The Gazette from Montreal, Quebec, Canada • 26

6 THE GAZETTE, MONTREAL, THURSDAY. MARCH 20, 1997 Ritchie gets rent money, Als' head-coaching job 6E0FF BAKER THE GAZETTE During his tenure in B.C., Ritchie was one of the league's more popular coaches with players and the media. As Montreal's defensive co-ordinator last season, Ritchie didn't always get to implement the system he preferred -which is more aggressive. Instead, it was head coach Price the Baltimore Stallions' defensive coordinator prior to that team's move to Montreal -whose more read-and-react approach to defence often won out What Ritchie does bring to the team as a head coach is several years worth of CFL experience and contacts. He'll face a daunting task trying to rebuild a Montreal squad that will lose several of its all-star players from last season.

There has been talk of luring quarterback Tracy Ham out of retirement, but nothing has gotten beyond the talking stage yet Ritchie's promotion means the Als need new coordinators on both sides of the football. Sources say Ritchie will hire Als defensive-backs coach Gene Gaines as his defensive coordinator. Gaines served as Ritchie's defensive coordinator in B.C. One rumor making the rounds is that Montreal's new offensive coordinator will be onetime CFL star quarterback Dieter Brock fired the past two seasons by Hamilton and Ottawa. It is not known whether former Montreal Machine head coach Jacques Dussault who worked alongside Ritchie on Montreal's defensive staff in 1983 and 1984 and had been a finalist for the head-coaching position will be hired to work for the Als.

He could not be reached for comment yesterday Don Wnek, Montreal's defensive-line coach last season, said yesterday he hasn't spoken to Ritchie in a few days but hopes to return in 1997. Ritchie was a linebacker and fullback at the University of Cincinnati and served as the head coach at Fairmont State University from 1978-82. He coached defensive backs in Montreal from 1983-86 and held positions in Winnipeg and Ottawa before coaching the Lions from 1993-95. ter the new Als management asked him to take a pay cut Montreal's coaching staff from last season went three months without getting paid, the reason Barker jumped ship and joined the Toronto Argonauts. After the Als franchise was revoked from owners Michael Gelfand and Jim Speros, new owner Robert Wetenhall made a goodwill gesture of two months pay to some 1996 staff.

Coaches can still register as creditors of the former Alouettes who owe at least $700,000, money the new franchise is not responsible for, Ritchie was one of the more outspoken coaches when it came to the subject of not getting paid. A couple of months ago, he even applied for a high-school coaching job in Florida just to cover his bases in case the Als folded for good. Soon after, Ritchie received a standing offer to join his old friend, Wally Buono, on the coaching staff of the Calgary Stampeders a fact he made quite clear to the Als In recent weeks. young daughters whom I care about very deeply and I want to set an example for them. "I feel very strongly about some of the things that have taken place in the past year, and I think that, rather than me being a hypocrite, it's best that I move on." Vaas becomes the third Als coach to leave the club, joining Price and offensive-line coach Jim Barker.

But Vaas was quick to point out that Ritchie being named head coach was the least of his reasons for going. "Dave called me and wanted to get together for lunch and I declined," Vaas said. "I recognize that he recommended me to Bob Price last year and I do appreciate that" Vaas, an American, has been renting a home in Beaconsfield, but said that since his Canadian work permit only allows him to coach football, he'll be returning to the U.S. shortly Price left the Als two weeks ago after being offered a job at the University of Virginia. His departure came soon af It's safe to say Dave Ritchie's life has soared from rock-bottom to new heights in just a matter of weeks.

Not only has the 58-year-old Bedford, native finally received some back pay to cover rent on his lie Cadieux home, but as of 2 p.m. today, he'll make his return as a Canadian Football League head coach with the Montreal Alouettes. Ritchie, who could not be reached for comment yesterday, coached the B.C. Lions to a Grey Cup title in 1994 and now gets to lead the Alouettes. He began his CFL career as an assistant with the Als in 1981 His ascension to the top job has come with a price.

Peter Vaas, Montreal's offensive co-ordinator last year, has decided not to return In 1997. "It's not the right thing for me," said Vaas, another finalist for the head-coaching vacancy created by the departure of Bob Price. "I've got two xpos get it Series of mistakes WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. Felipe Alou talks about how his team has to do all the little things right to win this season. Against the Marlins yesterday, the Expos did all the little things wrong.

They failed to move runners over, they made bad throws. Vladimir Guerrero and David Segui were both thrown out trying to stretch singles into doubles. Henry Rodriguez and Cliff Floyd both struck out twice with men on base. The Marlins even scored a run in the seventh on an error by sure-handed shortstop Orlando Cabrera and won the game 5-4. BAD NEWS FOR MO -Moises Alou made the 90-minute trip from the Marlins' spring-training complex in Melbourne yesterday but did not play.

There was a rumor that Mo had simply dropped in to say ft- Guerrero Vatch Yesterday: 3- hello to his dad, but it wasn't double Tand Is true Alou's right shoulder, ge one RBI. operated on after the 1995 sea- So far: Hitting son, has been bothering him .391 with four and he was in West Palm doubles, a triple, Beach to have it examined by tnree hoers and brought 29 of his players MARCOS TOWNSEND, GAZETTE Expos manager Felipe Alou keeps eye on Cliff Floyd as he takes some cuts in batting cage at spring training. Floyd festers as he struggles One-time phenom not grabbing starting spot l.phyS1Cian Larry AND HERE THEY ARE, rdoS YOUR 1997 EXPOS Manag- Chris Sheff drove er Alou yesterday started a ball that what was close to an opening- Guerrero ran day lineup: Mark down on the warn-Grudzielanek at second, dell White in centre, Henry toward second Rodriguez in left, David so Guerrero Segui at first, Vladimir wheeled, fired Guerrero in right, Darrin and threw him out Matt Wagner pitching to-Fletcher behind the plate and witri a one-hop morrow afternoon as the Ex-Shane Andrews at third. strike t0 first pos begin a stretch of nine The one possible change, straight games at home in barring injury, would have strong- West Palm with a game against the armed catcher Chris Widger in place Dodgers. -4 that he was second in the NL with nine walks.

Floyd blames the lack of at-bats; the Expos say he has to earn them. "That seems to be the way it is for me," he said yesterday. "I never have a job where I can come in and say that's mine. Every year it seems like there's the intention of starting me, but if I don't hit right away I'm on the bench. "I need to play to see where I stand from the injury.

People keep saying, 'You've got to bounce but it's hard to bounce when you're not playing. Then on the day you do play, you try too hard because you know you've got to do something." Once the sunniest of players, there is anger in Floyd now, something that wasn't there before. If he can turn it outward and translate it into hits, it could help him. If he lets it eat him up Across the room from Floyd sits a lean, lithe rookie named Vladimir Guerrero, the biggest reason Floyd is having trouble winning playing time. Yesterday Guerrero merely singled, doubled, tripled and threw out a runner at first from the warning track.

While Guerrero smiles and hits, Floyd is turning into a baseball Hamlet tortured, frustrated, indecisive, moody, hesitant. To be fair, that career-threatening injury forced him to go through more than most young men endure in their early 20s: "I wouldn't wish it on nobody, the stuff I've gone through," he says. But Floyd has to find a way to put all that behind him. The brass met yesterday to decide the next round of cuts, which will be announced this morning. Floyd won't be among them, but he's running out of time.

If he doesn't put it together soon, you're going to see a big man with shoulders as wide as a large oak tree in a crowd 10 years from now, and somebody is going to point him out and say: "That's Cliff Floyd. He coulda been something." 4J 1 wrong help Marlins JACK TODD of Fletcher. Why not Fletcher? The same old problem: questions about his arm. Yes terday, Marlins second baseman Luis Castillo led off with a walk off Expos starter Jeff Juden and immediately stole second and third. That was just a preview of things to come: altogether, the Marlins stole six bases off Fletcher, with Castillo picking up four steals and John Can-gelosi two.

The steals didn't worry manager Alou. "We're one of the best teams for defending against base-stealing," said Alou, whose team is 5-15 in exhibition play "During the season, we call for pitches outside and we do pretty well. "This is spring training and there are other things to worry about" FUN IN THE SUN Hock S3? i. ft ey coach Richard Meagher from the Loyola High School hockey team to yesterday's game. The team is in Florida for a hockey tournament in Hallandale.

ON THE ROAD: Carlos Perez will start for the Expos tonight against the Mets in Port St. Lucie. Omar Daal and Anthony Telford are also scheduled to go tonight, with Pedro Martinez and 1 can League president Gene Budig to grant a roster exemption under a baseball rule that allows teams to replace a player because of a "hardship or unusual circumstance." If the request is granted, Cleveland would replace Mesa on the 25-man roster with another pitcher. If Mesa becomes available, the Indians would have to send the pitcher to the minors. FORT LAUDERDALE If the Baltimore Orioles and Cal Ripken agree on a contract extension, the signing could be delayed until after April 1 to work around baseball's new payroll-tax system.

If a player signs an extension before then, the average annual value of the contract would be applied to this year's payroll for tax purposes. Contracts signed after April 1 would not apply until the 19E8 season. Ripken, 36, is entering the final season of a five-year, contract and could be a free agent next winter. Roufs is still alive aboard a disabled boat suffering from electrical problems that are preventing his two Argos locators and a separate hand-activated beacon from operating, or that the yacht has sunk as a result of being capsized by a wave or collision with a "growler," a chunk of ice not easily detected by radar, but big enough to rip open a hole In the boat One faint reason for hope is that Roufs reported problems with his radio equipment before disappearing. Roufs 's wife, Michele Cartier, and his 8-year-old daughter, Emma, left Montreal last month and returned to France, Irabu heads home Regina team wants to sign pitcher WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.

The pitch was straight as a string, right down the middle. Cliff Floyd looked at it. Umpire Scott Potter looked at it and punched Floyd's ticket. That was the first time, in the seventh inning with runners at first and third and Jay Powell pitching. The second time came in the bottom of the ninth, a man on third, with the Expos down 5-4 and two out.

Floyd worked to a full count. The next pitch was on the inside corner. Floyd took it. Potter called it a strike, and Floyd's day was complete: two strikeouts, looking, with men on. Something has changed with Floyd this spring.

He's not a happy camper -and there are murmurs that the Expos are not altogether happy with him. Yesterday morning, a visiting reporter from Toronto thought he heard an angry exchange between Floyd and bench coach Jim Tracy in the locker room. Both Tracy and Floyd say they were just fooling around but there are other signs the organization is not entirely happy with the onetime phenom whose career has been sidetracked by a scarifying wrist injury and his failure to hit consistently in the majors. "I don't give a a frustrated Floyd said after the game. "Whatever I gotta do to play here I'll do it, but right now I don't know what I gotta do.

It takes a lot out of you when you know you're going to be sitting on the bench." On the other hand, it's tough to get off the bench when you're not hitting. Floyd is mired in an 0-for-15 slump and hasn't had a hit since March 7. Floyd claims he isn't concerned: "I know I'm not going to go home and lose any sleep because I struck out twice in spring training. If it happened in August or September, OK maybe I should be worried. But some guys hit in spring training and some don't and I guess I'm one of those who doesn't" ASSOCIATED PRESS SAN DIEGO Hidekl Irabu took his 100-mph fastball and went home The star right-hander, unable to sign with the New York Yankees as he wished, got on a plane yesterday in Los Angeles and followed through with his threat to return to Japan.

Even if the San Diego Padres don't deal him to the Yankees, Irabu could end up pitching in North America. The Regina Cyclones of the independent Prairie League sent a letter to baseball officials in both New York and Tokyo yesterday, notifying them they will pursue Irabu for the 1997 season. "I don't believe anybody knows of a rule," Cyclones owner Dave Ferguson said in a telephone interview. "I think the independent leagues would be a perfect place to play until all his problems and controversies are rectified." WINTER HAVEN, Ha. The Cleveland Indians, who expect to be without closer Jose Mesa when the season opens, have asked the American League for a roster exemption while the pitcher is on trial for a rape charge.

Hart said the Indians asked Ameri- JACK TODD AT SPRING TRAINING Asked if he would rather be traded if that's the only way he can play every day, Floyd said only that he just wants to play "whether it's here or not. If I know what I'm supposed to do, I think I can adjust to it. But that's how it is around here nobody ever tells you what your role is supposed to be." Floyd has been bothered somewhat by a sore right Achilles tendon but says he is ready, willing and able to play every day. He has no chance of winning the right-field job from Vladimir Guerrero, but Henry Rodriguez has struggled in left field, and if nothing else, Floyd gives the Expos better defence than Rodriguez. When Floyd did get in the game yesterday, it was as a defensive replacement for David Segui at first base.

Between them, he and Rodriguez struck out four times with men on base yesterday and Rodriguez grounded feebly to second in his only other at bat. Last spring, Rodriguez simply pounded his way into the lineup. This year, Oh Henry has been little more than a candy bar. He is hitting .179 with seven hits in 39 at-bats and has a single home run, three RBIs and 11 strikeouts. Rodriguez is vulnerable, but Floyd has done nothing to push him.

Those two sorry K's yesterday left Floyd hitting .129 with no home runs, a lone double and a single RBI to show for 31 at-bats. His only positive stat is have been accounted for, except for Roufs. Roufs has been out of contact with race organizers in France and other competitors since Jan. 7, when he made radio contact with competitor Is-abelle Autlssier from a position south of Easter Island, between Australia and the tip of South America. "Hope for Gerry is growing slimmer, obviously," Laure Gallizzi, director of international media relations for the event, said yesterday.

"The only possibility right now is that Gerry is sailing with a very small, makeshift sail and for that reason, we really can't say anything definita Last Vendee boats near finish, Ml no sign of ffoufs JEFF BLAIR THE GAZETTE WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. The last Vendee Globe competitor is expected to reach the French port city of les Sables d'Olonne by Sunday, and there has stul been no contact with Montrealer Gerry Roufs. Peter Goss was about 840 kilometres out of port yesterday morning and due in Saturday. Catherine Chabaud was 1,050 km out and, according to race organizers, should arrive the next day That will mean every remaining competitor in the 46,000 km around-the-world, non-stop solo yacht race will "Philippe Jeantot, the race organizer) will make an official statement once the others are in. "For now, we know that the Cross-Etel (the French maritime rescue coordination agency) is still notifying shipping to be on the lookout for a blue-and green boat.

That's all that can be done." Roufs, a 43-year-old former member and coach of the Canadian yachting team, has been sailing professionally since the 1980s and was skippering the 18-metre yacht Groupe LG-2. He was in second place at the time of his last transmission. Hopes for his safety grew on Jan. 16 when a Chilean military aircraft reported voice contact with a sailor it originally said used the words "Groupe LG," but the identity of the voice has never been confirmed and, subsequent to that, Chilean officials started to cast doubt on the actual words used. Since then, the search has Involved commercial traffic passing through the Atlantic and South Pacific, a Canadian satellite and a network of amateur radio operators.

Two other competitors in the race were rescued after their boats cap sized. There are two possibilities: that.