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

sports ST.L0UIS POST-DISPATCH MONDAY, MAY 1 7, 1 993 SO? BASEBALL MOTOR SPORTS CARDINALS REPORT Home Road Totals VS. EAST Chicago Florida Montreal New York Philadelphia Only When He Needs Rubber, Piquet Decides! 0 2 0 2 0 0 Pittsburgh By John Sonderegger Of the Post-Dispatch Staff INDIANAPOLIS After his racing career came to an abrupt stop last May, courtesy of a crash against the fourth-turn wall at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Nelson Piquet announced his retirement. Piquet, a three-time Formula One champion, suffered great pain and indignity at the hands of Indy. His race car was up to speed, 228 mph, last May before it crashed on a practice lap. Piquet suffered multiple fractures of both lower legs and his feet, and a concussion.

Extensive surgery, plus a long and painful recovery period awaited the Brazilian, who once resided in the penthouse of Grand Prix racing. Winning Formula One Totals vs. East 4 2 0 3 4 5 VS. WEST Home Road Totals Atlanta 1 2 1 2 2 4 Cincinnati 2 1 0 0 2 1 Colorado 2 1 2 0 4 1 Houston 1 1 1 1 2 2 Los Angeles 0 0 3 0 3 0 San Diego 0 0 0 3 0 3 San Francisco 2 1 0 0 2 1 Totals vs. West 8 6 7 6 15 12 Overall Totals 12 8 7 9 19 17 CARDINALS' AVERAGES Piquet, 40, is single and singularly driven.

He studied 1 mechanical engineering in school and then starting racing in go-karts. He won the Brazilian Karting Championship in 1967, moved up to sedan racing in a self-built VW Beetle and then switched to Super Vee, winning the Brazilian title in 1976. The next year, he went to Europe and won the Formula Three championship. In 1978, Piquet won 13 of 17 I races on the European Formula Three tour. He also made.

his debut in Formula One racing that year. a His career in Grand Prix racing was fast enough to put him near the top in several career categories. Piquet started 204 Formula One events, second only to Riccardo Patrese's 224 starts. Piquet has amassed 485.5 points in Formula One racing, third behind Alain Prost's 699.5 and BATTING Avg. AB H2B3BHR RBI 1.000 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .345 55 4 19 1 0 0 8 .333 66 9 22 6 1 1 5 Murphy Alicea Gilkey Tewksbury Pappas Jefferies Lankford Whiten .333 15 1 5 0 0 0 5 .294 17 1 5 0 0 0 1 .286126 20 36 2 1 6 20 .275120 20 33 1 1 2 13 .265136 17 36 3 1 6 22 championships in 1981, 1983 and 1987, Piquet posted 23 victories and 24 pole positions in his Grand Prix joy ride.

Because Indianapolis not only is the capital of speed in the United States, but also the leading center for mending drivers, Piquet spent most of last summer here. Between operations and therapy, he decided that perhaps he might be better suited for another line of work. Considering his father is Estacio Souto Major, a medical doctor who went on to become Brazil's Minister of Health, Piquet knew that he could Ayrton Senna 491. One world Piquet hadn't conquered was Indy- Car racing, so he came to Indianapolis last May and quickly passed his driver's test. But crash took away his dream of running in Indianapolis 500.

Knowing that he had some unfinished business at Indy and with a burning desire to return to the sport, Piquet received encouragement from around the world. "After the accident, I received 5,000 letters to;" the hospital and to my address here at the Speed- Zeile 263133 12 35 8 0 1 19 Pena 252107 15 27 7 0 1 7 O.Smith .250132 13 33 1 2 0 12 Brewer .237 38 3 9 0 0 0 Osborne .214 14 2 3 0 0 0 .211 19 1 4 0 0 0 CARDINALS 1, MARLINS 0 Florida AB Bl BB SO Carr cf 3 0 0 0 0 2 Renteria 2b 4 0 1 0 0 0 Conine If 4 0 2 0 0 2 Destradelb 4 0 1 0 0 1 Magadan 3b 4 0 0 0 0 0 Fariss rf 3 0 0 0 0 0 b-Felixph 1 0 0 0 0 0 Hoffman 0 0 0 0 0 0 Decker 3 0 0 0 0 0 Arias ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 Aquino 3 0 1 0 0 1 Briley rf 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 32 0 5 0 0 6 Cardinals AB Bl BB SO Gilkey If 4 0 0 0 0 0 Alices 2b 4 0 0 0 0 1 Jefferieslb 3 1 2 0 1 0 Lankfordcf 3 0 0 0 1 1 Whiten rf 3 0 0 0 1 0 Royer 3b 3 0 0 0 0 2 c-Zeileph 1 0 1 1 0 0 Pappasc 3 0 1 0 0 0 Oquendoss 3 0 1 0 0 1 Osborne 2 0 0 0 0 0 a-Perry ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 L. Smith 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 30 1 5 1 3 5 Florida 000 000 000 0 1 Cardinals 000 000 001 1 5 0 One out when winning run scored. a-grounded out for Osborne in the 8th. b-grounded out for Fariss In the 9th.

c-singled for Royer in the 9th. Decker (1). LOB Florida 6, Cardinals 7. 2B Jefferies (2). SB Jefferies (6).

Runners left in scoring position Florida 3 (Destrade, Magadan, Fariss); Cardinals 3 (Gilkey 2, Whiten). Florida IP ER BB SO NP Aquino 8 3 0 0 1 5103 Hoffman 1-1 VS 2 1 1 2 0 16 Cardinals IP ER BB SO NP Osborne 8 5 0 0 0 6109 L. Smith 1-1 1 0 0 0 0 0 12 IBB off Hoffman (Lankford), off Hoffman (Whiten). HBP by Osborne (Carr). Umpires Home, Winters; First, Hirschbeck; Second, Froemming; Third, Gorman.

2:16. A 37,937. HOW THEY SCORED CARDINALS' NINTH With one out, Jefferies singled to center, stole second base, and advanced to third on catcher Decker's throwing error. Lankford and Whiten were intentionally walked. Pinch-hitter Zeile singled to center, scoring Jefferies.

ONE RUN. Cardinals won 1-0. CARDINALS' STATISTICS BY THE NUMBERS Won Lost Day 8 4 Night 11 13 1 -Run Decisions 7 8 Extra Innings 2 2 Vs. RH Starters 13 13 Vs. LH Starters 6 4 Grass fields 6 5 Artificial fields 13 12 ATTENDANCE Home Road Totals 682,797 584,497 Perry 200 10 1 2 0 0 1 Nelson Piquet .175 80 9 14 3 0 2 Pagnozzi Woodson Royer Olivares Cormier Villanueva Perez L.Smith Lancaster Arocha .167 12 0 2 1 0 0 .167 6 0 1 0 0 0 .143 7 0 1 0 0 0 .118 17 1 2 0 0 0 .091 33 3 3 0 0 2 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 8 1 0 0 0 0 .000 11 0 0 0 0 0 Magrane SB; Pena 7, Jefferies 6, O.

Smith 5, Lank way," he said. "I put a program on the computer for three different answers to respond to all 5,000 letters. "We made a mistake and put my fax number in it. After that, I got faxes day and night and night and day. I had more people writing me and faxing me after the accident than when I won the championship.

The people in Brazirt! kept saying, 'Go back, go They pushed me so much I-" came back." Although he is back in a race car, Piquet isn't totallyl done with his rehabilitation program. He has had a moved from his back to cover a hole in his leg. He has hadr ci four skin grafts to help heal wounds on his legs and feet. "A week after the race May 30, I go back in for them to take some pins and bolts and nuts out," Piquet said. "I hope these don't fall off." Postscript: Many drivers had high praise for A.J.r Foyt, the 58-year-old Indy legend who announced his retirement Saturday.

But none put Foyt's career in perspec- -tive like Nelson Piquet. "I don't even know how to say it," Piquet said. "He is a symbol of motor racing. He's not just well known here. He's well known all over the world.

He's like Pele in football i soccer." find something a little more conducive to his well-being. Actually, Piquet didn't need to do much of anything for dinero. He went to school in California as a youth and played tennis. His business interests include a Pirelli tire dealership, a Mercedes-Benz truck dealership, a Suzuki car dealership and a sports promotion company that organizes golf and motocross events in the United States, Japan and Europe. Recently, he founded Piquet Racing in England, which is contesting the International Formula 3000 championship this year.

So what in the world was Nelson Piquet doing Saturday at the scene of last year's crash? Back in the driver's seat and qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 at a speed of 217.949 mph in a '93 Lola-Menard Buick. About that retirement, Nelson? "After the accident, the first two months, I was on lots of morphine and codeine and I had to sleep about 16 hours a day," Piquet said. "I didn't want to think about racing. I didn't want to think about anything. "When I went back to Brazil, I started thinking about it again.

I called John Menard and asked him if he would have me and he said sure. So I've been training on go-karts again to get sharp." ford 4, Whiten 3, Gilkey 2, Zeile. PITCHING ERA IP BB SO Arocha 3 0 1.82 24.2 17 2 13 L.Smith 1 1 219 12.1 7 4 11 Murphy 1 3 2.25 16.0 14 8 10 Tewksbury 3 3 3.17 48.1 57 2 24 Olivares 1 0 3.18 34.0 30 17 24 Osborne 2 1 3.21 47.2 42 17 23 Lancaster ..2 0 3.27 22.0 22 11 14 Cormier 1 3 3.44 49 2 50 5 23 Perez 3 2 3.80 21.1 24 6 21 2 4 4.00 45.0 42 15 12 Saves: L. Smith 11, Olivares. "On disabled list.

UPCOMING GAMES Today: Open date Tuesday: Chicago 7:35 p.m. Wednesday: Chicago 7:35 p.m. Thursday: Chicago 7:35 p.m. Friday: at Pittsburgh 6:35 p.m. Saturday: at Pittsburgh 6:05 p.m.

Sunday: at Pittsburgh 12:35 p.m. CARDINALS NOTEBOOK RoyerGets Rare Start At 3rd Base By Dan O'Neill 01 the Post-Dispatch Stalf When Cardinals manager Joe Torre made out his lineup Sunday, he might have provided a map for third baseman Stan Royer. "It's been a while since I've been down there," said Royer, who got his first major-league start of the season. "I was a little off today. I could feel it swinging the bat." Royer was called up from Class AAA Louisville on April 26 when the Cardinals sent outfielder Brian Jordan down.

Royer batted .327 with two home runs and 10 runs batted in at Louisville. But he has had the opportunity to do little more than occupy space for the Cardinals. Before Sunday, he had not appeared in the field and had batted only three times. "It was good just to get in there and get the at-bats," Royer said. "Even though I was horrible, I got a chance to see some live pitching and swing the bat a few times.

It's tough to stay sharp, otherwise." The rare start was not a swinging success for Royer. He was 0 for three and struck out twice against the off-speed servings of Florida righthander Luis Aquino. But Royer had plenty of company in the hitless department. Aquino shut out the Cardinals on three hits through eight innings. But in the ninth against reliever Trevor Hoffman, the Cardinals loaded the bases with Royer due up.

Torre lifted Royer in favor of Todd Zeile, who delivered a game-winning single in a 1-0 victory. "I was hoping I'd get a chance, but I didn't know," Royer said. "I had struck out twice already, and I'm sure they didn't want a strikeout in that situation. "But I don't usually strike out a lot, and I'm better with guys in scoring position." Still, Royer fully understood the decision to pinch-hit with Zeile. "It's not like he's been out of the lineup for two weeks or something," Royer said.

"He's been playing every day, and he's ready to go. Sure, I'd like to hit, but whatever happens, whoever hits, I just want to see us get the run home and win the game. I was happy for Todd. It was a big hit." Torre was not suggesting a lack of confidence in Royer's ability by making the move. "It was just a matter of having the experienced guy up there," Torre said.

"If the situation is just second and third, then I don't make the move because they can pitch around him. "But in a situation where they have to pitch to him, I'd rather have the experience up there." While Royer came up empty at the plate, he distinguished himself in the field. He is not known as an outstanding defensive player, but he fielded a difficult hop to his left in the second inning and threw out Monty Fariss. In the eighth, he made a diving grab to his right and fired a strike to first base to take a hit from Rich Renteria. "At least I was able to make some plays," Royer said.

"When you can't contribute at the plate, you at least want to be able to say you helped the team in some way." Donovan Osborne's eight shutout innings Sunday was the first time in his last four starts that he's gone as far as six innings. Yet, Torre said there was never any thought given to taking Osborne out of the starting rotation. Instead, Torre and pitching coach Coleman have moved Rheal Cormier to the bullpen and inserted Rene Aro-cha in the rotation. "Osborne has been aggressive all along," Torre said. "We still like the way he goes about it." A total of 18 runs were scored, but the three-game series with "The Fish" from Florida was not exactly an explosive display of offense.

Of the 49 hits the teams combined for, 44 were singles. Each team had five hits Sunday, all singles. Indy Cards IT a I -t 1 yt'w AP Al Unser Sr. (right) gets congratulations from his son, Al Unser after qualifying for his 27th Indianapolis 500. From page one "I could care less.

I never knew they were in the race before anyway," he said. "They were just objects to beat and to pass out there. I have never looked at the numbers of cars. To be truthful, I wish they were in the race because if you could win going against them, then you could sit back and really smile." Little Al qualified with an average speed of 221.773 mph in the Valvoline Lola-Chevy. That puts him in the middle of the second row.

His father qualified at 217.453 mph in the Budweiser King Racing Lola-Chevy. That puts him in the middle of the pack. "We haven't found what the car and I like out there," Unser said. "This place makes you work. But we'll be all right.

We have a week to work with things now instead of trying to figure out how to qualify." Unser, who will be 52 the day before this year's race, was asked why drivers keep coming back to Indianapolis even though many of them have suffered serious injuries in crashes at the Speedway. This year's field already includes comeback kids such as Kevin Cogan, Jeff Andretti, Scott Pruett and Nelson Piquet. "They're racers," Unser said. "They love to race. When you see a driver come back from an injury, you know he totally loves to race.

Not any of us sit in a car thinking we're going to get injured or hurt. If we did, we wouldn't sit in it. None of us are kamikaze pilots. What I have I like to spend. I like to have fun." Unser said he never could understand the media's questions about injuries.

"I broke my leg at Michigan and the question was am I going to retire?" he said. "I broke a leg. What does that have to do with retiring?" happen." Torre readily acknowledges 17 successive scoreless innings is not conducive to winning baseball. The Marlins had blanked the Cardinals since the eighth inning of Friday night's game. "At one point, Joe Coleman walked by and said, 'Think of something, will Torre said.

But Sunday's successful outcome had the proper formula. "That's the way we're going to be," Torre said. "I mean, we'll hit more than what we've done the past couple of days, but we're going to be in a lot of 3-2, 4-3 games. "We have to have consistently good pitching, the kind we had today, and we'll win those games." The Cardinals might have taken the lead earlier if not for a spectacular defensive play by Carr in the sixth. With two outs, Luis Alicea slammed an Aquino delivery deep to the right-center gap.

Carr, a former Cardinal, sped to the alley, left his feet and snared the drive just as he slammed to the artificial turf. "That was unbelievable," Torre said. "If he misses it, it might be an inside-the-park home run." The big crowd let out a collective "Oooh" as Carr held on to the ball. "I moved a step over just before the pitch because I've played with Alicea and I know he'll pull the ball like that," Carr said. "It was definitely the best catch I've made in the big leagues.

I think the way the crowd responded said it all." Fortunately for the Cardinals, Zeile responded last to give the club a chance to rest comfortably on a day off today. "They threw some pretty good pitching at us over the weekend," said Zeile, who is third on the club with 19 runs batted in. "But I think this will let us enjoy the off day and get ready to swing the bats better with Chicago coming to town." From page one them. I kept us in the game, and we ended up winning it. It would have been nice to get the decision, but my job is to give us a chance to win, and I feel good I was able to do the job today." The victory allowed the Cardinals (19-17) to take two of three from the expansion Marlins (16-21) and remain 6'2 games behind the National League Eastern Division-leading Philadelphia Phillies.

Gregg Jefferies returned to the No. 3 spot in the batting order started the ninth-inning rally against Hoffman with his second hit. With Ray Lankford returned to the No. 4 spot at the plate, Jefferies stole second. He was running on his own.

"I didn't want to take the bat out of Ray's hands there, so I was waiting for a good time to go," Jefferies said. "As soon as I saw a strike to Ray, I was going." Catcher Steve Decker's throw to second sailed into center field. Jefferies scrambled to his feet and advanced to third as center fielder Chuck Carr fumbled the pickup. Hoffman then walked Lankford and Mark Whiten to load the bases before Zeile delivered the pinch-single. Jefferies' daring baserunning was reminiscent of past Cardinals rallies.

"You saw how exciting it was," Jefferies said. "That's how this team has to win, and we haven't been doing that. We've got to run and take advantage of things. We can't sit back and hit home runs like Philly. "We've got some guys who have great athletic ability on this club and we have to use it.

Even if we get thrown out trying to be aggressive, we have to let them know we're going to keep going and try to make things On Saturday, Arie Luyendyk came only the fifth driver in Indy history to win a pole (223.967), rookie of the year (1985) and the race (1990). I The Foyt statistic of the day: In 35 i races at Indy, A.J. competed against' 240 of the 596 drivers who have started the previous 76 Indy 500s. Nine of the first 10 drivers in the' field are foreign born, and four are' former Formula One champions Mario Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi, -Nigel Mansell and Piquet. The fastest rookie is Stefan Jo-, hansson, a Formula One veteran from Sweden who qualified at 220.824 mph.

He put a car owned by Tony Betten-; hausen on the outside of the second row. Last year, Unser finished third in the Indy 500. His son took the checkered flag. "That was the happiest I've ever been here," Unser said. "I finished third, and I was as tickled as if I had won.

It was a great feeling. I ran against my brother Bobby, and he won and I was happy for him. But I could have cared less. I wanted to beat him. With your son, it's different.

It was a great, great feeling to see your boy win. To see him win doing something that you love Notes: Other second-day qualifiers included Bobby Rahal (217.140 mph), the defending PPG Cup champion; Lynn St. James (218.042), last year's rookie of the year at Indy; Jeff Andretti (220.572), who was seriously injured in a crash last year in the Indy 500; and Teo Fabi (220.514), the 1983 pole winner who now is driving the Pennzoil Special, a Lola-Chevy. 01 VICTORIAN HOUSE FOR MEN 85 Different Suit Slxei Regular, Short, Extra Short Long, Extra Long Big and Tall and Portlys Athletic and Super Athletic The Best for Less Always 310 West Port Plaza 576-0888 Twilight Golf O) AT Ellis -Throws Hit Mitt Into Ring At Louisville UUU1UU 1111JLIJ GOLF CLUB SEARCHING FOR THE SOLUTION TO MALE PATTERN BALDNESS? JUST USE YOUR HEAD! he permanent solution you're looking for may be right on top of your head! It's your own living, growing hair, redistributed to the areas where you need H. To see you're a candidate for this refined medical procedure, call The ETMC for a free consultation.

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"When you're playing Class A ball in St. Petersburg or Double-A ball down in Arkansas, sometimes you're tired and you go to the park and you play a little tired. Not now. Now, everything is a little more intense. "Now, you're almost in the big leagues.

It's a different feeling." It's a feeling many observers doubted Ellis ever would know. "I know people started wondering about me," Ellis said. "I never got that down on myself. But I have to admit, I had my times where I wondered a little, too." He's not the same Paul Ellis that the Cardinals drafted in 1990. The Redbirds picked him in the supplemental round between the first and second rounds, as compensation for the Boston Red Sox having signed free-agent Tony Pena.

A catcher from UCLA, Ellis looked to be the slugger the Cardinals lacked in their system. He had an All-America season as a junior in 1990, when he led the NCAA with 29 home runs. As a professional, he went from slugger to slug. In three pro seasons before this year, Ellis had a .221 batting average and only 18 home runs. And he averaged 40 runs batted in.

The Cardinals protected him on their 40-man winter roster, but chiefly because they so desperately lack quality catchers in their minor-league system. The opportunity fluttered there like a hanging curveball for Ellis. He couldn't connect. "Sure, I'd like to hit 29 homers every year like I did that year at UCLA," Ellis said. "I think that's what happened to me the first year I was at St.

Pete. When I wasn't hitting, I tried harder. I thought I had to hit home runs, and ended up not hitting at all. I had certain expectations for myself because I listened to what everyone else thought I should do." Ellis went from Class A St. Pete to Class AA Arkansas late last season not because he was hitting but to fill an injury-created opening.

He still didn't hit. He knows this season's promotion is different. Sure, his promotion to Louisville is part of a ripple effect from the injury to the Cardinals' Tom Pagnozzi. "But this time, I deserve to go up," Ellis said. He had a .333 average and 11 RBIs at Arkansas.

He had struck out only twice in 78 at-bats, and 16 walks helped him to a .464 on-base percentage. OK, so he had only one home run. Not exactly the power the Cardinals thought they had signed back in 1990. But a lefthanded catcher who can bat Ellis is a true prospect again, not one by default. What happened? "I got rid of this long kick I had at the plate," Ellis said.

"I started doing it big time in college, part of my way of getting my timing down. I mean, it was big. I liked it really high, like Ruben Sierra. That worked with the aluminum bat in college, but it didn't with the wood bat. "Now, I spread my legs and shortened my swing.

I tried to get rid of it before, because it really was a bad habit, but once you start something like that it's hard to stop." Ellis says the same goes for losing labels such as "power hitter," though he thinks his home run stroke will return as he gets more accustomed to his new swing. He already has wiped away the label of poor defensive catcher that he carried out of college. "I led the Florida State League catchers in fielding percentage last year," Ellis said. "Everyone used to talk about my hitting, and all of a sudden they were saying the best thing I had going was my defense. "I knew my hitting would come back around, though.

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