The Gazette from Montreal, Quebec, Canada • 6

EARLY ED. THf MONTPrAL, SATURDAY, AUODST 1011 WHERE km TOEY WOW? uffalo honors The Natural Wlh anniversary of Bedford's movie homer niiv rri nf filmmakers here this The Upper Deck I lerocs of Baseball old-timers game today at Olympic Stadium brings back former Expos to celebrate the team's 25th anniversary. The players will be split into two squads, one representing the team's days at Jarry Park and another representing Olympic Stadium. Batting practice for the old-timers begins at 6 p.m. I lore is a look at what some of the players in today game have been doing since leaving Montreal.

DAVID GERMAIN ASSOCIATED PRESS "I'm building homes in the Memphis area and spending a lot of time with my kids (boys aged 7 and 9)." Lea, 36. said. After baseball. Lea completed his college degree at Memphis State. He worked in wiM for a food company before going out on his owiwJi what he calls "an active market" building homes.

BILL LEE (1979-82) IRA 0 CO IR MR BB SO 25 22 3 57 95 8 6 441 0 495 202 U5 40 3 135 Lee, 46, has an overflowing platter of personal appearances and playing assignments. How full? "I can tell you this much," Lee's Montreal born wife, Pam, said from the couple's upstate Vermont home. "I have to mow the lawn." Lee teaches the art of baseball at Omega Institute, has a team which plays 72 games against police teams in a drug-education rclatedpro-gram and is featured in baseball fantasy camps etc-1 RON LEFLORE (1980) BOB BAILEY (1969-75) it At SO II Ct bit 40 39 Avf- 4M 791 116 23 11 W91 hie hwn retired since his last baseball i I job with the White Sox in 1986. "Us Vegas is a great city and I'm enjoying a relaxed lifestyle," said Bailey, who is drawing $3,500 a month on his baseball pension. Bailey's son, Robbie, is playing in the Indcpcn-dent Northern League.

JOHN BOCCABELLA (1969-73) to ta ct 99 97 19 20 3B HR Rtl 134 21 11 4 39 AO 521 257 CS to 1b6 If 94 228 1018 pntiurptirrdfrom Pacific Gas and Electric where summer for a baseball movie. KM International is shooting Angel Blues, a low-budget cable movie, at Pilot Field. Producer Andre" Vaillancourt said Angel Blues, like The Natural, is something of a baseball fairy tale. "The Natural was brilliant, Vaillancourt said. "It took a few liberties with baseball, but what movie doesn't take liberties?" One liberty The Natural took was changing the ending to Malamud's novel.

In the book, Roy Hobbs takes a bribe and strikes out in a scene reminiscent of the 1919 Black Sox scandal. In the movie, Hobbs turns down the bribe and hits the grandest of homers. "A typical, storybook happy ending," said Phil Rosenberg, who played the pitcher pulled off the mound just before the homer. "I wanted Redford to strike out, especially with me pitching. "I started the count on him, so he was my batter." Christopher Rchbaum of Buffalo, a former minor-leaguer, expects to be on the mound today during the re-enactment of the big homer.

In the movie, Rchbaum played the relief pitcher who coughs up the homer. Rchbaum said he's taken a lot of kidding from friends who joked that he tossed Redford "the old meatball." But Rchbaum knows it was only movie magic. "Anybody who ever went down to the old Rockpilc knows there were very few people who could have hit a ball into the lights," Reh-baum said. "And it certainly wouldn't have been Redford." There is no threat of Leflore equalling the 97 base steals he had in 1980. A much heavier LcFlore.

41, works at a recreation centre in Tarpon Springs, where he gives private baseball lessons. Leflore hopes to join with Dave Cash in running a baseball school next year. GENE MAUCII (1969-75) Mauch, 67, the Expos' original manager, folIoWSTl tight schedule in Palm Springs. "At 7:30 a.m.cm hitting golf balls. At 8:30, I'm teeing off.

At 12:30 I'm having lunch either paying or having it depending on the golf game. At 1 :30 p.m. I play bridge for three or four hours. Then in respect for Charles Bronfman, I test a few of his products just for old time's sake. I go home, go to bed and start all over again the next day." nf, BALOR MOORE (1970, 1972-74) 1983 GWEITE FILE PHOTO DgFFALO, N.Y.

The ball flew over the outfield fence, shattered the stadium lights and showered the field with fireworks in one of the most melodramatic moments in sports history. The home run also was pure fiction." It was the climax of Robert Redford's movie The Natural, filmed largely at War Memorial Stadium. The stadium is gone, but the minor-league Buffalo Bisons arc celebrating the 10th anniversary of filming with a Natural reunion today at their new ballpark, Pilot Field. J'That last home run kind of gives you goosebumps," said Duke McOuire, a former minor-leaguer wh6 played one of Redford's teammates on the fictional New York Knights. "It's one of those feel-good morocnts." -McGuire, now the Bisons announcer, and other Natural alumni will be on hand for the reunion, which will include 1930s music and costumes and a re-enactment of Redford's final homer.

Redford and such co-stars as Glenn Close and Wilford Brimley turned down invitations to the eventf The Natural, based on the novel by Bernard Malamud, is the mythic story of Roy Hobbs, who gets a second chance at stardom after a near-fatal mistake in his youth. "The movie is still in the hearts and Ininds of people in Buffalo," Bisons spokesman John Isherwood saidft's a reminder of baseball the way it should be. 176 ER HR BB SO 148 34 191 334 300 IP 347.1 ERA 0 CO 3 83 71 9 0 i 16 29 Robert Redford as middle-aged rookie Roy Hobbs in The Natural. "That's been the theme for us all season. Things have got a little out of control in the majors, but back on the farm there's still natural grass, players who have a real feel for the game and who still want to sign autographs for fans." There will also be a real baseball game today as Triple-A Buffalo meets the Iowa Cubs.

The Bisons, who routinely outdraw all other minor-league teams and even a few major-league franchises, are expected to pass the one-million mark in ticket sales today for the sixth straight season. The appeal of the Bisons lured a Moore, 42, owns a steel pipe company in Houston. "We buy and sell steel pipes and things are better than I could have imagined." Moore said. "I find the business world just as exciting as the sports world. If I'd known it was like this, I might have had a betterba'sf-ball career.

I wouldn't have put so much pressure on myself." AL OLIVER (1982-83) he started working in 1974, Boccabella, 52, is living comfortably off two pensions (baseball, $26,000 yearly, and Pacific, $19,000 yearly). "I play golf every day," Boccabella said. RON BRAND (1969-71) An. II 30 MR Ml 10 SI Ct 24 49 32 116 14 3 0 30 40 18 Brand, 53. owns a batting cage in Sacramento where he gives private and group instructions.

After his playing days, Brand tried managing. He turned down a chance to manage the Reds' Doublc-A team in Trois Rivieres in 1977 because, "with six kids, I had to stay put." Following a second marriage, he now has eight kids but finds time to play in an "old man's league" of ovcr-40 players who include many former major leaguers. DAVE CASH (1977-79) Am. AO 20 31 MR RM 10 tl Ct 21 14ii 181 414 79 11 5 105 74 40 22 28 Third-base coach with the Phillies' Triple-A team at Scranton, Cash, 45, is aiming for a major-league managing job. "I don't feel I have to manage in the minors," Cash said.

"I've played long enough." Though not as rigid as when he played here, Cash is still basically a vegetarian. WARREN CROM ARTIE (1974, 1976-83) Am. AO 20 31 NR RM II Ct .260 37 446 1063 222 30 60 371 38S 49 34 58 Cromartic, 39, has two ventures which keep him occupied from his Miami home. He owns Hardball Records with several numbers about to be released. "We come to play," Cromartie said.

Cro is also in partnership with Andre Dawson and Cecil Fielder in a toothbrush promotion which features a brush shaped like a bat. BOOTS DAY (1970-74) AM. AO 21 30 HR RBI SO tl Ct 2M 1137 143 293 28 6 8 98 137 15 15 11 After scouting for the Tigers, Yankees and Royals, Day, now 46. works 1 OV2-1 1 hour shifts as a courier in St. Louis where his two daughters are in high school.

"I didn't catch on this year." the cheerful Day said. "I've sent out resumes and I hope to be back in baseball next year." 32 SO SB CS 103 6 5 2B 3B HR RBI 61 5 30 193 Avg. AB 315 1231 160 VALENTINE Fleet outfielder's proud of new life i hjitoii it 1 i Vs, XS 1 Oliver, 46, makes motivational speeches to, large companies, schools and churches. "We talk to people about getting self esteem and how to keep it," Oliver said. He has just returned from a promouenal tour to the Orient on behalf of the Major Legilt Alumni Association.

STEVE RENKO (1969-76) ERA 0 CG IP ER HR BB SO 68 82 3 90 238 40 3 13591 1282 669 589 141 624 810 Until a year ago, Renko, 48, managed a sports complex he had built in Kansas City. He now has a small trucking company and a warehouse storage facility. Steve Jr. had a fling in the Expos' organization. STEVE ROGERS (1973-85) ERA CG Sv IP ER HR BB SO 158 152 3.17 399 129 2 2838 0 2619 1122 1001 151 86 1621 Rogers, 43.

works for the Major League Players Association, determining what individual players deserve in settlements from the various collusion cases. He is a consultant to the pension Two partcrships in the oil business went bankrupt. Rogers's son. 19-year-old Jason, is pitching for Connor State Jr. College while Jeffrey 1 7), a high school senior, is not into sports.

RODNEY SCOTT Am. AB 20 3B HR RBI SO SB CS 226 1500 201 339 34 21 3 115 195 139 32 48 "I'm doing zero nothing." Scott. 39, said. "I've been doing some fund-raising for the Easter Seals and I'm invited to help out at a few baseball camps." Scott would love one specific job. "I'd love to coach with the Expos," Scott said.

"Guaranteed I could help make them a winner." CHRIS SPEIER (1977-84) BARRY FOOTE (1973-77) SO RBI 21 31 105 Av. AB 233 1212 164 126 54 9 Fired as a coach along with manager Jeff Torborg by the New York Mcts, Foote, 41, is "spending time watching, helping and enjoying my boy play baseball." The boy, 18-year-old Derek, is a left-handed hitting catcher who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 235 pounds. Foote is starting to look for 1994 work. WOODIE FRYMAN (1975-76, 1978-83) HR BB SO IP ERA 'G CG 51 52 3 24 297 15 52 304 260 36 274 469 677 722 0 1984 GAZETTE FILE PHOTO Ellis Valentine shares laugh with Gary Carter during playing days. A full-time farmer on the 565 acres of Kentucky farm land where his two sons have their own homes.

"The tobacco business is on the way out and lots of farmers are hurting," said Fryman, 53, who admitted using some of his $30,000 a year baseball pension to stay afloat. Fryman said he hopes to sell and move to Florida, where he still has the home he bought in Day-tona when the Expos trained there. SO SB CS 379 6 14 122 2B 3B HR RBI 710 123 22 29 255 AO 2908 Am. 24b JIM (MUDCAT) GRANT (1969) ER SO 20 HR BB 7 14 IP 502 CO 1 ERA 478 wi 1 6 27 64 OTTTNOED FROM PAGE H1 Health Centre of Palmdale Hospital in Palmdale, for seven years. Tpe been taking courses and I'm gcttihgnational certification soon," Valentine said as proudly as he iWight have discussed the possibility of playing in a World Series 1 5 years ago.

i Valentine was an 18-year-old when he played for the Expos' rookie team at Cocoa. in 1972. He had been signed out of Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles, where he Jjad enjoyed a brilliant career. As "a junior, he hit .542 while playing the outfield and pitching. developing other habits as well.

was using drugs in high school," Valentine said. "Alcohol? I'd always been drinking. I guess I had my first beer when I was 12 or so. ASThings went along in baseball, 1 drank and I used drugs. By the time reached the Expos, you could i4y was dependent on both.

-'You had this kid from south Los Angeles who was totally displaced into another country and anpther world which was professional baseball," he added. "All the linie, -m trying to learn how to become person. It was just hard for fne' to handle all of that." If they didn't know anything about-, his high school activities other than baseball, the Expos were certainly forewarned of a possible problem early in his pro career. The Expos sent Valentine to the Dominican Republic to play winter Jjall when he was 1 9. Before the season through they were their future star was in "It was drugs," Valentine said.

had me in jail for several -days. It wasn't fun. The Expos had to send people down to get me out." Out t)f jail and the country. Expos had a good baseball net-'woric in the Dominican. They were loldthey could get Valentine out of jai on the promise they never send Tiim there again.

But 'Valentine would flash that golden arm which could fire strikes from the right-field corner to third base or home plate. With his long, lanky tody he could run like a deer. His smooth swing with power was tantalizing because it exuded so much potential. So problems? What problems. But those skills belonged to a yoang man who needed help.

II I I Speier, 43, finished his 19-year major-league caTelr back with the Giants in 1 989. He is now principal Of a private Catholic Academy called Ville de Marie, a name Speier said he brought with him from Quebec, in Scottsdale. Ariz. His wife, Aleta, is administrative assistant of the classical liberals arts school which has a substabtial waiting list of would-be students. GARY SUTHERLAND (1969-71) Am.

AB 28 3B HR RBI SO SB CS 234 1207 125 282 43 3 10 87 65 10 13 54 A special assignment scout for the Dodgers. Sutherland, 48, took out a real estate licence after his playing days and tried the real world for a year. "It was OK but I wrote letters to all the clubs to try and get back into baseball," said Sutherland, who worked forthe Padres before the Dodgers. "I guess for some of usat (baseball) is in our blood." Grant, 58, who started the Expos' first game (New York, April 8, 1969) said, "I have two things going." From Los Angeles he runs the Black Professional Golf Tour. He also conducts a series of clinics against illiteracy and drugs clinics.

Ex-ball players conduct 2'2-day clinics for up to 500 kids who must go through the literacy and anti-drug sessions. RON HUNT Am. AB 2 31 HR RBI SO SI CS .277 1767 272 489 69 3 5 100 106 26 21 54 Hunt, 52, raises cattle on his 1 10 acres of farm land in Wentzville, some 40 miles from St. Louis. "I also run another farm," Hunt said.

"I have some business properties and also business interests in New York." Hunt also owns, runs and manages an independent baseball team for 15-18 year olds. WALLACE JOHNSON (1981-84, 1986-90) MIKE TORREZ (1971-74) ER HR BB SO entine said, "especially when you're trying your damndest but you just can't." Valentine feels a career highlight might have been "the '79 season when we came close and I feel I helped." "There was that awesome night when we hit back-to-back-to-back home runs. Tony Perez hit one and then Gary Carter. I had to reach down to find all my athletic ability to duplicate that or triplicate or whatever it is." Valentine started the 1980 season tremendously but on May 30 in St. Louis a Roy Thomas fastball felled him, fracturing his cheekbone in three places.

"I honestly don't remember anything about that," Valentine said. "I could have been in the middle of a blackout (drugs). I don't know. "What I do remember fondly is players, especially Larry Parrish, visiting me at the hospital in Montreal and spending time with me." There were long stretches during his career when Valentine wasn't the most popular player on the team. But in the get-togethers of those players here for tonight's old-timers game, all of them wanted to go and talk to the big man who has turned his life around so dramatically.

And there was a reminder that some things don't change. "Tell him, Boc," Valentine urged John Boccabella. "Tell him I can still throw. They better not run on me. A few year after he had stopped drinking and using, Valentine went for a triple-header.

He gave up smoking as well, a major reason he is 55 or 60 pounds heavier than IH I ERA CG Sv back and understand some of the problems, maybe even have some of the answers," Valentine said. "I can look back on all that now and have an answer for it. But then I couldn't. I just was enjoying it. "Baseball promotes alcohol, actually," he added.

"They gave us beer after the games. You know you have to stop drinking and using but how? "Growing up was a big part. The two of them they go hand in hand. Growing up and stopping the dependencies. I knew what I wanted to do, but "I didn't know what I was feeling.

Alchohol and drugs fixes the feelings." After his studies an'i practical experiences Valentine now says he can understand tragedies and problems early in his life which might have led to his searching for artificial dependencies. "But you can't look back," he said. "I can look back to '79 and I know if I take a different swing at that Steve Carlton (Phillies) slider, I could put it out of the park. "You always know what you should do but how? You know that stopping drinking and using would probably help but that's the last thing you want to do. You just didn't know what the hell to do about it." Valentine finds it difficult to single out individual highlights of a career which saw him hit 25 home runs in consecutive seasons and lead the league in outfield assists.

Games, weeks, months, seasons run together for those who lean too strongly on artificial substances to live day to day. "Nobody outside (dependency) 610 303 267 42 303 296 40 3 75 102 22 0 640 2 SB CS 19 7 RBI 58 20 30 144 17 6 HR 5 52 Am. 257 561 Torrez, 45. is executive director of the newly formed sports marketing division of the LTA Group. Among other things, Torrez sets up incentive programs for large companies for the New Jersey-based group.

TOr-rez is also involved with Upper Deck, the baseball card company which is behind tonight's old-timers game here. I JERRY WHITE (1974-83) SO SB CS Am. AB RBI 96 2B 3B HR 44 9 19 155 53 2h .254 1038 132 Whiff di i a rnvino hariinnine coach and out Johnson, 36, is making good use of the accountant's degree which helped him fill out income tax forms for players while he was an Expo. He runs a management firm in Gary, where he helps people manage their finances and sets up budgets. He plans to get more schooling.

MACK JONES (1969-71) Am. AB 28 3B HR RBI SO SB CS .248 817 1 35 203 37 8 39 120 208 12 10 16 Asked when he'd be in Montreal, Jones said, "they never invited me. man." He laughed heartily. Always kidding, Jones, 54, said, "I'm just relaxing taking it easy." Asked what a guy does to make ends meet, Jones said, "Oh, the ends are going to meet, I don't worry about that. You just have to know what to do." Jones said he isn't drawing on his baseball pension because, "I haven't retired yet.

I'm not old enough." CHARLIE LEA (1980-84) ERA 8 CG Sv IP ER HR BB SO 55 41 3 32 128 22 0 7931 708 328 293 60 291 463 field instructor in the Minnesota Twins organization. Thirty days short of eight years' major-league seryjc. White hopes for the chance to work with a big-league club long enough to become fully invested pension-wise (10 years). Other plavers who will appear in the game are: Joe Kerrigan, the Expos current pitching coach; current Expos broadcasters Ken Singleton and Claude Raymond- current vice-president, baseball operations Bill Stoneman; and third-base coach Jerry Manuel. hen he played.

understands what going on, val 4 a iiuw tan luurw Toronto's Tracy earns provisional IndyCar pole in Vancouver wid late-season modi and that's where the time comes down." Goodyear also complained about bumps on the 2.78-kilometre circuit, especially raised manhole covers along the longest straight which force racers off their fastest line. "I think all of them in Vancouver must be on that section of road, because it's terrible," he said. The covers have been cemented over but Goodyear said the cement was breaking up under impact from the cars. "You go down there and you fall in behind another car. There's pieces of cement going past you.

It's crazy. "The reason we've done well is we had a good morning (practice) session without any big problems in the car, so we were able to work on the setup and make three or four more changes." Fittipaldi, a two-time Formula One champion who is second in the IndyCar standings, had to master the bumpy Pacific Place street circuit before being able to run really fast. "I had a traction problem, he said. "On this track you need a lot of traction and it was very difficult to get the car working on the long sweep corner after the second chicane (turn) at the back. "I made a big improvement there fications to his Ford-powered Lola have eased some handling problems that made the Mackenzie-sponsored car inconsistent.

"Just getting some of the updates seemed like it's helped and prob-ablv put us up there in the top competitive part of the field where the other guvs might already have some ofthese'things'hesaid. Tracy, third in IndyCar standings, was happy to see Goodyear become a factor in the race. Ross Bentlcy of Vancouvcritie other Canadian in the race, qualified his underpowered Lola 20th fastest, equalling his best performance this year. two poles and four victories this season. Two of the wins are on temporary street circuits like Vancouver.

"We're very pleased with our time. It's only our first day of qualifying. We've got a long way to go (today)." The 27-car field qualifies in two groups, with the slower cars generally running in the second group. But Johansson fought his way around slower cars to post a hot lap late in the second session. "The biggest problem we had in this session was really the traffic," said the veteran Formula One driver.

"It was really hard to get a clear lap. CANADIAN PRESS Paul Tracy of Toronto continued his dominance oflndyCar street courses yesterday by. taking the provisional pole for tomorrow's Vancouver Molson Indy auto race. 1 Tracy sped his Marlboro Penske car to a fast lap of 54.4 seconds at about 109 miles an hour, withstanding a late challenge from Stefan Johansson. The Swede lapped his Amax Bettenhausen Penske at 54.7 seconds and 108.47 mph.

Tracy's teammate. Emerson Fit-iipaldi. was third at 54.75 seconds and 108.39 mph. In one of his best showiigs in a dismal season. Scott MOTOR SPORTS roundup Goodyear of Newmarket, came fourth in 54.77 seconds and 108.3 mph.

Nigel Mansell, the PPG IndyCar scries leader, appeared to be having trouble finding the right handling setup for his Newman-Haas Lola and finished the initial qualifying session ninth, two miles an hour slower than Tracy. "We came out in qualifying and did a quick time on our first set of tires and then really on our second set we couldn't seem to match that time again," said Trcy, who has I.