Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • Page 45

1 Tuesday, August 4, 1998 Section 4 Sox's Baldwin baffles Devil Rays. Page 3. Bears keep it simple for Mayes (right). Page 5. 3 new courses: A scouting report.

Back Page. Amateur boxing has taken a recession punch in Chicago, but there are good people in its corner. Hlliil Taking a swing at the news By Joe Knowles ALBERT BELLE DIAMONDBACKS 6, CUBS 5 Castoff gets his revenge Telemaco stifles former teammates Player of the month for the team of the weak. QuickSludy -nMjiiii-T- iiiiiiinn ii iiiiMiaini i in ijii mi imii L-iihiiiih iiii wiimin urn i in Tnbune photos by Wes Pope Tom O'Shea, a former national Golden Gloves champion who runs the Matador Boxing Club, talks to 11 -year-old Donald Moore. time to toss in the towel Dave Wannstedt is happy to have Alonzo Mayes in camp, but he thinks the rookie tight end's' holdout will have a lingering effect.

"He has missed 15 practices, 30 meetings and three walkthroughs," Wannstedt said. "If you were getting ready to take a test and you missed 48 classes, I don't know how prepared you'd be." Are you more surprised by how hard Wannstedt works his team or that he was able to add up those numbers so quickly in his head? UieNiciltem Heavyweight champ Evander Holyfield addressed the National Governors' Association and asked them to take more of an interest in fatherless children. Holyfield, who was born out of wedlock, petitioned the lawmakers to support mentoring programs so that kids without fathers can get guidance. "We teach people how to get a job," Holyfield said, "but not how to be a family" Mike Tyson may have a piece of Holyfield's ear but he'll never have a fraction of his heart. Justfefeg How good can the Cubs be if they actually would miss Manny Alexander? -1 i tr By Paul Sullivan Tribune Staff Writer The news from Wrigley Field Monday night was all bad for Cubs fans.

Kerry Wood said he was suffering from a dead arm and is likely te miss a start against San Francisco next week. A successful wave was performed during the eighth inning by the crowd of 38,551. And the Cubs lost 6-5 to Arizona, remaining 4 vt games behind Houston and watching their wildcard lead dwindle to games over the Giants. A late Cubs rally fell short and Amaury Telemaco got some revenge against the team that let him go. Fifth starter Don Wengert got himself in trouble immediately, giving up triples to Andy Fox and Karim Garcia in the Diamondbacks' two-run first.

Garcia added an RBI single in the third, and Tony Batista hit a two-run, pinch-hit homer off Wengert in the fifth to put make it 5-0. Telemaco was battered around by the Cubs last week in Arizona, but they blew scoring chances left and right Monday. Mark Grace doubled to right in the first, but Sammy Sosa was held up at third by coach Tom Gamboa before the cutoff man juggled the relay. After a Henry Rodriguez walk loaded the bases, Jose Hernandez grounded into a force play to end the threat. The Cubs had runners in the corners with one out in the fifth, but Sosa popped out and Grace hit a check-swing grounder back to Telemaco for the final out.

Telemaco finally gave up a pinch-hit, RBI single to Lance Johnson in the sixth to spoil the shutout, and departed after allowing one run in six innings. Alan Embree gave up a three-run homer to Grace in the seventh to let the Cubs pull to within a run, and when Rodriguez reached on a bad-bounce single past second, it appeared as though something was in the air. The Cubs had a runner on third with two outs when Manny Alexander slammed Bobby Choui-nard's 3-2 fastball to deep left. But Diamondbacks center-fielder Devon White made a leaping catch while falling into the vines, preserving Arizona's one-run lead. Terry Adams gave up a run in the eighth, but Mickey Moran-dini's run-scoring single made it 6-5.

More Cubs coverage, Page 3. Wm' if rf Second of two parts By Michael Hirsley Triuune Staff Writer Tom O'Shea is as good a friend as amateur boxing can have in Chicago. He defends boxing as "the purest of sports, not as a living, but as a way to learn self-esteem." He believes boxing "gives an adolescent young man some clear and demanding trial." He separates amateur boxing from the profes-sional game, and On the internet More pho-tognphy of the local boxing scene at cliicago.tribune. comgaboxing Enter the world of a neighborhood boxing champ through sights and sounds at chkago.tribune. comgoboxer i Li -m-i Beginning pugilists go through a shadowboxing session at a mirror at the Matador club under the supervision of Tom O'Shea.

"You don't need to win to benefit from boxing," Shea says. TarsetPractice reserves his praise for the former. He speaks from experience. As, Irish immigrants in the late 1950s and early 1960s, he and his brothers Brian and Rory found self-confidence in the ring. All were national Golden Gloves amateur champions.

O'Shea still trains young boxers, heading the Matador Boxing Club at the Northwestern University Settlement House, 1400 W. Augusta within the Chicago Park District program. He knows amateur boxing needs more friends in Chicago. The sport has been hurt by a recession punch. Chicago, once the prime host of national Golden Gloves tournaments, has experienced declining interest in amateur boxing, although not as severe as the fade of pro boxing here, says Sean Curtin, chief coordi- nator of the city's Golden Gloves program.

Part of the blame lies with the media, Curtin says. "We had 600 to 800 fighters entering when I fought in the 1950s and 1960s. One attraction was how well results were reported in the papers. There were still 500 to 600 entries in 1979, when I began running it "The Tribune stopped sponsoring Golden Gloves in 1985, and there was no tournament that year. When it was reorganized in 1986, entries were down to 300.

"This year we had 200 registrants. But 54 didn't show up to box." Three decades ago, Chicago Golden Gloves finalists fought in Chicago Stadium Cassius Clay, the future Muhammad All, was among them breathing the same rarefied air as the city's top pro athletes. Now they fight in St Andrew's Gym, 1658 W. Addison St, which was one of the preliminary sites in the 1960s. Jack Cowen, a pro boxing matchmaker agent who owns and operates Chicago's Golden Gloves as a not-for-profit corporation, bemoans the shortage of good, experienced trainers.

There was once an abundance of them in Chicago, such as Arthur Moore, "Dee Dee" Armour, Clarence Griffin and Larry Amadee. Griffin, who died while working as a cornerman in a pro fight was the father of current professional light-heavyweight contender Montell Griffin. Those trainers were local legends, as was Stanley Berg, an amateur boxing champion and internationally known referee who ran See Boxing, Page 2 This via fax from reader James Ingold of IJloomington: "Is there any truth to the rumor that Tribune Co. also is considering a statue on Clark and Addison of Ed Lynch in his now-famous pose of standing idly by while the Astros trade for Randy Johnson?" ByTkWay Those oversized goggles the Cubs passed out on Harry Caray Day also can be used to get a better look at the Astros as they run away with the National League Central. Bite'fejToungue Mike Ditka is in danger of breaking his self-imposed ban on vulgarity.

Da Coach went ballistic and ejected free agent Keith Mitchell from practice for tackling teammate Cam Cleeland too hard. Cleeland had been nursing a sprained ankle. "Ther e's a kid with a bad ankle," Iron Mike bellowed. "You tackle the ankle, he gets hurt again. It doesn't make sense.

These are our players. We don't play the Saints this year. I looked at the schedule and we're not on it." Bears should look for more talent, less trouble Now Enis is considering waiting for '99 draft Impasse on pact with Bears sticky as ever a Skip Bayless IN THE WAKE OF THE NEWS in -1 1 1 tMi IT 1 npq he Bulls hire Tim I I Floyd. The Cubs don't I trade for Randy John-I son. The Blackhawks don't sign Brett Hull.

The White Sox don't get me started. Chicago again has become an epicenter for inexplicable sports moves and nonmoves. Team managements often seem to be trying to out-bizarre each other. Losersville again? More like Lose-Your-Mindville. Of course, I haven't mentioned the franchise that takes the fruitcake.

Yes, the Grin-and-Bear-Its are at it again. The Chicago team with the most fervent fan base already is treating loyalists to some of the most amusing summer entertainment this side of "There's Something About Mary." There's just something about Curtis. Not Curtis Conway, the lone Bear who concerns opponents. Curtis Enis, who most concerns Bears management. Though first-round pick Enis By Rick Morrissey and John Mullin Thimine Staff Whitkrs There are standstills, and then there is what is going on between the Bears and Curtis Enis.

Contract talks have become so bogged down that Enis, the team's first-round pick, is considering entering the draft again next year. "It's the only solution you have if you can't come to an agreement," Greg Feste, Enis' agent, said Monday. "That's something we're going to have to address down the road. It really depends on how the Bears want to deal with the situation." So far, both sides have been almost immovable. The last contract proposal came Thursday, which also happened to be the last day there were discussions between Feste and the Bears.

The sticking point is void able years. Enis wants a deal that would allow him to cut two years off the end of his contract if he reaches certain incentives early in his career. That way, he would be able to test free agency sooner. The Bears want Enis, the fifth pick in the draft, to play for the length of whatever contract he signs with them. They never have negotiated a contract with voidable years.

"There's a few things that we just have to have in the contract, and if we get those things, then I think the negotiations can continue and probably would increase the chance of getting something done," Feste said. "But the Bears just will not come off some of these points." They, however, are making contigency plans. Former Baltimore running back Bam Morris will work out for the Bears Tuesday, and they also See Enis, Page 2 has yet to sign, he has created headlines coast to coast. If only Enis could travel as fast on the field as Bears' bad news off it. At least the Bulls had a two-year plan to hire Floyd.

The Bears don't appear to have a plan, unless it's to increase beer sales among devastated fans. Now it has come to this: The Bears might replace holdout Enis with Bam Morris, who twice violated the NFL's substance-abuse policy and did 89 days in jail for parole violation after a marijuana conviction. Do you sometimes wonder what some people are smok- Skf. Bayless, Page 5 Scoreboard BASEBALL Diamondbacks 6 WHITE SOX 6 CUBS 5 Devil Rays 1 Gunts 6 Dodgers 8 Phillies 1 Mots 5 Expos 6 Rockies 7 Padres 1 Pirates 2 Malms Brewers 6 Astros 3 Cardinals 5 Tribune photo by Phil Velasquez 'At some point, we've got to have somebody to line up and play against Jacksonville in the opener Sept. Mark Hatley Bears VP of player personnel Coverage, Pages 3, 6.