The Daily Oklahoman from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma • 28

Sports THE DAILY OKLAHOMAN Classified Ads General News Obituaries Crossword Puzzle WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 1991 25 No Surprise Here: Phillies Fire Leyva 8 JOHN Mets Nip Phillies 2-1 Page 30 JROHDE PHILADELPHIA (AP) Nick Leyva expected to be fired as manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, and he turned out to be right. Leyva was dismissed Tuesday after only 13 games with a 4-9 record and a last-place standing. The Phillies named Jim Fregosi to take over starting with a three-game series against New York. Actually, the rumors Leyva was in trouble started in spring training when the manager and general manager Lee Thomas had differences on the direction of the team. The Leyva watch officially started when the Phillies lost their first two games of the season to the Mets at Shea Stadium.

Things only got worse as the Phillies' young pitching staff had trouble finding the strike zone and Leyva had trouble finding reasons why. "I didn't like the way the club was going," Thomas said. "It's best for the organization before we get too far into the It was the third fastest firing in baseball history. In 1988, the year Baltimore lost-its first 21 games, the Orioles sacked Cal Ripken Sr. six games into the season.

Ripken was replaced by Frank Robinson. And in 1972, Preston Gomez managed the San Diego Padres for 11 games before being fired. Other just seven home runs. Fregosi has been a pitching instructor at the minor league level and a special assignment scout for the Phillies. "I bring a great rapport with the players and the ability to get them to play hard.

The easiest thing is to run to first base. I expect that," he said. Not only is the club losing but even Leyva admitted the Phillies have been playing poor fundamental baseball. Almost every game, mistakes not expected from a major league club prove costly. In one case, a pitcher threw a run-scoring wild pitch during an intentional walk.

tract through the end of the 1991 season, is best known as the player the Mets acquired from the Angels in 1971 for Nolan Ryan. Leyva, 37, said he understood the move, approved by club president Bill Giles. "The club is not playing good," Leyva said. "When it doesn't somebody takes the blame. I tried to do the best job I could, and it didn't work out." Under Leyva, an inexperienced pitching staff had a 4.77 ERA, walked 79 and led the league in wild pitches.

Meanwhile, a lineup that was supposed to be able to score runs was batting .224 with Kickers Get The Boot From Draft early firings involved George Steinbrenner's New York Yankees. Bob- Lemon was fired after 14 games in 1982 and Yogi Berra after 16 games in 1985. Fregosi, 49, was 430-475 as manager of the Chicago White Sox and California Angels. His 1979 Angels club won the AL West. "He can handle modern-day players.

He's a people person. He's a good strategist," Thomas said. Fregosi, who was given a con v-'j3 SKPQB HB9K Clemens (4-0) Blanks Toronto Page 30 BOSTON (AP) Roger Clemens extended his scoreless streak to 30 innings with seven more shutout innings Tuesday night, and the Boston Red Sox defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 3-0 for their sixth straight victory. Clemens (4-0) gave up five hits, struck out seven and walked four. He is the top winner in the major leagues and has not allowed a run since the second inning on opening day in Toronto.

Clemens is still awaiting a decision by commissioner Fay Vincent on his appeal of a five-game suspension. In the meantime, Clemens has made four starts and pitched 32 innings, giving up one run (an 0.28 ERA) on 17 hits. He has struck out 34 and walked five. The Blue Jays threatened only once, against Clemens, loading the bases in the fourth on a one-out double by Kelly Gruber and a pair of two-out walks. Clemens retired Greg Myers on a grounder to end the inning.

Jeff Gray relieved to start the eighth after Clemens threw 109 pitches. Gray pitched one inning and Jeff Reardon worked the ninth for his fifth save. Wade Boggs and. Mike Greenwell hit solo home runs for the Red Sox. Heads Above The Rest! i Wins Keep Coming For Seminole's Simmons EDITOR'S NOTE: Lloyd Simmons is in his 16th season as baseball coach at Seminole Ju- nior College.

His SJC teams have compiled a 1.100-200 record through Monday (making him one of list two juco coaches to ruin 1,000 games) ana won 14 Bi-State Conference, nine Region II and seven NJCAA Central District titles. He has taken the Trojans to the Juco 1 World Series in Grand Junction, seven times, and has three second-place, two third- place and two fifth-place finishes to his credit. I -I'iis 1991 team is 42-1 thru Monday and ranked No. Nicknamed "Zero" because of I his uniform number (which signifies the number of games he expects his team to lose each season), Simmons is Wednesday Wit- i By Murray Evans I Staff Writer Question: How have you been able to consistently field strong teams? 1 Answer: That's a tough question. I hope it's because of the hard work we put into I it.

We expect hard work from our players every day. We emphasize consistency and working on the fundamentals. I hope 5 that's the reason. Some claim your success has been because scouts funnel players into I your program. I don't believe that's true.

The scouts don't have anything to do with the play- ers' work ethic or the coaching they receive. The scouts sive the names of nrns- Injured Gretzky OK for Game 4 NHL Roundup Page 28 Several local football players selected in this week's NFL draft were shocked they weren't picked earlier. At least they were picked. If you go by the Scouting Combine ratings in the Feb. 19 issue of USA Today, Oklahoma's R.D.

Lashar and Oklahoma State's Cary Blanchard rated as the No. 7 and No. 8 placekickers for the 56th NFL draft. Only four kickers were chosen in the 12-round, 334-player draft that ended Monday night Clemson's Chris Gardocki in the third round (by Chicago); Georgia's John Kasay in the fourth (Seattle); Florida State's Richie Andrews in the sixth (Detroit); and California's Robbie Keen in the ninth (Kansas City). Lashar wasn't surprised his phone didn't ring, although he did watch Sunday's television coverage of the draft.

"I thought it'd be kind of neat to watch," said the 541, 185-pound Lashar. "I was never counting (on being drafted). That'd be icing on the cake." Meanwhile, Blanchard said if he wasn't selected before the ninth round, he'd rather the phone not ring at all so he could at least choose which tryout with which team'. "I was disappointed," said the 6-1 223-pound Blanchard. However, Blanchard is in the process of signing with the Dallas Cowboys.

He'll attend a three-day mini-camp later this week. Blanchard said Cleveland, Cincinnati, Indianapolis and the New York Giants have also contacted him. Lashar and Blanchard were evaluated at the NFL combine inside the Indianapolis Hoosier Dome on Feb 6-8. Despite being given a 4.20 rating to Blanchard's 4.10, Lashar said he has no idea how he rated higher. "Those ratings were so off," Lashar said with a laugh.

"Cary did better than anybody there. That was his day. He should have been ranked No. 1. When we left, I said, 'What got into He said, 'I don't He was hot.

There were guys rated higher than Cary who had no business being there." "It freaked me out, too," Blanchard said of published ratings. "But I checked into those numbers and was told they were pretty much pre-season ratings." Blanchard said he tied for second with Keen and rated behind Gardocki, a junior. Placekickers attempted 15 field goals from 30 to 50 yards three at the 30; three at the 35, etc. Blanchard converted 12. Lashar converted 10 (including his first nine).

Blanchard also had five kick-offs. His first four sailed high and far. His fifth was a low-liner that hit at the 30. "That one shank killed me. I bet," Blanchard said.

"If they want to base everything on one kick, I guess that's their choice." While Blanchard heads to Dallas, Lashar remains in Norman. "I'm trying to get into law enforcement if I can," said Lashar, a political science major. Lashar's older brother, Tim who R.D. calls his "best friend" is a former OU kicker who had tryouts with half a dozen NFL teams. R.D.

said he'll seek advice from his older brother. "But I'm not going to bo stupid or anything," R.D. said. "My chances are pretty slim. (Placekickers) usually are the last to get picked and the first to be let The Associated Press Wayne Gretzky, badly cut when he was hit in the head by a puck, said Tuesday he expects to play tonight when the Los Angeles Kings play Game 4 of the Smythe Division finals against the Edmonton Oilers.

Gretzky needed 25 stitches to close a gash near his left ear after he was hit by a shot from teammate Steve Duchesne late in the first period Monday night. Gretzky threw off his helmet and put his hand over his ear. Blood was seen streaming down his neck. He was taken to the dressing room, where an ear specialist and a dentist examined him. Team physician Steve Lombardo said the NHL's all-time leading scorer was hearing noises and experiencing dizziness after the injury.

Gretzky did not play the rest of the game, which went into double overtime before Edmonton won 4-3. Gretzky met with doctors Tuesday for another evaluation of the injury. The Oilers lead the best-of-seven series 2-1. pects to all the schools, not just Seminole Junior College. The scouts also don't i teach the players fundamentals.

I State Man Boosts Charity Golf Drive wno are the best players you ve had at Seminole? I don't ever try7 to compare players, or who's been the best at every position, because each team has its own character. They've all been good. I've had some outstanding players, and I've-had some mediocre players who played over their heads. We've had almost 100 guys sign pro in the 16 years I've been here. Some guys have gone further than others, like Don Carmen, who just signed with Cincinnati after he was released by Philadelphia.

I'm proud of guys like that. Don came from a small town in western Oklahoma, and nobody wanted him out of high school because he couldn't throw hard enough. I'm See SIMMONS. Page 29 StaH Ptioto by Jim Beck el Lloyd Simmons has compiled a record in 16 seasons as head baseball coach at Seminole Junior College. Bombers, Carl Albert Fill Cage Openings a surprised Craft at first would not confirm he had donated the money.

Later, though, Craft said he is making the contribution to junior golf and the Family Guidance Center. Craft said he did not want a formal announcement until meeting with officials this weekend in Florida. He apparently planned to disclose the donation soon after Nicklaus' course, but inclement weather postponed his trip to the sunshine state. "Whoever made the announcement was wrong in doing so." Craft said. "They weren't supposed to do that.

1 really don't want to talk any more about it until this weekend." From Staff and Wire Reports After a four-day scoring binge to win the PGA Seniors Championship, Jack Nicklaus went on a golf-course binge to raise money for charity. Hopscotching Palm Beach (Fla.) County in his friend Greg Norman's helicopter, Nicklaus played one hole Monday at 18 different sites and raised a cool $600,000. After Nicklaus' final stop, it was announced that $500,000 of the total was a donation from Dr. Gerald Craft of Jones, OK. No problem, except Craft's generous gift was announced very prematurely.

When contacted by The Ok-lahoman on Tuesday night, MIDWEST CITY Keith Pigg and Patrick Cudjoe have been selected for the respective high school boys basketball coaching openings at Midwest City and Carl Albert, Mid-Del Schools superintendent Dr. John Folks announced Tuesday. Both hirings are subject to approval of the Mid-Del Schools board, which holds its next meeting on May 6. Pigg, 33, comes to Midwest City after three seasons as an assistant coach at Oklahoma Christian University. Pigg, who replaces Gary Banz, spent two seasons 38-17) as head coach at Bishop McGuinness High.

The son of retiring Mus- working as a prep assistant at John Marshall and Douglass. The Northeast High alumnus makes his head coaching debut at Carl Albert, replacing Dub Raper. Cudjoe is the son of former 1-angston player and Harlem Globetrotter Lance Cudjoe. Prep Baseball Pairings Page 28 tang girls coach Rob Pigg played collegiately at Oklahoma Christian and Southern Nazarene. Cudjoe.

2i. played at Langston University before i 1 Stanley Cup Major Leagues Furthermore. Division Finals AMERICAN A television station repotted Tuesday that Noi tneasloi basketball coach La" Gipscn has boon selected tot the same job at Toluoo Page 26. Rac.hit Ismail has an "escape (Siiitied 3-31 Today's Remington Par More Baseball, Page 30 Roundup, Page 28 tions age Northeastern wins th District championship pafiC.