The Morning Call from Allentown, Pennsylvania • 39

FT? Lindenmuth in top cycling form Lehigh's Crockett back from injury INDEX Pro football Ambassadors Major leagues Scoreboard Pro basketball C2 C4 CS OO Ol PAGE C9 PAGE C8 SECTION THE MORNING CALL SUNDAY, AUGUST 24, 2003 ssskff feft loss to Care ranus I fx Z. 1 en was giving up a two-out single to Bobby Abreau in the ninth. That brought up Jim Thome, who already had three hits and an RBI his 100th of the seasoa Thome, who went 3-for-4, is 9-for-17 against St. Louis (529) with 10 RBIs. After Abreau stole second, Isringhausen intentionally walked Thome and got Pat Burrell to fly out to center to end the game.

"You want to face the best, A 5-3 win is the first for St. Louis in eight meetings with Philly. From Call wire services ST. LOUIS Matt Morris returned to the mound for St. Louis and received some help from his two new teammates.

Sterling Hitchcock won in his St. Louis debut Saturday, pitching a scoreless inning in relief of Morris as the Cardi- nals beat the Philadelphia Phillies for the first time in eight meetings, 5-3. "It was great to have some fresh arms," La Russa said. "We needed that." Hitchcock, who was acquired Friday from the New York Yankees in exchange for two minor leaguers, took over for Morris, who was making his first start since July 2L to start the sixth with the Cardinals trailing 1-0. He allowed a hit to Bobby Abreu to start the inning, but escaped unscathed.

St. Louis then scored five times in the bottom half to take controL Mike Dejean also made his first appearance since coming to St. Louis from Milwaukee on Friday. He pitched a scoreless seventh, but gave up two runs on two hits in the eighth on RBI singles by Jim "Thome and Chase Utley. Morris allowed a run and six hits in five innings in his first game since being hit by a line drive by San Diego's Mark Kotsay and breaking his hand.

"It felt good to get out there and compete again," Morris said. Jim Edmonds went 4-for-4 and Jason Isringhausen worked out of a one-out bases-loaded jam for the Cardinals Isringhausen, who normally works one inning, then pitched a scoreless ninth for his 14th save in 15 chances. "That didn't bother me," Isringhausen said of pitching the eighth. "My job is to make pitches, and I thought I did that pretty well." What did bother Isringhaus Tom Gannam Associated Press PHILADELPHIA'S T0MAS PEREZ leaps to avoid Cardinal Scott Rolen after throwing to first to complete a double play. PHILLIES PAGE C4 aley ends A PITCH FOR THE BEST MOUND The pitcher's mound at Veterans Stadium, according to many major league pitchers, is the best in baseball.

And it appears that for Phillies pitchers, with the exception of Randy Wolf, the mound is good to them. loldout, amves 1 iladebhia Rheal Cormier Home 3 0 0 0.90 30 19 3 9 29 Away 0 0 0 1.91 33 21 7 11 23 Dan Plesac Home 1 0 1 1.04 17.3 9 2 2 17 Away 1 0 0 1.93 9.3 10 2 4 10 Brett Myers Home 7 4 0 2.95 85.3 69 28 31 76 Away 5 3 0 4.94 71 83 39 23 41 Kevin Millwood Home 5 5 0 3.44 86.3 76 33 30 84 Away 7 3 0 4.20 79.3 76 37 19 49 Vicente Padilla Home 6 4 0 3.50 82.3 80 32 31 54 Away 5 4 0 4.25 72 70 34 18 35 Carlos Silva Home 2 0 1 3.60 4 0 37 16 15 23 Away 1 1 0 6.18 27.7 31 19 15 12 RandyWolf Home 5 4 0 3.76 83.7 71 35 32 79 Away 7 3 0 3.12 75 58 26 22 61 RandyWolf Kevin Milwood IN Cross section of regulation pitcher's mound The report also said Staley will be available to the media at noon. There was no additional comment from Eagles officials. Staley has been a holdout since since July 28, when he didnt INSIDE report to training Special teams camp with had their share the rest of of problems the Eagles against Patriots veterans PAGE C2 As with the Eagles use of the Internet to break Saturday's news, Staley used his personal Web site, www.ducestaley.com, to post an Aug. 4 letter to fans, teammates and coaches to explain he wished to remain with the team, but was seeking Hie running back meets with coach Reid and will practice today.

By Larry O'Rourke Of The Morning Call Saturday appeared as an empty block on the Philadelphia Eagles' preseason work schedule, but it was hardly a do-nothing day at the corner of Broad and Pattison in South Philly. Duce Staley drove into the Eagles' practice facilityheadquarters and, according to the team's official Web site, into their 2003 season. Staley "will be on the practice field at 8:45 a.m. Sunday today when the team works again," the Web site reported. 6' 5'2' Second base Home plate The slope of the mound is 1 inch per foot Vicente Padilla Sources: ML8.com, Associated Press photos, data compiled by Don Bostrom Craig Larimer The Morning Call EAGLES PAGE C2 The Vet's sound mound getting rave reviews Bobby Bonds dead at 57 "In my book, this one and SkyDome tin Toronto are the best I've ever seen," said Plesac, who has worked on every mound in the majors during his 18-year career.

INSIDE Get all the dirt on KLAWOG that you need to know. PAGE C4 Phillies ace Kevin Millwood said the Vet ranks No. 1. "This has always been my favorite," said Millwood, who was 6-0 with a 1.99 ERA at the Vet while the Vet mound gives them a real comfort zone. "It's like if the back of your chair is broken, you're not going to be very comfortable sitting in your office," Millwood said.

"That's how it is for us. To have a good mound, one that makes you feel comfortable, makes a big difference to a pitcher in his performance." Plesac used a different analogy. "Mounds are a lot like cars," Plesac said. "Everyone has a different taste in what they like. Some guys get in a car and drive it and it just feels good and feels right.

That's the way mounds are." That's why you won't see many pitchers lining up to volunteer to pitch for the Cincinnati Reds. "The Great American Ballpark is by Park on Wednesday night, watching his superstar son and the San Francisco Giants. Bobby Bonds died shortly before 9 a.m. PDT, a Giants spokesman said. Barry Bonds will be away from the team indefinitely.

The Giants and their fans observed a touching moment of silence before Saturday's game against Florida. A sellout crowd rose and stood in nearly complete quiet at the stadium on the busy San Francisco bay waterfront as photographs of Bonds in his San Francisco playing days flashed on the scoreboard. Its turf might be the worst anywhere, but its mound is considered the best in baseball. By Don Bostrom Of The Morning Call PHILADELPHIA Whether or not a pitcher becomes king of the hill often depends on the hill. "Fans have no idea how important a mound is to us," veteran reliever Dan Plesac said.

"It's our life. It's very important. You want to feel comfortable. You want consistency, slope and a good landing area." For all of those reasons, the Veterans Stadium mound grades out as one of the best in the majors. Baseball standout and father of Barry Bonds had been ill for a year.

ByGregBeacham Of The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO Bobby Bonds, one of the first major-leaguers to blend home-run power with base-stealing speed and the father of one of baseball's greatest sluggers, died Saturday. He was 57. Barry Bonds' father had been ill for nearly a year with lung cancer and a brain tumor, but he never lost his love for baseball. He was at Pacific Bell a member of the Atlanta Braves. His splendid no-hit performance against San Francisco on April 27 only added to Millwood's affection for the Vet mound.

"I kind of wish they can bring it over to the new ballpark," he grinned. Pitchers are creatures of habit and MOUND PAGE C4 BONDS PAGE C8 Dixon earns pole for today's IRL race ICung and putter reign at Berldeigh 4 1 of the Wachovia LPGA Classic hosted by Betsy King for a 204. It was enough to give her the lead by one stroke over Meg Mallon, who finished with a 1-under 71 and a 205. Mallon, who lived by her putter on Friday, received some semi-mortal wounds from it Saturday. Another player who lived by her putter, to her great advantage, was Karrie Webb.

Webb turned in the day's best round, a 65, to jump right into car race when he took the checkered flag in the final CART race here in 2001. Dixon wants another in today's Indy Racing League Firestone Indy 225 (3 p.m.). Given that he'll start from the pole, who'd care to bet against him? What Dixon is most eager to do, though, is win today by virtue of having the fastest car not just the one that gets the best fuel mileage. In 2001, Dixon won only She has a 1 stroke lead over Mallon going into today's final round. By Ben Reese Of The Morning Call It's pretty much an unwritten rule on the professional golf circuits.

If you live by the putter, you may die by the putter. Candie Kung lived by her putter Saturday, shooting a 6-under 66 in the third round He wants to win with the fastest car, not because of fuel strategy. ByTedMeixetl Of The Morning Call Even though he is still only 22 years old, winning an Indy car race at Nazareth Speedway is old hat for Scott Dixon. The New Zealander from the Target Chip Ganassi Racing stable became the youngest driver to ever win an Indy Michael Kubal The Morning Call SCOTT DIXON eyes the field before time trials at Nazareth. He won the pole on the mile oval with a lap of 19.6633 seconds, or 171.182 mph.

IRL PAGE C12 WACHOVIA PAGE C3.