Gill is a struggling shortstop in the Cleveland Indians organization. THROUGH JULY 12 Club Home Road vsEast vsWestvsLHP vsRHP Grass Artif Baltimore 16-29 19-24 9-30 26-23 10-20 25-33 30-44 5- 9 Boston 26-13 15-34 22-17 19-30 11-13 30-34 34-38 7- 9 California 25-26 21-17 22-28 24-15 22-14 34-29 40-36 6- 7 Chicago 14-24 20-27 21-26 13-25 8-16 26-35 30-44 4- 7 Cleveland 18-26 13-30 12-26 19-30 8-13 23-43 27-48 4- 8 Detroit 22-16 26-21 21-15 27-22 8-15 40-22 41-30 7- 7 Kansas City 27-14 19-27 26-22 20-19 7-11 39-30 14-19 32-22 Milwaukee 20-17 22-26 22-16 20-27 14-16 28-27 38-31 4-12 Minnesota 29-13 20-27 26-23 23-17 17- 8 32-32 17-21 32-19 New York 32-16 23-18 26-13 29-21 19-12 36-22 48-29 7-5 Oakland 26-24 20-17 30-19 16-22 17-10 29-31 41-34 5- 7 Seattle 24-27 21-16 27-23 18-20 16-10 29-33 18-10 27-33 Texas 24-18 17-27 20-28 21-17 16-15 25-30 36-35 5-10 Toronto 28-16 23-20 22-17 29-19 16-15 35-21 18-13 33-23 make the necessary adjustments.

And it is those who can make those adjustments the fastest that are the most successful. "I feel like I have been able to give up football because I'm still very actively involved in competition. I'm just like any other baseball player, I have dreams of one day playing in the major leagues." have a young, talented shortstop in Julio Franco. "I know what I'm up against and it's just like life," Gill said. "There will be some ups and downs, and I'll try to handle them the same way.

It's all timing at the plate right now, and it's going to take time and a lot of patience. In this sport and any other professional sport you just have to FionBev- Mo egretis, one radge "I enjoy waking up at the farm four days a week. I'm also raising blue-channel catfish in two lakes, the man-eating kind." CHARLEY FINLEY San Francisco Examiner OAKLAND. Calif. Former A's owner Charlie Finley brought baseball to Oakland, then three World Series winners in the middle of five consecutive division championships.

But he wasn't be in the Coliseum for the one event he never brought there the All-Star Game. "I don't have a ticket" Finley said before Tuesday night's game. Was he invited by the A's? "No, but there's no reason for them to invite me," Finley said. "I know I'm always welcome at these things. I could even call the commissioner's office if I wanted to go." Seven years removed from the sport, Finley remains feisty.

One gets the feeling he would have liked baseball to think he might come crashing through the Coliseum turnstiles on a mule Tuesday night Finley snys he is planning to attend Catfish Hunter's induction into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y, the end of the month. But that will be as close as Finley has been to associating with baseball folk since he sold the A to the Haas family in 1980. At 69. 10 years after he had open-heart surgery. Finley says he is in good health.

He also acknowledges that he has slowed his pace. He now spends only four days a week running his insurance business in Chicago and more time on bis farm in La Porte, Ind. Speaking by phone from Chicago, only an occasional yawn suggested But there's always demand for the All-Star Game. Other teams are standing in line. "If I had stayed out there, I would have had an All-Star Game in a year or two." And that was as far as he was willing to discuss the subject Finley managed to make money every year he owned the A's except one, 1979, when their home attendance was a minuscule 306,763.

His thrifty operation profited despite the A's drawing fewer fans than other winning clubs, even the World Series years of 1972-74. He was asked if he ever regretted moving the A's from Kansas City into a market that already had a club, rather than, say, an untapped area. "I don't want to get into that" Finley said. "I had a lot of fun in Oakland, a lot of great days, I'm happy we brought the Bay Area and I say the Bay Area, not just Oakland its first world championship team. And not only one, but three "I dont regret being out of baseball at alt I accomplished a lot more than I ever expected to, hoped to, in basebalL" And over 13 sometimes turbulent years in Oakland, and seven stormy years in Kansas City before that he did it bis way.

"I bold no grudges against anybody," Finley said. Not even an old adversary, former Commissioner Bowie Kuhn? "Yeah, that SOB." Finley said. Tin sorry. I do bold one against him." that Finley no longer put in 15-hour workdays. "I'm in fantastic health.

I just lightened my schedule one day a week," he said in his familiar measured delivery. "The insurance business is great At least I sell enough insurance to stay out of bread lines. "I enjoy waking up at the farm four days a week. I'm selling corn, soybeans and hay, and I have 200 head of cattle. I'm also raising blue-channel catfish in two lakes, the man-eating kind." He waits for a chuckle.

"Actually, they weigh five to 15 pounds. I dont sell them. I eat them and give them to friends." After leaving the game, his name periodically would pop up in rumors of groups being formed to buy a baseball club. The last circulating story mentioning Finley had him interested in reviving the United States Football League and merging it with the flagging Canadian Football League. Funny a reporter should ask Finley why his name badnt appeared in print lately.

"You will see it soon," he said. "I've been working on a sports-related project for a year, and we're about 10 feet from home plate." He always liked mystery, too. Finley refused to identify even the sport, let alone what the project involved. "You'll read about it in two or three weeks when I get it done," Finley said in his best covert voice. Up front Finley said he didn't want to answer questions about why he BATTING Most Runs 4 Ted Williams, Boston, AL, 1946.

Most Hits .4 Joe Medwick, St. Louis, NL, 1937; Ted Williams, Boston, 1946; "Carl Yastrzemski, Boston, AL, 1970 (12 innings). Most Total Bases 10 Ted Williams, Boston, AL, 1946. Most Home Runs 2 Arky Vaughan, Pittsburgh, NL, 1941; Ted Williams, Boston, AL, 1946; Al Rosen, Cleveland, AL, 1954; Willie McCovey, San Francisco, NL, 1969; Gary Carter, Montreal, NL, 1981. Most Runs Batted In 5 Williams.

Boston, AL, 1946; Al Rosen, Cleveland, AL, 1956. Most Stolen Bases 2 Willie Mays, San Francisco, NL, 1 963. Most Caught Stealing 2 Tony Oliva, Minnesota, AL, 1 967. .1. PITCHING Most Runs 7 Atlee Hammaker, San Francisco, NL 1983.

Most Earned Runs 7 Atlee Hammaker, San Francisco. NL, 1 983. Most Hits 7 Tommmy Bridges, Detroit AL. 1 937. Most Walks 5 Bin Hallahan, St Louis, NL.

1 933. Most Strikeouts 6 Cart Hubben, New York. NL. 1934; Johnny Vander Meer, Cincinnati. NL, 1943; Larry Jansen.

New York, AL, 1950; Ferguson Jenkins. Chicago. NL, 1967; Fernando Valenzueta, Los Angeles, NL, -1 984; Dwight Gooden. New York, NL, 1 984. 1 Most Consecutive Strikeouts 5 Carl HubbeB.

New York, NL, 1934; Fernando Vaienzuela, Los Angeles. NL, 1986. Most Home Runs Allowed 3 Jim Palmer, Baltimore, AL, 1 977. never was host to an All-Star Game during bis 13 years in Oakland. Baseball has been quick to stage the game in new parks: Busch Memorial Stadium in St Louis the year it was completed (1966), Anaheim Stadium the year after it opened, the Astrodome five years after it was built Royals Stadium three years after construction, the Kingdome three years after it opened, etc.

Yet it took until the A's 20th season in the Coliseum for an All-Star Game to reach the shores of the Oakland Estuary. At the time the game was awarded to Oakland. American League vice president Bob Fishel said Finley had been approached on more than one occasion but lacked the staff necessary to arrange such an event "Charlie never wanted the game," Fishel repeated the other day. "He never had the people to put it on." Finley says he remembers lobbying for an All-Star Game in the "70s. "I requested once.

no. several times, to have one there," Finley said. "I talked to (AL presidents) Joe Cronin and (Lee) MacPhail about it I.