The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • C5

www.tennessean.com THETENNESSEAN Sunday, June 15, 2008 5C BASEBALL, NHL Quest for .400 leaves Jones very little alone time Chase for milestone draws attention the feat, he would be the oldest .400 hitter ever, surpassing Ty Cobb, who was 35 in 1922 when he hit .401. Ted Williams was the last player to hit .400, when he hit .406 in 1941. Even he knew the pressures involved, often saying, "I hope somebody hits .400 soon. Then people can start pestering that guy with questions about the last guy to hit .400." Never-ending questions The pestering has begun with Jones. Each stop brings more questions and the interest will only grow as long as he toes the .400 line.

Reporters from Sports Illustrated and the New York Times have already found their way into the Braves clubhouse. "Unfortunately, you hear about it 24-7," said the Dodgers' Nomar Garciaparra, who took a .400 average into July while with the Boston Red Sox in 2000. "You're constantly hounded." That season, Garciaparra was over .400 after the first game of a doubleheader on July 20, but dropped below in the second game. He finished at .372 to win his second consecutive batting title. Garciaparra is one of seven players who were hitting .400 after July 5 since the 1980 season, according to STATS LLC.

The most prominent on that list is former Royals third baseman George Brett, who was batting .400 after a Sept. 19 game. Nagging injuries took their tool and Brett finished at .390. There have been others who flirted with .400, including Rod Carew, who hit .388 with the Minnesota Twins in 1977. Gwynn, at the age of 34, made the last serious run at the mark before the strike robbed him of the opportunity.

Jones says his batting has improved with age. "I'm just smarter. I do a lot more homework," he said. "I know what pitchers I can do optimum damage against. I know what guys it doesn't suit me to try to go deep against." By CHRIS FOSTER Los Angeles Times The quest to hit .400 is not a private journey.

The Atlanta Braves' Chipper Jones is learning that each day. The Braves began a three-game series with the Angels Friday night, with Jones dragging a gaudy .414 batting average with him. He did not play Friday after a freak batting practice accident kept him out of the game. He fouled off a pitch, and the ball ricocheted off the crossbar at the top of the batting cage and struck him just under his left eye. Jones suffered a contusion and was taken for a CT scan which was negative.

He was back in the lineup Saturday and went 0-for-3, dropping him to .409. He has not spent a day under .400 since April 12 and the media weight, with those can-he-do-it questions, gets a little heavier every day. "It's still so early," Jones said. "We get into August and September and somebody's hitting .400, 1 think that's when you can start talking about it and start following them, but there's still a lot more baseball to play before we get to that point." The hive gets active Maybe so. But with so little buzz around the meandering Braves (32-35), reporters make a beeline for the third baseman's cubicle.

Can he maintain the pace? Will he stay healthy enough? Is it even possible to do it? All are questions that are a part of Jones' day, every day. "Sure you can hit .400 in this day and age," said Tony Gwynn, who was hitting .394 in 1994, when the season was wiped out by a strike. "Why not? Hitting .400 is about giving yourself an opportunity every time you go up there and not wasting an at bat. Chipper has been able to do that and remain his team's top run producer, which is amazing." If Jones, 36, were to achieve DANIEL SATO DES MOINES REGISTER Iowa Cubs grounds crew member Cory Harter watches the game against the Nashville Sounds from a seat near the first base line. "It's just weird not hearing the music when they walk up," said Harter about the game, which was played in an empty stadium because to flooding in the area.

Sounds: City lets teams play ball if no fans show Iowa 5, Nashville 4 Iowa (DH) When: 1 p.m. Georgia rallies for 4 runs to beat top-seeded Miami public safety," Bernabe said. "We didn't even put the game on radio." An announcement that Saturday's game was postponed was posted on the Cubs' Web site on Saturday. Callers to the team's office got a recorded message that the game was postponed. So why play at all? "The reason for playing is to maintain my obligation to the league to play the 144-game schedule," Bernabe said.

"With sand running out of the hourglass relative to where we're at in the schedule, I don't have a whole lot of flexibility. "I'm trying to respect the wishes of the City, I'm trying to respect the wishes of the league, and I'm trying to keep the players from having too many doubleheaders." The teams are scheduled to play a doubleheader today at 1 p.m. Friday's postponed game was added to the Monday schedule for another double-header. The Sounds are scheduled to play at Iowa July 18-20. "The city will inspect the area (this morning), but I'm not anticipating any problem," Bernabe said.

"The evacuation was lifted and the bridges were opened, so I'm assuming fans can come to the game. "I'm not doing this for grins and giggles. We were expecting around 12,000 fans. It's costing us a lot of money, but we have to play." Tennessean News Services contributed to this report. City officials granted permission for the game to be played Saturday.

Flooding inside the ballpark and at the adjacent parking lot forced the postponement of Friday's game. "We got permission from the city to play, only if we wouldn't let anyone in," Cubs GM Sam Bernabe said. "They didn't want any more people downtown than needed to be." Admit one, or two The field was dry Saturday, and one of the few sounds heard during the game was the whir of a machine cleaning mud from the once-flooded parking lot. Two scouts watched from behind home plate. Cubs front office employees retrieved foul balls.

There was no public address announcer or introduction music for each batter. The large video scoreboard in the outfield was turned off, and a handheld scoreboard was used instead. The crack of the bat provided most of the noise, although players and umpires could be heard clearly, too. "The only other time I played in front of a crowd of zero was when I was in rookie ball," said Iowa's Josh Kroeger, whose seventh-inning homer broke a 4-4 tie. The game started at 4 p.m.

three hours early so the stadium lights wouldn't attract fans to the downtown area. "We were very conscious of Predators Next: Today at GAME AT A GLANCE Losing pitcher: Steve Bray (1-5) Big sticks: Chris Woodward 2-for-3, Rotino 2-for-4, extends hitting streak to 22 games. How they lost: Josh Kroeger hit a two-out solo home run in the eighth inning for the Cubs' final run to give the Sounds a season-high tying six-game losing streak. Woodward had tied the game for Nashville in the seventh with a home run. Today's pitchers: Game 1, Sounds LHP Sam Narron (3-1, 4.05 ERA) vs.

LHPJ.R. Mathes Game 2, LHP Lindsay Gulin (2-4, 3.12) vs. RHP Mike Burns (4-4, 2.61). PCL STANDINGS AMERICAN CONFERENCE Northern Division Iowa (Cubs) Omaha (Royals) Memphis (Cardinals) Nashville (Brewers) Southern Division Oklahoma (Rangers) New Orleans (Mets) Albuquerque (Marlins) Round Rock (Astros) 38 29 33 33 34 35 27 40 37 32 34 35 31 36 30 38 Pet GB .567 41z .493 .403 Pet GB .536 .493 3 .463 5 .441 61z PACIFIC CONFERENCE Northern Division Salt Lake (Angels) Portland (Padres) Tacoma (Mariners) Col. Springs (Rockies) 43 24 33 33 33 34 30 37 Pet GB .642 9k .493 .448 Southern Division Sacramento (Athletics) 41 27 Las Vegas (Dodgers) 38 31 Fresno (Giants) 32 35 Tucson (Diamondbacks) 27 42 Pet GB .603 .551 41z .478 812 .391 1412 Trotz) who I think should have been the coach of the year and when you are moving in the right direction, you don't want to add a piece to the puzzle that will take you in another direction." Trust your eyes When assessing character, Fenton said the Predators rely mostly on in-person evaluation Scouts travel worldwide to watch how potential top picks act and react on and off the ice.

As the draft nears, the team sets up individual interviews to appraise attitudes and ask about troubling instances. This is where the Predators said they put the most stock. "There are so many different ways of evaluating players whether it's statistics or hands-on experience," Fenton said. "But I always revert back to you have to trust your eyes. I have been in this for a long time, and I can't honestly say too many players have fooled me in an CUBS 5, SOUNDS 4 Nashville ab Chavez, 2b 5 hbi 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 1 2 1 0 1 1 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 7 4 Iowa ab Pie, cf 3 Figueroa, ss 3 Murton, If 3 Kroeger, rf 2 Dubois, 1 2 MGehee, 3b 4 Scales, 2b 4 Hill, 3 Marshall, 1 a-Torres, ph 0 Ascanio, 0 b-Richie, ph 0 Carrasco, 0 Blanco, ph 1 Brower, 0 Totals 26 bi 0 0 0 Gwynn, cf 4 Nix, rf 3 Nelson, 1 3 Rottino, 4 Katin, If 4 Heether, 3b 4 Wdward, ss 3 Gardner, 2 Ramirez, 0 Stacker, ph 1 Bray, 0 b-Cain, ph 0 Totals 33 0 1 1 1 1 2 0 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 7 Nashville Iowa 010 101 100 100 012 10X 4 7 1 5 7 1 E-Nelson (3); Scales (8).

2B-Heether(7), Woodward (1); Murton (11). HR-Katin (11), Woodward (1); Kroeger (8). SB-Kroeger (8). SF-Woodward; Kroeger, Richie. GIDP-Rot-tino; Murton.

LOB-Nashville Iowa 7. DP-Nashville Iowa 3. Nashville ip Gardner 5 6 Ramirez, BS, 2 1 0 Bray 1-5 2 1 Iowa ip er bb so er bb so Marshall 5 4 2 2 Ascanio 1111 Crrasco W.3-1 2 1 1 1 Brower 3 110 0 HBP-Kroeger (by Gardner). PCL SCHEDULE Saturday's results Iowa 5, Nashville 4 Oklahoma 1 1 New Orleans 9 (G1) New Orleans at Oklahoma (G2) Las Vegas 3, Salt Lake 0 (7) (G1 Las Vegas at Salt Lake (G2) Colorado Springs at Tucson Memphis at Round Rock Omaha at Albuquerque Portland at Fresno Tacoma at Sacramento Today's Games Colorado Springs at Tucson Las Vegas at Salt Lake Memphis at Round Rock Nashville at Iowa (DH) New Orleans at Oklahoma Omaha at Albuquerque Portland at Fresno Tacoma at Sacramento interview. At the end of the day what you see is what you get." Red flags with prospects include poor one-on-one interviews, unbecoming evaluations from teammates, coaches and family, and unwavering selfishness.

Fenton said he also keeps an eye on problem players or potential problem players in other leagues and sports. "Not just the Titans, but in general I take into account every situation that happens in sports," Fenton said. "I have looked at some of the past characters that do things I find over the line as far as what the team is all about, and certainly I steer away from things that are not conducive for the environment. "I won't name names, but I can think of five guys in the NFL I wouldn't want on my team." Buying into Beach? Beach could be a good fit for a team in need of an agitator must weigh character vs. talent in upcoming draft game, also today.

Stanford 16, Florida State 5: Brent Milleville's three-run homer highlighted Stanford's record-tying 11-run ninth inning and the Cardinal beat Florida State in the opening game. The Cardinal's big inning came after Florida State tied it at 5-5 on Jason Stidham's two-out, three-run homer off Drew Storen in the eighth. It was the seventh time a team had scored 11 runs in an inning at the CWS. Posey wins Howser Trophy: Florida State catcher Buster Posey was voted the winner of the Dick Howser Trophy as the player of the year. He came into the CWS batting a nation-leading 460.

He also leads the nation in home runs (26), RBIs (92), hits (114), runs (88), on-base percentage (.564) and total bases (220). change with more focus, but when you start hearing about a player at junior age being a question mark, you pay attention to that." Teams have paid attention, and projections have Beach being selected anywhere from early in the first round to late in the second round. If the Predators pass on him early, Beach could still fall to them at 40th overall, Nashville's first pick of the second round. Fenton would not comment on specific players in this draft. As for enforcers in general he said: "The better ones history-wise are guys who do it at the right time.

But when you see a guy who is doing it on (his) own agenda or does it at (the) wrong time consistently, that bodes to say he probably can't change his ways." And then he is not worth the headache. Reach Jessica Hopp at 347-8365 or jhopptennessean.com. Associated Press Georgia scored four runs in the ninth inning two on Miami closer Carlos Gutierrez's throwing error and the Bulldogs came from behind to 5 beat the top- seeded Hurricanes 7-4 in the CWS CoUege World ROUNDUP Series in Omaha, on Saturday night. Gutierrez, the Minnesota Twins' first-round draft pick, came on to start the ninth to protect Miami's one-run lead. He couldn't do it, and Miami lost for the first time in 46 games in which it led after eight innings.

Georgia (42-23-1) advanced to a game against Stanford on today. Miami will try to stay alive in Bracket 1 when it meets Florida State in an elimination who can provide offense. Over the last two seasons with the Everett Silvertips, the 18-year-old power forward posted 56 goals and 65 assists. He earned rookie of the year honors in 2007 and a place in the Canadian Hockey League top prospects game this year (he did not play because of a sports hernia). He's not afraid to fight, amassing 418 penalty minutes.

He was the lone WHL player to average one point and more than three penalty minutes a game and is the seventh-ranked North American skater by Central Scouting, which evaluates and rates prospects. Beach has been said to take his toughness too far, however. There's a suspension for bumping a referee as well as reports of antics such as making fun of an opponent's birth defect. "When you hear stuff like that a caution light goes on," Brophy said. "It's not to say a player can't Nashville tends to avoid risky prospects such a high pick on a potential problem player.

"For us character plays a vital role," Predators assistant general manager Paul Fenton said. "As a franchise it is one of the things we have put in place and tried to build on. As you see with the way the team plays and the way the coaches approach everything that character is really one of the most important things we look for." And according to NHL experts, it should be. The best way to claim a championship is with high-integrity competitors, said Hockey News senior writer Mike Brophy, who cited the squeaky clean, Stanley Cup-winning Detroit Red Wings. As for the Predators, Brophy said: "If you are trying to build a championship team, character has got to be one of your highest priorities.

When you are coached by a guy (Barry By JESSICA HOPP Staff Writer Afraid to pick him but afraid to pass him up: Such is the conundrum pro scouts and general managers face when deciding if talent outweighs trouble with a potential "bad boy" draft pick. Nashville sports fans witnessed firsthand what can happen when a risky pick goes wrong as the Pacman Jones saga played out with the Titans. At next weekend's NHL Entry Draft in Ottawa, it will be the Predators' turn to weigh risk vs. reward. Western Hockey League star Kyle Beach is a top prospect, a tall, talented, tenacious center with a reputation for sometimes pushing the envelope too far.

The Predators have the ninth and 15th overall picks, yet a team that has always valued character might shy away from risking.