The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 129

THURSDAY, AUUUSI 27, 1998 C7 LOS ANGELfcS llMtb BASEBALL UTTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES Cypress Runs Out of Chances Teams to Remember lineups of som of tte test World Series 1970 BALTIMORE 1972 OAKLAND 1975 CINCINNATI Starting lineup: C-EI- Starting lineup: a Starting lineup: rod Hendricks; 18 Boog Gene Tenace; IB Mike Johnny Bench; IB Tony Powell; 2B Davey John- Epstein; 28 Dick Green; Perez; 2B Joe Morgan; son; 3B-Brooks Robin, 3B Sal Bartdo; SS Bert 3B Pete Rose; SS Dave son; SS Mark Belanger; Campaneris; OF Matty Al- Concepclon; OP George OF Paul Blair, Oon Buford, ou; Reggie Jackson, Joe Foster, Cesar Geronimo, Frank Robinson. Rudi. Ken Griffey. Main Starting Pitchers: Main Starting Pitchers: Main Starting Pitchers: Jim Palmer, Mike Cuellar, Catfish Hunter, Vida Blue, Oon Gullett, Gary Nolan, Dave McNally, i Blue Moon Odom, Ken Jack Billingham, Fred Nor- Closer: Pete Richert E5: Closer: Rollie Fingers. Closer: Rawly Eastwick.

Williams Has Waited for This Chance When Angel left fielder Reggie Williams' towering two-run home run in the fifth inning of the first game Wednesday reached the right-center-field bleachers, Williams thrust his fist into the air and raced around the bases as if he were the anchor leg of a mile relay team. Yankee second baseman Chuck Knoblauch stopped and stared at Williams until he reached home plate. So did shortstop Derek Jeter and third baseman Scott Broslus. "I'm sure there are guys over there saying, 'Who the heck is Reggie Angel shortstop Gary DiSarclna said. "It's a credit to the organization that no one knows about him." They're learning fast, though.

Williams' first big league homer-on an 0-2 pitch from Ryan Bradley gave the Angels a 3-2 lead in a game they eventually won, 6-4. The 32-year-old career minor leaguer is now batting .375 (nine for 24) with five RBIs since being recalled from triple-A Vancouver on Aug. 10. "I never envisioned being in a pennant race," said Williams, who spent 11 years in the Giant, Angel and Dodger farm systems. "It's really exciting to be here and to contribute." So you'll have to excuse Williams' exuberance.

"He just about broke everyone's hands high-fiving guys in the dugout," Manager Terry Collins said. "But he should do that. He's having fun. It's been a long season for a lot of us, and guys like him and Orlando Palmeiro have brought some energy to the club." Williams was playing in Mexico last season when he called Angel player development director Jeff Parker and practically begged for a job. General Manager Bill Bavasl, who signed Williams as the Angel farm director in 1989, approved the acquisition, and Williams was promoted to the big leagues when Dave Holllns went on the disabled list.

"Bill believed in me and now he's given me the opportunity to play in a pennant race," Williams said. "It's a great feeling to let him know he didn make a mistake. By PAUL McLEOD TIMES STAFF WRITER WILLIAMSPORT, were looking up for the Cypress Federal League all-stars when they took a four-run lead over Greenville, N.C., after three innings in the final pool-play game at the Little League World Series on Wednesday night. This was, after all, a team that had been struggling at the plate for the last two weeks and was fighting to remain in the tournament. For the first time in six games, Cypress players looked relaxed and composed as they took the field in the top of the fourth inning.

So much for big leads. Greenville got three home runs in the next two innings and went on to eliminate Cypress, 6-4, in front of an announced crowd of 16,200 at Lamade Stadium. Greenville earned a rematch with Toms River, N.J., in today's U.S. championship game. Toms River, idle Wednesday, beat Greenville, 5-3, Tuesday.

It also defeated Cypress, 4-2, on Monday, which made Wednesday's game between Cypress (18-2, 1-2) and Greenville (16-2, 2-1) a must-win game because the two teams with the best record in pool play advance to the national final. Toms River won all three of its games. "We're playing all-stars and four runs is not enough against a team that hits the ball like the South does," Cypress Manager Greg Novy said. Cypress, which hit .141 in its three games here, managed only three hits. And its usually reliable pitching staff, which had given up only nine runs in its last five games, finally caved in.

Greenville rallied in the fourth when Cypress pitcher Alex Alba grew tired. The big blow was a three-run opposite-field home run by Greenville's Richard Barnhill. Cypress became only the second team (Moorpark in 1996) from Southern California since pool play began in 1992 not to advance to the U.S. Championship game. In the international pool, Lang-ley, Canada beat Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, 9-3, to advance to today's international championship game against Kashima, Japan.

In addition to his double that started the Angels' three-run rally in the sixth inning of the first game, first baseman Darin Erstad preserved the victory with the game's best defensive play. The Yankees had scored twice in the seventh on RBI singles by Knoblauch and Jeter to trim the lead to 6-4 and had runners on first and third when Bernle Williams hit a liner over Erstad's head. Erstad leaped and got just enough of the ball with the tip of his mitt to knock it down in front of him. He scooped the ball up and beat Williams to the bag to end the inning. "He hit it like a changeup, and I jumped a little too early," Erstad said.

"I was like, 'Stay up, stay I felt it coming out of my glove and just wanted to keep it in front of me. Fortunately it came right down and I made the play." tion for Torre and the Yankees, but acknowledged that they have some October proving to do before being put in the A's class. "People always give credit to Cincinnati, but we were the team of the '70s, not Cincinnati," he said. The A's featured the strong pitching of Catfish Hunter, Vida Blue, Ken Holtzman and Rollie Fingers, outstanding defense built around middle infielders Dick Green and Bert Campaneris, and the blossoming bats of Reggie Jackson, Sal Bando and Joe Rudi, among others. Williams conducted a position-by-position comparison with the Yankees and emerged about even.

"Joe is doing a fantastic job," Williams said of Torre. "He has them focused, executing as a unit and believing in team, which is what we did in Oakland. He's also throwing in a little National League ball, which is what we tried to do." In the hit-happy American League, the Yankees are capable of winning with the bomb or the bunt, with pitching and defense. Their strengths have been chronicled. They lead the league in team batting and pitching, and are fourth in fielding.

Their league-leading run total is as much a result of patience as power. They are only fifth in the league in homers but first in on-base percentage and walks, second in steals. "I pull for them every night," said Anderson, whose Big Red Machine is likely to retain its place on the comparative ladder no matter how many games the Yankees win. "We need in our game a Yankee team or Dodger team that people can't wait to get up in the morning to see if they've won. Like Muhammad Ali.

You can be for 'em or against 'em. We need that dominating team, that rooting interest." The Yankees, of course, were once hated for being so good. Wouldn't they like to be that hated again? The rematch between Bradley, the Yankee pitcher, and Angel third baseman Troy Glaus didn't amount to much Wednesday afternoon. Bradley, the former Arizona State right-hander, beaned Glaus, the former UCLA star, in a college game in 1996, knocking Glaus unconscious and sending him to the hospital. Bradley struck Glaus out twice Wednesday, but he barely came inside with any pitches against him.

"There's a history there, but that was three years ago, it's time to live and let live, move on," Glaus said. Added Bradley: "That was two rival schools playing hard, and sometimes things happen. That was a long time ago, and now we're both where we want to be." ESPN televised the second Angel -Yankee game Wednesday, but it was blacked out in Los Angeles because the Dodger-Montreal game, carried on the same primary feed from ESPN's headquarters in Bristol, had to be blacked out here since it was televised by Fox Sports West 2. Local cable companies could have requested the Angel -Yankee telecast, an ESPN spokeswoman said, but then they would have to make sure to switch feeds at the right time. upset in the Series by the Dodgers and Reds, a reason it is not considered in the same class as the A's of the early '70s.

The 116-win Cubs of '06 lost the Series to the Chicago White Sox, who had batted a paltry .230 during the regular season. The Cleveland Indians, who set the American League record with 111 wins in 1954, were swept in the Series by the New York Giants. By comparison, Finley's A's and Anderson's Reds generally survived the October minefield, enhancing the esteem in which they are now held. The A's won five straight division titles starting in 1971 and three straight World Series titles, starting in 1972. The Reds won five division titles and four pennants in a seven-year span starting in 1970, and won back to back World Series titles in 1975 and '76, when they won 108 and 102 regular-season games.

Joe Morgan and Johnny Bench, from that team, are in the Hall of Fame. Pete Rose and Tony Perez should be. The Reds could hit and field, but had to hope they did a lot of both. In a short series, the rotation was basically Don Gullett, Jack Billingham and Gary Nolan-no match, Anderson acknowledged, for Yankee Manager Joe Torre's choice from among David Cone, David Wells, Andy Pettitte, Irabu, Hernandez and Ramiro Mendoza. "I think we matched up in the bullpen but not in the rotation," Anderson said.

"Joe may have a better all-around staff than Atlanta. The Yankees used to sign free agents for name value. This time, the people they've signed and traded for fit the checkerboard. They've got all the right pieces. "I mean, people who look at teams in history will have to look at this team, but my feeling is that you can only judge teams an era at a time.

They are the best team of this era, and it would have been a hell of a series if we had played." Williams, who managed those feuding and fighting A's of the early '70s, expressed high admira Limited to stock on hand. flnal. Expires Aug. 31, 1998. THAT'S BOUT MEMS RED BAGS, SHOES, GOLF CLUBS, ACCESSORIES Limited to stock on hand.

Continued from CI claim. In the second game, David Wells provided a weary and recently ineffective Yankee bullpen with seven innings of rest, but neither Wells nor closer Mariano Rivera could prevent the Angels from rallying from 5-1 and 6-3 deficits before New York won in the ninth, 7-6, ending its longest losing streak at four games. If this has been a possible playoff preview, the Angels have clearly demonstrated they are not intimidated but make no mistake: With 95 wins on Aug. 27, the Yankees are producing one of the greatest seasons in their storied history and one of the greatest in baseball history. They still have a shot at the Chicago Cubs' major league record of 116 wins in 1906 and are still generating comparisons to the best teams of the last 30 years gener ally thought to be Cincinnati's Big Red Machine of the mid 70s and Charlie Finley's A's of the early '70s.

"I think the Reds set the stand ard, but the one thing that team didn't have but the Yankees do is depth of starting pitching," said Jim Kaat, who won 283 games in a 25-year major league career and has been a member of the Yankee broadcasting team for the last four. "Manager! Sparky Anderson had a good bullpen and several Hall of Fame position players on the Reds but the Yankees have a deeper bench and deeper starting pitching," Kaat said. "The Yankees may not have any sure-fire Hall of Famers among the position players, but they are all good players doing the ordinary things in an extraordinary way. "On the basis of this one year, I think the Yankees could play with either the Reds or A's, and I think when you're talking about great teams anymore, you're talking about a great season. "The Reds and A's basically stayed together for several years, but you don't see that anymore because of free agency.

When I was with Minnesota, the core was together for 10 years, but that doesn't happen any more." The Yankees, for instance, won the 1996 World Series, but two years later they have two new starting pitchers (Hideki Irabu and Orlando Hernandez) and a new second baseman (Chuck Knoblauch), third baseman (Scott Bro-sius) and nearly full-time catcher (Jorge Posada). The result is a team that has stunningly retained its focus, avoiding comparisons and projections, knowing a record will mean nothing if unaccompanied by the Series and that the Boss will be heard from if the season ends prematurely. "The Yankees still have to go on and win the World Series or they'll lose some of the credibility they've established," said Frank Robinson, who played on a Baltimore Oriole team that dominated the American League East in the same era that the A's were dominating the West, winning five division titles and three pennants in a six-year span starting in 1969, and winning 100 or more games in three straight years. It was an extraordinary team that featured, among others, Frank and Brooks Robinson, Boog Powell, Paul Blair and a dynamite rotation led by Jim Palmer, Dave McNally, Mike Cuellar and Pat Dob'son. Palmer, McNally and Cuellar all won 20 or more games in 1970, when the Orioles won 108 and the World Series.

"I guess we're not mentioned among the great teams because we only won that one World Series," Robinson said. "That's the way it is, but I'm not sure it's fair. I think it's much harder to dominate a 162-game schedule, like the Yankees have, than a seven-game series. I don't think what they do in the postseason should take away from what they've done, but that's how they'll be judged. "All I can do is go off my gut instinct, and I would say they match up very well with the Baltimore teams of the late '60s and early '70s.

We relied heavily on pitching and defense, and so do they. I think where they may have an edge is on the bench. I think that's really their strength." Said Larry Bowa, the Angel coach who played shortstop for the 1980 World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies: "The Yankees have created something of a double-edged sword. They've been so good in the regular season that they're going to be expected to blow people away in the postseason. Whoever they play will not be expected to win and should be loose.

That can be dangerous." The Yankees' pinstriped predecessors dominated October, but postseason history generally weighs against the team with the best record, particularly in the era of multi-tiered playoffs. Consider: The team with the best record in the majors hasn't won the World Series since the 1989 A's won 99 regular-season games and went on to the Series victory. That same basic Oakland team, featuring Rickey Henderson, Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco and Dave Stewart, also had the major league's best record in 1988 and '90 but was mm ANGELS' CHUCK FINLEY (10 6, 2.98 ERA) vs. YANKEES' DAVID CONE (184, 3.58 ERA) i i David Cone Chuck Finley Yankee Stadium, TV-Channel 9. Radio KRLA (1110), XPRS (1090).

Update The teams saved the best pitching matchup of the five-game series for the finale. Finley has a 15-8 record and 3.62 ERA against the Yankees and has given up only one earned run in 15 innings against them this season. Cone, a candidate for the Cy Young Award, has a 7-4 record and 2.90 ERA against the Angels, including a 9-3 win over them on July 28 in Edison Field. Finley will be starting on three days rest for the second time this season. The first time, the left-hander gave up two I runs and five hits in seven innings of ANGELS 6, First Annfe K8SM (.

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