The Billings Gazette from Billings, Montana • 26

4-P Thursday. Apr. 7. 1988 SIDELEHEnS The Billings Gazette Former Trappers now with Expos 'Speakers 9 now parti of pack By CRAIG DAVIS Fort Lauderdale Newt Sun-Sentinel "On and off the field we were always together. We were like a family.

When you've got that kind of togetherness, you're going to win some ballgames." Isaac Alleyne Former Salt Lake Trapper Campanis: Outgrowth positive Looking back over the past year, AI Campanis said the outgrowth of his remarks on blacks in baseball has been positive for him and for the game. "Time has diffused the immediate hurt of April 6," he said. "It has turned out to be a plus for baseball and myself." A year ago, Campanis sat alone in a chair near home plate in Houston's Astrodome and faced blaring lights and a television camera. Wearing an earphone, he fielded questions from Ted Koppel in New York, on ABC's "Nightline." Responding to Koppel's questions, Campanis said that blacks "may not have some of the necessities" to be baseball managers and general managers. Within a few days, Campanis was fired.

Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth appointed Harry Edwards, a sociology professor at the University of California, as a special consultant to aid in developing a pool of former players from minority groups who tions. Collectively, they were a team on an unlikely mission. "On and off the field we were always together. We were like a family," Alleyne said. "When you've got that kind of togetherness, you're going to win some ballgames." But 29 in a row? It took some luck, and timely intervention by fate.

One game was salvaged with a steal of home. One night in Pocatello, Idaho, the Trappers trailed by six in the seventh inning. The PA announcer proclaimed the streak over, a bone-headed presupposition to rival "Dewey beats Truman." The Trappers promptly scored eight runs to win going away. "It was like a lightning bolt hit us. We just kept scoring runs," said Alleyne, who got the victory.

The next night Peters walked Pocatello's best base runner leading off in extra innings. Trappers manager Jim Gilligan ordered the next two batters walked. The Streak teetered. Peters righted it by inducing a grounder and two strikeouts, and his teammates scored two runs to keep it rolling. No tears were shed when it ended July 27 in Billings, Mont And though the Trappers played .500 ball the final month, they validated the Streak by taking three of four from Helena in the league championship series.

Salt Lake City's season of fantasy was for real You can look it up. "It was incredible. Hopefully (the record) will last another 85 years," Peters said. "The only thing that could top it is a World Series," Alleyne said. These two may never experience the glow of October baseball.

No matter. They have been touched by a beam of favor even more rarefied. For one month, they were invincible. LANTANA, Fla. Scan the 150 hopeful faces practicing pickoffs and chasing ungoes at the Montreal Expos' minor league complex.

Two players with Hall of Fame credentials have been care fully concealed in the blue-flanneled mob of potential Look closely, they dont jump right out at you. Yeah, there they are, Tim Peters (who?) and Isaac. Alleyne (say Look carefully in Cooperstown and you can find them there, too. (Peters and Alleyne?) Their signatures are on a baseball and their faces in a team photo displayed in a place of distinction. That and enough well-placed pitches earned them tickets to Class A this season Peters to Rockford, I1L of the Midwest and Alleyne to either Bradenton of the Gulf Coast League or to Jamestown of the New York-Penn League.

But if they never spend a day in the major leagues, Peters, from Portland, Ore, and Alleyne, from Brooklyn, have already left a mark on baseball history. No matter how long they play, as long as they live they will remain brethren of The Streak. Peters and Alleyne were two of the Trappers, the lovable leftovers who for a while last summer supplanted the Osmonds as the adopted First Family of Salt Lake City. For a solid month they didn't lose. When the spell was finally broken after 29 consecutive victories, the Trappers, an unaffiliated entry in the Pioneer League, had established themselves as the greatest streakers in baseball history, wiping out the record of 27 set by the vaunted Corsicana (Texas) Oilers in 1902.

"Day to day I still think about it and I will for the rest of my life," said Alleyne, a left-handed re- liever. "In bed at night I think about the streak and the guys. It was beautiful, man." Remarkably so for a cast of castoffs that no major league team valued highly enough to draft A gang of misfits that rallied around the cry of, "RE-jects! RE-jects!" The Trappers' story is a made-for-cable movie script Just visualize Bill Murray in the role of the manager, a bat in each hand, breaking the tension in the dressing room before the record-tying game, pounding lockers and leading the chant: "It just doesn't matter! It just doesnt matter! In fart, the comedian was part-owner of the Trappers, though not a conspicuous one. Still, it was Murray's kind of team. Players who didnl matter to anyone else became the rookie league team that nobody could ignore.

The national media tuned in and 9,968 turned out for win No. 28. "It was really funny. All the players on the other teams had been drafted. We were the leftovers, the best of the rest you might say," said Peters, the ace reliever (9-3, 11 saves).

A sum greater than the parts. Individually they were nothing special, untouted collegians and two Japanese pitchers on loan; average age 21.2. Only one Trapper was rated among the Pioneer League's top 10 prospects 10 of the streakers have since been signed by major league organiza NEW LONGER STORE HOURS! MOST STORES NOW OPEN MONDAY-SATURDAY 'TIL 10 PM SUNDAY 'TIL 6PM i mmm i HURRY! Sale prices end Saturday, April 9, 1988. Splinters The Boston Celtics and three European teams will play in an invitational tournament in Madrid next October. The tournament, the McDonald Basketball Open, will be made up of doubleheaders on Oct 21-23.

The winners of the opening night's doubleheader will play for the championship the second night The European teams will be Real Madrid, Italy's national champion and another national team that qualifies for the Seoul Olympics. A postal official says a proposal to build a downtown baseball stadium at the site of a post office building faces too many problems to be considered a serious way of keeping the Giants in San Francisco. "Realistically, I dont see it in the cards," said Robert Chapman, general manager of real estate for the U.S. Postal Service's western regional office. The Sun Bowl football championship will be moved up a day to Christmas Eve in an effort to lure top teams and better television ratings.

Sun Bowl committee marketing executive Randy Lee said officials hope to attract a Big 10 Conference team i .1 -'j i i ill imi AL CAMPANIS time diffused Immediate hurt' are interested in moving into baseball jobs. Over the past year, Campanis has been helping Edwards develop the pool and also helping to set up baseball management clinics for minorities. The former Dodger executive spoke recently to some of Edwards' students at CaL "I concluded my speech by telling them that if losing my job with the Dodgers has helped the blacks, Tm happy it happened," Campanis said. "It was a shock at the time, but if I contributed to increased employment of minorities, I feel it was worthwhile." this year as well as a major East Coast team by moving the traditional Christmas Day game one day earlier. A British yacht club will be barred from competing when the San Diego Yacht Club defends its America's Cup championship in a race with a New Zealand boating group next September, a Manhattan judge ruled Wednesday.

State Supreme Court Justice Carmen B. Ciparick said the Royal Burnham Yacht Club of Great Britain is out and San Diego and the Mercury Bay Boating Club of Auckland will sail one-on-one since they appear unable to agree on terms that would allow the English group to compete. The Canadian Football League, struggling to restore its lost appeal to fans, hired a public relations and marketing firm Wednesday to help plan future strategies. Attendences and television ratings for regular season games were a disappointment as fans in most cities opted to watch National Football League games from the United States rather than the CFL, perceived by many fans as a minor league. "This is a lot different than a traveling call, or maybe a fifth foul called on the wrong player.

Those are a part of basketball. But this is not I just want it to be just. If a mistake is made, it should be correct-ible." Lon Kruger of Kansas State said, "I think anything we can do to minimize the number of occasions that are not healthy for the game is good for the game. And I think putting a rule in place would be a move in that directioa" But Kruger also saw the possibility of problems arising. "There would be a need to define what constitutes a fight so we can be consistent with enforcement Does a shove one game get the same thing as an all-out fisticuff in the next?" he asked.

Steitz, athletic director at Springfield, College, said a school which does not like the new rule is free to resign from the NCAA. "Members of the NCAA are voluntary members. They are not pressured to be a part of that particular organization," he said. "The bylaws of the NCAA manual cover the fact you shall abide by all official NCAA playing rules. If they want to drop out from the NCAA, that's their choice, an institutional choice." The new rule specifies that television monitors may be used to determine if individuals have been involved in a fight.

However, it does not spell out what constitutes being "involved in a fight," and Steitz said even if game films show that officials made an obvious error in judging a player guilty of fighting, the ruling even a season-long suspension would stand. "We're saying to the officials 'make sure you have definite information. Don't come up with any "I think so" type We'd rather have somebody get away with something than accuse somebody, or have somebody go to the suspended list. But a playing rule in the NCAA is not appealable." Several conferences already have anti-fighting rules which call for temporary suspensions, Steitz said. NCAA makes rule to curb fighting CHAMPION SPARK PLUGS AC SPARK PLUGS 60 MONTH BATTERY GttoOLS America! best Ai Non-Rewstor.

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tijfly Mm -j -ji'EAw i -j By 49, gtaiim 671 PLASTIC HALOGENS HELLA HALOGENS NIGHT RUNNER VALVOLINE MOTOR OIL QUAKER STATE CASTROL MOTOR OIL ST lillll r74Ll S79L1 87L Vw5 US- Irr gg -LBIh 391 ZtiADl0 'h PENNZOIl STP OIL TREATMENT EXXON SUPERFLO REFILLS 1M REFILLS AQQ gMQ MOTOR OIL Mt 5" Jin MOTOR OIL 1 2P R-" 2fl 49 frgf vowTiFm suNOiAa l' 7 xJofF "80cKo'8 Us -'ova oJl, ITaJ saasr 2y KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) College players who get involved in fights during games next season will risk losing their eligibility for the rest of the season under get-tough measures announced Wednesday. "We're interested in minimizing the ugly scenes. One ugly scene is too many as far as I'm concerned," Ed Steitz, secretary-editor of the NCAA Men's Basketball Rules Committee said at a news conference. "We cannot afford to let anything mar this great game of college basketball." Steitz said following the committee's two-day meeting that players suspended for "being involved in fighting" would have no way to appeal.

Fights made headlines throughout the past season. There were none during the NCAA Tournament after NCAA Executive Director Dick Schultz warned that any player fighting would be suspended for the rest of the tournament The policy announced Wednesday specifies that a player involved in a fight will be ejected from the game and placed on probation. "The second time that individual is involved in a fight during the season, he will be ejected from the game and suspended from participation in his team's next game," Steitz said. "If that player is involved in a third fight during the season, he will be suspended for the remainder of the season. If available, and deemed necessary, television monitors may be used to determine those individuals involved In a fight" Steitz also said any bench personnel other than the head coach who enters the court during a fight is subject to disqualification for the remainder of a game.

"We've got to knock this fighting off. I don't think we've pushed the panic button," Steitz said. "I think we have to have machinery in place to serve as a deterrent" Some coaches immediately raised questions about the new rule. "I would like to see an appeal available," said Gary Williams of Ohio State. PRICES EFFECTIVE THRU SATURDAY, APRIL 9, 1 988 OPEN EASTER SUNDAY FOR kkkx orttan trnmltaH'.

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