Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • Page 49

Chicago Tribune, Thursday, August 20, 1998 Section 4 3 what he was already being paid. "I read in spring training where Randy said, 'What's the incentive to work Pelekoudas said. "He was being paid $6 million to do a job here. I would think that would help anyone's work ethic." center was supposed to get the job last year, but they low-balled him, so we got stuck with monotone Murray Bannerman, as if Chet Coppock wasn't bad enough. Summer vacation Wolves owner Don Levin planned to take everyone on the Turner Cup championship team and front office on a three-day cruise to the Bahamas.

But, whoa, the ship was the Ecstasy, which just happened to catch fire recently So the celebratory vacation was changed to this weekend at the Doral golf resort and spa near Miami. Cowboys wide receiver Billy Davis says he is no Dennis Rodman. Rodman, of course, gimmicked up his life later in his career, while Davis told the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram that he's been weird all his life. "I think as long as I've known me," Davis said, proving that his challenge to convention includes linguistics, "I've always done things strange, unbeknownst to me and everybody else." Rodman couldn't have said it worse.

Quotable Houston manager Larry Dierker, a former major-league pitcher, on St. Louis manager Tony La Russa's decision to bat his pitchers eighth in the order: "Heck, I At the beep The Mad Faxtress Peg Wolfe, on the Bears: "Maybe they should all pray harder, or find an alternative god to worship." On the air Yes, a co-conspirator said, that was Troy Murray auditioning again as the Fox Sports Chicago analyst Wednesday The former Blackhawks and Wolves Say what? wasn't good enough to bat ninth." There's the Demolition Man blond hairdo and a bunch of tattoos, but Dallas Fred Mitchell Odds Ins Top manager may be here on North Side Off the field, Sosa also is a big hit ANALYSIS i -v i i33 ammy Sosa has been hitting home runs both on and off the field this season. Sosa, who smacked his 48th homer in Wednesday's 8-6 loss to the St Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field, has devoted time off the field to numerous charitable organizations, the Make-A-Wish Foundation. i it i Tribune photo by Jose M. Osorio Ray Lankford (left) greets Mark McGwire after the Cardinals slugger homered in the 10th inning Wednesday.

INSIDE THE CUBS 'a i The Cubs' nominee for the league's "Roberto Clemente Award, Sosa helped the wish of a youngster with a life-X threatening illness Tuesday evening, "even though he was being besieged by the media for interviews. Last Saturday in Houston, Sosa spent time with 6-year-old Nikkl White of Higley, Ariz. She was diagnosed with a brain tumor July 10 and underwent surgery five days later. The tumor has been described as a "very aggressive cancer" by medical specialists at Phoenix Children's Hospital. "I always make time for people," Sosa ipsaid.

"And I never forget where I came zZ: On fire: Sosa, who hit 20 homers in June to set a major-league single-month i record, also drove in 40 runs in June A ti capturing the National League Plaver of the Month award. Gaetti joins just in time to watch "I'm looking for another month like ON DECK FOR CUES San Francisco Giants at Wrigley Field Thursday, 1:20 p.m. Kevin Tapani (14-7) vs. Russ Ortiz (1-2) WGN-Ch. WGN-AM 720 Friday, 2:20 p.m.

Kerry Wood (11-6) vs. Orel Hershiser (9-8) WGN-Ch. WGN-AM 720 Update This is the last series of the year between the two wildcard contenders. They split a 4-game series at Wrigley in May and the Cubs took two of three in 3 Com Park last week. Sammy Sosa is 11 for 22 in his career vs.

Hershiser with three home runs, and 1 for 3 vs. Ortiz with a homer last week in San Francisco. Giants pitchers have allowed 140 homers, third worst in the league. By Paul Sullivan Tribune Staff Writer A career .396 hitter at Wrigley Field, Cubs newcomer Gary Gaetti was ready to step in during the late innings of Wednesday's game against the St. Louis Cardinals.

"It would've been some nice irony to come up there against my former team in a situation like that," Gaetti said. But "irony," like "sarcasm," is not a word in Cubs manager Jim Riggleman's vocabulary. So Gaetti's first day as a Cub was spent meeting his new teammates and sitting on the bench. The Cubs signed Gaetti on his 40th birthday after the veteran third baseman cleared waivers at 1 p.m. Gaetti was hitting .265 with 23 doubles, 11 homers and 43 runs batted in for the Cardinals this year.

He is a career .256 hitter with 343 home runs and 1,267 RBIs. Gaetti is one of 51 players with at least 2,000 hits and 300 homers. Riggleman said Gaetti would get plenty of at-bats despite the fine season Jose Hernandez is having at third. "A veteran guy who's gone through the wars and been in a lot of big ballgames late in the season in his career is something we'd like to add here," Riggleman said. "Hopefully we'll utilize his talents at third base and as a pinch hitter and get him in there in some double switches." Hernandez has been instrumental in the Cubs' success, shifting to different positions and posting career highs with 18 home runs and 60 RBIs.

He's also one of the most popular players in the clubhouse, and any reduction in his playing time is certain to raise some eyebrows among Hernandez's teammates. Riggleman "didn't say anything to me about what they're going to do," Hernandez said. "I expect to still play third base. I've heard rumors that Gaetti is going to play third and sometimes I'll move to short." Changing uniforms was strange for Gaetti. "I had to really concentrate on making sure I didn't root for St.

Louis to get ahead, just naturally," Gaetti said. "It's just baseball. These situations are just weird." Gaetti, who hails from Centra-lia, said he has no intention of hanging it up after '98. "Maybe there is an opportunity here next season," he said. "I'm defmitely not retiring.

Physically I know I can still play. Whether someone wants you or not is the key." Bullpen blues: Last year the Cubs bullpen was given most of the blame for the 94-loss season, blowing 17 save opportunities, many in stunning fashion. If the Cubs don't make it to the postseason, the bullpen may take the fall once again. Wednesday's By Phil Rogers Tribune Baseball Writer Dusty Baker was among the first to note the seriousness with which Jim Riggleman approached this season. He was taken aback when the Cubs brought Sammy Sosa, Mark Grace and all their regulars on a bus trip only one week into the spring-training schedule, then used bench players sparingly and top relievers heavily.

"Riggleman was managing like it was the regular season," Baker said. "This is a little early for me." Someone suggested to the San Francisco manager that perhaps his Cubs counterpart was trying to rebuild his team's confidence. "Either that," Baker said, "or impress the public." Guess what? Riggleman was doing the right thing. The team that opened last year 0-14 was prepared when this season began. The Cubs won eight of their first 10, setting the tone for one of the most remarkable about-faces in baseball history.

Baker has been honored as the National League's top manager twice during his six-year career. But no matter what you think about his not walking Mark McGwire intentionally in the 10th inning Wednesday, it's the unassuming Riggleman who is a building a strong Manager of the Year case this year. Sammy Sosa, Kerry Wood and yes Rod Beck have brought magic to the Cubs, who open a two-game series against Baker's Giants on Thursday. But it is the other threads knitted together on a daily basis by Riggleman that have kept Sosa and Kid from having to work sideshow stages. In baseball, there's a fine line between winning and losing seasons.

That was evident watching the Cubs and Cardinals play five times in 13 days. If you saw only these two series, in which St. Louis won four of five, there would be no way to know these teams are going different directions. Injuries and unfulfilled expectations have contributed to a Cardinals season McGwire describes as "topsyturvy." With the disabled Jer-emi Gonzalez and the Jeff Blauser, the Cubs have experienced both kinds of adversity. Yet Riggleman's team keeps making plays.

The Cubs executed defensively to cut down one baser-unner at the plate in their 4-1 victory Tuesday night, and two more in Wednesday's 8-6 loss. Credit catcher Scott Ser-vais and first baseman Mark Grace for being alert when Delino DeShields tried to score after a dropped third strike in the series opener. Tyler Houston's decoy bought the split second Henry Rodriguez needed to nail Eli Marrero on Thursday. "They have a lot of heady players," St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said.

"They're playing good baseball" Riggleman doesn't mind his players being in the spotlight But in another situation if he had both a collection of glib one-liners and a receptive audience the manager would have found his own pedestal too. The argument for Riggleman is built on: Numbers. Given the building expectations, many will view the Cubs as the same old story if they fail to make the playoffs. But the reality is that .500 would be a great improvement after last year's 64-98 season. With a 69-57 record, Riggleman's team is on track to win 89 games.

That 25-game improvement would be the llth-biggest season-to-season reversal since the beginning of divisional play. Baseball's two last-to-first teams, the 1987 Minnesota Twins and 1991 Atlanta Braves, improved by 14 and 29 games, respectively. Musical lineups. For much of the season, Riggleman has had to deal with offensive voids at shortstop, third base and catcher. He has improvised with the leadoff spot all year, turning to unlikely candidates like Brant Brown and Mickey MorandinL He has mixed the parts well enough that the Cubs are third in the NL in runs scored despite being second in strikeouts and fifth in on-base percentage.

Riggleman shows little sentiment when he fills out the lineup card. He appreciates both Blauser's contract and his professionalism, but the 1997 All-Star now plays only when Riggleman likes the matchup against an opposing starter. That could happen less frequently now that St. Louis castoff Gary Gaetti is available to play third base, allowing Jose Hernandez to move to short. And don't forget that Sos had homered only twice in games before Riggleman first moved Sosa from fourth to third in the order April 15, flip-flopping him with Grace.

"I remember reading an article about 10 years ago by Bill James," Riggleman said. "It was about how the Boston Red Sox could best use Wade Boggs. Do you hit him first, because he's always on base? Do you hit him second, because he never strikes out and can move runners along? Or do you hit him third, because he will drive in runs? In the end, James said it doesn't really matter where the Red Sox hit Wade Boggs. The most important thing is what the other hitters do. "I think that's usually true.

When guys are hitting, it doesn't matter where they're hitting, everything works. And when guys aren't hitting, it doesn't matter either. Nothing works." Use of his bullpen. This is not the best-timed argument relievers failed to protect a 6-2 lead Wednesdaybut it nevertheless deserves to be made. Fans always groan when Riggleman goes to the mound, and it happens often.

The Cubs lead the major leagues with 333 pitching changes. In Riggleman's defense, the seasonlong search for reliable setup men has forced him to outmaneuver even the hyperactive La Russa and Bobby Valentine. He has been uncompromisingly protective of Wood, as he should be. Riggleman does not rely strictly on the percentagesotherwise McGwire would not have gotten a chance to hit his loth-inning homer off lefty Terry Mulholland. But Riggleman has won his share of gambles.

At Atlanta on July 21, Riggleman kept right-hander Terry Adams cooling his heels in the bullpen as Mulholland faced the right-handed-hitting Javy Lopez. Mulholland struck out Lopez, helping preserve Wood's 3-0 victory over Greg Maddux. It was a small victory, for sure. But as much as Sosa's home runs and Wood's strikeouts, moments like this have made the defeats hurt so much worse than thjey did a year ago. that, seriously," Sosa said.

"That month was something. Every day I would come the ballpark and look for something in the strike zone and, boom! I would say I was 'enfUego' in June." Another world: Not everyone in the world is infatuated with the home run record chase by Sosa, Mark McGwire and Ken Griffey Jr. McGwire socked a pair of homers Wednesday to take over the lead by himself with 49. But the biggest U.S. sports story of the summer is a relative non-story in Europe, where there are no daily home run derby updates in the local newspapers or on television.

Apparently, the average European sports fan never has heard of McGwire, Sosa or Griffey let alone Roger Marls, whose single-season record of 61 home runs is in danger of being broken. Baseball is a minor sport in Europe, where soccer rules. British bookmakers set odds on virtually anything but baseball "We're not betting on it on the basis there is very little interest in this country," Ladbrokes spokesman Andy Clifton said. "There is no mileage in it for us. Baseball is a sport the British have never understood.

It hasn't captured the imagination." Mr. Versatility: The Cubs' signing of veteran third baseman Gary Gaetti Wednesday means the versatility of Jose Hernandez will allow manager Jim Riggleman to move him to shortstop, second base or the outfield. Hernandez hit his 18fh home run Wednesday. "I hope they find my spot to play; I don't care where," Hernandez said. "I like shortstop better.

Right now I'm 1 playing third pretty good. I Just want my at-bats and to help the team win." Word on the street: Future Bulls coach a Tim Floyd will be the guest on WSCR- AM 1160 Thursday afternoon with Dan McNeil and Terry Boers Former Bears safeties Shaun Gayle and Dave Duerson have been added to WSCR's NFL experts throughout the football season. Send e-mail to Fred Mitchell at kick3485aol.com blown save was the bullpen's 15th this year. Matt Karchner was charged with his first blown save after giving up two home runs, including a solo homer to Mark McGwire on a 3-1 pitch in the eighth. "I wasn't trying to pitch around him," Karchner said.

"On 3-1 1 was trying to go outside and it came back over the plate and he whacked it. I didn't want to be real fine with him, but I didn't want him to beat me with a home run. Obviously, he did." Cruise control: Sammy Sosa smashed a shot off the top of the wall in left in the third, but was easily thrown out at second by John Mabry after cruising to first base. "The man made a nice throw and he got me," Sosa said. 1 1.

lunmiMimwwwiwwiiiwmuwii, any i E53 Fred Mitchell appears Mondays on CLTV's "Sports Page" at 9 p.m. Cubs Continued from Page 1 Waveland Avenue to make it 6-6. And after Terry Mulholland (3-4) fell behind 2-0 against McGwire in the 10th, he belted a slider into the center-field shrubs to give the Cardinals a 7-6 lead. "I was trying to pound him inside," Mulholland said. "I didn't get the third pitch in.

If he doesn't swing, I walk him No big deal. Unfortunately I didn't get the third pitch in, and he's strong enough that it went out to dead center." After spending almost the entire season talking about how difficult it would be to catch Maris, McGwire changed his tune after Wednesday's game, the 49th multi-homer game of his career. "I feel it can be done," McGwire said. Should McGwire have been walked either intentionally or unintentionally in those last two situations? "I'm not the manager," Sosa said diplomatically. Jim Riggleman is the manager.

"It's not easy to throw the ball exactly where you want it," Riggleman said. "They Karchner and Mulholland missed with it They had an idea of what they wanted to do and just missed." So Sosa's lead in the home run race was but a fleeting moment in time, made moot by two majestic, clutch, bazooka shots off the bat Beck blew a one-run lead in the ninth in a 5-4 loss Aug. 15 against Houston, and Wednesday it was Karchner's turn. The Cubs' new setup man tossed away a three-run cushion by giving up a two-run homer to Delino DeShields in the seventh and the solo homer to McGwire in the eighth. "That was a real tough ball-game," Riggleman said.

"We've had our share of those. We've come out on top of some and lost more than our share of those, I guess." After two-run homers by Jose Hernandez and Henry Rodriguez erased an early 2-0 deficit, Sosa took the first pitch he saw from Bottenfield in the fifth and cranked out No. 48. Sosa set a career high with his 121st run batted in and put himself on pace to hit 62 homers for the year. After McGwire's second homer put the Cards ahead, Ray Lank-ford drilled an opposite-field homer on Mulholland's next pitch to make it 8-6.

The Cubs were down to their final out when Mark Grace singled, Rodriguez doubled and Hernandez drew an intentional walk to load the bases. But St Louis reliever Juan Ace-vedo threw three straight balls to Manny Alexander before retiring him on a popup to McGwire on a 3-2 pitch, then pumped his fist as ii he'd won Game 7 of the World Series. OTHER VOICES Randy Galloway, Ft. Worth Star-Telegram Cowboys in downward spiral NFL clocks normally aren't ticking in mid-August, particularly at the Dallas Cowboys' compound, where for years the prevailing pompous attitude was, "We turn it on when we're ready to turn it on." And once upon a dynasty, they could. But then came the 1996 season, which, unfortunately, was followed by the '97 season.

And that handy turn-on switch was never located. Bad play in August exhibitions signaled an NFL disaster about to happen. And if what has been on display thus far this month is any barometer, a bad team in '97 is about to become worse. Is it too late to appfy for membership fn the Big 12 South? Tribune photo by Jose M. Osorio Cubs reliever Matt Karchner looks for a little relief in a hectic seventh inning Wednesday.

of the St. Louis slugger. Sosa, who trailed McGwire by 14 homers June 1, barely had time to celebrate overtaking his rival "I was enjoying it because we had the lead," Sosa said. "But then after McGwire's homer tied it, it was kind of like, 'Wow, what's going What was going on? Easy. The Cubs bullpen was blowing a four-run lead for Mark Clark, registering the team's fourth blown save in the last 10 games: Rod Beck blew two extra-inning leads in a 9-8 loss Aug.

8 in St. Louis, Terry Adams blew a one-run lead in the seventh in an 8-7 loss Aug. 11 in San Francisco,.