The Times Herald from Port Huron, Michigan • Page 17

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2000 TIMES HERALD, PORT HURON, MICHIGAN 1 WHOM TO CALL: FOR SPORTS SCORES PORTS Rick Jakacki, sports (call before noon daily) SportsTalk Champions up first for Cats ti it v. I 5 i since relocating from Fraser in 1996, the Border Cats have been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. Team captain Chris Bergeron, in his second year with the Border Cats, said the past means nothing to the current team. "We owe the fans at least one round," Bergeron said, "but we can't be thinking about the (three seasons) previous to us that they didn't win a series. Our job is ahead of us." Winning this series will be anything but easy.

While the Border Cats (47-21-6) received a bye for finishing fourth overall, Muskegon (43-26-5) the defending Colonial Cup champion was forced to play an Fury in town for Game 1 of playoff series By RICK JAKACKI Times Herald Sports Editor The Port Huron Border Cats already have gone further than any other Border Cats team. And they haven't even played a playoff game. The Border Cats, who received a first-round bye in the playoffs, now try to accomplish something else its predecessors couldn't do: win a playoff series. They open their best-of-seven series against the Muskegon BOM CATS WATCH VS. MUSKEGON Best-of-seven GAME 1: 7 p.m.

today at McMorran Arena GAME 2: 6 p.m. Sunday at McMorran Arena GAME 3: 7 p.m. April 19 at Muskegon GAME 4: 7:30 p.m. April 22 at Muskegon GAME 5: 6 p.m. April 23 at McMorran Arena GAME 6: 7 p.m.

April 25 at Muskegon GAME 7: 7 p.m. April 26 at McMorran Arena If necessary Fury tonight at McMorran Arena. Face-off is set for 7 p.m. In each of their three seasons MORE ON CATS.4B COMPARING THE TEAMS opening-round series after finishing fifth overall. The Fury, which lost just five of its last 19 regular-season games, continued its fine play against the Adirondack Ice-Hawks, outscoring them 1 1-1 in a two-game sweep.

"It should be a good series," forward Kevin Brown said. "Muskegon's obviously got a good team. We're going to have to play hard, have our 'A' game and see what we can do." Please see CATS, 4B By MARK R. RUMMEL, Times Herald IN CLOSE: Border Cats forward Kevin Brown tries to control the puck as Muskegon's Vadim Podrezov defends during action earlier this season. The teams open their playoff series tonight.

nf fcr mm Team snaps skid, wins Comerica Park opener By TIM ROBINSON Times Herald DETROIT It was cold on the field, but the Detroit Tigers had a warm glow after Tuesday's 5-2 victory against the Seattle Mariners in the opener at Comerica Park. The victory snapped a five-game losing streak that led to manager Phil Garner holding a closed-door meeting after Sunday's 8-3 loss to Baltimore. "We're delighted to get' this win," Garner said. "A win's a win, but this was a very exciting day." Bobby Higgihson's two-run triple in the second put the game out of reach for Detroit, which also scored twice in the first. The game was played in 38-degree temperatures, with a wind chill that made it feel a lot colder.

"The weather wasn't that bad," said winning pitcher Brian Moehler 1 -1 who also was the TIM ROBINSON TODAY IN SPORTS Tigers place a premium on execution DETROIT The Detroit Tigers unveiled a new ballpark, and a new philosophy, Tuesday. Gone is Tiger Stadium, with its homer-friendly upper decks. Here is spacious Comerica Park, bigger than Tiger Stadium with no overhang to snag home runs. "It's going to be a different game," said former Tigers outfielder Kirk Gibson, now a broadcaster with Fox Sports Detroit. "It's not going to be get two outs and wait for a homer." No, it's not.

What the Tigers want to do, in essence, is use the park's size to their advantage. "We want make sure the other team's outfielders are hustling," Tigers Manager Phil Garner said. "If we get it past the infield, we want our hitters to be thinking about second base. If they loaf after the ball, we can take advantage." Gregg Jefferies did just that Tuesday, singling and racing to second when outfielder Mike Cameron bobbled the ball. General manager Randy Smith said the bigger park should make for better baseball, too.

"Outfield defense is going to be important," he said. "Hitting the cutoff man is going to be vital. That's why (Garner) preached that all spring." Positioning will be important, too, according to left fielder Bobby Higginson. "We're going to try to hit the ball where we can turn doubles into triples," he said, "but we have to make sure we play so we can make sure balls that would be triples would become doubles." Although there were a couple of fly balls that might have been homers in Tiger Stadium, Comerica Park didn't have much of an impact Tuesday, Garner said. But he's eager to see what impact it does have.

"I think it's going to be an interesting park," he said. Of course, the players will determine whether interesting is good or bad. It might be that Comerica Park is the antithesis of Tiger Stadium, which was one of the best places for players to hit home runs, year in and year out. And Comerica Park will give up its share. During the summer, the prevailing wind will be to left, not to right.

But that deep left field means it will take a pretty good shot to clear the fence. "We built what I think is a fair park," Smith said. "It's not too big; left-center field is only 3 bigger than the league average, and if (Dean) Palmer, (Juan) Gonzalez and (Tony) Clark hit it hard enough, it's going out, no matter what. But guys like Brad Ausmus and Deivi Cruz aren't going to hit as many home runs." It puts a bigger premium on execution, which the Tigers had trouble with Tuesday, too. Fans had seen enough after Juan Encarnacion made a two-base error in the fifth on a single by Jay Buhner.

It served as a warning to the Tigers. Fans like Comerica Park, but they're tired of watching bad baseball. Lord knows we saw enough of it in the last decade at Tiger Stadium. Tim Robinson is a Times Herald sportswriter. He can be reached at W5-7 171, extension 457.

ft HISTORIC PITCH: Brian Moehler Park. Moehler worked six innings SPORTS WHIRL LOOK AHEAD The Border Cats play the Muskegon Fury tonight in Game 1 of their best-of-seven playoff scries. Rick Jakacki will file a report. RED WINGS WATCH VS. LOS ANGELES Best-of-seven GAME 1: 7:30 p.m.

Thursday at Joe Louis Arena GAME 2: 2 p.m. Saturday at Joe Louis Arena GAME 3: 10 p.m. April 17 at Los Angeles GAME 4: 10 p.m. April 19 at Los Angeles GAME 5: 7 p.m. April 21 at Joe Louis Arena GAME 6: 3 p.m.

April 23 at Los Angeles GAME 7: 7 p.m. April 25 at Joe Louis Arena If necessary Wings getting healthy Gannett News Service DETROIT The sprained right knee that sidelined Steve Yzerman for the last four games of the regular season is healed. "I feel pretty good," said Yzerman, who has worked the knee hard in practice the past two days. Yzerman said he feels equally good about his hockey team. After seeing the Detroit Red Wings win 48 games and finish with 108 points (both totals sur passed by only the St.

Louis Blues), Yzerman said the Wings are eager to begin the playoffs Thursday night vs. die Los Angeles Kings at Joe Louis "I'm encouraged by the way we finished," said Yzerman, who had another solid, all-around season, his 17th with the Wings. "I thought since the All-Star break, we've played pretty good defensively. We've been tighter, and generally we've been pretty good." Key players such as Darren McCarty, Kirk Maltby, Brent Gilchrist, Kris Draper, Sergei Fedorov and Chris Osgood missed sizable portions of the schedule. "It seems every team goes through one year of getting hit with a lot of injuries," Yzerman said.

"A few teams have been hit with that this year. We've been fortunate the past few years, but maybe this is our year (for injuries). We battled through it and did reasonably well. But being healthy is a big part of it (being successful in the playoffs). "A lot of guys are coming back right now.

Mac (McCarty) is returning. It's looking good." BASEBALL Red Sox 13, Twins- White Sox 13, Devil Rays 6 Royals 7, Orioles 5 Indians 5, Athletics 1 Angels 5, Blue Jays 4 Dodgers 6, Giants 5 Cardinals 10, Astros 6 Expos 7, Pirates 3 Reds 10, Rockies 3 Padres 3, Diamondbacks 2 NBA Spurs 98, Kings 92, 0T Mavericks 92, Blazers 81 Suns 95, Clippers 88 TIGERS WATCH TUESDAY: Tigers 5, Seattle Mariners 2 RECORD: 2-5 STANDINGS: Fifth place in the AL Central Division, 3Mgames behind Cleveland NEXT GAME: Vs. Seattle at 7:05 tonight at Comerica Park TV: None RADIO: WPHM 1380-AM MORE ON TIGERS, 1A, 8A A LOOK AT COMERICA PARK winning pitcher at Tiger Stadium's last game over six months ago. "Once 1 started to throw, I didn't feel it. My hands didn't go numb, and I had a good grip on the baseball." While Moehler had a grip, shortstop Deivi Cruz and third baseman Dean Palmer each made errors in the first inning, which Garner said were cold-related.

Please see TIGERS, 2B come the challenge. 1 think Tampa Bay is getting a tine receiver." And the Jets are getting the 1 3th and 27th picks in the draft, giving them four first-rounders they previously owned the 1 6th and 18th spots. Tampa Bay originally offered Johnson a deal that would average just over $6.5 million a year for either four or five years. The final contract dwarfs what Johnson would have made $2.4 million diis year under tine deal he signed when the Jets made him the No. 1 overall selection in the 19 draft.

In his four seasons since being the top overall choice in 19, Johnson has caught 305 passes for 4, 108 yards and 31 TDs. vV i Bucs deal The Associated Press NEW YORK Keyshawn Johnson is headed to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after reaching a contract agreement with the team late Tuesday night. A trade sending the two-time Pro Bowl receiver from the New York Jets to Tampa Bay was worked out earlier in the day. It was put on hold until this morning, when a source said it will be made official. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the deal is worth $7 million a year and likely will be for eight years, making Johnson the highest-paid receiver in the league.

Jerome Stanley, Johnson's agent, and the By DUANE BURLESON, The Associated Press OUT OF THE WAY: Detroit's Greg Jefferies avoids the slide of Seattle's Alex Rodriguez after a force play at second base. By TONY PITTS, Times Herald throws the first pitch Tuesday in the opening game at Comerica and picked up the win in the Tigers' 5-2 victory. for star wide receiver Bucs had trouble settling on the size of a signing bonus, which is expected to be between $12 million and $13 million. Johnson That's why the Bucs said Tuesday night the sides will meet in the morning and that nothing was finalized. But Johnson told Pro Football New and Injury Report that it was a done deal.

"I'm excited," he said. "I'm excited about the opportunity to start over again, to go in and prove myself all over again. I wel TODAY'S STAR David Robinson scored 26 points and collected 15 rebounds Tuesday night to lead the San Antonio Spurs past the Sacramento Kings, 98-92, in overtime. NBA standings, summaries, 2B. WHAT DO YOU THINK? Will you go to Comerica Park more often than you went to Tiger Stadium? (SW Call the C.tTll.

I -j ouuimdiM-iue at 989-6297 i.