News-Press from Fort Myers, Florida • Page 31

Briefs, Scorecard 2C Dogs, horse racing 2C Pro basketball Byron Stout 3C Cycling 3C Golf 5C NEWS-PRESS SCORELINE Call 332-5600 or 1-800-848-0515 Touch tone only NEWS-PRESS SPORTS EDITOR: SAM COOK 335-0357, 3-midnight FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 1991 p.Jiw.j 3 t- f. I is FLIRTING WITH 59 One of golf's most revered records (Al Geiberger's record round of 59 in 1977) nearly falls, as Ian Baker-Finch (right) shoots 62 at Williamsburg, Va. despite missing five birdie putts5C Blue Jays 6, Yankees 1 (Carter: 2 HRs) Red Sox 8, A's 7 Royals 3, Orioles 2 (12) Rangers 7, White Sox 3 Brewers 4, Mariners 0 Angels 7, Tigers 5 Mets 9, Braves 7 (Gooden wins, homers) Expos 1, Reds 0(11) Phillies 7, Astros 3 Cubs at Giants Pirates at Dodgers ON THE AIR GLENN MILLER ffl Around AZsJ 1 Red Sox: Goodbye dollies 'Wrapping' sports to take 12 minutes By EVE EPSTEIN The Associated Press '4-. mV'fP The team said only two such incidents have occurred this season, but spectators who attended games last weekend said dolls were passed around and security guards moved slowly to confiscate them. But stepped-up security was in evidence at Wednesday night's game.

Fenway's $6-a-seat BOSTON Some baseball fans have brought anatomically correct inflatable dolls out of the closet and into the ballpark. They fondle them. They C'mon Dave, pitch! pass them around Fenway Park's bleachers. They make obscene gestures. And they leave other fans offend bleacher crowds have a reputation for more fun-loving rowdiness.

Usually, the partying is restricted to innocent antics: doing the "wave" and tossing beach bails. Ellen Zucker, president of the National Organization for Women's Boston chapter, ed and angry. That's what the Tucson Toros of the Pacific Coast League are saying to "Late host David Letterman, who they've invited to pitch July 1 against the parent Houston AstrosV4C Thus, the Boston Red Sox have issued a statement condemning the practice, after one angry fan complained to a newspaper. Some say they saw blowup dolls in the bleachers as early as last year. welcomed the Red Sox response, but said more should have been done sooner.

"I think when we get reports from fans that they were quicker to remove beach balls than sexual dolls that were used for lewd sexual acts, there is reason to be concerned," she said. "That they are moving quicker on it now is a good sign." The Red Sox statement responded: "Such conductT is reprehensible and the club has made special The Associated Press The latest craze in the Fenway Park bleachers, inflatable dolls, could be deflated if Red Sox security efforts intensify. efforts and will continue to make special efforts to prevent such occurrences in the future." a. 5 pu J. flFflDBHD Memory of deceased father has Colon thinking FSL batting title By DAMIAN CRISTODERO News-Press Staff Writer HEN Cris Colon went into a bit of a batting slump last month, the r- Charlotte UNDER the premise that more is better, WEVU-TV is expanding its Sunday night sports segment to 15 minutes on its 1 1 o'clock news.

During a normal news show, WEVU's few viewers watch a 3 Vi -minute sports segment. WEVU Sports Wrap" debuts Sunday. The ABC affiliate will sacrifice some of its news and weather to make room for the added sports programming. The decision wasn't made quickly. "We've been talking about it for three months," said WEVU sports director Mike Cannington.

WEVU has traditionally trailed its rivals in ratings in a big way. Three months ago, the station hired Jenny Martinez as news director. She doesn't intend for WEVU to remain in last place. "We have a big, bright future ahead of us," Martinez said. And part of that future is "WEVU Sports Wrap." "New and innovative ways of doing things," Martinez said.

Cannington who will have 12 of the 15 minutes (commercials get the remainder) said WEVU will use the added time to increase coverage of local sports. Each Sunday's show, he said, will include a profile of a local sports figure. "We're not trying to become ESPN, CNN," Cannington said. No, but WEVU is trying to boost viewership by attracting more sports fans. "I think this shows our station is taking sports a little more serious," Cannington said.

"WEVU Sports Wrap" wouldn't have been possible a few months ago because the station had only a two-man sports staff. John Curtis, Cannington's able sidekick for years, was joined by Doug Alexander two months ago. Now, WEVU has the added manpower it needed and has the same size staff as its competitors, WINK and WBBH. All the details of the "WEVU Sports Wrap" have yet to be worked out. Cannington said the station is considering a weekly bloopers or highlights package.

We want to attract people who aren't hard-core sports fans," he said. What does the competition think? "Hurray for them," said WINK sports director Kenn Tomasctt. "I hope it works out for them because I'd like it to succeed." Tomasch said he's been thinking about asking his station's management for more time on Sunday nights. His approach would be different from WEVU. Tomasch would like to have an open-ended show that would begin at 1 1 :20 p.m.

and run until he ran everything he had that night. He said that would work because WINK, a CBS affiliate, isn't obligated to join network programming at 1 1:30. WBBH sports director John Hammes said he isn't concerned about WEVU's added sports time on Sunday. He believes Jay Severson, WBBH's weekend sports anchor, can provide all the sports a fan needs in six minutes. "If you want more than that, there's the "George Michael Sports Machine," Hammes said, referring to a 30-minute highlight show that airs following WBBH's Sunday night news, at 1 1:30.

Will "Sports Wrap" yank up WEVU's ratings? Will Mike, John and Doug do a good job? How will they fill all that time? Tune in Sunday. If enough of you tune in often enough, you'll yank up the ratings and make the new show a success. If not, by e-bye "Sports Wrap." Notes You may have noticed a couple new television stations in our listings recently. WNPL (Ch. 46), a Naples independent that debuted last October, is carrying 25 New York Yankee games.

WNPL is available on Ch. 6 on Palmer Cable and Ch. 10 on Golden Gate cable. WBSV's call letters stand for Bradenton, Sarasota and Venice, but the Sarasota-based station (Ch. 62) is of only marginal interest in Southwest Florida, since it is unavailable on cable and omits a low-powered signal.

The station first aired May 3. CNN's "Sports Tonight" moves from its traditional 1 1 :30 p.m. slot to 1 1 beginning Monday night. WDCQ-AM (1200, Cape Coral) has something for the memorabilia and card-collecting nut. "The Baseball Card Center at noon.

Dig deep, boxing fans. You've no doubt heard of the Larry Holmes Tour De Force Heavyweight Championship comeback. On Saturday, Holmes fights the world famous Eddie Gonzalez. The bout is available for 1 4.95 on pay-per-view. The Mike Tyson-Razor Ruddock rematch on June 28 is also available on pay-per-view.

Fans will have to dig even deeper for that one. How deep? $34.95. Glenn Miller isa News-Press staff writer. Rangers face Baseball City in Hanley benefit By KEVIN KAMINSKI News-Press Staff Writer For a 13-year-old, the kid sure carries some clout. He also carries the hopes and aspirations of an entire town.

the city of Fort Myers will celebrate Vince Hanley Day with a Florida State League doubleheader at the Lee County Sports Complex between the Baseball City Roy als and Charlotte Rangers. Proceeds from tonight's game will help defray the Hanley family's mounting medical costs. Vince suffers from Gorham's Disease -a degenerative bone illness that has already disintegrated part ofhis spinal columnand three ribs. Vince will be joined by his friend Tampa Bay Buccaneer quarterback Vinny Testaverde. Bucs wide receiver Mark Carrier will also be on hand and both will sign autographs from 6-7 p.m., following the pre-game ceremonies.

Over 6,500 tickets have been sold and $15,000 already raised for the Hanley family. Gates open at 4 p.m. and tickets can be purchased for $3. Hanley's story 1A Rangers shortstop sat down and had a long talk with his dad. It didn't matter that Cris Colon Sr.

had passed away from a heart attack two years earlier at age 63. Cris felt as close to his father as if they were back in their native LaGuaira, Venezuela, rehashing the day's community-league games. "I remember what he told me when he was alive," Colon said recently, "to keep going, never get down. So I concentrated harder." And started hitting better, raising his average 40 points to .344, tops in the Class A Florida State League. The Rangers will face the Baseball City Royals in a 5:45 p.m.

doubleheader today at the Lee County Sports Complex. Proceeds will go to help 1 3-year-old Vince Hanley, a Fort Myers resident suffering from Gorham's Disease, a rare, degenerative bone disease. The Rangers will be with Colon, however. His assault on FSL pitchers has been put on hold the result of a broken left hand suffered June 1 0 when he was hit by a pitch while trying to bunt against the Dunedin Blue Jays. The hand should be better in about five weeks.

And Colon said he'll return to the lineup in good condition "I'm running every other day and throwing the ball" with an eye toward keeping a pact with his father. "I was very close to my dad," Colon said of Cris who distinguished himself as a catcher during many years of Venezuelan baseball. "I think ab6ut him all the time, every day. I've got to believe he's there. My dad, he saw me all the time play.

He likes me to play baseball. I have to do well for him." To say Colon was doing well before the injury is like saying it GARTH FRANCISNews-Press Jeff Cindrich follows through after delivering a pitch Friday for the Yankees of the Gulf Coast League against the Twins. Cindrich is a graduate of Mariner High School. In this league, pro is plenty League scores, standings By GLENN MILLER News-Press Staff Writer The Gulf Coast League is as far away from the big leagues as a player can get in this country and still play professional ball. And that was very evident Thursday afternoon.

There was no roar from the crowd for Ogden's homer. There wasn't even much of a crowd. No admission was charged to the game, which was played on practice field No. 2 at the complex. About 1 50, perhaps as many as 200, fans were in attendance in the first See TWINS, page 5C Far from majors, GCL Twins debut with 11-7 victory 215-pound Ogden slammed a homer deep to right field, giving the Twins an 11-5 eighth-inning lead over the Tampa Yankees.

"I told you!" the fan screamed in delight. The Twins, thanks in great part to five RBI from Ogden, defeated the Yankees 1 1-7 in the Gulf Coast League opener for both teams. gets warm in Southwest Florida. The 22-year-old switch hitter was named the FSL's Player of the Week for a seven-game stretch beginning June 3, batting an astounding .520 (13-for-25) with two home runs, two doubles and eight RBI. For the season, Colon, who had been named to play in the FSL's June 29 all-star See COLON, page 5C Fort Myers Twins first baseman Jamie Ogden, wearing No.

32, dug into the batter's box around 2:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon at the Lee County Sports Complex. In the bleachers a young fan yelled, "I want to get 32's autograph." Ogden, a left-handed hitter, didn't disappoint his young fan, a boy about 8 years old. The 6-foot-5, Wildcat Run's Meyer grabs early South Florida PGA lead Leader Dennis Meyer 68 Followers Joe Regner 69 Tony Valentine 69 Andy Wada 69 Rick Gomes 69 foursome did not finish until 8:30 p.m. "It didn't bother me," Kennedy said of the delay.

"I just couldn't get somethingstarted." Indeed, Kennedy had 14 pars, two birdies and two bogeys. The rain was no factor at all for Meyer, who teed off at 9 a.m. and was safely in the Wildcat Run pro shop when the storm hit. i "The greens were probably as good this year as I've seen," he said. "The course was just ripe for scoring, I thought." Senior sizzles to a first-round 64 5C By DAMIAN CRISTODERO News-Press Staff Writer.

Dennis Meyer considers the Head South Florida PGA Open a "major" championship. So It wasn't surprising when the pro at Wildcat Run came through with a major effort Thursday, shooting a 4-under-par 68 to earn a one-stroke lead after the first day of the four-day event at the Naples Beach Hotel Golf Club. Second at 69 are Delray Beach's Joe Regner, Tamarac's Tony Valentine, Hollywood's Andy Wada and Tequesta's Rick Gomes. Cape Coral's Bill Kennedy, the defending champion, Is four back at 72. "I played pretty solid," Meyer said.

"I hit it solid off the tee and put it in good position all day." Thursday's round literally was an all-day affair. A windy thunderstorm at about 3:15 p.m. halted play for 1 hour, 25 minutes. The final.