The San Francisco Examiner from San Francisco, California • 23

0f mi mn mi r. i LCL 93BE9 John Crumpackor lants bop 1 if Leonard, Maldonado help Reuschel triumph Ex-Dodger Welch is no puzzle to White Sox X. tan By Casey Tefertiller OF THE EXAMINER STAFF By Edvins Beitiks OF THE EXAMINER STAFF Cal diamond woes PV liWrtf iron If I jl seems, the argument starts i JL up: Which is the better game, I I college basketball or prof es- sional basketball? To this mugshot, there is no argument at all. Of course the college game is better. However, you never hear the same argument applied to baseball with good reason.

Any sport in which the dominant sound is a hollow ping! should not even be compared to one in which the most enduring sound is a resonant crack! College baseball is shooting a marble at a tin can. Ping! Major league baseball is a fearsome stroke of lightning to the SAN DIEGO The last time the Giants were in San Diego, they won the division crown. It was Sept. 28 and after beating the Padres they danced and hollered in the clubhouse, spraying champagne and beer all over the room. Friday night's 8-3 win over the Padres didn't have the same feeling, the same frenzy, but the memories were there.

"I thought about it," said Candy Maldonado, who hit his first home run of the new season in the first inning. wmmmmmmmm "I looked around the locker room and FRIDAY'S SCORE remembered the last time. It was a GIANTS 8 great feeling." PADRES 3 Pitcher Don Robinson, the win- ning pitcher of that title game, said, "I kind of thought about it when I walked out on the field. But I'll be thinking about it more when we're in here for the last time, in September." The Giants gave the Padres a taste of what that might be like as they came out swinging Friday night, rolling up more runs than they have all year. Maldonado, Jeffrey Leonard and Bob Melvin all had two runs batted in, while Rick Reuschel notched another one of his no-nonsense wins.

Reuschel threw only 84 pitches in six innings, 49 strikes and 33 balls. No more than half a dozen of his pitches were curve balls, said Melvin, adding, "That's fine with me. I won't even put a sign down if he doesn't want me to." Melvin had a single and a double on the night in addition to two RBI, while Maldonado had a single and his homer and Leonard added two singles and a double in his second start of the year. "Jeff Leonard makes a big difference," said Reuschel. "He takes the pressure off the rest of the guys." Reuschel pointed to an outstanding catch by Leonard that saved at least one run in the fourth, adding, "He's a good defender, too, but sometimes his defense limb of a mighty redwood.

Crack! The college game, while certainly not better, nonetheless has much to recom- i mend it There is no nauseating national an-( them sung before the game. That in it- i self is a ringing endorsement for college '-w baseball. The men who lead the teams are coaches, not managers, although they too wear uniforms. There are no intrusive billboard ad OAKLAND Rick Horton and Bob Welch are two career National Leaguers who will spend this summer in such far away places with strange sounding names as Boston, Oakland and Cleveland. These are two pitchers going through the change, learning the intricacies of pitching in a new league during their first weeks as American Leaguers.

And so far, neither sees much difference. There was one difference Friday night: Horton outpitched Welch and carried the Chicago White Sox to an 11-3 victory over the A's. Horton mammmmmmmm didn't allow an earned run in seven ffiHWS SCSI innings, while Welch gave up seven white SOX 11 runs in five innings. as 3 "My philosophy hasn't changed all I need to do is make the pitches," Welch said. "You make a good pitch, and you'll get them out.

"You go out and throw a hanging breaking ball and he'll knock the bleep out of it, no matter if he's a major leaguer or a fourth grader." Both pitchers were parts of celebrated off-season deals. Welch came to the A's in the multi-player deal that sent Jay Howell and Alfredo Griffin to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Welch is 1-2 with a 6.23 ERA in his three Oakland starts. The Sox acquired Horton and rookie center fielder Lance Johnson from the Cardinals for pitcher Jose DeLeon. Horton had a 24-12 record in four seasons with the Cards and already has two wins in three AL starts.

Horton said the change in leagues didn't bother him a bit. "I have a very simple philosophy, something I picked up over in the St. Louis organization. All I need to worry about is my pitching; to do my job the best I can; to just worry about the physical act of pitching. "There are a lot of things I can't control.

I can't control what team I play for, the umpires, the weather. If I can't control something, there's no sense in worrying about it." He made himself right at home in his new surroundings Friday night, allowing only two unearned runs during an impressive stint against an A's team that had pounded the ball in winning two straight games in Seattle before returning home. "It's still the same game just different parks and different hitters, but still the same game," Horton said. A's manager Tony La Russa believes Horton and Welch are the types of pitchers who shouldn't be greatly affected by changing leagues. "I think (Horton) just pitched his game," La Russa said.

"He's got his own basic style, the same as Welch. He pitches his own kind of game." The concern with Welch wasn't that he didn't know the hitters, but that he didn't know what to do with his pitches. "Basically, he didn't use all his pitches," said pitch- See A'S, C-3 vertisements. When a ball sails out of a college park, it does so over generic walls. There is no waiting in line for re freshments, but then again, the meager menu does not include beer.

There is no seventh-inning stretch as such, but on this day at Evans Diamond there was Alvin The Chipmunks crooning "Take Me Out To The Ball- gets overlooked." Melvin agreed, saying "without a doubt" the team is better with Leonard in the "He's our intimida-tor, our leader." "He's a money player," said Will Clark. "He wants to game" on the PA system. On a frigid Friday afternoon better suited for the Iditarod Sled Dog race or a Giants night game California and drive in the key runs, which is what he did tonight." Manager Roger Craig said, simply, "When he plays, Arizona State met to determine first place in the Six Pac, more formally we win. known as the Pac-10 Southern Division. But Leonard's heroics shouldn't put Reuschel's per formance in the shade, added Craig.

Reuschel's left knee isn't 100 percent, Craig pointed out, but the veteran pitcher still throws one fastball after another for strikes. Both had 1 1-7 league records. Nearly three hours later, after 1,000 hardy souls outfitted with blankets, gloves and parkas had departed, ASU had two more pings! than Cal It was a discouraging moment for the i Bears, who have now lost eight of their last 14 games. I have a personal theory that losing The final line on Reuschel was six innings pitched. four hits, one run, one walk and two strikeouts.

The win put San Francisaco at 64, Vk. games back, and San Associated Press See GIANTS, C-3 Padres' Tony Gwynn robs Jose Uribe of a homer in the third feels worse on a crummy day; if you lose Sun Devils inflict big blow to Cal's psyche on warm, sunny day, hey! it's still a warm, sunny day. But Friday, under a sky as gray as their aluminum bats, the Bears were downcast as coach Bob Mil-lano gathered them in right field for a fmeeting. FROM EXAMINER STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS "It was very, very big," Milano said of the game. "This is the first time I've seen BERKELEY University of California baseball coach Bob Milano did not try to downplay the significance of the defeat.

them stand down the right held line alter the talk was over and instead of someone saying, 'All right, Bears, we'll get 'em tomorrow. Let's go! there was nothing. I think definitely they were "This was really a big blow to the team's psyche," he said after he watched Dan Rumsey hit a three-run home run in the curves. But I guess I wasn't looking and Joe threw a fastball." As any coach will tell you, Buckley made his first mistake by falling behind in the count to Rumsey. "The key thing is the first two pitches had to be strikes," Milano said.

"They were going to bunt, but he got behind 2-0 and they let him swing." The Sun Devils added an insurance run when John Finn singled in the ninth, went to third on a double by Willis and scored on a wild pitch. Rusty Kilgo (5-1) was the winning pitcher for Arizona State in relief of starter Bias Minor. Buckley (5-3) took the loss for Pac-IO UCLA 9, Stanford 4: Senior Mike Magnante held the Cards in check over seven innings and Joe James hit a grand slam home run in the first as the Bruins beat Stanford in the first of a three-game series at UCLA. Magnante, who defeated Stanford earlier this season, ran his record to 10-2. James, ho hit four home runs off Stanford pitching in a three-game set earlier this season in Sunken Diamond, slugged Cardinal starter Lee Plemel's first pitch over the right-field fence for his grand slam.

See COLLEGES C-2 game lead over Cal, which fell to 11-8 and 29-16. California led, 3-2, entering the seventh when Brian Scott doubled. Darren Lewis then singled to score Scott and put the Bears ahead, 4-2. But in the eighth, Steve Willis and Martin Peralta singled off California starter Fred Corral. Joe Buckley relieved Corral and allowed Rumsey's eighth homer of the year.

"Buckley threw the pitch he wasn't supposed to throw," Milano said. "I didn't care if he walked him we were going to bring in (Scott) Morehouse after that anyway. "It was supposed to be a breaking ball because Rumsey has trouble with lefty stunned. We thought we had a chance." The Bears cruised into the eighth in eighth inning to lead Arizona State to a 64 victory over the Bears at Evans Diamond. "They (his players) are still disgusted and ning with a 4-2 lead and staggered out of it trailing, 54, after Dan Rumsey three-run home run over the 320-foot upset about letting the game get away." It was the 21st straight victory for Arizo sign in right field.

The Sun Devils added na State, which improved to 12-7 in the Pac-10 Southern Division and 41-8 overall. a run in the ninth for insurance. It was their 21st consecutive victory. The win also gave the Sun Devils a one- "They have a tremendous amount of confidence," Milano said of the Sun Dev ils. 'They weren't playing tight when they were down.

Nothing seemed to azers easy victory reaves bother them. They really looked like they had an air of confidence." They also had more circular tins of Copenhagen in their rear pockets, pay For some jocks, it's mind over moolah Warriors' coach impressed ing homage to that slimy and disgusting baseball tradition. But it it worked for such Sun Devils as Reggie Jackson, Bob EXAMINER NEWS SERVICES Horner, Sal Bando, Hubie Brooks and By John Crumpacker OF THE EXAMINER STAFF Oddibe McDowell, it can work for these current youngsters. 39 road games this season. The Warriors have lost nine of their last 11 games.

The Blazers' first-quarter points equaled the franchise record of 45 -See WARRIORS C-6 As for the Bears, they have two more PORTLAND, Ore. The Portland Trail Blazers were running so well in their 147-113 victory over Golden State even Warriors coach chances against these desert dwellers, Saturday and Sunday af ternoon at Ev ans. One skirmish does not a season Ed Gregory had to marvel at the way they blew past his team. The Blazers had FRIDAY'S SCORE BLAZERS 147 WARRIORS 113 For some college athletes, it really is academic. Sean Elliott, Arizona's basketball star, turned down a multimillion-dollar contract offer from the NBA in order to return to school for his senior year.

Elliott, a bright lad as well as an extraordinary basketball talent, promised his mother he would earn his degree from Arizona. Call it mom over moolah. Former Cal basketball player make. "In baseball, you're always going to slump," left fielder Todd Mayo said. "You're going to get them.

If that ball doesn't go out (the Rumsey homer), we win. You never know what's going to happen." your school should be over. I didn't want to be just a player instead of a student." That's the same attitude tight end Darryl Ingram has. He will graduate in years with a degree in PEIS an acronym for Political Economies of Industrial Societies. Contrast that with the majors of some athletes at big-time schools general studies.

As for Whiteside, he nonetheless flirted with academic disaster at one point last year. "After watching film, I noticed I was making little mistakes that could easily be corrected," he said. "It became an obsession. I'd be watching film at seven in the morning. I'd stay at the stadium all day long.

I would skip some classes. Fortunately, they were easy classes, so I could afford to skip them." Teammate Chris Richards cannot afford to skip classes. In fact, he's skipping spring football drills to improve his academic standing. Or sitting, as the case may be. high 3(5 points in the first quarter as the Blazers raced to a 45-26 lead.

Vandeweghe had 23 points in the first half, including all 12 of his free throws, as the Blazers took a 75-53 lead at the intermission. The Blazers shot 67 percent from the floor in the first half, hitting 29 of 43 shots. Vandeweghe added nine more in the third quarter as the Blazers extended their advantage to 116-77. The Blazers' biggest lead was 44 points, 126-82, with 8:57 left in the game. Portland shot 67 percent for the game, hitting 58 of 87 shots.

"Everything was clicking tonight," said Portland's Clyde Drex-ler, who had 23 points. "Kiki set the tone." Jerome Kersey added 16 points and Kevin Duckworth had 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds for the Blazers, 49-28, who clinched a tie for the second-best record in franchise history. Portland was 49-33 last season and in 1976-77, when the Blazers won the club's only NBA championship. The Blazers' best all-time season record is 58-24. set in 1977-78.

Tellis Frank had 20 points for the Warriors. 19-58, who have lost 35 of Of all the Cal players, right fielder Kevin Brown felt as low as a Bearskin rug after Friday's game. In the bottom of the ninth, still trailing by a pair, Brown tried to stretch a single into a double and was tagged out. Dave Butler was such an able student he graduated in four Inside ft7?" iii i ii ii ii turn ihii-mm iimriMiufcii Drinking problem Eleven members of the Alhambra High baseball team are penalized for drinking alcohol. Page C-3 Oakland Grand Prix An Oakland city committee unanimously OKs plans for a Grand Prix race next May.

Page C-6 Tennis Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf advance to the semifinals of the Bausch Lomb Championships. Page C-10 years, even though he had a year of eligibility remaining. No "I can look back now and it's a bad de problem. He returned for his cision," Brown said. "I looked up and 48 points on fast breaks, compared to 17 by Golden State, and 45 assists in rolling to the easy victory Friday night.

"Portland played a great game in all phases," Gregory said. "They were shooting 67 percent at half-time and over 70 through three quarters. Our team defense just wasn't there. We didn't talk and we weren't helping. "We had come off a big win two nights ago against Dallas and had been playing pretty well.

I thought we had a shot, but 1 told our players before the game that this is the best running team in the NBA. They punctuated that statement pretty well." Kiki Vandeweghe, coming off the bench, scored 15 of his game- fifth year as a graduate student. saw he (the center fielder) bobbled it. It's Cal football player Majett Whiteside is scheduled to graduate on time in the spring of '89 with a degree in history. "There's a lot of guys who something you react to.

It wasn't a good move by me, but it's part of baseball. I ran us out of the inning. We're at that stage where need someone to get i hot. We're sort of dragging now. We don't seem to have the zip out there.

We're not on the level we need to be to win the Pac-10." finish their eligibility with football and hang around," the all- conference noseguard said. "I feel that once football is over,.