Pensacola News Journal from Pensacola, Florida • 53

unplug 0 pw yyy i yyryi i i i Kevin Cogan, left, Geoff Brabham and Bobby Rahal qualify for today's U.S. Grand Prix, 10D One day at a time for Wiggins 6D News Journal rn IMAMS 'JhUMm: Mackerel tip scales 8D Pensacola, Florida Sunday, June 30, 1985 li-lUS) lis Top seeds survive day of upsets Rose nurtures flowering skills Good morning Pete Rose. The name evokes visions of blooming vibrant flowers inbedded in mulch that keeps them a certain consistency year after year. WIMBLEDON Germany's Bettina Bunge 7-6, 6-3. Connors, 32, whose forte throughout his career has been his aggressive style, looked his age in stopping Ramesh Krishnan of India 7-5, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2, and Lend! outlasted American Mike Leach 6-3, 1-6, 6-2, 6-7, 6-4 in a match that began Friday and was interrupted three times by rain.

Sabatini, 15, the women's 15th seed, lost to France's Catherine Tanvier 6-7, 6-4, 6-1, and Hu Na, the first native of China to play in the women's singles, at the All England Club, was eliminated by South Africa's Rene Uys 6-2, 4-6, 6-0. Other seeds to lose were No. 6 Claudia Kohde-Kilsch of West Germany, No. 9 Bonnie Gadusek of the United States and No. 10 Kathy Jordan of the U.S.

in the women's field. Sixth-seeded Pat Cash of Australia was ousted, as were No. 9 Johan Kriek of the U.S. and No. 15 Tomas Smid of Czechoslovakia, the men's division.

See NAVRATILOVA, 11D WIMBLEDON, England (AP) Martina Navratilova, Ivan Lendl and Jimmy Connors all struggled to victories Saturday, but the Wimbledon tennis championships, again interrupted by rain, lost some of its charm as crowd favorites Gabriela Sabatini and Hu Na were eliminated. All told, seeded players were eliminated from the All England Lawn Tennis championships. Also forced to the limit was third-seeded Hana Mandlikova of Czechoslovakia, lit. tilt umtjr A ii v' wet i Phils rip Expos, 6-2, on Maddox's 3 hits, Gross' 4-hit pitching Standings 2D Roundups MONTREAL (AP) Garry A idox had three hits and drove in three runs to back the four-hit pitching of Kevin Gross as the Philadelphia Phillies downed the Montreal Expos 6-2 Saturday. Gross (6-7) did not allow a hit until the fifth inning.

He struck out five and 'walked only one en route to his first complete game of the season and also had an RBI single. The Phillies struck quickly against Expos starter Mickey Mahler (1-2). Juan Samuel led off the first with a single and Mike Schmidt doubled one out "I W'" Miller lifts Stallions past Gamblers, 22-20 who dropped the first set before eliminating Australia's Dianne Balestrat 4-6, 6-2, 7-5. The schedule was cut short again because of rain a replay of the entire first week. Navratilova, the women's co-top seed with Chris Evert Lloyd, was to a first-set tiebreaker before busting West games," said tournament director Jody Skelton.

"And that's what makes a good tournament." While Skelton does not know exactly how long the tournament has been in existence, he said it has been at least 40 years running, making it one of the oldest fast-pitch tournaments in the South. That's quite an accomplishment considering there is only one fast-pitch softb.U team in the Pensacola area. W.st makes this tournament so successful? "Tradition has a lot to do with it," Skelton said. "Plus, the beaches attract teams. Some of the teams have been here three to four days before the tournament started." See SOUTHEAST'S, 11D Clearwater to Tidewater, they are coming back to the ballpark.

From Little Falls to Great Falls, they want to see the former and future stars. From Maine to Hawaii, there is evidence that minor league baseball is in its best shape since shortly after World War II, when 11,000 players competed on 448 teams in 59 leagues. Attendance is up. Instability is down. New stadiums are being built, old ballparks are being renovated.

The prictf of a minor league franchise has gone sky high. "The minors never have been stronger," Boston Red Sox General Manager Lou Gorman said. "The Cincinnati Reds player-manager Pete Rose has been just that over his 20-plus years as a professional baseball player in both his hometown and during a short stopover in Phila? delphia. The fact he is fast approaching JEFF HAND immortality by doing the unthinkable breaking Ty Cobb's long-standing major league base hit record (4,191 is not lost among any vision Rose might possess of himself. As he told a recent gathering of Associated Press sports editors at Kings Island, Ohio, "I've got 45 hits to go (now 41) so I'll think about it more when it seems achievable though we do have a doubleheader tonight." Yet when the day arrives, Rose will not count himself as the "best hitter" who ever played the game.

I 'd li ke to be thought of for the "hustle" and consistency I've displayed over the years," he said. "But my God, the best hitter who ever played? No way. Ty Cobb has a lifetime .367 Rules can be detrimental He'd also like to believe Cobb would like the way Rose plays the game. And in today's marketplace, that would be the stamp of approval few could argue with, oldtimer or otherwise. As for his performance as a manager, Rose believes he brings an aspect to the game few have conveyed.

"Sometimes too many rules and reg- illations can be detrimental," he said. I only have two rules for my ballplayers. That they come to the bullpark on time and they give me their best effort every night. "I don't cart how long their hair is or how they dress as long as they're presentable. That has nothing to do with how well you can play this game.

You have to have an environment at the ballpark so they want to come to the bullpark. And I want my ballplayers to 'want' to come to the ballpark." With that in mind, Rose installed a television set in the clubhouse. An unprecedented move in Cincinnati history. For the most part it has worked. Most National League prognosticators picked Cincinnati to finish in the lower half of the Western Division.

Instead, the young Reds are battling for first place. Reds learn fundamentals Rose is not a savior, just a fundamentalist He believes if you do the things properly everything else will fall into place. One of the things Rase hopes will fall into place is the rift between the players and owners and the impending strike which might follow if cooler heads do not prevail. Rose, though he was in Philadelphia at the time, remembers the 1981 strike and how Cincinnati had the best overall record in the National League that season. Rut because of the strike and the two halves make a whole theory, the Reds became bridesmaids and didn't get into the league playoffs.

"I don't think there is going to be a strike," Rose said crossing his fingers. "I don't think either side is that stupid." Rose doesn't want a strike for anoth- er reason. He has missed 51 games in his career. A strike could leave him lapping at the heels of Ty Cobb in his quest to hold a record which may never again be broken or even tested. For the sake of baseball, I hope he's right.

Jeff Hand is the News Journal sports 'editor. SCOREBOARD American League Baltimore 16, Boston 4 Detroit 8, Toronto 0 i Milwaukee 6, New York 0 California 7, Kansas City 1 Minnesota 1, Chicago 0 Oakland 7, Texas 6 3, Cleveland 2 National League Philadelphia 6, Montreal 2 Los Angeles 3, Atlanta 2 Houstpn 8, San Francisco 1 St. Louis 6, New York 0 I Pittsburgh 6, Chicago 5, 15 innings San Diego 3, Cincinnati 0 1 Bruce GranerNews Journal Bobby Craig of Baton Rouge's C.C. 'Fish team chews on his tongue while pitching in a 4-0 loss to Pensacola's Castle Kings. Fast-pitch tourney steeped in tradition later.

After Glenn Wilson grounded out, Ozzie Virgil walked to load the bases and then Maddox blooped a double to right, scoring Samuel and Schmidt. Montreal scored in the fifth when rookie Al Newman broke up the no-hit bid with his first major league hit, went to second on an infield out and scored on Andre Dawson's pinch single. Philadelphia scored twice in the sixth on an RBI groundout by John Russell and Gross' RBI single. They added two more in the seventh against Dick Grapen-thin on Virgil's RBI single and Maddox' sacrifice fly. Mike Fitzgerald's seventh inning homer, his third in two games, accounted for the Expos' final run.

USFL PLAYOFFS pass from Kelly to Gerald McNeil and a 20-yard Fritsch field goal. Tvyo more Miller field goals for 26 and 41 yards, made it 16-10 before Kelly and Johnson linked up to make it 17-16. After Birmingham went up 22-20, the Gamblers started a final drive at their own 10-yard line, but Fritsch missed a 49-yard field goal attempt by one foot to the left on the game's final play. "Tampa Bay is the only team we haven't played this year, so we can only judge them by what we've seen on film," said Coach Charlie Sumner, whose 13-4-1 squad was fashioned from the pre-season merger with the Michigan Panthers. Oakland has an additional weapon to throw at Tampa Bay (10-8), the eighth-seeded team in the eight-team playoffs.

It is wide receiver Anthony Carter, who missed last week's 31-21 victory over Houston with an injured knee. Carter's value has been demonstrated by his absences last season, Michigan was 6-0 when he suffered a broken arm and the Panthers went 4-9 the rest of the' year, including the playoffs. This year, he caught 70 passes for 14 touchdowns and 1,323 yards after joining the Invaders, who were 7-11 last seaspn. Memphis and Denver were both 11-7 and both enter the playoffs with tandem quarterback situations. The Gold's Mouse Davis said he won't announce until game time whether his quarterback will be Vince Evans, who quarterbacked the team for the first half of the season, or second-half QB Bob Gagliano.

Gagliano was less than scintillating in Denver's two season-ending losses. Memphis will go with Mike Kelley, the passing half of the pass-run tandem with Valter Lewis. He threw for 273 yards in the first game between the teams this year, a 33-17 Memphis victory. highest regular-season total since 1955. Though the figure dropped to 17,580,299 last year, that's a far cry from the mid-1960s, when there were just 132 minor league teams and at-tendance bottomed out at 10 million.

Seven leagues drew more than a million people last year, and the NAPBL has set an optimistic goal of 20 million fans this year. Stadiums Within the past two years, new stadiums have been con- structed in five cities: Richmond, Greenville, S.C.; Huntsville, Old Orchard Beach, Maine; and Osceola, Fla. Richmond already had baseball. See MINOR, 7D Summary 2D By The Associated Press Danny Miller kicked five field goals, the last with two minutes left in the game, as Birmingham defeated Houston 22-20 in a United States Football League firs.t round playoff game Saturday at Birmingham's Legion The victory leaves Birmingham, the USFL regular season eastern conference champion, with a 14-5 record. Houston' ends its season at 10-9.

The Oakland Invaders enter the playoffs with the league's best record and the No. 1 seed today against Tampa Bay. Despite being the top seed, the only home playoff game for the Invadersis today's, to be televised nationally by ABC (WEAR-TV, Channel 3, Pensacola; WMBB-TV, Channel 13, Panama City). Because baseball's Oakland A's are scheduled at home next weekend, the Invaders have to go on the road if they win. Denver is at Memphis in the only other game today.

The first round winds up Monday with Baltimore at New Jersey. Birmingham opened a 10-0 lead in the first half and held the edge until Houston went up 17-16 in the third period on a 21-yard pass from Jim Kelly, the league's top quarterback, to Richard Johnson. Birmingham made it 19-17 on Miller's fourth field goal of the afternoon, a USFL playoff record 57-yarder, late in the third period, but Houston's Toni Fritsch countered with a 46-yard field goal that put the Gamblers ahead 20-19 in the final quarter. Miller opened the first-half scoring with a 39-yard field goal. On the ensuing kickoff, Birmingham's Ted Walton knocked the ball away from Clarence din and Dennis Woodberry recovered at the Houston 34-yard line.

Four plays latter, Stoudt hit, Jim Smith with an eight-yard touchdown pass. Houston tied the game on a 23-yard leagues are solid, the cities are solid. The minor leagues are at one of the peaks in their history." Johnny Johnson, president of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, which governs the minors, was equally optimistic "There always will be a couple of weak step-sisters. There will be a few poor ballparks and a few poor operations, but we've pretty much stabilized things the last six or seven years." There are several barometers to support their claims: Attendance Two years ago. the 162 teams that comprised the 17 leagues drew 18,559,190 fans the Scores 2D By Valerie Lynn Dorsey News Journal Twelve teams from Alabama, Louisiana and Florida converged on Exchange Park Saturday to take part in the 1985 Five Flags Fast-Pitch Softball Tournament.

Action continues today beginning at 10 a.m. and concludes with the championship game at 2 p.m. Some-of the best teams in the Southeast are vying with defending champions Poe Timber Company of Cotton-dale, Drillers of Baton Rouge, and Pensacola's Castle Kings. "So far, we have had good weather, games starting on time and close Minors are taking on major proportions Re-emergence of farm systems rooted in better management, facilities Facts, figures 2D First of three-part series. By Bill Koenig Gannett News Service -t Catch a rising star.

Or perhaps a falling comet. That's what the minor leagues always have been about. The kid who has nothing on which to hang his hat but a dream. The old-timer who can't quite let go. Neither one is a millionaire.

That and love of the game are the only common denominators. Maybe that's what turns on the fans. Fan 8 are turning on again. From.