The Indianapolis News from Indianapolis, Indiana • 43

SECTION TRIBEE-3 500 SCORECARDE-4 HIGH SCHOOL TRACKE-7 WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 1990 THE INDIANAPOLIS NEWS; Reds tune in walk- as man By JIM LITKE AP Sport Writer CHICAGO Andre Dawson likes respect at least as 'much as the next guy. But he admitted having second thoughts after the Cincinnati Reds fitted him for a strait jacket and walked him, still kicking and screaming, into the history books. I VJ Eight times Tuesday, the Na tional League's grim reaper of posed to be getting older, not better. He was supposed to be disabled, not dominant. "One thing I never do is put pressure on myself.

But it's funny how the same guys who will build you up, will write yur obit," Dawson paused, checking himself, "will announce your retirement. "They don't know the anguish of rehabilitating a knee, they don't know how hard it is. How frustrating it gets to be pitched around all the time. They don't know what makes you tick." By the same token, when Dawson is the subject, few people do. Even Cubs manager Don Zimmer.

who often sounds as though he is in awe of Dawson, didn't expect to have him around at the start of the season. "When he came to camp and we had a look at him, we knew how hard he'd worked, but the knee looked so bad we planned to (put him on the disabled list) at the start of the season. We figured he, 'He's a "But the last 10 days of camp, he suddenly started moving, like all that work suddenly paid off just like that." Coming into Tuesday's game, he was hitting .346, with league-leading totals in homers (13) and RBI (41), yet has yet to get hot at least by his definition. "I don't feel like it yet," he said. "When you're hot, you hit everything on the nose.

The ball looks like a balloon. Those things haven't happened yet." Opposing managers might beg to differ. Little wonder, then, that Piniella felt Dawson should rest his bat on the eighth. Three times he ordered Dawson walked (by Tom Browning in the first and eighth Innings and Scott Scudder in the 14th) when there was only one man on and two out; twice more (by Tim Birtsas in the 12th and Scudder again in the 1 6th) to load the bases with two out. "Hey," Piniella said, "I don't need to tell you that he's been hot and it's not like this is the first time the guy's been on fire." The revolving door that led to the mound at Wrigley Field spun so often that it made his head swim, and about the only constant he could remember afterward was instructing several of the pitchers who walked through it to walk the guy in blue pinstripes wearing No.

8. "How many did he have?" Piniella asked reporters. "Five? My God." It was a measure of respect never accorded Babe Ruth or Henry Aaron. Only Roger Maris and Garry Templeton, with four intentional passes each, had ever sniffed such rarified air before Dawson. It became so predictable and moved so near comedy by the end that it seemed Rodney Dangerfield was batting behind him.

Dawson, though, was closer to a grimace than a grin by the time it was over. "What did I do," he said to no one in particular, "to deserve that?" Depends on where you want to start. Coming into this season at age 35 and coming off his sixth knee operation, Dawson was sup late walked to the plate. And ri five of those times, by design. he kept on walking.

The first intentional pass came in the first inning against the first Cincinnati pitcher, the last In the 16th against the seventh. If that was difficult to follow. Andre Dawson imagine how befuddled Reds manager Lou Piniella must have felt after dropping a 2-1 decision. Cheever learning mi Vs Race ropes Rookie finds new experience By DICK DENNY The Indianapolis News The last time a carburetor was used in a car during a 500-Mile Race was, 1952, six years before Eddie Cheever was born. Thursday, the 32-year-old GO American-born Grand Prix veteran will take part in his first Carburetion Day activities at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Cheever. who was honored Tuesday as the fastest rookie for this Sunday's Race, smiled when he heard 500 COUNTDOWN CARBURETION DAY Thursday. Gates open 8 a.m. (tickets $2), pit practice 8:30 a.m., drivers orientation meeting 9:45 a.m., final two-hour track practice 11 a.m., pit stop contest 1:30 p.m. RACE Sunday, gates open 5 a.m., Race at 11 a.m.

stand," said Cheever after an American Dairy Association of Indiana luncheon at the Speedway Motel. "I'm used to warm-ups on race morning, but obviously they run a very good show and attract many people. But all of this is a new experience, which I must say is strange. Novel but Cheever was born in Phoenix, grew up in Rome and now lives In Monte Carlo. Monaco, with his wife, Rita, and 1 -year-old daughter.

Estelle. He remembers vividly the first time he saw the Inside of the Speedway. "It was a rainy day In Febru- Sec CHEEVER 5 Eddie Cheever GASOLINE ALLEY Wayne Fuson A vote for qualifying status quo THERE is an old saw which goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," and it Is apropos to qualifying at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. There are two races each May at the old Brickyard. One is the 500-Mile Race, which will be run for the 74th time Sunday.

The other is the mad 10-mile qualify- Ing dash for starting positions in the big go. Qualifying procedures have been changed through the years. There was a time when utter chaos reigned in the first-day qualifying line. In those days only drivers who completed trials on the first day could win the pole. If only two cars were able to try it because of weather, then so be it.

The faster of the two was the pole car. You never saw such a mad rush to the line as In those days especially if there was a threat of rain. Some cars were dented from wrecks In the pits. Some mechanics had their toes run over by their overzealous compatriots. It was a mess.

And it was unfair. Somebody then came up with the idea to draw for qualifying spots. That was the first move in the right direction. Then they added the rule that guaranteed everybody in the first-day lineup a shot at the pole even though it might take three days to run through the line which it did this year. There has been some grousing that the guys in the back of the line didn't have a fair shake, that those up front who got to qualify that first weekend had better weather.

Sec FUSON 5 1 I v--; vO i i I- what might seem like a contradiction. Even though the carburetor has become extinct at the Speedway, it lives in tradition. Carburetion Day is the final time the 33 drivers can practice 1 1 a.m. to I p.m. "There are a lot of things new to me here and difficult to under- w- Great 500 moments He not only won trat did it In record apeed, averaging 135.601 miles per hour to beat Jim Rathmann, who waa the rnnner-np three rimes before he finally won it himself in 1960.

Pat O'Connor, a handsome Hooaier, finished eighth in '67 and waa heralded aa the brightest new atar on auto raclnga horizon. Hia promise waa never fulfilled. O'Connor was killed on the first lap of the '58 race after a disorganized start. The Indianapolis News A day or so before the 1957 Race, Sam Hanks told a reporter-friend that If he won, he'd announce hia retirement in Victory Lane. The morning of the Race, the Great Hooaier Daily headlined the atory.

Well, Hanks did win in a yellow Belond Special and the first thing he aald when the car roiled to a atop waa "that waa my laat race." And, it waa. Hanka later became director of racing at the Speedway. Associated Press A Speedway maintenance crew member changes light bulbs on the scoring tower Tuesday. i a i uiiers sKare main Line Dumars' sneak attack on Bulls gives Pistons two-game lead to 3-1 Stanley Cup edge 1 vii Tho Associated Pross AUBURN HILLS. Mich.

Joe Dumars has made such a splendid name as a defender that teams tend to forget what an offensive threat he can be. scored 27 points In the first When Dumars game of the Eastern Confer- 47 I WEST GOES UPTEMPO Page E-3 ence finals, Detroit teammate Bill Laimbeer called him assists, while Messier contributed three assists. "Messier was criticized for the first three games," Oilers coach John Muckler said. "1 knew it was only a matter of time before (that line) would break out. They showed a lot of Intensity." Messier, for one.

had been the object of negative press because of his lack of point production. The Oilers' leading scorer during the season and their leading player during the first three playoff series, Messier had practically disappeared statistically In the finals. In the first three games of the finals, he had contributed but one assist to the Oiler offense. There were even rumors that Messier had been playing with an Injured rib. but Messier denied those reports.

Boston coach Mike Milbury said, "We were outskated tonight and simply outplayed." Tho Associated Press EDMONTON. Alberta With their "Main Line" In full throttle, the Edmonton Oilers simply ran over the Boston Bruins. "The veterans came to the forefront and showed what it takes to win," Glenn Anderson said after scoring two goals and assisting on two others in Tuesday night's 5-1 runaway victory In the Stanley Cup finals. "Tonight, we dominated and showed we can brat this club." The victory gave the Oilers a 3-1 lead in the brst-of-seven series, which they can wrap up In Game 5 Thursday night at Boston Garden. "We knew our line had to score for our team to win," said Anderson, referring to the so-called "Main Line" that Includes Mark Messier, Craig Simpson and himself.

The Oilers' top line combined for 1 1 polnis. Like Anderson. Simpson had two goals and two suddenly made a game of It, taking a short-lived one-point lead. The Bulls, who trailed 53-38 at halftlme. surged to a 67-66 lead with 3:35 left In the third quarter.

But a basket 58 seconds later by Dumars put the Pistons ahead to stay. "It's a funny game," Detroit coach Chuck Daly "You know, shooting comes and goes. Anybody know If there's a change in the moon?" With Dumars plastered on him like a second skin, Chicago's Michael Jordan was limited to 20 points, half the 39.6 he had averaged throughout the playoffs. Jordan was so upset, both with his own play and the play of his teammates, that he boarded the team bus Immediately after the game, refusing to talk with reporters. "He didn't mention names, he was just so disappointed." Chicago forward Horace Grant said.

"I can't blame him. Some guys don't know what the playoffs are all alwut. The guys know who they are. They've got to step up. They've got to get more physical." Grant and tcammatjS Scottle Plppen each scored 17 points.

sneaky. He scored 31 to lead the Pistons to a 102-93 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night as Detroit took a 2-0 lead In the best-of-seven series. "This Is the time of year," said Dumars. who averaged 17.8 during the regular season, second-highest on the team. "It's when everyone Is keyed up and you come out keyed up for every game." Dumars, who was named to the National Basketball Association's all-defensive team this season, hit 12 of 19 shots.

He scored 10 points In the fiffSt quarter when) Detroit raced to a 1 5-poinf lead, and had 1 1 In the third quarter when the Bulls United Press International Dennis Redman celebrates Detroit's second victory..