Statesman Journal from Salem, Oregon • Page 6

A ESMANJOU A VV EDNESDAY Salem, Oregon Sports Editor Roy Qault 399-6723 INSIDE Baseball: Olympics: 2AWIS DA: 5 -il THE CENTENNIAL OLYMPIC GAMES ugene runner can do ii all More lnsIdo4D ARCHERY: A look at Olympic bows and arrows. SOCCER: A little bit of Hamm goes a long way. Free agent derby will begin on Thursday The NBA extends its ban on signings for two more days. The Washington Post WASHINGTON What was supposed to be a fast start ended up as a false start for the NBA's free agent market. Negotiators for the NBA and its players union resolved all their differences over a new labor contract Tuesday.

But it didn't happen before the league imposed a lockout that lasted about as long as a 20-second timeout. The lockout produced a moratorium on trades, negotiations and signings was extended until 2 p.m. PDT Thursday. ATLANTA NINE DAYS 1 potential yet. I love running bo much.

I love it more and more, every day, every year." Her love for the sport has led the Eugene runner to two Olympic berths in the 1,500 in 1992 and the 800 this year. Slaney, who will turn 38 on Aug. 4, made the Olympic team for the fourth time, in the 5,000. Wysocki, 39, came out of retirement for a third time last year. She finished seventh in the 1,500 at the World Championships.

While running tops Hamilton's list, she does not disregard her other pastimes. For example, Hamilton who includes the physical attributes "blonde" and "hazel-eyed" on her resumes adorns the cover of this month's Runner's World magazine. This month, she also will model for a swim- Suzy Hamilton isn't just an Olympic athlete: She's a model and an artist. The Associated Press CHAPEL HILL, N.C. Suzy Hamilton could be a model.

She could be doing commercials. She could be a painter. She could be a golfer or a track and field broadcaster. She has all those interests and has dabbled in a few of those professions. However, she has chosen to be a runner for now, and for a long time.

"I want to run at least 10 more years," said Hamilton, who will be 28 next month. "Look at Mary Slaney and Ruth Wysocki. They give me such inspiration. "I haven't tapped into my tually plans to have a show in a gallery in Eugene. She enjoys her two dogs and playing golf, and has the inclination to be a broadcaster.

But for now, they're all secondary to running. She still is trying to learn to perform well in big international meets. So far, she has been unsuccessful. Her struggles in big meets have marred a career that has included 23 Big Ten titles at Wisconsin (21 in individual events), and a record nine NCAA championships. Please see Runner, Page 40 suitrunning calendar for 1997.

In addition, she has modeled running shoes and magazines. Filming commercials also is part of her life, although she doesn't particularly like them because they're time-consuming and interfere with her training. Hamilton, a graphics art graduate from Wisconsin, long has had a passion for abstract painting and even- The Associated Press HOPING FOR CHANGE: Eugene's Suzy Hamilton will try to overcome a history of disappointments in big meets. National League 6, American League 0 KHLsGSQ rj jfi 1 Tk for Cal Ripken breaks his nose, but his streak isn't in jeopardy. From wire reports PHILADELPHIA Cal Ripken has survived countless collisions, brushback pitches and bumps and bruises while playing in 2,239 consecutive games.

He had also emerged unscathed from 13 straight team photo sessions at the All-Star game, which really didn't seem like a big deal until Tuesday night. Ripken, who put together his unprecedented streak without so much as a serious sprain, broke his nose when hit by an accidental forearm by Chicago White Sox reliever Roberto Hernandez after the photo shoot. His nose was quickly reset, and Ripken started for the American League in his 13th straight All-Star game. "My first thought was to keep it from you guys," Ripken told reporters at an impromptu news conference. "I don't want it to go down as the only injury in the history of the All-Star game taking the team picture." Thus, 29 eager teams, 150 eager players and their agents who had hoped to begin negotiations at 9:01 a.m.

Tuesday will have to wait two more days to jump into the most ritzy free agent marketplace in league history. "I feel like a sprinter in the starting blocks, and they keep yelling, 'False start," said agent David Falk, who represents Washington's Juwan Howard, Chicago's Michael Jordan and Miami's Alonzo Mourning three of the players likely to command the highest salaries. But neither side expects another false start. In the past two years, negotiators three times reached agreements in principle on a new labor deal, only to have the league impose two offseason lockouts when the rank-and-file players failed to finalize the deals. The sides still have not signed a collective bargaining agreement, but they are striving to have the 300-plus pages of paperwork ready for signing by the close of business today.

When NBA Commissioner David Stern and union president Buck Williams of the Portland Trail Blazers affix their signatures, the six-year, $5 billion deal finally will be official, after two college drafts and one season. "Not to cross over sports too much," Stern said Tuesday, "(but) I will invoke Yogi (Berra): It'll be over when it's over. "Hopefully, that will be (this) evening." On Tuesday morning, the union contingent walked out of an all-night meeting at 3 a.m. PDT. A disagreement arose about profit-sharing of revenue from the NBA's television contract.

"Go ahead and lock us out," Jeffrey Kessler, the union's chief negotiator, told the league contingent. Then, the league announced a lockout before 8 a.m. Finally, shortly after 9 a.m., an agreement was reached. "It was one of the most bizarre endings to what has been a bizarre, lengthy situation," said George Cohen, a Washington-based labor attorney who sat in all night with his NBA players union clients. NBA: Olympians wait for signings.

Page 5D Players with minor league connections to Salem fare well. From wire reports PHILADELPHIA Four players who started their baseball careers in Salem shined in the spotlight Tuesday during the major league All-Star game. Mike Piazza, Henry Rodriguez and Dante Bichette helped lead the National League to a 6-0 victory over Chuck Finley and the American League. Piazza and Rodriguez are former Salem Dodgers, and Bichette and Finley are former Salem Angels. The big bat belonged to Los Angeles catcher and Philadelphia native Piazza, who won the game's MVP award after a 445-foot home run and a run-scoring double.

"I'm really emotional right now," Piazza said. "I'm all choked up. I'm just running out of oxygen trying to describe it." Piazza grew up worshipping the Phillies and Mike Schmidt. Schmidt threw Piazza the ceremonial first pitch before the game, and wrote on the ball, "You're the best." Piazza, who hit a game-tying homer last year, became the first player to homer in consecutive All-Star at-bats since Gary Carter in 1981, and the first to homer in consecutive All-Star games since Fred Lynn in 1979-80. "I never thought about doing anything heroic or storybook or script," Piazza said.

"I just wanted to not look bad." Rodriguez, an outfielder for the Montreal Expos, pinch-hit for winning pitcher John Smoltz in the second inning and lined a run-scoring single to right field that made it 2-0. Piazza followed with his homer, and his RBI double in the fourth made it 4-0. Bichette, an outfielder for the Colorado Rockies, dou- A IS The Associated Press ITS GONE: Mike Piazza, a former Salem Dodger, supplies the game's big hit: a home run that traveled 445 feet. bled in the sixth inning for the NL and scored on Craig Biggio's fielder's choice. Finley, a left-hander for the California Angels, replaced AL starter Charles Nagy in the third and went two innings.

He gave up one run and did not walk a batter. He struck out four, including Bichette, his teammate in Salem. Piazza was the NL's lead ing vote-getter and was among the league leaders in average home runs (24), RBI (63) and slugging percentage He was drafted in 1988 with the pick as a courtesy from Dodgers manager and Pennsylvania native Tommy Lasorda. "Tommy Lasorda told me there would be a lot of people who would tell me things I can't do," Piazza said. "He said you can either take it and use it, or you can let it go through you.

Everybody I always talked to Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio told me to try to keep it simple, don't get intimidated. And that's what I try to do." GAME: NL pitchers dominate. Page 3D All-Star game The score: National League 6, American League 0. The MVP: Mike Piazza of the Los Angeles Dodgers went 2 for 3 with a home run, a double and two RBI. Key stat: By holding the AL scoreless, the NL recorded only the seventh shutout in All-Star history.

I mi The Associated Press INJURED: Cal Ripken plays with a broken nose. Line drive to face doesn't deter McNary grad Langley Quotable iiiinj in. i if, Pro golfer Chi Chi Fk driguez, watching a game between the Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Indians, to Royals pitcher Kevin Appier: "Hey, Appier, pitch faster! By the time you get done, my clothes will be out of style!" Scoresllne: 399-6671 He bobbed his head and lost sight of a batted ball that struck him just above his right eye. The blow shattered his cheekbone. "My first reaction was to get my glove up, but I didn't see the ball," he said.

"I tried to make the play after it hit me, but I realized I couldn't move." Langley remained conscious after the injury, and raised his hand to the crowd as he was wheeled off the field on a McNary High graduate out of action for three weeks. "The Rooster," as he's called by fans of the Sonoma County Crushers in Rohnert Park, took a line drive to the face June 19. "I almost lose sight of the plate on my follow-through, when my head goes down," he said. "The fans started calling me "The Rooster," because of the sudden way I bob my head back up." stretcher. "The hospital said they got 400 calls that first day," he said.

"That was so unbelievable. The fans really like me here." Langley spent two days in a Santa Rosa, hospital. He couldn't undergo surgery until the swelling around the eye subsided. "The side of my face, from the top of my forehead to the bottom of my chin, stuck out The minor league pitcher hopes to take to the mound again. By Reid English The Statesman Journal After nine years of pitching in the minor leagues, Lee Langley has heard that his pitching motion is awkward-looking.

His delivery also contributed to an injury that has put the further than my nose," he said. Langley said he had two sets of stitches, including one below the eyebrow and cheekbone that showed the laces of the ball. "I was a little uncomfortable the first few days after the surgery," he said. "They moved the bones around, like putting an eggshell back together. I've got a titanium plate from my nose to the opposite side of the eye." Please see Langley, Page 30 Langley! Pitches in California.