Hartford Courant from Hartford, Connecticut • 221

UC6nn Men Finalize Next Season's Nonconference Schedule Page C2 SPORT 4S WWW.CTNOW.COM WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2002 THE HARTFORD COURANT SECTION For Baker, Heat's Really On 3 i Baker's dozen best in the NBA. That was five years ago. There were whispers he stayed out too late with Gary Payton. His weight watching was discussed more than Sarah Ferguson's. There was his self-diagnosis in 2000 that he was depressed, a risky assumption considering basketball players know more about St John's than PLEASE SEE JACOBS, PAGE C3 mm NBA Finals.

Tm ecstatic," Baker said Tuesday. "This is the best day of my career." Now if time to stop being so damn happy, Vin, and make the low post a miserable place. "Jerry West always says the success of a team in the NBA is largely determined by how it handles risk," Celtics general manager Chris Wallace said. "Nothing comes to you neatly wrapped in a little package with a bow on top." As big as this 6-foot-ll risk ballooned during the lockout a few years back, he couldn't have come wrapped in a tractor-trailer. But Vinnie is a healthy 260 pounds this summer, dedicated to an off-season regimen and within 5 pounds of his playing weight And give Wallace, the man who answered Baker's prayers, credit for a convincing sales pitch.

The Celtics have been right about plenty lately, and once Wallace gets on a roll about luxury taxes, a potential glut of point guards and the perils of next year's free agent class, he makes the trade sound much less like a risk than a necessity. There's only one problem. We've seen Vinnie play. He was better last season, but he was fetid the previous three. There was a time he was among the W.

ir JEFF JACOBS -He asked Seattle foratrade. He prayed it would be to Bostoa Now that both his worldly and spiritual indulgences have been met, Vin Baker calls himself the happiest man on the planet He is a Celtic. He is back home in New England. He joins a team that fell two victories short of the i if VIN BAKER and Shammond Williams are both happy about trading in their Seattle ASSOCIATED PRESS Li i Gamel Game 2 Tampa Bay Boston 22 0 0 010 000 602 000 1 3X 4 6 2 22 191 Tampa Bay Boston 000 2 00 000 2 00 00 5 000 5 9 0 4 110 J- Snyder Passes Major Test Voice Of Sox, Dies Legendary Broadcaster Collapses At Airport Three Hits, 2 RBI Help Bury Yankees By JEFF GOLDBERG COURANT STAFF WRITER By DOM AMORE COURANT STAFF WRITER BOSTON Ned Martin, the legendary radio and television voice of the Red Sox from 1961-92, died Tuesday in Raleigh, CLEVELAND The Indians continue to go with younger, untested players. And one of them, Earl Snyder of Plainville.putabigdentin the Yankees' first-place shield Tuesday night.

Snyder, 25, had his big INDIANS 9 YANKEES 3 N.C.Hewas78. Martin, famous for his cry of "Mercy!" after an exciting play, called two of the greatest moments in Red Sox history on radio the I final regular season victory of the "Impossible Dream" s'A ig67 pennant winners and i ft gest day in the major leagues, getting three hits, including a two-run single in the first inning, as the Indians beat the Yankees 9-3 before 38,520 at Jacobs Field. "A Yankees fan? You've got to be kidding me," said Snyder, who played Plain ville High and the University of Hartford. "I would have gotten killed by all my friends. I was a Red Sox fan." Snyder helped the Red Sox, who split a doubleheader with Tampa Bay, pare the Yankees' lead from 4 games to After "their come-from-behind victories over Boston on Saturday and Sunday, the Yankees had a sloppy, and very scary, night They made three errors, were shut out until the ninth by righthander Danys Baez, and, worst of all, saw AU-Star catcher Jorge Posada struck in the head by a bat and nearly knocked out.

'Z Posada was hit by Milton Bradley backs wing in the fifth inning, immediately going down on his stomach. When the trainers got to him, blood was streaming down the left side of his face. After several minutes, Posada, groggy, was helped up and walked off the field. He sustained a laceration near his left ear and was taken to a hospital for stitches. He did not speak to reporters after the game, but sent word he had a severe headache.

"It was brutal," said Andy Pettitte, who picked up Bradley's slow roller and flipped home before realizing Posada was in no position to catch the ball, an error that allowed two runs. "You see him lying on the ground, you see blood dripping from somewhere. Thank God he's fine and everything checked out all right" ASSOCIATED PRESS ITS HIS PARTY, and Nomar Garciaparra will hit three home runs in two consecutive innings of Game 1 if he wants to. After Party, No Sweep BOSTON GLOBE Ned Martin's Words: Oct. 1,1967 "The it's hoped toward shortstop, Petrocelli'sback, he's got it! The Red Sox win! And it's pandemonium on the field! Listen!" Oct.

21, 1975 "Game tied, 6-6. Darcy pitching. Fisk takes high and inside, ball one. Freddie Lynn on deck. There have been numerous heroics tonight, both sides.

The 0-1 delivery to Fisk. He swings. Long drive, left field! If it stays fair It's gone! Home run! The Red Sox win! And the Series is tied, three games apiece!" Carlton Fisk's 12th-inning homer in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series. Martin collapsed while taking a shuttle to his car at Raleigh-Durham Airport, the Red Sox announced during the second game of a doubleheader with Tampa Bay Tuesday night. Martin was returning from Monday night's Ted Williams memorial ceremony at Fenway, where he spoke, along with Carl Yas-trzemski, about his first meeting with Williams.

"It was in the clubhouse out in Arizona," Martin told emcee Peter Gammons. "I came up and Billy Muffett a Red Sox pitcher from 1960-62 introduced me to Ted Williams in the clubhouse. He said, 'Would like to meet I said, 'Are you kidding "He introduced me as the new announcer and Ted kind of looked up at me with a hooded eye and said, 'Well, I'm gone now but thank God I don't have to mess with you "I was part of the media, By JEFF GOLDBERG COURANT STAFF WRITER Last-Inning Reversal Spoils Red Sox's Day tune for the Red Sox, who had a chance to climb within 2V games of the Yankees, who lost in Cleveland. The ninth-inning collapse wiped out another solid effort by Derek Lowe against the Devil Rays. Lowe, who no-hit the Rays at Fenway on April 27 and allowed two hits in eight innings in St Petersburg last Wednesday, was dominant against the Rays againallowing five singles in seven innings.

The Red Sox had swept their first two doubleheaders this season, and appeared well on their way to sweep No. 3. It was all Red Sox offense in the first 0pLEASE SEE NOMAR, PAGE CS BOSTON The Red Sox scored 26 runs inarowonTuesday.Butit wasn't enough to avoid a stunning loss in the second game of a day-night double-header against the Devil Rays. After winning the matinee 22-4 and leading by four in the ninth inning of the nightcap, the Rays exploded for five runs to steal a 5-4 victory. After Chris Haney loaded the bases with none out in the ninth, closer Ugueth Urbina (0-6) allowed a two-run double to Andy Sheets and a three-run homer to Jared Sandberg oft" the Coke bottles above the Wall in left field.

Five batters. Five runs. Just like that. It was Sandberg's eighth homer of the season. Rey Sanchez led off the bottom half with a walk, but pinch hitter Brian Daubach struck out looking and Johnny Damon popped out to third for the second out First-game hero Nomar Garciaparra singled, moving Sanchez to second, but Manny Ramirez struck out to end it It was a devastating reversal of for you see.

He meant it I hope, in the way it was taken. But I got to know him a lot PLEASE SEE MARTIN, PAGE C5 PLEASE SEE POSADA, PAGE C5 Giants Skip Free Agents, Go With Youth Fassel Has Made It Work Before By JOHN ALTAVILLA COURANT STAFF WRITER Giants Camp Where: University at Albany (N.Y.) Starts: Thursday Jj (players report today) Exhibition opener Aug. 5 vs. Houston at Canton, Ohio, 8 p.m. Regular season i things," Fassel said.

"You have to handle them a little differently. Yeah, it's a challenge. Young guys can be nervous, anxious to grow. Take our offensive line which will feature three new starters. I think they are going to give everything they have, and I like that as a coach." Fassel has some experience with this.

He took the youngest team in the NFL to the playoffs in his rookie season (1997). Four years later, he took one of its biggest underdogs to Super Bowl XXXV. Now the job is to PLEASE SEE GIANTS, PAGE C6 ALBANY The realistic NFL coach understands nothing remains the same for long. For that he primarily has the game's economic structure to thank. The salary cap can stop any team in its tracks.

Given the time, a good organization can figure out a way to mini- COACH JIM FASSEL has his work cut out for him with an inexperienced Giants team. ASSOCIATED PRESS mize the damage. So when Jim Fassel jogs out to the fields at the University at Albany Thursday morning for the first practice of the season, only his surroundings promise to be familiar as he begins his seventh season as Giants coach. Much of his veteran nucleus has been stripped away by free agency and salary cap constraints. The Giants are the only NFL team who didn't sign a free agent from another roster in theoff-seasoa And apparently some of its camaraderie has been whittled away by the simmering feud between Michael Strahan and Tiki Barber, fueled by Strahan's refusal to sign a contract extension after setting the NFL sack record last season.

Fassel's job is to take what's left of a 7-9 team, combine it with young talent the organization says is underrated, and turn the tide of negativism that has been crashing against his shore. "It's a different way of looking at opener: Sept. 5 vs. 49ers at Giants Stadium, 8:30 p.m. More on camp, C6.