The Gazette from Cedar Rapids, Iowa • 19

FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 1989 Section SPORTS Classified Weather Financial Farm I ii Crucial errors plague Reds in Midwest loss MIKE I. HLAS Gazette sports arL columnist li- All we had to do was throw the ball and catch it. 99 Dave Miley Reds manager AP photo By Mike Koolbeck Gazette sportawrlter Early season baseball games usually hinge upon which team makes the fewer number of mistakes mental as well as physical. Thursday night at Memorial Stadium, the Cedar Rapids Reds committed one crucial error of each variety. Jay Hornacek swatted a three-run home run and Scott Fuller struck out six batters in 3 Innings of relief as the White Sox upended the Reds, 8-8, before 287 fans.

But it was the two miscues that had Cedar Rapids Manager Dave Miley smarting after the game. The first occurred in the South Bend fourth inning, with the Reds trailing 5-2 and White Sox runners at second and third. Randy Warren bounced a grounder to Cedar Rapids shortstop Jeff Brain-son, who gunned the ball to the plate attempting to cut down Hornacek trying to score from third base. The throw glanced off catcher Eddie Taubensee's glove and rolled to the backstop as Hornacek and Wayne Busby scored. Taubensee was charged with an error and Warren ended up at second.

He stole third and scored on a wild pitch by Reds reliever Quinn Marsh, upping the score to 8-2. "The three-run homer, there's nothing we could do about that," said Miley. "But the play at the plate cost us two runs and the wild pitch cost us a third. What'd we get beat by? Three. "All we had to do was throw the ball and catch it." Taubensee atoned for his mis-play by launching his second home run of the season in the Reds' fourth, cutting South Bend's lead to 8-3.

Cedar Rapids had a prime opportunity to get back in the game in the fifth when Doug Eastman blooped a lead-off double into center field. But disaster struck when Eastman inexplicably bolted for third base on a 3-0 pitch to the Reds' next batter, Benny Colvard. Hornacek, the White Sox's catcher, drilled a perfect strike to cut down Eastman on ball four to Colvard. "To me, that was the play of the game," said Miley. "We had the guy (South Bend starter Steve Schrenk) on the ropes and that just took us right out of the inning." The play loomed larger when Norm Brock stroked a two-out double which would have scored a run.

Instead the Reds came up empty. Colvard stroked a run-scoring single in the sixth and Brock doubled in a run in the ninth to account for the Reds' final two runs. Cedar Rapids appeared to have early command of the game when Reds starter Steve Hester (1-1) struck out the side in the first inning, all on called third strikes. Chris Schnurbusch's solo home run in the bottom of the first inning put Cedar Rapids up, 1-0. It was Schnurbusch's first home run of the season.

Hornacek, the younger brother of former Iowa State basketball star Jeff Hornacek (now with the NBA Phoenix Suns), launched his second home run of the season in the South Bend second. "It was a fastball low and in and I just stayed with it," said Hornacek, 22, who was an eighth-round draft choice of the Los Angeles Dodgers in June 1984. He asked for his release from the Dodgers after last season and hooked up with the White Sox. Greg Roth's solo homer in the third put South Bend up, 4-1. The Reds' Tony Mealy answered by swatting his second home run of the season in the Cedar Rapids half of the third.

"We hit three home runs all solos and they hit the three-runner. And that's the ballgame," said Miley. Schrenk (1-0) hurled 5'3 innings for the win. Fuller, a former University of Wisconsin hurier, pitched the final 3 innings for his first save. The Reds host South Bend again tonight at 7.

Former Cedar Rapids hurier Sam Chavez (1-0), who was 12-11 for the Reds' Midwest League champions last year, will start for the White Sox. The White Sox picked him up during last winter's minor-league draft. Cedar Rapids will send Mike Myers (0-0) to the mound. NOTES: Adam Casillas, whose .469 average heading into Thursday's game was tops on the Reds, went 0-for-3 and had his hitting streak snapped at five games. Reds second baseman Scott Sell-ner missed his second straight game after twisting an ankle Tuesday night at Clinton.

His status is day-to-day and he may play tonight Reds hurier Bill Risley, who reported a pop in his arm during Tuesday's game at Clinton and was lifted after four innings, threw on the side Thursday and is not expected to be sidelined, according to Miley. Former UCLA quarterback Troy Aikman, looking for a receiver against Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl, was signed Thursday by the Dallas Cowboys. Cowboys ink Aikman to $1 1 .2 million pact IRVING, Texas (AP) The Dallas Cowboys ended weeks of NFL draft speculation Thursday by signing quarterback Troy Aikman to a rookie-record six-year, $11.2 million contract. Aikman, who played at UCLA and who will be the No. 1 choice in Sunday's NFL draft, said he hoped that within five years "the fans will be comparing me with Roger Staubach." He said he wanted to sign with the Cowboys because every Sunday he used to watch Staubach on television from his home in Henryetta, Okla.

"I remember all those comeback victories and I'd like to be part of that someday," Aikman said. "I can't step into Roger's shoes but maybe I can do some of the things he did." Cowboys Coach Jimmy Johnson said the third time was the charm trying to attract Aikman. "He turned me down out of high school and went to Oklahoma," said Johnson, who was then coaching at Oklahoma State. "Then, when I was at Miami, I tried to get him when he left Oklahoma but he went to UCLA. I was afraid he would turn me down a third time." Ironically, Aikman suffered a broken leg during a game against Miami when he was at Oklahoma.

He sat out the rest of that season and decided to transfer to UCLA after Oklahoma coaches announced they would return to the run-oriented wishbone offense the following season. "Thanks for breaking my leg, Coach," Aikman said. "You did me a favor." Quarterback Vinny Testaverde signeda six-year, $8.2 million contract with Tampa Bay when ve came out of Miami in 1987. Quarterback Warren Moon recently signed a contract with the Houston Oilers for five years at $2 million per season. Leigh Steinberg, Aikman's agent, also negotiated that contract.

Aikman's $11.2 million contract included a signing bonus believed to be worth more than $2 million. "I was proud to pay it," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. "In my opinion, Troy could have gotten more money if he had played for another team in the NFL." Johnson wanted Aikman badly. "Everybody kept saying I had a poker face but at times I had to bite my Up to keep my enthusiasm inside," said Johnson, who took over as coach of the Cowboys last month and has since signed a 10-year contract. away Baseball by the numbers It seems people either adore or abhor statistics.

If you love them, then you probably feel some affection for baseball. The fans of that game feed on stats. There are bad stats, those that are meaningless or boring. The good stats are the ones that make you go "Really?" Hence, the 1989 Elias Baseball Analyst, a thick book of statistics, tendencies and the sort in regards to Major League Baseball. It has enough numbers to choke the Phillie Phanatic, but if you look hard enough you can find some fun facts and figures.

For instance, Bo Jackson of Kansas City hit .318 at home last year, .190 on the road. In the last 20 years, only six teams with the best regular-season record in the majors went on to win the World Series. The American League hasn't had a repeat RBI leader in 28 years. With Jose Canseco on the disabled list for quite some time, this will make 29 years. Over the previous five seasons, 919 home runs hit in Detroit's Tiger Stadium compared to only 406 in St.

Louis' Busch Stadium. San Diego's Tony Gwynn was 92 points out of the batting lead last July 4 but went on to win another batting title. Speaking of July 4, name the major-league team with the best record on that date. It's Canada's Montreal (20-6), of course. The great Ted Williams made 19 errors in the outfield in 1939.

No American League outfielder has made more in a season since. Bob Uecker wasn't as bad as he leads you to believe. He was worse. His career batting average was an even .200. Von Hayes of Philadelphia, who is tearing up the National League this season, had more personalities than Sybil last season.

He hit .327 against lefthand-ed pitchers, .129 against righties. He hit .229 at home, .313 on the road. He batted .228 on artificial turf, .385 on natural grass. He hit .362 in day games, .237 at night. Randy Ready of San Diego hit .452 in day games last year, the best in the majors.

He batted .181 at night. Entering this season, Wade Boggs has hit .384 at Boston, .328 elsewhere. Fooling around on road trips must have taken its toll. Chicago White Sox first baseman Greg Walker was born the day after the Sox' last World Series victory, in 1959. Andre Dawson of the Cubs is a very good bet to be only the second player in major league history to collect 300 homers, 2,000 hits and 300 stolen bases.

Willie Mays was the first. If the Cubs don't win the NL this year, they'll be the first major-league team ever to go 44 years without a league pennant. Montreal's Andres Galarraga led the NL in hits and strikeouts last year. Then-Cub Rafael Palmeiro hit .371 on Sundays last year, the best of any major-leaguer. Minnesota was 5-0 last season without Kirby Puckett in the lineup.

Oakland was 14-2 without Mark McGwire. Los Angeles was 29-30 with Pedro Guerrero in its lineup, 65-37 without him. Slugger George Bell of Toronto has a career .174 batting average against Mike Boddicker. Catcher Bob Boone, not known for a big bat, is .452 against Boddicker. Carmen Castillo (who?) is 9-for-21 with three home runs against Roger Clemens.

Rafael Santana of the Yankees was pinch-hit for 40 times last season. Pitcher Kirk McCaskill of California scored 10 goals for Sher-brooke of the American Hockey League five seasons ago. Nolan Ryan is four days older than Dan Quayle. Pitcher Pascual Perez of Montreal led the majors in pinch-running appearances last year with 14. Oakland's Storm Davis has faced 2,366 righthanded hitters, and has never hit one with a pitch.

More errors were committed in Wrigley Field than any other major-league ballpark last season. Three major-league teams had fcwer grand slai last year than Steffi Gtafc Castillo swings to ignite twins victory "I knew I was going to play a little more," he said. "At this time last year, I think I only had two or three at bats. I must have 20 already." Actually, he has 21 and he has made the most of them, with 10 RBIs. "He gets his swings up there.

That's one of the reasons we wanted him," Manager Tom Kelly said. "He's swinging the bat good." MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Carmen Castillo's idea of the strike zone is any pitch he can reach. It worked to perfection Thursday, giving the Minnesota Twins yet another win over Detroit. "I never walk too much so I gotta get my hits swinging," Castillo said after his RBI double on Frank Tanana's first pitch snapped a 2-2 tie and ignited a five-run eighth inning that gave the Twins a 7-2 win "I just try to see the ball and swing the bat hard just in case I hit one." It was. the 14th victory in 16 games for Minnesota over the Tigers, whose 3-9 record is the worst in the majors.

Detroit has dropped five of its last six games overall and eight of its last nine at the Metrodome. Acquired from Cleveland just before the season, Castillo is thrilled with the way the Twins are using him. Public apparently reserves judgment about Rose: Poll NCAA nixes posters commemorating title won by Wolverines ETROIT (AP) The Detroit News said Thursday it will suppress posters commemorating Michigan's NCAA basketball championship rather than risk compromising the eligibility of Wolverines guard Rumeal Robinson. the The University of Michigan asked newspaper jm L-ifl Ihl-j Wednesday not to distribute the three posters after NCAA officials said Robinson's appearance on two of them violated the association's bylaws. The News began accepting orders for the posters shortly after Michigan won the NCAA title April 3.

Robinson is pictured on two of the front-page reproductions, and coach Steve Fisher appears on the third. The newspaper had produced about 1,000 copies of each poster and had planned to sell them for $3 each, Doug Drapal, marketing services manager, said Thursday. The cost covered only the cost of printing and New York Times NEW YORK Most baseball fans are unable or unwilling to express an opinion, about Pete Rose, according to a New York Times-CBS News Poll. But those who are willing to voice their views are evenly divided about the Cincinnati Reds' manager who has been a subject of reports that he bet heavily and may have bet on baseball games. Of those who said they were fans, about half 52 percent said they had not heard enough about Rose to have an opinion of him, or were undecided.

Another 24 percent said they had a favorable view of Rose, while 22 percent said they had an unfavorable opinion. Sixty percent of the 1,412 adults interviewed between April 13 and 16 were fans' saying they were at least somewhat interested in major league baseball. The poll had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. Rose's gambling has been a subject of speculation since he was called to New York in February to meet with Peter Ueberroth, the baseball commissioner at the time, and his A. Bartlett Giamatti.

The speculation was fueled by said it was wrong for a professional baseball player to bet on a game involving his own team, and 51 percent said it was wrong for a player to bet on any baseball games involving teams other than his own. But respondents said they believed that betting by players was widespread, with 50 percent saying they believed at least some baseball players bet on their own sport. The poll did not draw a distinction between players and managers. Of fans who said they liked Rose, 74 percent said it was wrong for a major league player to bet on games involving his own team. Of those who said they did not like Rose, 94 percent were against that.

Male fans were sharper in their judgments than female fans, with four out of five 82 percent saying it was wrong for a player to place a wager on his own team. Female fans more closely mirrored the public in general, with 76 percent saying such betting was wrong. Many fans said they do some baseball betting of their own. Thirty-two percent said they had bet money on a baseball game or participated in an office baseball pool at some time. Rumeal Robinson Pete Rose Fans appear split on issue an affidavit in a federal drug case in Cincinnati that quoted an informant about transporting money "to pay for large gambling losses" for someone identified as "G-l." Two Ohio newspapers have reported that G-l was Rose and that his bets were placed on major league games.

Rose said last week he had done nothing wrong. In the poll, a solid majority of those questioned 76 percent shipping, with no money going either to Robinson or the university, he said. But the NCAA determined that the posters were commercial items being offered without Robinson's knowledge or permission and "not in accordance with NCAA regulations," Rick Evrard, director of legislative services, said from NCAA headquarters in Mission, Kan. Both Robinson and the university were required to take further "affirmative steps" to see that the posters were not distributed, Evrard said. Failure to do so could make Robinson ineligible for the 1989-90 basketball season..