The Napa Valley Register from Napa, California • 9

Sunday August 1, 1993 The Napa Valley Register Giants Obituaries Weather Commentary NFL honors Walsh; rest of best in Canton i His father rushed for 16,726 yards more than any other pro back during a 13-year career with the Bears. The elder Payton said his family played an integral, if unknowing, part of his development. I was the baby in the family and on Saturday mornings when Mom went to work, it was the job of my brother Eddie and sister Pamela to clean the house, Payton said. I was the baby. I didnt have to do that.

But, hey, those guys beat me up. Thats how I got the moves I had. When you have an angry sister and brother with a broom and a wet dishcloth, you move. Payton also was close to tears when apologizing to his family for being hard to live with during his career, vowing he would take care of them for the rest of his life. Life is short, but its oh, so sweet, said the man nicknamed Sweetness.

Walsh, who coached the 49ers to three Super Bowl titles, had By RUSTY MILLER Associated Press Writer CANTON, Ohio (AP) The five inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame Saturday had a bet riding on who would get the most emotional during their acceptance speeches. Walter Payton, presented by his 12-year-old son Jarrett, won easily. Paytons voice broke in the opening seconds of his acceptance speech, shortly after greeting his son with a long hug. After getting up here and hearing my son talk, I dont care if I lose the bet, said the recordsetting Chicago Bears running back. Payton faltered at times, as did San Francisco 49ers coach Bill Walsh, San Diego Chargers quarterback Dan Fouts, Pittsburgh Steelers coach Chuck Noll and Miami Dolphins guard Larry Little during an emotional series of acceptance speeches.

Paytons son, the first son to ever present a father, said, Not only is he a great athlete, hes a role model hes my role 7' 1 A 5F i -7 A- rrrjZ "'Jr" J7 Dan Fouts, Larry Little, Chuck Noil, Rickey I I 3 I i APLASERPHOTO newest Hall-of-Famers after being inducted Saturday in Canton, Ohio. As say bye-bye to Napa Juniors do major damage, 15-2 Henderson sent By DENNIS GEORGATOS Associated Press Writer OAKLAND Rickey Henderson, traded Saturday night by the Oakland Athletics to Toronto, said hes looking forward to helping the Blue Jays win the AL East. The trade was agreed to by Toronto, Oakland and the outfielder, who had a no-trade clause in his contract. When the trade was announced earlier Saturday, Henderson expressed some reluctance, saying he hoped to get something in exchange for waiving the notrade clause. Everything is negotiable, Henderson said.

Its a business, you know. Im just a business-, man myself. No details were immediately released on what Henderson received for agreeing to the trade. Henderson had said that As general manager Sandy Ald-qrson told him the Blue Jays would guarantee that he would be allowed to become a free agent after the season. As a recently traded player, Henderson could be denied a chance at free agency if Toronto offered him salary arbitration, and Alder-son said the Blue Jays had agreed not to offer him arbitration after the season.

Henderson signed a four-year, v' -3 Walter Payton and Bill Walsh are the again formidable lineup that features major league batting leader John Olerud, Paul Molitor, Roberto See RICKEY, Page 3B Napa as evidenced by the fact only one of the five local teams including Calistoga and St. Helena made it to the postseason. But if you look at Allen Rossis Vintage-powered Sheriffs team, which is tearing up the Napa Valley Joe DiMaggio League, it seems as though the Crushers are the one local team that can count on being back there through the mid-1990s. Neu, who looks like a good bet to be this areas top player for the next three years, and Kohler are a solid pitching combination, and their catcher, Aaron Rofkahr, is unquestionably the most improved player in the valley. Those three players are the foundation for the Sheriffs incredible run 22 straight league wins after a seasonopening loss and the Mure of Vintage High baseball.

See HALL, Page 4B to Blue Jays $12 million contract in 1990. Ive suffered for four years, said Henderson, who tried without success to get the As to rework the contract. They dogged me for four years. Everybody needs something. I need something, they need something.

If they want to trade me, buy my no-trade. Then they can trade me wherever they want. In exchange for Henderson, Oakland receives pitcher Steve Karsay and a player to be named later. A trade for Henderson had been anticipated because the As are not a factor in the AL West race and he will become a free agent after the season. The last time Henderson was in the final year of a contract, the New York Yankees traded him to Oakland on June 20, 1989, and he helped the As win the World Series.

The As also reached the World Series the next season. Henderson said he dropped his no-trade clause for the 1989 trade, and promised himself then, Id never do that again. I dont think its fair. Henderson, baseballs career stolen base leader with 1,073, is considered one of the few players able to carry a team by himself. He has started games with home runs a record 61 times, is the only player in history with Mike Jones Sports Writer appears to be a down period for baseball in Napa Especially when you consider the past.

One Napa High team (1971) had future Major League teammates Bill Buckner and Warren Brusstar who played together on the 83 Chicago Cubs and of course, current Indians coach Mike Brown won the Sac-Joaquin Section title Rickey Henderson was traded to Toronto for a minor-leaguer Saturday. It was a very nice start. We just threw them out there and let them play. Glenn Workman VdBKiEIfe unio We hit the ball well in batting practice yesterday, and we came out and did it today. Workman admitted he was nervous in the early innings.

It was a game (in which) I thought we should be scoring a lot of runs and shutting them down. The first two innings werent going that way. Indeed. Ryan Flenner retired the first six Napa hitters before Napa exploded for five third-inning runs. Alvarez and.

Charlie Frasier stroked back-to-back singles. After Alvarez was picked off second and Winterton popped up, Workman and Mike Ruiz singled to lead the bases. Nate Marum was hit by a pitch to force home a run, See NAPA, Page 3B gone? the game once their team gets behind. Everyone there was surprisingly civil to each other and it was nice to see opponents and teammates mingling together. Among those responsible for the smooth-running operation at Kiwanis Park are NGSL president Reggie Johnson and Harry Cloud.

Cloud, who coaches two teams one in the Major Division and another in the Senior Division has prepared the fields every day since June 2 through Mondays (6 p.m.) all-star games, donating his time from p.m. every day, said Johnson. Cloud, whose daughter Christina is an up-and-coming pitcher for Napa High, was also the Majors player representative while his wife, Nancy, runs the snack bar. By DARRELL MOODY Assistant Sports Editor STOCKTON After collecting just six hits in their last two games, the Napa Little League Junior All-Stars were due for a big game. Napa hitters, especially Conrad Alvarez, Geoff Gahagan and Danny Workman, delivered in a big way.

The trio went a combined 8-for-12 with two homers and eight RBIs, and Olaf Winterton pitched a two-hitter in Napas easy 15-2 win over Areata in the opening round of the Division Championships Saturday afternoon. Gahagan went 2-for-5, including a third-inning grand slam. Alvarez went 3-for-3 with a homer and three RBIs. Workman celebrated his return to the lea-doff spot with a 3-for-4 effort and an RBI. Napa cranked out 15 hits.

Napa returns to action this morning at 10 against Sunnyvale National, which received a first-round bye. It was a very nice start, said head coach Glenn Workman. We just threw them out there and let them play. We didnt have to run or bunt, which is fine because people (other teams) were watching us. It was a good confidencebuilding day (offensively) for us.

IRONICALLY, THE story Is entirely different in girls softball, considered a nonsport at the prep level prior to the 1980s, as the players continue to get better and better. And, unlike prep baseball, the talent level in Napa is increasing yearly as more and more girls learn the game and improve their skills. Thats part of what made my two nights at the Napa Girls Softball League playoffs at Kiwanis Park so enjoyable. I saw four well-played, intense games in a league where all of the coaches coach all of the players, regardless of what school they come from. Interestingly, I didnt hear a peep of the usual Little League" parents, you know, the ones who complain about every call against their team, scurrying through the rule book at every opportunity, hoping for a reason to protest Where have all the Napa prep baseball players more than 1,000 steals and has a career .292 batting average.

Henderson is batting .327 with 47 RBIs and 31 stolen bases. At Toronto, he joins an already in 1987 with a team that included first-baseman Todd Pridy (Long Beach Florida Marlins farm system) and catcher Troy Tallman (Stanford, Baltimore Orioles farm system) among others. Outside of NVC pitcher Ray Roberts and Vintage High sophomore-to-be Mike Neu, there doesnt appear to be a legitimate star player in the area at this point. Others, like Neus Vintage teammates Scott Kohler and Aaron Rofkahr, Justin-Sienas Mike Kramer, Owen McAlister and Rick Fessenden and a couple young Napa High players, have shown potential but all are still searching for the day-in, day-out consistency that makes a big-time player. Which isnt to say things wont take a change for the better in the upcoming prep season.

But right now, these are not vintage times for baseball in After covering baseball in Napa for over four months, now would seem a good time to take a quick look at the state of the game here and why softball is rapidly catching up. Then again, after some of the games Ive seen recently, maybe we shouldnt. Because I have seen some real throw-the-ball-around, third-striketaking, bad-base-running stinkers this year. And when you consider most of these guys have been playing since March Every team Ive covered here this year, outside of Napa Valley College, which who got most of its top talent from outside of Napa, had at least one major flaw. Some teams hit but couldnt field.

Others pitched well but couldnt score and most of them were consistently inconsistent. For some reason, at least from what Ive seen, this See JONES, Page 4B.