The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 45

Anijete Energizer: Ryan Kesler arrives to do the gritty chores that will boost Ducks. C2 Assists leader: Megan Rapinoe relishes play maker role for U.S. soccer team. C13 MLB C3-6 NFL C8-9 HIGH SCHOOLS C9 COLLEGE FOOTBALL C10-12 BEACH VOLLEYBALL C13 HORSE RACING C13-14 THE DAY IN SPORTS C14 DODGERS WASTE A WAY IN WRIGLEY Howell and Wilson can't hold leads and Cubs rally. Gonzalez has five RBIs.

By Dylan Hernandez iusii, anraiflmEii CHICAGO On a day Adrian Gonzalez belted a couple of home runs and drove in five runs to become baseball's leader in runs batted in, the Dodgers couldn't win. The 8-7 defeat Saturday to the last -place Chicago Cubs was crushing, not only because of how or when it happened, but also because it exposed a weakness that could compromise the Dodgers' World Series ambitions. Entrusted to protect a five-run lead for three innings, their setup men failed. J.P. Howell gave up a three-run home run in the seventh inning, Brian Wilson served up a two-run shot in the eighth and the Dodgers were forced to listen to the fans at Wrigley Field sing along to the Cubs' seldom-played victory anthem.

The Dodgers' magic number to win the National League West was reduced to five, but only because the See Dodgers, C3 WALLY SKALIJ Los Angeles Times MARK PALMER visits Union Cemetery in Steubenville, Ohio, where his great-grand uncle, Moses Fleetwood Walker, is buried. First black player in the major leagues? The easy answer, Jackie Robinson, also happens to be the wrong answer. If you've never heard the name Moses Fleetwood Walker, you're not alone, but he played 63 years BEFORE THE SUMMER OF 42 BY ZACH HELFAND TASOS KATOPODIS Getty Images IT WAS 7-2 when J.P. Howell entered the game, 7-6 when he left. STEUBENVILLE, Ohio Mark Palmer wanders through a cemetery in a southeastern Ohio steel town looking for a man most of the world has forgotten.

Years ago, Palmer's grandmother told him the story of the man buried here. That's my uncle, she said, your great-grand uncle. His name was Moses Fleetwood Walker, and he was the first black baseball player in the major leagues. Palmer occasionally mentioned this to his boyhood friends. "Jackie Robinson was the first," they replied.

"Everyone knows that." So Palmer let it be. Now, at Union Cemetery, Palmer meanders the grounds, racking his brain. He can't find the grave site. On the gentle sloping hills, it is cool and shady and it smells of fresh-cut grass. The chirps of crickets fill the thick air.

Palmer thinks the grave is close to the road, or perhaps near the mausoleum, so he checks there first. At least the grave is marked now. Walker died in 1924 and it wasn't until 1990 that the Oberlin Heisman Club planted a headstone to commemorate its student from long ago. Palmer and a few others attended the ceremony. A few locals know bits and pieces of Walker's story, but outside of this blue-collar region he remains largely unknown.

Former Dodger Don Newcombe, a pioneer from the Robinson era, said he hadn't heard the name. Walker played in the major leagues for one season, 63 years before Robinson. And after that one season, there wasn't another black player in the majors for six decades. With no one to carry on his legacy, Walker all but disappeared from baseball's rich history. See Baseball, C5 The surest thing in the rotation, Weaver gets his 18th victory, backed by three home runs.

C3 Fells in NFL despite timeout FOOTBALL AT ITS PUREST To get a taste of it, just take in a University of La Verne game on a Saturday afternoon Prep star is back on field after choosing basketball at UC Irvine and in Europe. HELENE ELLIOTT When Darren pC Fells' heart told him not accepted a basketball scholarship from UC Irvine. When his heart again told him he was playing the wrong sport, this time after a solid college basketball career and five seasons in Europe, he listened once more. His latest switch, more surprising than his first, seems to be right for him and it has put him in a wonderfully improbable position. Fells, 28, is poised to make his NFL debut at tight end with the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, about 18 months after he returned to football.

Told by coaches there's a possibility he will be activated and in uniform against the San Francisco 49ers, he would be the first See Elliott, C9 BILL PLASCHKE The desperate search for good news in sports speeds far away from the images of Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson and Jameis Winston. The search burns rubber and blows exhaust on misbehaving athletes, enabling teams and incompetent commissioners. On a pristine Saturday, the search ends to play foot- .1 Damn college, even though he had been an Gerald Herbert Associated Pn all-state receiver at Fullerton High and had his pick of scholarships from UCLA and other schools, he followed his instincts and COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEK 4 Mississippi State's Josh Robinson, tackled by LSU's Ronald Martin, helped Bulldogs score an upset, en under a large elm tree towering outside the corner of a pristine football stadium in a leafy pocket of east Los Angeles County. Under the welcoming branches are folks spread out on lawn chairs and blankets, soaking in the shade and an unobstructed free view of their sons playing football for University of La Verne in an NCAA Division III game against Whitworth University from Spokane, Wash. "Hey, I saw the Goodyear blimp flying across the stadium just before the game," says Jan Pfennings, whose grandson Jan is a junior lineman.

"But then it just kept going." The search ends at a college football game with no glitz, no glamour, no Heisman hope- See Plaschke, C12 Seminoles pull it off Without its quarterback, No. 1 Florida State rallies and wins in overtime. Cll Big Ten's big day Except for Michigan's loss to Utah, conference really has something going. CIO Seahawks' Thomas craves win Seattle hopes to bounce back from a loss in San Diego when Denver comes to town. C8.