The Gazette from Montreal, Quebec, Canada • 10

I Jt.r" I Swdbisti Quality V- Clemens is OK r--after being hit -by line drive MONTREAL, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2 1986 JllNit TT3 Als hoping Big can put the boot back in offence tffZ ai sf I tit 9 mm jr PageM it Say goodnight, Ray: New 1,4. 1 nTV 9 York Mets' Ray Knight is tagged out at plate by Expos catcher Randy Hunt last night. fes leaaer watcnes confident but humble. Respect for the Astros wasn't grudging. "They are a lot like the Cardinals were last year," said Ray Knight, the third baseman who spent spent a little more than two seasons with Houston before joining the Mets in August 1984.

"They rely on team speed, defence and a lot of times they'll play for one run. They'll sacrifice a lot more than we will. They're very, very sound fundamentally and they do a lot of hitting-and-running. "With Glenn Davis, they finally found someone with power who can hit home runs. The emergence of Kevin Bass has really helped them and Denny Walling has had just a great year.

Strong starters "Their starting pitching is outstanding too, although Mike Scott is the only one of their starters who's been real consistent lately." Having played under the dome, Knight is more familiar than most with the handicaps that the spacious, astro-turf park may present to the -Mets. "There's a little more degree of difficulty for us, starting the series there, but we're in better shape than an American League team would be. At least, we played there six times." The Mets were 2-4 in Houston this year while going 5-1 at home in Shea 1 By HERB ZURKOWSKY of The Gazette Alouettet head coach Gary Durchik is finding out just how hard it is to find a replacement for kicker Roy Kurtz. Kurtz, who strained ligaments in bis ankle two weeks ago, won't be able to play Sunday afternoon when the Als play host to the B.C. Lions.

He's doubtful for the next game against Saskatchewan Oct 12. Durchik could continue with quarterback Walter Lewis as his Kunter and defensive back Rick yan as the placekicker, but would rather find an honest-to-goodness kicker who can handle both specialties. Unfortunately for Durchik, neither Gerry McGrath, who previously played for Montreal and Saskatchewan, or Richie Klimas, cut by the Als at training camp, proved to be the answer. Durchik hoped former Roughrider Terry Leschuk would be his man, but Leschuk came and went all in the same day last Tuesday. First day with Als Now the head coach hopes 39-year-old Zenon Andrusyshyn is the missing piece in the puzzle.

The Big who has played for Toronto, Hamilton and Edmonton in the CFL, Kansas City in the NFL, and Tampa Bay in the USFL, practised for the first time yesterday with the Als. "We're trying to find the right kicker to fit our needs. I'd like to have one guy do both," said Durchik. "Richie is a good placekicker, but his punting needs work. Gerry punts pretty well, but his placekicking needs work.

And Leschuk wasn't as good as either of them. "It's hard to find a replacement in mid-season. A lot of guys can kick; a guy off the street with a strong leg who worked at it could probably do it But can they kick in a game?" Andrusyshyn, who holds numerous Argonaut records, has unlimited game experience. "I know that eventually my career must come to an end," said Andrusyshyn, who turned pro with the Argos in 1971. "But I still love the game and if I didn't think I could still compete, I wouldn't be here.

"I'm excited about coming Mets nip Expos as nl oatting i 4 cut ttOY lh r'l CorpWdton lid (514166? 6873. ZENON ANDRUSYSHYN Plenty of experience hnr even thnnoh I knnv gift. uation is just temporary. They just told me to come up and kick." Andrusyshyn lives in Tampa these days, looking for a job in the public relations field. But he still has the urge to compete and can't get rid of the football bug.

Already this year he's had unsuccessful tryouts with the Rougbies and Tiger- Cats. In Regina be lost out to third-string quarterback Stan Gelbaugh, while Hamilton decided on Paul Osbaldiston. Andrusyshyn thought he was signed, sealed and delivered in Steeltown after Bernie Ruoff tore knee ligaments Labor Day against the Als. But one day after Andrusyshyn arrived in Hamilton, Osbaldiston was cut by Winnipeg and was invited east for a tryout Ticats head coach Al Bruno conducted a kicking contest be tween the two. Although report ers who viewed the competition said Andrusyshyn was the clear- cut winner, Bruno chose the younger Osbaldiston.

Tm not bitter' "The situation there had a lot to do with timing, but that's foot-' ball," shrugged Andrusyshyn, who reportedly wanted $40,000 from Hamilton for the season's final nine games. "You have to be in the right place and in the right situation. I'm not bitter." NOTES The Als have cut Canadian backup defensive lineman Shane Ireland. That means Glenn Kulka, another defensive lineman acquired in a trade from Edmonton, will be activated against the Lions. sional season for the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League.

He is trying to work out details that would get him released from his personal services contract with Generals owner Donald Trump. "That has not been concluded," Gregg said. "Therefore, we cannot go any further." Fusina also worked out with the Packers Tuesday. The 0-4 Packers have scored only two touchdowns with third-year pro Randy Wright and veteran backup Vince Ferragamo, who spent one season with the Alouettes, directing the offence; Fusina, 29, who played at Petm State, was a backup with Tampa Bay of the NFL for three seasons before playing for the USFL's Stars. The Stars were based in Philadelphia, then Baltimore, and won two USFL championships with Fusina.

"He's been there, and he's done the job," Gregg said. "We liked what we saw." Gazette, AP returns year," Evenson said, "because all along both Molson and CART bave considered Sanair only a temporary site." The Sanair race wasn't the only one lopped off the CART calendar. cut back from 17 races to 15, CART axed one race in Michigan and another in Phoenix. Evenson said in order to accommodate television, CART had to draw up its calendar ahead of schedule. This year a record 10 of the 15 CART races will be telecast on either ABC or NEC.

Mett 6, Expo 4 (10 inning) By PETER HADEKEL of The Gazette Want to hear the latest tragic twist to the Expos' horror-story season? Tim Raines injured himself packing a heavy suitcase Tuesday after noon and was forced to sit out last night with a pulled muscle in his upper right chest. Raines said the injury bothered him in Tuesday's game, when he went 0-for-3 and mysteriously tried to bunt on a couple of occasions with a runner at third base. Out day-to-day In the heat of a batting race, the National League's leading hitter is now listed as a day-to-day case by club officials. Everybody else has been injured this year, so why not Raines? "I've never had anything like this happen to me," he said. "I hope I'll be back (tonight) but I'm questionable.

I aggravated it by playing. When I went home after the game I couldn't move my upper body and had a lot of trouble sleeping. "Believe me, I don't like to sit on the bench. But if I can't swing the bat, there goes the batting race," he 14 Hauler trom dugout Stadium against the Astros. "I have a lot of trouble seeing the ball there," said Knight "When I was with the Astros, I hit much better on the road than at home.

"The Astrodome negates power from guys like myself. Balls I hit that normally would go out, won't go out. But the guys we depend on for home runs, Gary (Carter) and Darryl (Strawberry), can hit them out of any park." Wally Backman, who has been a brash player on and off the field this season, spoke with quiet respect for the Astros. "I think a big key will be keeping Billy Doran off the bases," Backman said. "If we can do that, we can close off one of their big threats.

"I think pitching is always a key in a series like this and you're talking about two really good pitching staffs. I would think the games will be close." Last night, the Expos scored in the first on a triple by Mitch Webster, a team record-tying 13th, and the first of two doubles by Andre Dawson. The Mets tied the game on a Strawberry homer in the next inning and took the lead in the third on a triple by Mookie Wilson and a double by Hernandez. But Montreal scored a pair of two-out runs in the sixth, using Dawson's run-scoring double and an RBI single by Andres Galarraga. Chicago Cubs and Kansas City Royals.

"When I took over, I thought the club responded pretty well to me," Trebelhorn told a news conference, where general manager Harry Dal-ton made the announcement. "I wanted the players to feel 'I wish it wasn't over, I wish we could play more games' at the end of the season." Terms of Trebelhorn's one-year contract were not announced, but the new manager said, "I've never been paid so handsomely in my life for something I love to do." Trebelhorn has been with the Brewers organization for three seasons. Last season, he managed the Brewers' Vancouver farm club to the Pacific Coast League championship. TIM BURKE IS ON VACATION. Another alternative, Vaillancourt said, is Canadair, where runways could be converted into a temporary track.

Again, Vaillancourt said the possibility is remote because "Canadair plans on going in a different direction." Meanwhile, John Evenson, who is director of public relations for CART, ruled Montreal out for next year, but said it's possible the Indy-type car series could return there once a suitable facility is secured. "The drivers enjoy Montreal but I can't say the teams really enjoyed Dost Pack gets Fusina still pursuing Flutie Trebelhorn to remain as Brewers manager Judge seems unlikely to boost USFL award said dejectedly. Without their best player, the Expos gave the Mets a spirited battle before succumbing 6-4 in 10 innings. The Mets scored a pair in the 10th off reliever Bob McClure and were aided by left fielder Herman Winningham's error. Winningham allowed Howard Johnson's single to get by him and roll to the wall for a two-base error, leading to an unearned run.

"Winningham charged the ball and had a chance to throw the runner out at the plate. He just misplayed it," said manager Buck Rodgers. New York had taken a 4-3 lead in the eighth inning on a two-run double by Keith Hernandez off reliever Jeff Reardon. The Expos bullpen ace hadn't pitched in a week and Rodgers said the layoff may have hurt him. But the Expos sent the game into extra innings on a two-out, run-scoring single in the ninth by pinch-bitter Dann Bilardello.

For the Mets, these final games are almost like spring training, as they tune up for a date in the playoff with the Houston Astros. While the New Yorkers have occasionally appeared to go through life as if they were anointed by God, they're not taking that approach toward their upcoming playoff matchup with the Astros. Last night, their attitude was was and NFL lawyers Frank Roth-man and Robert Fiske that he believed the jurors paid "extraordinary attention" during both the testimony and the instructions, which took 162 written pages. "They always kept up eye contact," he said. "It is a great compliment to our jury system what we saw in this trial "I guess you can see which way I'm leaning." Myerson cited comments by jurors after the trial.

Two jurors, who had favored larger damages, said they compromised with the other four and awarded the $1 because they thought the judge -could increase damages. Rothman argued that rules of procedure prohibit a verdict from being overturned on jurors' post-trial comments unless there is a clear case of tampering. an hour's drive from downtown Montreal, but all along both CART and Molson officials considered that site temporary. However, Paul Vaillancourt, sales promotion manager for Molson's, said yesterday: "We're still keeping that date open next year. We're talking to people about other locations and if a track becomes available, we'll approach CART and hope they open a date for us." However, Vaillancourt admits there's as much chance of that happening as there is of St Cuthbert NEW YORK (AP) U.S.

District Judge Peter K. Leisure indicated yesterday he will uphold a jury's minimal $3 award to the United States Football League in its antitrust suit against the National Football League despite a plea by the USFL lawyer to grant a new trial on damages. Leisure, who presided at the three-month suit, heard more than an hour of argument, most of it by USFL lawyer Harvey Myerson, who maintained that the six-member jury had been confused by the judge's instructions in the case. It ended up awarding a nominal $1, trebled to $3 under U.S. antitrust law, to the USFL, which had been seeking $1.69 billion.

But Leisure, while saying he would give both sides full legal consideration, told both Myerson Gazette News Services GREEN BAY, Wis. Chuck Fusina, the refugee quarterback from the United States Football League who spurned the Montreal Alouettes, signed a contract yesterday with the woeful Green Bay Packers. Fusina retired rather than accept an offer from the Als, but then accepted the one-year deal with the Packers, winless this season in the National Football League. Head coach Forrest Gregg said the Packers also will pursue Doug Flutie, winner of the 1984 Heisman Trophy as U.S. college football's top player.

"we saw in Doug Flutie the same thing we saw in college" at Boston College, Gregg said after Flutie worked out with the team Tuesday. "We have an interest." Gregg said he talked to the Los Angeles Rams, who own the NFL rights to the 5-foot-9 Flutie, "but not in a serious manner." Flutie played his rookie profes lndy race racing at Sanair," Evenson said, referring to the -mile trioval. "It's just too small. These are state-of-the-art cars they're bullets and a track that size isn't conducive to good racing." Evenson said other drawbacks include Sanair's remoteness from Montreal, inadequate safety facilities, and an infield too small to enable fans to camp there during race weekend. "Actually, it surprises me that so many people are surprised that CART won't be racing there next To MILWAUKEE (AP) The Milwaukee Brewers, nearing the end of a disappointing season in which they are battling to stay out of last place in the American League East, confirmed yesterday Tom Trebelhorn will be their manager for 1987.

Trebelhorn, 38, the club's third-base coach, became interim manager last Friday when George Bamberger retired. The Brewers had a 74-82 record entering last night's games and were two games ahead of last-place Baltimore Orioles. Bamberger, who was in the second year of his second stint as Brewers manager, said he was surprised at the announcement. At his home in Florida, Bamberger said, "I'm a Frank Howard and Tony Muser man. Jim Frey's name was also mentioned.

But Tom is a good selection." Howard and Muser are Brewer coaches. Frey formerly managed the driver Jacques Villeneuve oing through the season without an accident. Vaillancourt said one alternative to Sanair is the road course on He Notre Dame. However, Labatt Breweries and Formula Ohc have exclusive rights to that track for the coming year. And even if they didn't, Molson's would still have to negotiate with the city of Montreal and the provincial government before acquiring that site.

"We all know how difficult that can be," Vaillancourt said. Suit able track required before Molson By BOB MORRISSEY of The Gazette Although Championship Auto Race Teams (CART) has taken the Molson-Indy at Sanair off its 1987 calendar, Molson Breweries still hopes the race will be held next year. Sounds like the beer talking. CART dropped the Quebec race when Molson's failed to come up with an alternate site by last weekend. For the past three years, the race has been held at Sanair, almost.