The Gazette du lieu suivant : Montreal, Quebec, Canada • 65

TT'i'l'r 'I'" fif) i I'll iijii i j.1 41 lyyyipi yai 'p 'ryw THE GAZETTE, MONTREAL, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1993 F5- action tliis so mm He'll spend more time at second VV" i will be 34 next month, is destined to play a lot of second base. "He's a solid and experienced Duquette said about Ready, who hit .254 in 134 at-bats while starting 25 games at second, 1 0 at first and three at third. "He's a patient hitter who puts the bat on the ball. He's been around and he's a good influence in the clubhouse." There was a time during his career Ready has served time with five major-league clubs when statistics were all the promotion he needed. For instance, though he failed to get untracked during a couple of seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers after three good seasons with Triple-A Vancouver, Ready appeared to come into his own with the San Diego Padres.

In 124 games with the Padres in 1987, he hit .309 with 12 homers and drove home 54 runs in 350 at-bats. The numbers tailed off slightly over the next couple of seasons and suddenly he had become a bench player. Ready spent three seasons as a valuable infield backup with the Philadelphia Phillies but was haunted by a series of injuries when IAN MacDOXALD THE GAZETTE Randy Ready won't have to wait until the second-base incumbent gets hurt before seeing action with the Expos next season. As was the case when he was signed as a free agent last summer, Ready is scheduled to start 1994 as a backup at second. Two days after joining the team Aug.

9, he was playing regularly when Delino DeShields was hurt. Current plans call for Ready to back up Mike Lansing, but he won't have to wait for an injury to be the regular. "The manager (Felipe Alou) wants Lansing to play a lot on the left side (at shortstop or third base)," general manager Dan Duquette said after the Expos announced that Ready had signed a Triple-A Ottawa Lynx contract and has been invited to training camp with the major-league team. "Felipe feels Lansing is one of the best infielders around. He wants him to spell (Wil) Cordero a little at shortstop and to help (Sean) Berry solidify the situation at third." All of which means Ready, who lice norlc if you can get if Baseball's millionaires' club now numbers 273 players PhanatlC phades OUt Dave announced mis weeK ne retiring as Rockets keep rolling Maxwell sparks a 4th-quarter rally it 1 AP Raymond, aka the Phillie Phanatic, the rniiadeiphia Phillies mascot.

fourth period, taking an 87-68 lead with 3:52 left after a 16-5 spurt. The Nuggets missed 10 of their first 12 shots of the period, then closed the game with a 16-6 run. CHARLOTTE, N.C. Dell Curry made five consecutive three-point baskets to break open a tight game, and finished with 26 points as the Charlotte Hornets beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 101-85. INDIANAPOLIS Rik Smits scored 1 8 of his 22 points in the first half, and Reggie Miller added 21 as the Indiana Pacers beat Washington 106-87 to hand the Bullets their eighth straight loss.

RICHFIELD, Ohio The Atlanta Hawks made it 14 straight wins, taking the lead on Stacey Aug-mon's alley-oop dunk with two minutes left and beating the slumping Cleveland Cavaliers 103-92. DALLAS Cliff Robinson scored four of his 23 points in overtime including key free throws with 25 seconds left and the Portland Trail Blazers handed the Dallas Mavericks their 16th consecutive defeat, 100-93. Clyde Drexler scored 25 points to lead Portland SEATTLE Ricky Pierce scored 24 points as the Seattle SuperSonics posted a 124-100 victory over the Orlando Magic, which lost centre Shaquille O'Neal to ejection for a flagrant foul. PAGES F11-12 base as Lansing he hit just .200 in 125 at-bats with the AL West champion Oakland A'sinl992. The eight-year major-league veteran wanted another chance and started out this year with Triple-A Rochester, where he hit .289 with nine home runs and 46 RBIs.

"Playing regularly at Triple-A this year helped him regain some of his skills," Duquette said. "Being on the bench can be tough. A player's skills can erode." Besides the signing of Ready, the Expos reported they were named the Topps organization of the year during the National Association award banquet in Atlanta Monday. They were represented by minor-league director Kent Quails and his assistant, Neal Huntington. Winning organization honors is nothing new for the Expos.

They were selected by Baseball America in both 1989 and 1990. Major reasons for the Expos gaining the recognition this year are the fact that Cliff Floyd is Topps minor-league player of the year and that both shortstop Cordero and third-baseman Lansing are members of their major-league rookie all-star team. Expcs used first-year players lib over-all, was Benito Santiago of Florida at $3.4 million. The AP study was based on an examination of the contracts for the 8 1 6 players on Aug. 31 rosters and disabled lists.

The figures used include salaries, pro-rated shares of signing bonuses and other guaranteed money not attributed to a specific year, and all earned incentive bonuses. For some players, parts of salaries deferred without interest were discounted to reflect present-day values. The average salary increased 4.6 per cent this year to 1 ,076,089, according to the Major League Baseball Players Association. The percentage increase was the smallest since 1987 and the second-lowest since salary records began to be kept in 1967. cc mo 151 suns lnlBGWfl HOI HOI HOCKIYI MOt HOI N0CMT1 (CM QW) SKATES NoiHoiHoam center IAVAI M7IOUI OIlUIIIIMTIDfS shifts around erally during a season when their 94-68 record was fifth-best in the i majors, one game behind that of the World Series-champion Toronto Blue Jays.

4 It was only one behind the team's 19 record of 95-65 their best ever. Cordero and Lansing among 18 rookies used by thei Expos. The year marked the first time in modern history when a- team had every inning of- every game at shortstop handled by aV, rookie. Cordero and Lansing split 1 the duties. EXPOSES The Expos did not lose any players in the rule 5 draft in which major-league teams choose unprotected players.

How- ever, they lost four prospects from their championship Double-A team at Harrisburg. All were selected at a cost of $12,000 each by Triple-A clubs. They were outfielder Jim -Austin by Rochester (Orioles); util-ity man Corey Powell by Tucson (Houston); right-hander Antonio Alfonseca by Edmonton (Florida), and left-hander Joe Aosanio by Columbus (Yankees). Catcher Tim Laker is back home nursing a wrist injury. Laker was enjoying a great season of Puerto Rican win ter ball, where he was hitting .341.

NBA's Hurley still improving ASSOCIATED PRESS SACRAMENTO, Calif. Bobby Hurley was alert and his condition improved yesterday following a car crash that initially left the Sacramento Kings rookie basketball player fighting for his life. Doctors said Hurley remained in serious condition, a day following an eight-hour operation. Hurley was hurt Sunday when a station wagon slammed into his light truck near the Arco Arena. Besides damage to his lungs he.

sustained broken ribs, a small com- pression fracture in his back and knee and wrist injuries. Blood samples taken from other motorist, Dan Wieland, were sent to the Sacramento County crime lab to be checked for drugs. i CCM PUMP TACKS SKATES m14T0i Kt. S37999 K6. SW J9 HWHOIHOCKITI ROI HOI HOCKIYI 1692' VIILE ST-IAURENT IV Mil Ntl IX in nom 01 cioir iumxi 747-6072 ASSOCIATED PRESS MIAMI Vernon Maxwell scored 25 points and hit four three-ROjnjters early in the fourth period lastniight to help the Houston Rockets hold off the Miami Heat 97-88.

Houston (20-1 won its fifth consecutive game. Only the 1970 NBA champion New York Knicks, who started 23-1, did as well through the first 21 games in a season. The Rockets outscored Miami 27-0 on three-point shots. Houston leads the league with 121 three-pointers. AUBURN HILLS, Mich.

Sam Bowie had 21 points and Sedale Threatt 20 as the Los Angeles Lakers ended a four-game losing skid by beating the slump-ridden Detroit Pistons 99-93. The Pistons, who lost for the ninth time in 10 games, had three chances to tie in the final minutes. But Joe Dumars missed two jumpers, and threw the ball away on the other possesion. Rookie Nick Van Exel made a three-pointer with 17 seconds left to give the Lakers a 95-90 cushion. Van Exel added 16 points for Los Angeles.

NEW YORK Patrick Ewing scored 20 points and the New York Knicks limited Denver to 37 in the second half of a 93-84 victory, the Knicks' fourth in a row. The Knicks, leading the NBA in fewest points allowed (90.9 a game), assumed control at the start of the More Sports than double the five in 1992. Following Sandberg was New York Mets outfielder Bobby Bonilla at $6.2 million and Mets pitcher Dwight Gooden at $6,166,667. The top-paid players at each position formed a lineup that earned $47,829,213. Joining Sandberg in the infield were first-baseman Will Clark, then with San Francisco, at $4.75 million, Cincinnati shortstop Barry Larkin at $5.75 million and California third-baseman Kelly Gruber at $4,333,333.

Due to an injury, Gruber played only 17 games at third base last season. After Bonilla, the top-paid outfielders were Joe Carter of Toronto at $5.55 million and Kirby Puckett of Minnesota at $5.3 million. The highest-paid catcher, just 72nd COR SUPCIt S51 SIUTIS So in 12 K. 5149 1 HOfHOIHOCKETI 1092' The hockey 399? -wot ww ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK A record 273 baseball players made 1 million or more this year, topped by Chicago Cubs second-baseman Ryne Sand-berg at $6,379,213, according to a salary study by The Associated Press. While the number of million-dollar players increased by six from 1992, the percentage decreased from 37.1 per cent to 33.5 per cent because of expansion.

The number of $2 million players went up by only 12 to 1 89, but players at $3 million or higher jumped to 103 from 71. There were 38 players at $4 million or more, an increase of 15, and 13 at $5 million or higher, more Koarr sticks uuomtooi UNADIEN 7001 HOI KOI H0CIEY1 ALUMINUM HOCKEY STICKS uuntucse UURAUMO BAUER AL3070 H6 SW99 loiHMHocnri 2999 HoufM Mffy W4md. ft JA m.m. Wrk 9r9 thwf urfftl itMk fwit mut 11 Evl DSRSM65Blorfcr Sugg price S49 94 ht HOIHOIHOam il 11 AAQQ II 11 I eh Hi ft. I I "i 111 DS S45 Col gtovi Pro elbow pods Hodwy pit Safeguards fr'J Sugg price $59 99 JAFA 1445 KOHO HP2500 europeon styk JOFA 31 34 TO 31 56 I Vif V- MOI H0CKT1 Sugg prkeS79 99 Sugg once $119.99 REG.

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