Hartford Courant from Hartford, Connecticut • Page 51

THE HARTFORD COURANT: Sunday, Aogu 11, 1991 E9 Scheduling system East is a besst overhaul Sine divisional play began in 1969, tha National LaagtM has ach tared almost perfect balance) batwoon East and West. Not so in tha American LaagtM, where da-apita tha paat couplo aeasona, the Eaat has baon dominant. In 1969, Tha AL East was SS games above .500 agninst tha AL Wast and tha NL Wast was eight games above .500 against the NL East. A look each season (Through Saturday's afternoon 7 I I I I I. 7 3 4 'mm" Year AL NL 1969 East 58 West 8 1970 East 44 West 15 1971 West1 Easf12 1972 East 6 East1 1973 East 20 West 30 1974 East 6 West 30 1975 West 15 East 13 1976 East 14 West 10 1977 West 20 East 28 1978 East 61 West 55 1979 East 69 East 42 1980 East 69 West 30 1981 East 33 West 17 1982 East 58 East 6 1983 East 76 West 24 1984 East 53 East 38 1985 East 21 East 15 1986 East 52 East 3 1987 East 26 East 57 1988 East 4 East1 1989 West 41 East 4 1990 West 39 "East 17 1991 West 69 East 3 TOTALS East 485 East 18 Associated Press Oilers receiver Ernest Given tries to avoid an Atlanta defender in Friday's game.

Givens caught a touchdown pass in a 36-7 Houston loss. Sanders, Lions agree on contract Maguire critical after heart attack 7 -y. Maguire, 53, who played for the Bills in the 1960s, was taken to Buffalo General Hospital by private car around 8:30 a.m., according to hospital spokesman Mike Shaw. Maguire was listed in critical condition Saturday afternoon in the cardiac care unit Shaw said Maguire's vital signs were stable. he left the Oilers to coach the Falcons last year.

Chris Miller threw four touchdown passes, three to Michael Haynes, who caught five balls for 225 yards. Worley odd man out: Tim Worley, the Pittsburgh Steelers' No. 1 pick in '89, has fallen to third-team tailback behind Warren Williams and sixth-round pick Leroy Thompson of Penn State. Fullbacks Merril Hoge and Barry Foster and tailback Williams figure to get more action than the disappointment from Georgia. his devotion the Chiefs' 260-pound running back, opponents began crowding the line of scrimmage with their inside linebackers, trying to gang up on Okoye before he could build a head of steam.

Midway through the season, Okoye began alternating with Barry Word, who gained 1,015 yards and became the starter for the final three regular-season games and a 17-16 wild-card playoff loss at Miami to the Dolphins. needs an Blue Jays' season but shouldn't they Sean Hcrgan TORONTO Who are these people who assembled this American League schedule? Is it really a couple in Queens who sit down every year with an abacus, a Mack Truck calendar and an AAA map? What do they do, fit it in between bridge nights? Ut's clear the process for picking the swing team has become outdated. It originally was set up as a rotation among the Great Lakes cities in the AL East and has never included the coastal cities of New York, Boston and Baltimore. should be a system that does not force the swing team out of its division entirely for the last month of the season. How else do you explain it? These people and the league clearly have not paid enough attention to the task at hand.

If they had, they wouldn't have assembled a schedule that has the Red Sox and Blue Jays playing for the last time Aug. 12. That's bad enough. Worse, it calls for the swing team the Blue Jays to play its final 23 games against teams from the West. The second-place Tigers play 20 of their last 22 against Milwaukee, Baltimore and Cleveland.

So when the Blue Jays start the final stretch against the West, will it be to their advantage or a disadvantage? played pretty well against the West in the past," said Red Sox coach John McLaren, who served as the Blue Jays' third base coach for five years and has emerged as an insightful member of the Red Sox coaching staff. "There were trips that were good, and trips that should have been better. But overall, they've done fine." season's numbers bear that out, Toronto is 33-28 against the West, with losing records against the Angels (2-7) and White Sox (5-7). They're 17-14 at the SkyDome against teams from the West and 16-14 on the road. Blue Jays believe it doesn't matter whom they play, as long as they play well And they point out their sojourn with the West will keep them from head-to-head competition with the hunters in the East, making it harder for anyone to gain ground.

McLaren sees it both ways. In'It will make it harder for us and the Tigers to catch them," he said. "Every time they win, us and the Tigers have to win. But when they play the West, they have to play a bunch of teams fighting for the championship and not just one or two like in the East. That's going to make it tough on them.

The big thing is that no swing team has ever won before. But I think they're more committed to winning than they ever have been before." Toronto on a mission riYou have to give the Blue Jays credit for trying to fill holes though they remain the front-runners. Unlike the Red Sox, who are sedentary in operations, Toronto constantly evaluates its needs and then acts. The Blue Jays needed a veteran Associated Press Running back Barry Sanders, who led the league in rushing yardage last season, has agreed to terms with the Detroit Lions. Sanders is expected to report Monday.

NFL While Sanders signed a five-year, $5.9 million contract in 1989, his agents and the Lions agreed in January his performance warranted more. Because the team has a policy of not renegotiating contracts, a new deal likely would include a contract extension and signing bonus. Sanders, a first-round draft pick in 1989 out of Oklahoma State, ran for 1,304 yards in 1990. Bears without Anderson: Several Bears starters, including 1990 leading rusher Neal Anderson, will not play in today's game against the Phoenix Cardinals at Chicago. Anderson is suffering from a leg injury.

Rookie offensive tackle Stan you don't pay." Motherly advice Seattle shortstop Omar Vizquel flew his mother, Eucaras, to Seattle from his native Venezuela. She watched him fly out twice and then told him, "Hit down on the ball, you fool." Former Blue Jays second baseman Damaso Garcia is recovering in a Miami hospital from brain surgery Watching Toronto manager Cito Gaston go after David Wells Friday night reminds us it was 22 years ago this weekend that Twins manager Billy Martin punched out his pitcher, Dave Bos-well Scott Cooper's emergence as an offensive player may have the Red Sox reconsidering extending Wade Boggs' contract beyond next season. Earlier this season, Gorman said some of his pri-'orities were to extend the contracts of Bogp, Ellis Burks and Jody Reed. Now when asked about Boggs' exten -v' i Okoye continues to show sets in the West, finish in the East? outfielder and took a flyer on Cory Snyder. That didn't work, so they got candy Maldo-nado.

They persevered through on-again, off-again negotiations with the Indians and finally got Tom Candiotti to defray the loss of Dave Stieb and solidify their 1 MALbOMADO pitching. And, unlike the rest of their counterparts in the East, they assembled a team that not only could win the division, but also the pennant The Mariners called up Keith Comstock this week from Triple A Calgary and filled his spot in Calgary with pitcher Dave Fleming from Jacksonville. But, Comstock hurt his shoulder after one-third of an inning in his first appearance. The Mariners tracked down Fleming the next day in Las Vegas, and got him on a plane to Oakland 30 minutes before the game with the A's. He came in with two out in the eighth to face Harold Baines, with Jose Canseco on first Canseco tried to steal and catcher Dave Cochrane threw him out Thus, Fleming got credit for one-third of an inning without retiring a batter.

Ryan on the move 1 Red Sox minor league reliever Ken Ryan's stock continues to rise. Ryan, who began the season in Winter Haven, was promoted to Pawtucket this week from New Britain. His father, Ken is the police chief in Pawtucket. Red Sox general manager Lou Gorman must have loved hearing Tom Brun-ansky's quote that he wanted to sign a one-year contract, but Gorman insisted on a three-year deal Dodgers reliever Roger McDowell on the need to keep baseball in perspective: "Being a relief pitcher, with all the wins and losses, I never think of the game as life and death," he said. "Of course in New York, there were times when I feared for my life.

Pitching for the Mets is like walking the front lines with Saddam Hussein." The Orioles now hope to have Glenn Davis in the lineup for September. He hit Tuesday in a simulated game off recently released Kevin Hickey and reportedly hit the ball well. The Orioles gave Davis a rehabilitation assignment with Ha-gerstown, of the Eastern League Saturday night. Davis suffered damage to the spinal accessory nerve leading to his right trape-zious muscle in the first week of the spring exhibition schedule. He played 12 games with the Orioles, hitting four homers Speaking of the Orioles, two more prospective buyers have come forward.

One is Jack Ruskin, who owns a chain of appliance stores around Baltimore and revels in his reputation as "The Cheapest Guy in Town." That, of course, means nothing would change with the tightwad Orioles if he buys the team. The other is attorney Steven Miles, who is famous in the Baltimore area for advertising his firm's services on television. The joke going around the Orioles is if Miles purchases the team, the slogan next year will be, "If we don't win, Minor Issfuc notebook manager Sparky Anderson said Brogna has a major league glove), but now he gives Detroit a few options. "They told me, more or less, that the thing that's going to get me to the big leagues is if I bit and produce runs," Brogna said. "Defensively, they know what I can do right now.

They just want to see what I can do at the plate and get a little more experience there." Brogna, a left-handed hitter, is producing since the injury healed. He is averaging .278, with seven home runs, including a grand slam against the New Britain Red Sox Thursday. Brogna, 21, may be in Detroit when the major league rosters expand in September. "That would sort of make the season for me," Brogna said. "That's what I'm looking forward to." Wallin taking off at Beehive New Britain's spacious Beehive Field has acted as a speed bump for more than a few young hitters.

Greg Blosser is the latest example. But Danbury's Les Wallin has been undeterred. Since his promotion from Class A Winter Haven, Wallin is 9-for-20 Wallin, a left-handed first baseman, was hitting .242 at Winter Haven the highest average of his four-year career. But at New Britain, he's been aggressive. 'Tve decided I'm going to go down swinging while I'm here," Wallin said.

sion being a pri- BOGGS ority, Gorman says, "Possibly. We haven't talked with ownership yet. We'll sit down after the season with ownership and the coaches and go through all of this." The problem is Boggs will have 10 years of major league service and five with the same team at the end of this season, which gives him the power to veto any trade. And he certainly doesn't want to go anywhere. Cooper is hitting .294, with 11 homers and 60 RBI and that improvement has attracted significant trade interest, Gorman said.

Associated Press BUFFALO, N.Y. NBC Sports commentator Paul Maguire, in town to watch an exhibition game between the Detroit Lions and Buffalo Bills, suffered a heart attack Saturday morning and was rushed to a local hospital for treatment. Thomas, the Bears' top draft pick, is expected to play after sitting out a 21-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers because of knee injury. "None are seriously injured. It will give us a chance to look at some other people," coach Mike Ditka said.

The Los Angeles Raiders are at Dallas and San Diego visits the Los Angeles Rams Monday. Falcons defeat Oilers: In the only game Friday night, Atlanta beat Houston 36-7 in Jerry Glanville's first return to the Astrodome since His will be done." Looking back, it's natural to assume the tragedy he experienced was a major reason Okoye's rushing total last year fell from his league-leading 1,480 yards in '89 to 805 and his average gain went down from 4.0 yards to 3.3. But he isn't looking for excuses. "I tried not to take it to work with me," Okoye said. "I cannot blame last year on what happened to me and my wife." Chiefs coach Marty Schotten-heimer said Okoye handled his personal problems well but was affected by other factors.

"He had a separated shoulder that was a bit of a problem, and he was a victim of circumstances, breakdowns in the blocking," Schottenheimer said. "Frankly, we had trouble at times getting him back to the line of scrimmage." In order to cope with the power of teammates after leaving in the third inning against New Britain Tuesday. Kerfeld, who started and left after throwing 50 pitches, changed and went to the team bus, where he slept the rest of the night Brogna's best chance may be in the outfield Continued from Page El now, a year later, it is difficult for Okoye to speak of his family's loss without feeling the pain. "It was very emotional for my wife, who carried the baby for nine months. She cried all the time.

"You look forward to having a child. When it's time to have it, you're holding it in your hands. I mean, he's there, and all of a sudden, he's not It affected me a lot. I thought about it all the time." In his life, Okoye has conquered a multitude of obstacles, but never did he need his faith more than in that time of grief. "All the time we were praying and praying to have a healthy child," Okoye said.

"When it was time to have this baby, what happened happened. We didn't know why. So, we gave it to God. Only He knows why. He gives, and He takes.

There is nothing we can do about it. ly named best defensive catcher in the Florida State League in a survey of league managers conducted by Baseball America. Former big league pitcher Charlie Kerf eld didn't stick around to watch his London As the draft approached in April, there were rumors the Chiefs were trying to trade Okoye. The backfield situation became even more crowded when they used their first-round pick for LSU running back Harvey Williams, who has not signed. Despite the conjecture about his status, Okoye seems unworried.

He was expected to start against the Jets Saturday night in St. Louis and carry the bulk of the rushing attack. Italy's Bugno defeats Tour winner Indurain Associated Press SAN SEBASTIAN, Spain Italian Gianni Bugno got a measure of revenge on Tour de France winner Miguel Indurain of Spain when he won the 11th San Sebastian International Classic over a 147-mile course Saturday. The classic, the first rematch of the top finishers last month in Paris, was decided in the final 18.6 miles. The Italian, who attacked climb- ing up the first-category hill of Jaiz-kibel, finished with a 55-second lead time on Spain's Pedro Delgado.

Bug-no's time was 6 hours, 4 minutes, 28 seconds. Italian Maurizio Fondriest was third in 6:05:45 in a pack of six. Indurain finished 14th. The race was the seventh of 13 counting toward the World Cup of Cycling. Anderson holds on, wins Tour of Britain Associated Press LEEDS, England Phil Anderson overcame a punctured tire to finish in the middle of the pack in Saturday's final stage and complete his one-second victory in the Tour of -Britain cycling race.

Anderson took a one-second lead in the opening stage of the five-day event and never let relinquished it The Australian had a tire puncture with about 20 miles left in Saturday's 126-mile stage from Liverpool to Leeds, but teammate Sean Yates quickly swapped his good tire with Anderson's. Anderson then rejoined the main group of almost 50 riders, which included the top challengers to his overall lead. His time for the 600-' mile tour was 24 hours, 59 minutes, 57 seconds, with Belgian Rudy Ver-donck second and Heinz Imboden of Switzerland third. Minor league report Statistics of area minor league players of not through Friday: Player CoHfhomatown Pea Team CL On Avf AB 2B 3B HR Bl SB BradAusmus Cheshire Albany AA Yankees .276 46 1 63 27 45 6 1 0 16 10 Darren Bragg Plymouth OF Peninsula A Mariners .238 44 151 27 36 9 0 2 20 16 Rico Brogna Watertown 1B London AA Tigers .278 54 205 29 57 10 1 7 38 0 Tim Carter Westport 1B Beloit A Brewers .233 94 318 41 74 9 2 10 53 8 Ken Coleman Jersey CityUNH 3B Sarasota A White Sox .237 25 59 4 14 2 0 0 6 5 Marek Drabinski ChicopeeUConn Macon A Braves .174 37 92 12 16 5 0 0 4 0 Brook Fordyce Old Lyme St. Lucie A Mets .232 96 345 36 80 15 2 5 47 4 Jimmy Gonzalez East Hartford Astros Astros .187 22 75 4 14 2 0 0 3 2 Pat Hedge CIlntonUHart OF Frederick A Orioles .200 73 200 17 40 4 1 4 23 3 Tyrone Kingwood Stratford OF Rochester AAA Orioles .321 21 84 15 27 6 1 1 13 8 Billy Masse Manchester OF Albany AA Yankees .291 83 278 56 81 13 2 9 48 6 Paul Matachun Lwrnce, Ma.ECSU 2B Gastonla A Rangers .244 87 205 32 50 9 1 0 19 4 Mariin McPhail Norwich 3B Indianapols AAA Expos .260 88 281 35 73 19 2 6 30 1 MattMerullo Ridgefield Birmingham AA White Sox .333 2 6 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 Basilo Ortiz HartfordECSU OF Kane County A Orioles .238 32 122 12 29 4 0 0 13 1 Kevin Riggs East Hartford OH Cedar Rapds A Reds .251 98 335 58 84 15 1 2 35 18 Mike Sctortino TrumbullCCSU DH Pittsfield A Mets .254 34 126 13 32 9 1 0 18 1 Charlie Sullivan Greenwich DH Butte Rangers .229 35 96 22 22 5 1 1 16 5 Les Wallin DanburyUNH IB New Britain AA Red Sox .450 7 20 6 9 2 1 0 5 0 JimWawruck Glastonbury OF Frederick A Orioles .317 11 41 9 13 0 0 0 3 5 Melvin Wearing West Haven DH Hagerstown AA Orioles .296 20 71 11 21 4 0 3 16 0 Kevin Zahner Ellington Great Falls Dodgers .188 8 16 1 3 0 0 0 1 1 PITCHER COLLEGE TEAM CL ORG W-L Era GS SV IP BB SO David Baumann Ridgefield Yakima A Dodgers 7-3 5.32 11 11 064.1 81 16 58 BillBrakeley New Canaan Beloit A Brewers 7-5 3.69 25 16 2 100 92 56 93 Scott BurreU HamdenUConn St.Cathrnes A Blue Jays 0-2 1.50 2 2 0 6.0 3 3 5 Tim Cain HartfordUConn Bend A Rangers 0-2 6.95 12 1 233.2 45 18 31 MarkCzarkowskl NewingtonUHart Jacksnville AA Mariners 4-8 5.00 17 10 0 68.1 85 21 37 JimDavins West Haven Denver AAA 1-2 9.64 20 0 418.2 20 9 17 Steve Dibartotomeo TrumbullUNH Charlotte AA Cubs 4-2 4.10 36 2 1 68.0 73 30 40 Mike Evans South Windsor S.

Oregon A Athletics 1-3 6.35 11 0 0 22.2 25 14 17 SeanFesh Bethel Astros Astros 0-0 .00 1 0 0 10 0 2 3 Ron Frazier Tomngton Greensboro A Yankees 9-4 2.68 20 20 0 131 117 36 93 Jason Fronio GreenwichUConn Bend A Indians 0-0 3.95 5 0 113.2 12 6 11 Mark Larosa Southington Jamestown A Expos 1-1 4.57 10 8 143.1 43 11 44 Jeff Letourneau WorcesterUNH Erie A Independent 2-2 4.67 17 3 1 44.1 45 21 29 Brian Looney Cheshire Jamestown A Expos 4-1 1.49 8 8 0 42.1 30 23 46 Dave McAuliffe MonroeUNH Chattanooga AA Reds 4-5 6.50 28 0 336.0 34 20 21 Kevin Meier Southington Shreveport AA Giants 9-6 4.90 27 16 0119 144 30 65 PaulMenhart Groton Dunedln A Blue Jays 10-6 2.66 20 20 0 128 114 34 114 'Matt Murray Swampscott, Ma Durham A Braves 1-0 1.29 2 2 0 7.0 5 0 7 Dan O'Neill HolyokoQuinnipiac Pawtucket AAA Red Sox 5-6 5.43 50 0 1 66.1 70 39 54 Matt Pontbriant Norwich Pirates Pirates 1-3 3.00 11 5 236.0 40 10 32 Tim Roberts Wilton Erie A Independent 0-1 5.66 5 4 020.2 31 2 10 John Shea CotehesterUConn Syracuse AAA Blue Jays 9-8 4.14 29 18 2 137 149 63 66 Nick Sproviero StamfordUNH Jamestown A Expos 6-2 3.98 15 0 2 43.0 46 18 28 Larry Stanford Manchester Albany AA Yankees 2-2 1.67 45 0 2454.0 33 33 51 Stewart Strong WestonUConn Great Falls Dodgers 0-0 3.80 15 0 021.1 16 10 20 DaveSwanson Berlin Mets I Mets 2-3 3.14 9 8 0 51.2 45 18 41 Robert Vancho TrumbullHous. CC Stockton A Brewers 0-1 5.25 6 0 012.0 13 5 15 Peter Walker East LymeUConn SL Lucie A Mets 9-10 3.24 21 21 0 125 117 48 71 Turk Wendell Dalton. Ma.Quinn. Greenville AA Braves 10-3 2.62 24 19 0 141 125 46 114 Larry Winawer Nesconset, NYYale Helena Brewers 4-2 4.24 10 10 0 68.0 70 18 39 Murray attended Loomis-Chaffee School In Windsor. By PAUL DOYLE Courant Staff Writer NEW BRITAIN Rico Brogna is not about to discard his first-baseman's mitt But if playing the out field can hasten his trip to the major leagues, Brogna is all for it Brogna, a Watertown native, was named best defensive first baseman in the Eastern League last season.

After starting this season at Triple A Toledo, Brogna returned to Double A London because of a low batting and a hip injury. After sitting out some games in June, Brogna returned to the lineup last month. The hip pointer was healed and he was hitting well, but "there was no place to play. Brogna began alternating with -Ivan Cruz between first base and designated hitter. Two weeks ago, outfielder Lou Frazier injured his I shoulder and manager Gene Roof suggested Brogna try right field on the days he was supposed to DH.

11 M.OTlf nnA ftkniii Vi utuc cuiu uijxu wucu auvui uic possibility of playing some outfield to keep me in the game defensively," Brogna said. "It's a new challenge, but if it's going to better myself as a baseball player and enhance my chance at getting to the big leagues, I'm up for the challenge." Brogna played outfield a few times in high school and American Legion. But Brogna a former All-7 State quarterback at Watertown 'y High and a Clemson football recruit is athletic enough to adjust The underlying attraction of play--ing outfield might be a potential I logjam at first base in Detroit Cecil Fielder, the major league leader in -home runs, also plays first base. Brogna is considered a better first baseman (in spring training, Tigers Fordyce' defense tops Old Lyme's Brook Fordyce is struggling at the plate his average is down to .232 for the Mets' Class A affiliate St. Lucie but his defense remains strong.

Fordyce was recent 1.