Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • 53

-T Section 4 Wednesday, April 1, 1992 1 His dream is to put glove used for 'The Catch' in the Hall by jonn Lepticn Jk 4 made his catch, is also well known for the three-run homer pinch-hitter Dusty Rhodes hit in the bottom of the 10th to give the Giants a 5-2 victory. Mays himself has called his catch the turning point of the game; some call it the turning point of the Series, swept by the Giants in four games. Wertz, who was 4 for 5 in Game 1, was the only batter Liddle faced that day. There were two runners on and two outs when Liddle relieved Sal Maglie. Mays, who walked twice, was 0 for 3 and made one other putout in Game 1.

"Don Liddle has the glove," said Mays when asked about it during a recent sports memorabilia show in Harvey. "I gave it to him. That's about all I remember." Don Liddle remembers the incident vividly, but he says he wasn't the glove's recipient. "My son Craig made a trip with the team from New York to St. Louis, where my parents picked him up so he could go back to school in Mt.

Carmel," said Liddle, who is retired and still resides in Mt. Carmel, 111. "He and Willie talked on the plane." Craig Liddle remembers his dad telling him not to keep bothering the two players sitting in front of them, pitcher Ruben Gomez and Mays, Craig's favorite. "Dad and I started talking about my wanting to start playing ball," said Craig. "I told him he was going to have to buy me a glove.

He said he would. "In the clubhouse at Sportsman's Park the next day, Willie came up to me and said, 'I understand you need a glove to play He gave me a glove and said it was the one he used in 1954 and part of 1955, and because he had broken in a new glove and was finally comfortable with it, I could have the old one. "Willie said, 'You take care of it See Glove, pg. 2 '-I One of the most famous pieces of memorabilia in sports history sits in a safe-deposit box in southern Illinois, rather than on display at the baseball Hall of Fame. The glove Willie Mays used to make what has become known simply as "The Catch," an over-the-shoulder grab of a Vic Wertz drive during the eighth inning of Game 1 of the 1954 World Series on Sept.

29 at the Polo Grounds in New York, has been stored in a Salem, 111., bank for several years. The glove's owner, Craig Liddle of Salem, received it from Mays in late 1955 when Liddle was 6 years old. Liddle's father, Don, pitched for the New York Giants during 1954-56. In fact, he was on the mound when Wertz crushed the shot on which Mays made "The Catch." Game 1 of the 1954 World Series, which was tied 2-2 when Mays Photo for the Tribune by John Drake A AP lite photo Craig Liddle (left) with his father, Don, holding the glove Willie Mays wore when he made his spectacular catch in the 1954 World Series. "The Catch" saved Don Liddle, then a Giants pitcher.

Willie Mays makes The Catch. if mm rmi Lincicome In the wake of the news 1 season over Tie with Wings forgotten amidpostgame strike talk If'" For both teams, ''big deal' a shrug The time to be suspicious is when things make too much sense. The White Sox need a right-handed power hitter to bat behind Frank Thomas. The Cubs just happen to have one. The Cubs could use another lefty in the bullpen and an outfielder who can cover more than the length of his shadow.

The Sox happen to have both. So, like civilized neighbors, they help each other out. See you at the World Series. The White Sox and Cubs helping each other? There are rarer occurrences, like a tourist ticket that does not include a crying baby or finding an open parking space with time on the meter. Instinct tells you that the question to consider is not whether this is a trade that will help both teams but what is wrong with this picture? George Bell has gone from being the whole picture in Toronto to being the missing piece with the Sox.

His lost summer in between as a pigeon tempter in Wrigley's left By Mike Kiley Chicago Tribune DETROIT Mike Keenan looked as if he had lost his best friend. And, in a way, he had. "The season's finished," the Blackhawks' coach said. "I think it is inevitable the players will strike Wednesday. And I don't think we'll be back for a playoffs.

All of us are to blame." No one asked him about the game he had just witnessed. No one cared the Hawks and Detroit Red Wins skated to a 3-3 tie Tuesday night. Wednesday's decision by the players overshadowed this no-decision and made it almost meaningless. They are expected to call a halt to the National Hockey League season then and perhaps stay out so long the postseason will be canceled. The dire pessimists think Christmas stockings will be hung before another NHL game is played.

"Sad, somber, quiet," said Hawks assistant player rep Mike Hudson when asked for the feelings that hung over the dressing room. "Both sides are at fault, but we have to do what we feel is necessary." Player rep Steve Larmer refused to reveal how the Hawks voted Tuesday afternoon, whether they chose to approve a strike or went against the flow. Told it would be hard to buck a recommendation from the players' negotiating committee that each team vote down the latest owners proposal, Larmer replied: "You can assume that" In other words, the Blackhawks See Hawks, pg. 2 4 a I A i 1 0 Lancaster cut The Cubs unload pitcher Les Lancaster (left) and his $1.1 million salary. Page 4.

Bulls slip Knicks playoff reminder More baseball Reaction to the Bell-Sosa deal, plus full spring-training reports. Pages 3, 4. ii in I i AP Laserphotos Christian Laettner is hugged by Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski after the East final that i field was a shared disappointment. A It was an improvement of sorts for Bell's reputation, because so many other things i were awful that Bell did not have to take the blame for the Cubs' failure. i And now, with the Sox, Bell is expected 'only to make sure Thomas gets good pitches Qo hit, and anything extra, like the rare home Laettner: Duke's most devilish star run with someone on base, will be a bonus.

What must be seen is how Bell will take to By Sam Smith Chicago Tribune NEW YORK It was a balmy day here, the temperatures reaching toward 60. It was spring in New York. Which could only mean the sight of the first robin coughing and wheezing, a time to see the chalk outlines on the sidewalk more clearly and a chance for the street vendors to no longer have to warm their hot dogs in their coat pockets. But, hey, enough of that New York-bashing. For all except the Bulls, that is, who bashed the Knicks 96-90 Tuesday night for a franchise-record 29th road victory.

Michael Jordan paced the Bulls with 36 points, while Scottie Pip- pen added 27 points and a career-high 1 8 rebounds. "They've been trying to get to the next level," said Pippen of the Knicks, "but we've been keeping them down. "They're going to realize for them to advance to the NBA Finals, they're going to have to go through the Chicago Bulls." And it doesn't look like the Knicks can figure a way to do that as the Bulls won their 11th straight over the Knicks, including five straight at Madison Square Garden. The victory, the Bulls' 11th in their last 12 games, gave them a 59-13 record. The Knicks, who fell to 46-26, had a seven-game winning streak See Bulls, pg.

5 being a role player, especially when that role includes the ego-bruising, if accurate, implication that putting Bell in the outfield is like throwing a doorknob into a basket ot eggs. This sort of thing caused a major disruption in Toronto. Bell is the man Sox General Manager Ron Schueler said he wanted. What you under-stand this to mean is this is the man the Sox ts-v 1 could get. A battle of wits between Schueler and Larry Himes may be a skirmish between armed men.

Himes thinks he knows something about Sammy Sosa that Schueler does not, and maybe he does. Himes thinks Sosa can hit. See Lincicome, pg. 2 I Jordan gets off with Stern lecture Inside NIT title foes familiar Notre Dame seeks revenge in the NIT final for a 27-point loss to Virginia. Page 3.

By Skip Myslenski He was, even before Saturday, an outsized figure. Two students had been hired to help him handle his mail, and the letters that deluged him contained requests that stretched from the ordinary to the provocative. Pubescent young things already squealed his name, wore shirts proclaiming their love and pounded on the windows of his team's bus in hopes of attracting one of his beatific smiles. He was, even before his jump shot cut the heart out of Kentucky, an icon that had burst through college basketball's boundaries. The Final Four viewer's guide: Back Page novelist Stephen King was one of his pen pals, and Gentleman's Quarterly had contracted to print his diary.

People magazine already had profiled him, and had decided to include him in another edition as well, the one that lists the world's "50 Most Beautiful People." Vogue was after him for "Men En Vogue, and even The Cat Companion was planning something on his Orea (which he shares with roommate Brian Davis). It seemed only natural question, then, to ask Christian Laettner how he kept all the attention from affecting him. "It does affect you sometimes," he blithely admits. "But no one thinks more highly of me By Sam Smith Chicago Tribune NEW YORK The NBA Tuesday absolved Michael Jordan of any wrongdoing regarding the recent gambling allegations that have surfaced against the Bulls' star but also warned him against associations with individuals of questionable character. The announcement came after a 2 '2-hour meeting here among Jordan and his attorney, NBA Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik, security director Horace Balmcr and former federal judge Frederick Lacey, who was re Laettner's shot won In OT over Kentucky.

Here Duke fans shake hands with their hero. than probably myself. I think that's fine." He is a certainty, now, to be named college basketball's Player of the Year. But one voter pointedly refused to include him on his All-Atlantic Coast Conference team. He is the kind of rough-hewn, cold-blooded competitor all would love on their team.

But when Duke travels, he is the Blue Devil most vilified. He is exquisitely talented, outrageously confident, a nerveless performer who has now twice sent his See Laettner, pg. 8 NBA NHL Bulls 96, Knicks 90 Hawks 3, Red Wings 3 ''Cavs 123, Heat 114 Penguins 6, Flyers 5 Clippers 97, Pistons 81 Bruins 5, Nordlques 4 Lakers 107, Rockets 101 Stars 5, Sabres 3 121, Nuggets 114 Flames 5, Oilers 2 tained by the NBA. "This situation has been investigated with complete cooperation from Michael and his attorneys," NBA Commissioner David Stern said in a statement, "and Judge Lacey has assured us that there appears to be no reason for the NBA to take action against Michael. "We've also been advised that Michael is not the subject of investigation by any law enforcement agency, land there is no evidence that Michael has ever gambled on NBA games.

"Michael has advised us he understands the gravity of the See Jordan, pg. 5 i 1 Suns 128, Blazers 111 Roundups, Page 5 Sonics 122, Jazz 103 Warriors 148, Kings 136.