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The Ottawa Citizen from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • 59

Location:
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Issue Date:
Page:
59
Extracted Article Text (OCR)

The Ottawa Citizen, Saturday, May 29, 1993 G3 Baseball tea its head obi voir Far East No word yet, but Chunichi club shows interest By Ken Warren Citizen baseball writer Secrecy remains the official line, but Montreal Expos officials confirmed the interest in Stairs. Last weekend, Kent Quails, director of minor-league operations, watched the Lynx play, accompanied by a Chunichi contingent. "We have nothing to announce at this point. There's nothing official yet," said Dan Duquette, the Expos' GM. Stairs offered a "no comment" when asked whether his Lynx days would end this weekend.

But the Dragons are in search of an "import" to replace the retiring Brook Jacoby, a former Cleveland Indian, and Stairs apparently fits the bill. "They pay a hell of a lot of money, and there has been some dialogue with a couple of players," said Lynx manager Mike Quade. Stairs split his 1992 season between Montreal and what was then the National League team's Triple-A affiliate, the Indianapolis Indians. Stairs headed into Friday's game against the ScrantonWilkes Barre Red Barons on a hot streak, 9-for-23 in his previous six games. For the season, he was hitting .281 with three home runs, two of those coming in the past week.

While details of the possible Stairs deal are sketchy, he will likely be on loan to the Japanese club while remaining within the Expos' organization. Matt Stairs is only days away from waving sayonora to Ottawa. Stairs, the Lynx outfielder from Fredericton, N.B., is apparently headed to the Chunichi Dragons of the Japanese Central League, where a lueractive contract awaits him. Stairs would be the first Canadian to play in Japan, but most North Americans earn at least $300,000 playing overseas, not including the usual hefty signing bonus. Players with split majorminor-league contracts, such as Stairs, usually earn in the range of Matt Stairs 'No comment' A fzj, -(is he wanted to take a couple of weeks to go watch his son, Eduardo, a player for the Call--" fornia Angels' Vancouver farm club in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League.

Nagy hurting Charles Nagy, the ace of the' Cleveland Indians' starting rotation, may need surgery on his sore right shoulder, a newspa- per reported on Friday. Nagy'-is receiving therapy now, but says he may need surgery within six months, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported Nagy, 26, is 2-5 with a 6.31 -r earned-run average. Last sea- 1 son, he was an American League all-star with a record of 17-10 and a 2.96 ERA. He went on the disabled list ly after his last start May 15, when he lasted less than an in-'. ning against Milwaukee.

Dibble activated The Cincinnati Reds activat-'- -ed relief pitcher Rob Dibble from the disabled list Friday. Dibble had been sidelined since he fractured a bone in his non-pitching left forearm April 21 when he tagged Pitts-1 burgh's Kevin Young in a play; at home plate. He had surgery-April 24. TV deal approved Major-league owners over- whelmingly approved their new TV contract with NBC and ABC on Friday. It's a deal that cuts U.S.

national broadcast revenue in half and shifts the league championship series to regional television. The vote, taken during a 50- minute conference call, was 13-1 in the National League and -12-1 in the American League, well above the majority neces-. sary in each league. Felix sent to Triple-A The Florida Marlins hope Junior Felix will find fly balls easier to catch in Edmonton. Florida optioned its starting right-fielder to Triple-A Edmonton on Friday, less than 24 hours after his three misplays helped the Pittsburgh Pirates score six runs in their 13-8 victory in a National League game.

Felix is hitting .218. (Citizen news services BASEBALL BRIEFLY Celebration update The events coinciding with the official opening of Ottawa Stadium, home of the Ottawa Lynx, on Coventry Road continue all weekend. Today: 10 a.m. Parade beginning at the corner of Donald St. and St.

Laurent Blvd. Manager Mike Quade and other team members will participate; it will end one hour later at Ottawa Stadium; 12 noon to 1 p.m. An instructional clinic for children of all ages will be held on the field by Lynx players. Registration for this event closed Friday night; 12 noon to 2 p.m. The stadium will be open to the public from noon to 2 p.m.

7:30 p.m. Tonight's game against the ScrantonWilkes Barre Red Barons will be broadcast on Maclean Hunter and Rogers Cable channels. Sunday: All fans attending the 2 p.m. game against the Red Barons will receive a souvenir Ottawa Lynx team picture from the Citizen. Reds' GM threatened Cincinnati Reds general manager Jim Bowden and his family have received death threats since he fired Cincinnati manager Tony Perez, a newspaper reported Friday.

The Dayton Daily News reported that a message on Bowden's office answering machine said: "Bowden, you're a dead man." Bowden did not return phone calls left at the Reds offices Friday. Perez was fired Monday, 44 games into the National League season, and replaced by Davey Johnson. Marlins contact Perez The Florida Marlins have contacted fired Reds manager Tony Perez about coming to work for the National League baseball expansion club. Marlins spokesman Chuck Pool said the position with the club "is not defined at this point," adding that there currently is no field job open. General manager Dave Dombrowksi called Perez earlier this week.

The Cuban-born star told him Baseball royalty part of official opening a .11... 7 4- By Ken Warren Citizen baseball writer i AH International League president Randy Mobley and Lynx owner Howard Darwin were honored in a pre-game ceremony. Citizen sports columnist Roy MacGregor also presented Darwin with framed copies of pages chronicling the Lynx franchise opener and non-official home opener. The Capital City Choir then handled the national anthems. But the unquestioned star of the night was Patkin, the touring clown.

Patkin, 74, had them laughing in the aisles at his base-coaching antics in the third and fourth innings. Patkin, who has toured the minor leagues for 50 years, mimicking players and base coaches, went to the first-base coaching box for the bottom of the third inning, and he worked the third-base coach's box during the Lynx fourth. Unfortunately, the cold weather left Stade d'Ottawa Stadium with about 3,000 empty seats. We still haven't seen, or heard from, phantom mascot Lenny the Lynx. But nine weeks into the Triple-A baseball season, at least the stadium has had its grand opening.

Under cloudy and cold conditions the coldest May 28 on record, in fact the Ottawa Lynx made everything official on Friday night. And Stade d'Ottawa Stadium, as it's now known, offered up a little bit of everything: Gail Gaven, author of the Lynx on the Prowl song; two local marching bands and a choir; Hall of Famer pitcher Ferguson Jenkins to throw out the first pitch: and last, but certainly not least, Max Patkin, the clown prince of baseball. A VIP panel of Mayor Jackie Holzman, former mayor Jim Dur-rell, regional chairman Peter Clark, Rod Maclvor. Citizen Preserving history: Citizen sports columnist Roy MacGregor presents Lynx owner Howard Darwin with framed replicas of pages commemorating baseball's return to the national capital Now THIS was funny Hall-of-Fame blooper by Canseco iUICK REGAL AT A PRICE By Blackie Sherrod The Dallas Morning News DALLAS During those relaxed winter months, whenever Tom Grieve would assess the future of his Texas Rangers, he would Mipak in the- I J'" THE IMPORTS CAN'T TOUCH; usual rosy argot. got the home run Champ in left field and a Hall of Famer in right," the Texas Rangers general manager said over and over.

1th ber of that truck. It did not appear to me that ball touched glove or anything before it smacked noggin and ricocheted some three feet, up and over the wall. The mikes were too far away to record a sound effect, but I imagine it rather like a cue ball smacking the nine ball on a full-table power shot. Or maybe it went b-o-i-i-n-n-g-g-g. But let this be said for Canseco.

Bless his heart, he had the almighty grace to grin at himself. He did not realize what happened; he looked about curiously for a bouncing ball. It was up to centre fielder David Hulse to pass on the information, while trying desperately to hide his laughter behind a shielding glove. Canseco grinned then in self-abasement and again as he passed opponents and umpires while trotting to the dugout at the end of the inning. Probably there are serious grumps, such as pitcher Ken Rogers and manager Kevin Kennedy, who did not see the lightness of the situation.

But, hey, this is not Omaha Beach or Mount Sarabachi. This is a baseball game and it was funnnneee. The fact that Canseco could see the humor of his embarrassment was first appreciated by William Shakespeare, of course, in his immortal Sir Murgatroyd at Sebastapool: It's easy to grin when your ship comes in Or you have the stock market beat But the man worthwhile is the man who can smile When his pants suddenly split in the seat. The Canseco Carom ranks up there with favorites of mine, jealously preserved through eons of pressboxing. They are many, such as the time at the Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, at the bobsled run in cruel and inhumane temperatures, when a pressbox pal named Edwin Pope of the Miami Herald found himself with desperate desire to utilize one of the portable restrooms there on the barren tundra.

Being of practical and cowardly nature, I tried to talk him out of it, but he insisted. And shortly found himself with his bare skin frozen fast to the metal seat. Now that was funny, falling-down funny, although I must admit the humor did not sink in on Pope until some time afterward. 1993 Buick Regal Custom Sedan (Not exactly as shown) sir, it Canseco rather early to Uses his head ijiduct Jose Canseco into Coopers-'iown for the usual heroics, but he -is a cinch to remain historic in one phase of the business. Jlis adventure in Cleveland on Wednesday will become as famil--iar, well almost, as familiar as iBabe Ruth calling his home run shot in Chicago.

Or that poor Austrian skier who cartwheels sideways off the jump, tumbling through flags and huts and such, in Ihe signature of that TV sports show. The agony of defeat, or some such. Or that thing last year, when a sprinting youngster in a bush park crashed headlong through flirnsy outfield planks. Whatever his other deeds, Canseco will be remembered forever the home run struck by his handsome head. When Carlos Martinez's long fly ball conked Canseco on the bean and bounced the fence, we're talking im--mortality here.

Thanks to development of videotape, the deed will be available to scientists of many future civilizations, researching fallacies of the Miuman male. Doubtlessly they will Tackle just as loud as did your veteran cackler here, watching on live television, and then through approximately 147 replays on various channels before the eve was over. Canseco said he didn't know what happened, that he took his eye off the ball and it grazed his glove and plunked him on the left forebrain. Said he didn't feel it, a fact that probably would be disputed by several million of the neurons and glia bouncing around inside his cerebral hemisphere and wondering if anybody got the num- Get into Buick Regal Custom for thousands less than a comparably-equipped Camry. iJtlclTlttJ'ilful Regal Custom Sedan comes equipped with: 3.1 litre V6 engine 4-speed automatic transmission dual zone air conditioning cruise control power windows Buick Regal has it all over Camry.

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Montreal's Gil Heredia allowed four hits and two runs in five I CHICAGO (AP) Friday's game -between the Montreal Expos and Chicago Cubs ended in a 2-2 tie after five innings because of rain. It is an official game and will be replayed as part of a doubleheader Aug. 17 at Wrigley Field. The first delay was 37 minutes and the teams waited 1:14 more before the game was called a tie. Delino DeShields went 3-for-3 for the Expos.

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