Press and Sun-Bulletin from Binghamton, New York • 8

Section Borrowed putter keys Price's win3C JU)1 4 Yanks outlast Orioles in slugfest4C -'Campy' recalled for persevereness6C mil Press Sun-Bulletin Monday, June 28, 1993 N.Y. METS PO For the recoirdL Young loses Albany-Colonie 12, Binghamton 6 Canton-Akron 1 1 Bowie 8 Reading 7, Ham'sburg 5 London 13, New Britain 5 Page 1C New York 9, Baltimore 5 Boston 8, Detroit 2 Toronto 5, Milwaukee 4 Minnesota 2, California 0 Chicago 6, Seattle 4 Texas 4, Oakland 0 Cleveland 3, Kansas City 2 Page5C painfully aware of each little detail: He is 0-12 as a starter and 0-12 as a reliever, 0-6 in day games and 0-18 at night, 0-14 at home and 0-10 on the road. The Mets have been outscored 129-66 during the streak. "It's not embarrassing," Young said. "Someone has to win, someone has to lose.

I'm just losing." The fourth inning symbolized the season for Young and the Mets. With runners on first and second and the Mets ahead 2-0, Todd Zeile hit a hard grounder last-place Mets (21-52), who have-lost 1 1 of 12 and 17 of 19. He has been sent lucky charms and hundreds of letters. A medium even offered to put Young in contact with Curtis, who died in 1943. Curtis' relatives have expressed sympathy for Young's plight.

"Everything is over now," Young said. "I'm in the record book." When Curtis lost 23 consecutive decisions, there was no mention of it in newspapers. Young, however, has been made NEW YORK (AP) Anthony Young lost his 24th consecutive decision Sunday to break an 82-year-old major league record for futility, as the St. Louis Cardinals won 5-3 over the New York Mets. The day started out on a positive note for Young (0-10), as the Mets took a 2-0 lead in the first off Joe Magrane (7-6).

Young was given a loud ovation when he was announced in the starting lineup, and again when he batted in the second inning. His teammates also seemed to be trying extra hard to finally get him a win. -i Pirates rally in 10th, Page 5C. "I always think this will be the day," Young said to the media. "Now that I have the record I hope you all will leave me alone." Young broke Cliff Curtis' record of 23 straight losses for Boston of the National League in 1910-1911.

Young has become a fan favorite this season at Shea Stadium, symbolizing the futility of the MAUREEN HUGHESPRESS SUN-BULLETIN plateau in his climb toward the major Binghamton. Alan Zinter, the New York Mets' top pick in the 1989 amateur draft, has hit leagues. Zinter is playing his third season at the Doubled level, the last two with BINGHAMTON METS zone Back in the co near the bag at third base. Bobby Bonilla stepped on the base, threw to second for a force play but Zeile beat the relay throw at first by just a step to avoid a triple play. Mark Whiten followed with a single that sent Zeile to third, and Brian Jordan singled in a run.

Rod Brewer, a part-time player, followed with a two-run double that gave St. Louis a 3-2 lead. St. Louis added two runs in the sixth on RBI singles by Tom Pag-nozzi and Magrane. EASTERN LEAGUE Albany Yanks score 29 in 3-game series London comes to town, Page 4C.

COLONIE The Albany-Colonie Yanri kees beat the Binghamton Mets, 12-6, Sunday to complete a three-game sweep and drop the Mets into seventh place in the Eastern League. Mets starter Jason Jacome (0-1) was shelled, eivine ud nine hits and six earned runs in three innings. Jacome's outing was typical of the Mets' suddenly ineffective pitching. Entering the series, Mets' pitchers had given up more" than five runs only once in 23 games. But the Mets, mired in a four-game losing streak, gave up 29 runs in the series, never holding the Yankees under six runs, and allowed more than 1 0 runs twice.

The Mets sunk into an 8-0 hole after, Albany scored two runs in the first inning and six in the second. Jose Pineda, who was l-for-4 with two runs and three RBI, hit a two-run homer in the Yankees' sec-. ond. The Mets staged a slight rally, scoring two in the fourth on a double by Andy Dziadkowiec, and one in the fifth on an RBI groundout by Alan Zinter to close the-deficit to 8-3. But Albany struck back, scoring one run in the both fifth and six innings, and two runs in the seventh on a triple by Jalal Leach, making the score 1 2-3.

The Mets scored two in the eighth on Zinter's homer to straight-away center, his 14th, which scored Aaron Ledesma, who reached on an infield hit to third. Binghamton added one in the ninth when Ricky Otero singled in Quilvio Veras, who doubled with two outs, to complete the scoring at 12-6. iriahamton Mts wai Reeling: The Binghamton Mets (32-42) fell to seventh place in the Eastern League as they lost their fourth straight decision, 12-6, Sunday at Albany. Next up: The Mets start a seven-game homestand at 7 tonight, the first of three games against the fifth-place London Tigers. The Canton-Akron Indians will be in for four games, starting Thursday.

Glen race flag and quickly decided to throw a red flag, stopping the race. But the red flag came too late for Jones. Debris at the accident scene wedged underneath the wheels of Jones' car. His crew removed the debris, but his gearbox broke when he tried to move the car. His day was over.

The race resumed after a 45-minute delay and Fangio cruised to a one-lap, 44.069-second victory for Toyota. "Only if they both break, that's how you could beat them," Buick Spice GTP driver Hugh Fuller said of Toyota. sweeps Mets raj Zinter rediscovering success by returning to past 7 Zinter's log Name: Alan Zinter. Age: 25. Height: 6-foot-2.

Weight: 185. Marital status: Married, Yvonne. Childhood idol: Jack Clark. Zinter's parents brought home an autograph for Alan In 1977, Clark's rookie year. Zinter's father saw a resemblance.

Zinter began to follow Clark's career. liked his presence on the field. I liked the way he intimidated the pitcher." Zinter's hitting philosophy: "Get a good pitch to drive, and drive It hard. Keep it simple." right-handed, is batting .265, with 47 RBI and a team-leading 14 home runs. He had 16 homers and drove in 50 runs all of last season.

"Sometimes, when there are high expectations on a player, he puts a lot of pressure on himself," Binghamton Mets manager Steve Swisher said. "And that's what happened to Alan. You have to find a style where you're comfortable, confident and productive. He's done that. The things we're seeing he was doing when he was drafted in the first round." race and the 14th consecutive IMSA GTP win for Toyota over two seasons.

"It's not easy going," said Fangio, who started second be- ta started in that team in GTP support. It appeared through the event that the race to an Fangio 40 seconds, only cars on the toyota a mfort St. Louis 5, New York 3 Houston 3, Atlanta 0 Pittsburgh 4, Philadelphia 3 (1 1 inn.) Los Angeles 3, Chicago 1 Cincinnati 7, San Diego 1 (1 1 inn.) San Francisco 5, Colorado 0 Florida 9, Montreal 2 Pages 1C.5C For late scores, phone 798-1343. Marlins add Perez to front office MIAMI (AP) Tony Perez was hired by, the Florida Marlins on Sunday as director, of international relations and special assistant to the general manager. Prior to the 1 993 season, Perez became the third Cuban major league manager when he was hired by the Cincinnati Reds, a team he starred for from 1967-76.

After just 44 games (20-24) Perez was fired and replaced by Davey Johnson. The Marlins hope Perez, 51, will use his Latin charm to attract Tony Perez interest from the large Hispanic population in Dade County as well as Latin America. "Tony will help us embrace our local Hispanic population and help us to become the team of the Americas," said Don Smiley, vice president of sales and marketing for the Marlins. Allergy keeps LeMond out of Tour de France PARIS (AP) Three-time champion Greg LeMond will miss the Tour de France because of an allergy that has weakened him too much to ride in the grueling, three-week race. Roger Legeay, head of LeMond's AN team, said Sunday that he wasn't putting LeMond on the starting list for the race, which begins Saturday.

Instead, he will name an all-French team. Wliii Dale Earnhardt holds a i 213-point lead in the point standings, a large bulge for the midway point of the season. Can any driver catch Earnhardt and prevent him from winning his sixth Winston Cup? Register your vole with either a rotary or touch-tone phone by 6 p.m. today. We wiD publish the results in Tuesday's Press Sun-Bulletin.

YES: 798-9447 NO: 798-9467 i Tragic endings Baseball players who died at the ban Pat Mynes, 1 907 shot by bartender. Bugs Raymond, 1912 hit with bat Ed Irvin, 1916 thrown out of bar, died in street. Larry McLean 1 921 shot by bartender. Dolly Stark, 1924 shot in brawt. Howie Fox, 1955 stabbed in brawl.

Mickey Fuentes, 1970 shot in brawl. SOURCE: BILL DEANE AND RICHARD TOPP Questions or comments? You can reach the sports dept. at 798-1191 (1-800-365-0077) from 3-1 1 p.m. Fax: 798-1 113. Late scores: 798-1343.

Charlie Jaworski is executive sports editor. FAC Searching for answers A standout catcher at Hanks High School in El Paso, Texas, Zinter attracted attention from big-time Division I college programs. He entered the University of Arizona in 1986 on full scholarship. By his junior year, he was All-America. Zinter became the New York Mets' No.

1 pick and the 24th pick overall in the June 1989 draft. "I felt that I was on track," Zinter said. "I was where I wanted to be. I wasn't surprised, because I knew that I had the ability." Zinter never would have predicted what happened once he became a professional. His first two seasons progressed as expected, and he appeared in six games with Double-A Jackson of the Texas League by the end of 1990.

When he got to Williamsport of the Eastern League in 1 99 1 however, something went wrong. He batted .220 with a slugging percentage of .344 that year and began to lose confidence. For the first time in his young pro career, he had more strikeouts than hits. In the off-season, Zinter worked on his swing with his father, Arizona head coach Jerry Kindall and batting coach Jerry Stitt. He was looking for a quick-fix solution to his lack of production.

See ZINTERPage 4C By CHERYL ROSENBERG Staff Writer The pitch, the swing strike three. Alan Zinter turned away in disgust. What's wrong, he thought, slowly walking back to the dugout. Why can't I hit anymore? Each time Zinter approached the plate, he hoped that this at-bat, the outcome would be different. But for most of 1991 and 1992, it wasn't.

"The way I approached the game changed," said Zinter, a first baseman catcher with the Binghamton Mets who was the New York Mets' No. 1 pick in 1 989. "I was trying to be the best too fast. I was so focused on having the perfect swing. After the first (unsuccessful) season (in 1991 at Williamsport), I said, 'It's not going to happen to me And it did.

It was just unbelievable to me. I didn't doubt I'd get back to where I was. I just didn't know how." Now, in his third season in Class AA, Zinter has some perspective on his two years of turmoil. During the off-season, Zinter began to find his way back to his All-America college form. More important, he regained his love for the game of baseball.

Zinter, a switch-hitter who throws MOTOR SPORTS Fangio, Toyota display dominance in I IMSA divisions that shared the track with the exotic GTP cars, spun and came to rest side-by-side across the top of the "Esses." Johnny O'Connell slammed into the right rear panel of his teammate Millen at about 150 mph. O'Connell's momentum also carried him into O'Neill's Buick Argo, blocking the track with burning, disintegrated cars and parts. O'Neill and O'Connell suffered minor injuries, while Millen was admitted to an Elmira hospital with head injuries and a broken right arm. IMSA officials threw a caution June 1992. But remember Toyota is the only racing with total factory about midway two-hour, 45-minute Toyota would reduce intrasquad scrimmage.

led Jones by nearly and they were the lead lap. But a serious, three-car accident just past the "Esses" series of turns on the 3.4-mile course changed that. Steve Millen and Brent O'Neill, racing in two of the six slower 0 1 3 injured in crash, Page 3C. By PAUL KELLY Assistant Sports Editor WATKINS GLEN Juan Manuel Fangio II insisted that Toyota can be beaten after he won the Camel Continental Sunday at Watkins Glen International. Come on, Juan.

Fangio, from Miami, lapped the entire field of 50 sports cars in his Toyota Eagle en route to victory in the IMSA Camel GT race. It was his third straight win in this J.M. Fangio II -'ate P.J. Jones. "When you can trust the car, everything comes to you." True, near-perfect reliability is a major factor in the streak Toyo- i I.