Asheville Citizen-Times from Asheville, North Carolina • Page 19

3C The Asheville Citizen, Tue, May 1, H88 Drabek Latest To Flirt With No-Hit Game A. J. Foyt's Penalty Lifted By NASCAR A six-month suspension imposed on auto racing star A4. Foyt was lifted Monday by NASCAR, eight days after the penalty was leveled following an incident in the Winston 500 at Talladega, Ala. While the suspension that would have sidelined Foyt for the remainder of the NASCAR season was lifted, a fine of $5,000 was increased to $7,500.

SPORTSJll The Associated Press PITTSBURGH It's been oh-so-close but no dice for no-hitters in the major teagueslthis season. Doug Drabek of the Pittsburgh Pirates became the fourth pitcher to flirt with a no-hitter in the last two pitching eight hitless innings Sunday, against the San Diego Padres until pinch-hitter Randy Ready had an infield single to start the ninth, Drabek (4-2) settled for a two-hitter and lost his shutout John Tudor Came Close To No-Hitter Against Dodgers Chisox Talks Break Off treal Expos singled into left field. Tudor hasn't been perfect but pretty close to it in his last two starts. Coming off an injury, he pitched six hitless innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 1 until being removed for a pinch-hitter. He extended his hitless streak to 13 innings until Mike Marshall of the Dodgers singled to lead off the eighth Saturday night in the Cardinals' 2-1 victory.

Padres Manager Larry Bowa isn't surprised there have been so many near no-hitters. With his two top hitters, Tony Gwynn and John Kruk, injured and the Padres averaging less than three runs a game, Bowa said, "I'm surprised a no-hitter wasn't thrown earlier." At this time a year ago, Drabek wasn't worried about no-hitters. He was worried about keeping his job. Acquired by the Pirates from the New York Yankees in the Rick Rhoden deal in November 1986, Drabek won 'his first National League decision on April 19, 1987, then didn't win again until Aug. 8.

But ever since he learned to mix his breaking pitches with his hard stuff and to change speeds rather than try to overpower hitters, he has been one of baseball's best starters. Drabek has won 13 of his last 17 decisions he was 9-2 in his last 12 starts last season and has been one of the leaders in a turnaround that has seen the Pirates win 46 of their last 67 games. Drabek, 25, was well aware he was three outs away from the history books when he walked to the mound in the ninth inning Sunday, even though his teammates were treating him like it was just any other game. Foyt, a part-time NASCAR racer, was suspended and fined after a the fender-banging incident with Alan Kulwlcld under a caution flag. Both were black-flagged into the pits under NASCAR's "penalty box" rule designed to cool heated tempers.

Foyt was black-flagged two more times, nearly hit a race official on pit road during a pass through the pits, and locked up his brakes and spun as he got near the exit to the garage area after being black-flagged for a third time. NHL Agrees To Hearing For Devils' Coach The NHL agreed to give New Jersey Devils coach Jim feld a hearing before passing judgment on his run-in with refe.ree Don KoharsU and also reached an accord with league officials guaranteeing they work the rest of the playoffs. During a 12-hour period Sunday, the league suspended Schoenfeld for the fourth game of the Boston-New Jersey Wales Conference finals and then was forced to watch as a New Jersey judge issued a restraining order allowing him to coach. Later, regular NHL officials boycotted the game over Schoenfeld's presence and the league eventually was forced to use amateur officials. At issue is Schoenfeld's run-in with Koharski on Friday whe the Devils' coach allegedly bumped him following a 6-1 loss.

Peters' Pitching Record Disputed A South Carolina high school pitcher's performance a decado ago may have eclipsed the record of 36 consecutive victories that gair.ud Brenham, Texas, pitcher Jon Peters national recognition. Tlmmy Moore won 50 straight games for South Carolina's McC.oll High School from 1977 to 1980, according to the official South Carolina High School League record book. SC Names Waters To Compliance Position Wright Waters, associate director of athletics at Tulane since 1985, will fill the Southern Conference's newly created position of assistant commissioner for compliance. Waters, 38, will be responsible for the implementation and coordination of compliance programs at the league's schools. He also will oversee the eligibility certification of all SC student-athletes.

Duncan Loses In Italian Open Milan Srejber of Czechoslovakia defeated Lawson Duncan of Asheville, N.C., 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 in the first round of the $825,000 Italian -Open tennis championships at Rome. AMOciated preM Reports an out later RYAN when Marvell Wynne hit a two-run homer. But he settled down to get the final two outs as the Pirates won 6-2. "I don't know if it's the best game I've ever pitched I didn't even get a shutout but I know it will be right there at the top," Drabek said. "I know I'll always remember it because I don't know if I'll ever get this close again." Nolan Ryan, Ron Robinson and John Tudor know exactly how Drabek felt since they've also been ever-so-close to no-hitters recently.

That's why major league hitters, accused last year of corking their bats, now are joking that the pitchers' arms are corked. The Houston Astros' Ryan, who has pitched a record five no-hitters, pitched 8' hitless innings against the Philadelphia Phillies on April 28 until Mike Schmidt singled. Robinson, of the Cincinnati Reds, was within one strike of a perfect game on May 2 until Wallace Johnson of the Mon into a domed stadium being built there. Reinsdorf and Einhorn said Monday they want to wait to find out whether the Florida legislature will act on a proposed $30 million package of incentives by its June 1 adjournment date, Petrini said. Illinois, officials had asked the owners to commit themselves to Chicago before then.

"Basically we said, 'Look, we're taking a risk, you've got to take some risks, Reilly said. "But they said they didn't feel they could do that. At that point, the talks broke off," he said. The stadium authority was created last year to oversee construction of a new ballpark for the White Sox. The Associated Press CHICAGO Owners of the Chicago White Sox and representatives of the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority broke off negotiations after nearly eight hours Monday without reaching agreement on a new stadium for the team.

No new talks are scheduled, said Vincent Petrini, a spokesman for Deputy Gov. James Reilly. "We failed to come to an agreement," Reilly said. "From our point of view, we feel that we met every economic term that the White Sox asked us for." Petrini said the state had asked White Sox owners Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn to put their negotiations with St. Petersburg, on hold.

Officials of that city are working hard to lure the White Sox McEnroe Might Return To Queens Tournament Agassi Only Bright Spot In Rain-Plagued Tourney will ask for a wild card. The Associated Press NEW YORK It started in the rain and ended in the sunshine. In between, the Tournament of Champions weallievcd a stormy situation. The Associated Press LONDON A hush of anticipation, tinged with a little apprehension, is hanging over an exclusive tennis club in a corner of West London. John Patrick McEnroe may be coming back.

"It's a very delicate situation," said Clive Bernstein, tournament director of the Queens Club grass court championships. Queens Club is the main warm-up for Wimbledon and is frequently won by the player who goes on to take the men's singles crown in the oldest tennis Grand Slam event. The 102-year-old club also was the scene of one of McEnroe's most publicized tantrums the last time he played there, three years ago. "McEnroe is still a very good player, but if he wants to play here the tournament committee will have to decide," Bernstein said Monday. In 1985, McEnroe walked out of Queens Club after being accused of insulting a group of women members.

They said the New Yorker had used abusive language when asked to vacate a court where he was practicing. McEnroe was asked to give up his honorary membership of the club or be expelled. He did what club members termed "the honorable thing" and quit. Two weeks later at Wimbledon, the top-seeded McEnroe was upset in the quarterfinals by Kevin Curren 6-2, 6-2, 6-4. He has not returned to Queens or Wimbledon since.

Although his name does not figure in the main draw at this year's Queens Club tournament, speculation has swirled for weeks that McEnroe The 29-year-old left-hander, now in the middle of a comeback after a series of voluntary and injury related breaks from the sport, says he wants to try for a fourth singles title at Wimbledon, which takes place June 20-July 3. No other tournament can provide better preparation for that than Queens, with its lush green courts, low bounce, sometimes slippery surface and an atmosphere of refinery and elegance. Bernstein said McEnroe had not yet indicated whether he would be asking to come back for the June 6-12 tournament. "He will have to apply before I have given them (the wild cards) all away," said Bernstein, who has five wild cards available, two of which must go to British players. "Obviously I like to hang on to my wild cards for as long as possible." Bernstein said he had received "five or six" applications for the three available international wild cards, but refused to identify the players involved.

He said McEnroe's acceptance into the draw would not be a foregone conclusion if the American applies to play. "His case would have to considered by the tournament committee," Bernstein said in a telephone interview. "I have no idea which way they would decide." McEnroe's current world ranking of 16 would have been easily high enough to gain him a place in the 32-player main draw, the deadline for which was April 25. "Had he applied for a place in the usual way, he would have to have been accepted under Grand Prix rules," Bernstein said. resting for the upcoming European season.

The only reason he played in the TOC was because he was required to by the Men's Tennis Council, which tries to provide at least one top player for each Grand Prix event. Edberg finally got to go home Satdrday, when he lost to Slobodan Zivojinovic in the quarterfinals. Defending champion Andres Gomez, who was eliminated in the same round by Aaron Krickstein, wasn't a happy camper either. He was upset when his third-round match was moved from the stadium to the grandstand following a rain delay. "I'm the defending champion," he said.

"They should have moved someone else." After winning the match in front of a tiny audience, Gomez joked, "If I'm going to lose, I don't want to lose in front of 10 people. I want to lose in front of 20 people." Rotberg called the complaints by Edberg and Gomez "unfortunate and unfair." "We are trying our best to put on a first-class event under difficult circumstances," he said. "It's disappointing when someone who stands to make a lot of money playing here goes around knocking the tournament." As the weather improved, so did everyone's mood. The happiest person was Agassi, who beat Zivojinovic 7-5, 7-6, 7-5 in Sunday's final. It was his third title of the year and the $127,600 paycheck boosted his 1988 earnings to $268,902.

Asked earlier in the week what he thought of the tournament, Agassi smiled and said, "Every tournament is great when you're winning." 7 AP Photo Rain delays, indoor matches, grumbling players and a big first-round upset created king-size headaches for tournament organizers. One of the few smiling faces at the West Side Tennis Club belonged to Andre Agassi, the 18-year-old sensation who swept through the tournament without losing a set. The troubles started before the tournament did, when top-ranked Americans Jimmy Connors and Brad Gilbert pulled out with injuries. Crowd favorite John McEnroe left shortly afterward, the victim of a first-round upset by unseeded Diego Perez. Until the sun came out over the weekend, rain, wind and chilly conditions made the TOC seem like Wimbledon West.

Most of Thursday's matches were played in a steady drizzle. On Friday, a day-long downpour forced officials to postpone the quarterfinals and complete three third-round matches at an indoor facility 20 miles away on Long Island. "I'd say the weather has caught up with us this year," tournament director Marty Rotberg said during one delay. "I've been involved with the tournament six years and this is the worst weather I've seen." Top seed Stefan Edberg, who lives in rainy London, should have felt right at home. He didn't.

Edberg kept saying he didn't want to be in New York. After playing on five continents in six weeks, the Swede said he would rather be Mets Top Tourists From Staff Reports COLUMBIA, S.C. Jamie Roseboro singled home the tiebreak-ing run in the third inning Monday night to spark Columbia to a 3-1 victory against Asheville in a Sally League game. The Tourists (14-18) had tied the score at 1-1 in the top of the third on Billy Paul Carver's triple and a single by David Cunningham, Singles by Alex Diaz and Alex Jimenez in the bottom of the inning set the stage for Roseboro, who singled to left for a 2-1 lead. Rich Simon (3-2) then walked the next two batters to force home the game's final run.

The Mets (15-17) had taken a 1-0 lead in the second when Terry McDaniel reached on shortstop Neder Horta's error, stole second and scored on Javier Gonzalez's single. Winner Mike Anderson (3-1) scattered five hits in 7 innings. Steve LaRose pitched 1 innings of one-hit relief to earn his fourth save. The five-game series continues here Tuesday night Asheville plays Augusta on Saturday night at McCormick Field to open a 10-game bomestand. Andre Agassi The Next Great American Tennis Hope? co TENNIS TENNIS TENNIS TENNIS TENNIS TENNIS TENNIS TENNIS TENNIS TENNIS TENNIS THE SPORTS BEAT: from the ACC to the high schools, you'll find it all in the Citizen sports pages.

2 53 a CO ASHEVILLE RACQUET CLUB (North Carolina's Leader in Racquet Sports) Learn To Play the Game of a Lifetime 55 ASHEVILLE CO IRACQUET CLUBl 24-HOUR SERVICE BOOILER PLUMBING a 53 SERVICE 19887 Hendersonvllle Call 692-1195 253-3621 1-800-452-2811 a 53 nl a a 53 CO Adult Programs Beginner to Intermediate Morning and Evening Classes Monday thru Thursday Junior Summer Camps (Boys Girls) Junior Camp Ages 8-18 Little Sneakers Camp Ages 5-6-7 Week Sessions 9-12 Starts June 6th CO a 53 to z. 3 CO RED CROSS FUN FAIR '88 Needs Auction Donations furniture, antiques, glassware, china, linens, cars, etc. Call for pick up 258-3888 Ext. 208 to Fun, Excitement, Challenge For details and registration call 274-3361 3 GO 200 Racquet Club Road Off Hendersonvllle South TENNIS TENNIS TENNIS TENNIS TENNIS TENNIS TENNIS TENNIS TENNIS TENNIS TENNIS.