Spokane Chronicle from Spokane, Washington • 24

4 SPO" l'Ill poi rEl' i 1 1 1 1- 1 I i I 1 i a A Nolan Ryan In the spotlight. Ian Ryan In the spotlight. I AP photo Pentathlon lore obscure as sport in modern times ENUMCLAW, Wash. Getting here requires a road map and the power of suggestion. "You might want to go out to modern pentathlon," the boss hinted when he looked at the Goodwill onnocogiaanno Games schedule.

"We have the r3 world championships in Spokane ,:1,.... Really? 41(t) We have the world championships in contemporary Greek furniture in our city? Just kidding. Everyone knows modern pentathlon is well, it's JOHN different from ancient pentathlon, BLANCHETTE right? Right. This was outlined by the Staff writer announcer here at the King County .......1....1. Fairgrounds, who delved into pentathlon lore and there's a lot of it to fill up lulls in the action.

There are a lot of lulls, too. The Greeks used to have a pentathlon in the ancient Olympics that included foot racing, discus throwing, javelin throwing and broad jumping eliminating the also-rans until just two remained. Then they wrestled to determine who would wear the bird's nest on his head. Now, when Baron Pierre de Coubertin never trust a guy named Pierre revived the modern-day Olympics, he brainstormed an equally modern pentathlon. As a model, he used military couriers.

From the Napoleonic Wars. Thoroughly modern milis, don't you think? Well, it's still a hell of a legacy. Just think: a soldier starts out on the back of a strange horse, but is stopped by the enemy and forced to duel with swords. He escapes, but is trapped again and has to shoot his way out with a pistol. Then he swims across a river and runs four kilometers to safety.

Kind of sounds like one of Ted Turner's colorized movies. Just one question. If Nappy's minion had a gun all along, why didn't he just plug the jerk with the sword? No matter. As the only true made-for-theOlympics event, modern pentathlon is special, if a little arcane. "There are inevitable comparisons between modern pentathlon and triathlons," said Robert Stull, the top American finisher among the men here.

"Especially since they've tried to get the triathlon in the Olympics at our expense, I've been told. "But they're totally different animals. I've done triathlons and they're tough, but it's a hell of an event to try and watch. A two-mile swim? 'Well, there he A 125-mile bike ride? Pack a lunch. It's impossible to watch." Stull would fine-tune his sport to a one-day competition with all five disciplines at the same venue.

He'll compete in just such an animal a money meet in Germany later in the year. But let's not be too hasty. We don't want to homogenize this deal. For instance, you probably didn't know that the fifth-place finisher in the original Olympic modern pentathlon in 1912 was George S. Patton who would later win the gold medal in tank in the 1943 Sicilian Games.

Old Blood and Guts was just 26 at the time and a mere lieutenant, and the irony of his Olympic minute was that he was a crummy marksman. In a field of 32 shooters, he finished 2Ist, though he claimed he was penalized for missing the target completely on Please see BLANCHETTE: C4 nj By Jayson Stark Knight-Ridder MILWAUKEE Bob Feller, Jim Palmer and Bob Gibson never did it. Neither did Carl Hubbell, Juan Marichal or Robin Roberts. Lots of good pitchers even lots of "great" pitchers never joined the club that the one, the only Nolan Ryan joined Tuesday night. It is the 300 Win Club, and before Tuesday night, it had admitted just 19 members in the history of baseball.

Now you can make it 20. Tuesday night, the doors to that 300 Win Club swung open to welcome a 43-year-old living legend who has defied the laws of nature. He beat the Milwaukee Brewers 11-3 in jam-packed County Stadium, the same ballpark where Warren Spahn won his 300th game in 1961. And unlike in his first attempt while," Roberts said. "I was burned out." On the way to burnout, Roberts rewrote records for wins in a season at Playfair (74 in 1978), wins in a season at Longacres (81 in 1986) and number of years as leading trainer at Longacres (five).

Roberts' championships "in Seattle," as horsemen call Longacres, came in 1981, '82, '85, '86 and '87. Clint Roberts, his father, was top trainer at the Renton track for three years, giving the Roberts family eight training titles in the '80s. And that was just the half of it. "There were times for three or four years when I had horses at two and three tracks at once," Roberts said. Please see MAYFAIR: C5 Spokane catcher Larry Hawks looks for a play after tagging out Rafael No of Yakima.

ish5 In By Earl Gerheim Staff writer As Manager Gene Glynn likes to say, there's always someone on his team ready to step forward and give the Spokane Indians a lift. It was second baseman Brent Bish's turn Tuesday night against the Yakima Bears. Bish stroked a two-out, bases-loaded single to center in the eighth inning that drove in two runs and rallied the Indians to a 3-1 decision over the Bears before a crowd of 2,827 in Northwest League baseball at Indians Stadium. "Our team's a great comeback team. We weren't worried that we were behind because we know we can come back, and that has won us a lot of games," Bish said.

"We're a good late-inning baliclub." "That was a big two-out hit by Bish," his ellit Franco makes good in grand style Associated Press MILWAUKEE Julio Franco was on the verge of kicking Nolan Ryan's 300th victory away, but then he got some fatherly advice from Ryan, of course. Ryan was chased in the eighth inning Tuesday night after Franco booted two ground balls and helped the Milwaukee Brewers score two runs, cutting the Rangers' lead to 5-3. But when he returned to the Texas dugout, instead of a dirty look, Franco got a hug from Ryan. "There is nothing you can do when you make an error. But he was getting ground balls and he expected to get out of the inning," Franco said.

"He told me not to worry about it. Just to go get 'em," Franco said. And he did. The next inning Franco hit a grand slam in a six-run ninth, wrapping up the Rangers' 11-3 victory that made Ryan the 20th 300-game winner in baseball history. at No.

300, when he got hammered by the Yankees, Ryan was his standard overpowering self. He went seven innings, gave up just six hits, ns Glynn said. "Our players have shown a lot of responsibility all season. They work hard and show a lot of poise. We've got a lot of guys this season who pick us up." Indeed, the Indians hadn't mounted much offense until the eighth inning unfolded.

But it was as much a combination of Yakima miscues as timely hits that helped the Northern Division-leading Indians improve their record to 29-14. Second-place Yakima is 21-22. With the Bears nursing a 1-0 lead when Mike Gal le scored on Billy Lott's groundout in the seventh, Spokane opened the eighth on a base hit to left by Kevin Far-low. Following Matt Mieske's strikeout, Jay Gainer added another base hit. Pinch-hitter Jim Elliott then was safe on a fielder's choice when shortstop Steve Kliafas dropped second baseman Scott Doffek's Tom Roberts, back In the saddle, so to struck out eight and threw a staggering pitches.

He didn't allow a hit between fourth inning and the eighth, when Brewers finally used a couple of singles Staff photo by Kit King Whb 146 the the and wn feisty throw in an effort to nail Gainer at second. That error loaded the bases. "That's minor league baseball. It's hard for the kids to have to experience an error like that but I hope they learn from it. Even I kicked baseballs in the majors," said Yakima manager Jerry Royster.

"That cost us the game, basically." After Yakima replaced starter Mike Mimbs with Ben O'Connor, Bill Ostermeyer flew out to give Spokane two away. Bish drove in two runs with his single, but another Yakima error allowed Spokane to add to its cushion. As Bish rounded first, the throw to third by center fielder Rafael Rijo flew into Yakima's dugout, allowing Spokane's third run to score. "We've got to give credit where credit is due. That kid (Bish) had a good base hit," Associated Press ST.

LOUIS The St. Louis Cardinals today announced that Joe Torre has been named manager of the team. "During the selection process, I interviewed a number of very good candidates," said St. Louis General Manager Dal Maxvill. "But I kept coming back to Joe Torre I'm confident he will be a very good manager." Torre said he was excited about returning to active participation after being out of the game for more than five years.

"St. Louis has always been special to me," he said. "It's always been a second home for me and now it will be my home." The hiring of Torre, 50, ended a month-long for the successor to I lerzog, who was in his I I th season 5pokant irbfonitte AUG. 1,1990 0 Ou two errors by second baseman Julio Franco to score two unearned runs and get him out of there. But even that produced an electrifying moment.

Ryan stood on the mound and waited as reliever Brad Arnsberg trotted in from the bullpen, as 51,533 Brewers fans chanted "No-lan, No-lan." He placed the ball in Arnsberg's hands and whispered a few words to the man who succeeded him. Then he walked off, to a chilling standing ovation in a ballpark that wasn't his, in a city 1,000 miles from his cattle ranch in Alvin, Texas. If anybody has earned those cheers, Nolan Ryan has. True, 19 other pitchers have won 300 games. But five of them did it when the mound was 50 feet from the plate, an advantage that might have made Ryan a 900-game Please see RYAN: C2 Staff photo by Cohn Mulvany rs Royster added.

"This was the biggest game of the year for us. If we won we would have been only six games behind, now we're eight behind. We came in thinking it was the biggest game of the year. That kid (Mimbs) pitched an outstanding game. Think what it would have meant for him if we had won.

He would have won the biggest game of the year for us." Mimbs, 1-2, took the loss while Spokane reliever Lance Painter, 4-1, earned the victory after replacing Spokane starter Ryan Thibault in the seventh. Spokane mounted a serious threat in the fifth inning, loading the bases on a single by Darius Gash, an error that allowed Far-low to reach first and a walk to Mieske with two out. But Gainer grounded out to end the inning. Cardinals hire Torre I with the Cardinals when he resigned July 6. The announcement surprised no one, since published reports over the past few days had said that Torre was to be the successor to Whitey Herzog.

Cardinals interim manager Red Schoendienst, reached in Philadelphia Tuesday before St. Louis played the Phil lies, said he was unaware when his third stint with the club would end, but he was pretty sure how it would turn out. "1 have not talked to Mani 11 and know about as much as anyone else," said Schoendienst, who has guided the Cardinals to a 13-10 record. "But if it's not Joe Torre it would be a big surprise." Torre had been the front-runner to succeed Herzog since the early dals 1 of the search. 1 1 1 .1 1 I 's 5pokant Infonitte AUG.

1, 1990 CI 11111 fr' A an to ns 0 1111 (11 111 1 Won 4.. I Tic, .44: 7 By Jayson Stark two errors by second baseman Julio Franco to Knight-Ri Bob Feller, Jim Palmer dder Franco makes good in grand style score two unearned runs and get him out of MILWAUKEE ther. and Bob Gibson never did it. Associated Press hug from Ryan. But even that produced an electrifying Neither did Carl Hubbell, Juan Marichal moment.

Ryan stood on the mound and wait- i 7,,,,,, or Robin Roberts. MILWAUKEE Julio Franco was on There is nothing you can do when you ed as reliever Brad Arnsberg trotted in from -'4' great" pitchers Lots of good pnever joined the club that itchers even lots of A the verge of kicking Nolan Ryan's 300th make an error. But he was getting ground victory away, but then he got some father- balls and he expected to get out of th.e in w'Nhspelaeda n. the bullpen, as 51,533 Brewers fans chanted tr '7 21' f''4 ro' io-rn, No-flea' w' i Ft ran os ani :4, 4e lice from an, of course. 0 the one, the only Nolan Ryan joined Tuesday adv hasRyed in the eighth inning nugH, ok im eo i to worry about it Just He placed the ball in Arnsberg's hands and Ryan was ,41) night.

Tuesday night after Franco booted two to go get 'em," Franco said. words to the man who sue- is the 300 Win Club, and before Tuesday balls and helped the Mlwaukee And he hit ceeded him. Then he walked off, to a chilling 4 grouni did. The next inning Franco -r mght, it had admitted just 19 members in the Brewers score two runs, cutting the a grand slam in a six-run ninth, wrapping standing ovation in a ballpark that wasn't tt 18.. history of baseball.

Now you can make it 20. his, in a city 1,000 miles from his cattle ranch mo, 1 Rangers' lead to 5-3. up the Rangers' 11-3 victory that made in Alvin, Texas. ti; 1 Tuesday night, the doors to that 300 Win But when returned a dirty to the Franco got Texas dug- Ryan the 20th 300-game winner in base- 1 1,,, 710, Club swung open to welcome a 43-year-old If anybody has earned those cheers, Nolan I out, instead 000, a ball history. 1" 0 "io 4'.

living legend who has defied the laws of na- Ryan as (91' 4 '4 hire. True, 19 other pitchers have won 300 lir- Al He beat the Milwaukee Brewers 11-3 in at No. 300, when he got hammered by the struck out eight and threw a staggering 146 games. But five of them did it when the 4 1 jam-packed County Stadium, the same Yankees, Ryan was his standard overpowering pitches. He didn't allow a hit between the mound was 50 feet from the plate, an advan, AP photo ballpark where Warren Spahn won his 300th self.

fourth inning and the eighth, when the tage that might have made Ryan a 900-game game in 1961. And unlike in his first attempt He went seven innings, gave up just six hits, Brewers finally used a couple of singles and Please see RYAN: C2 11111111MMIONNI1110111111111L Pentathlon lore ,4,:, 0 1 obscure as sport i mes in modern times 4 'f 'I, I 0, ,0004 4 ye4 ENUMCLAW, Wash. Getting here requires a I 1 road map and the power of suggestion. .1.,) it 1 4.t..,-,:',3"'' "You might want to go out to modern pentathlon," the boss hinted when he looked at the Goodwill rA 4,40 Games schedule. "We have the 4 1,,,,.3 world championships in Spokane next year." ilk Really? 41 -14' We have the world championships in 116- contemporary Greek furniture in our city? tst, oi Just kidding.

Everyone knows 1 I 1,34,,,,,, ,104, e- i i 8, ,,,.1 1:, 5.. 1.,,, I 41" 4 I 4, iiJH .0. modern pentathlon is well, it's JOHN different from ancient pentathlon, It- BLANCHETTE 4 right? 1 Right. This was outli ned by the .71 'ef 1, ''r, 4-0! -i, 1 i Staff writer announcer here at the King County Fairgrounds, who delved into 1 V. I pentathlon lore and there's a lot of it to fill up I' I' i i- -z lulls in the action.

There are a lot of lulls, too. ot The Greeks used to have a pentathlon in the 's? ancient Olympics that included foot racing, discus throwing, javelin throwing and broad jumping eliminating the also-rans until just two remained. i. 'k Then they wrestled to determine who would wear the bird's nest on his head. ,4 ir, V.

.,6 Now, when Baron Pierre de Coubertin never 4 trust a guy named Pierre revived the modern-day i 4, 1 Olympics, he brainstormed an equally modern pentathlon. As a model, he used military couriers. From the Napoleonic Wars. Thoroughly modern 1,, 4' tt, .4 milis, don't you think? I Well, it's still a hell of a legacy. Just think: a I 4 soldier starts out on the back of a strange horse, but -o ''0 ,4 is stopped by the enemy and forced to duel with '4''' 4,, I swords.

He escapes, but is trapped again and has to 4,, 1, shoot his way out with a pistol. Then he swims across i '4 0 of a river and runs four kilometers to safety. 0 4,, ,..,0,,,,, 1, Kind of sounds like one of Ted Turner's colorized i 1 movies. 1 1 4 4, A i 1,,,, Just one question. If Nappy's minion had a gun all 4 1 4' Nr.

Ile s': 44,,,, :4, along, why didn't he just plug the jerk with the 474- "I 1 17 4. 44 ..,1., 411,,7. sword? i'''. 4'''' '1' 3 00. 4 1 No matter.

As the only true made-for-the- 1- 0- Olympics event, modern pentathlon is special, if a 0 f. little arcane. "There are inevitable comparisons between modern Spokane catcher Larry Hawks looks for a play after tagging out Rafael No of Yakima. Staff photo by Cohn Mulvany pentathlon and triathlons," said Robert Stull, the top American finisher among the men here. "Especially since they've tried to get the triathlon in the rao tri, Olympics at our expense, I've been told.

Oft, 5- Ishi In-01 put, it 0 tun felty pp rs "But they're totally different animals. I've done .0 triathlons and they're tough, but it's a hell of an i event to try and watch. A two-mile swim? 'Well, By Earl Gerheim Glynn said. "Our players have shown a lot throw in an effort to nail Gainer at second. Royster added.

"This was the biggest game 1 there he goes? A 125-mile bike ride? Pack a lunch. Stan writer of responsibility all season. They work That error loaded the bases. of the year for us. If we won we would 1 It's impossible to watch." As Manager Gene Glynn likes to say, hard and show a lot of poise.

We've got a "That's minor league baseball. It's hard have been only six games behind, now Stull would fine-tune his sport to a one-day 1 there's always someone on his team ready lot of guys this season who pick us up." for the kids to have to experience an error we're eight behind. We came in thinking it competition with all five disciplines at the same to step fonvard and give the Spokane Indi- Indeed, the Indians hadn't mounted like that but I hope they learn from it. was the biggest game of the year. That kid venue.

Hell compete in just such an animal a ans a lift. much offense until the eighth inning un- Even I kicked baseballs in the majors," (Mimbs) pitched an outstanding game. It was second baseman Brent Bish's turn folded. But it was as much a combination said Yakima manager Jerry Royster. Think what it would have meant for him if money meet in Germany later in the year.

1 But let's not be too hasty. We don't want to Tuesday night against the Yakima Bears. of Yakima miscues as timely hits that "That cost us the game, basically." we had won. He would have won the big- I homogenize this deal. Bish stroked a two-out, bases-loaded sin- helped the Northern Division-leading Indi- After Yakima replaced starter Mike gest game of the year for us." (1 For instance, you probably didn't know that the gle to center in the eighth inning that ans improve their record to 29-14.

Second- Mimbs with Ben O'Connor, Bill Oster-, fifth-place finisher in the original Olympic modern Mimbs, 1-2, took the loss while Spokane 1, drove in two runs and rallied the Indians to place Yakima is 21-22. meyer flew out to give Spokane two away. pentathlon in 1912 was George S. Patton who reliever Lance Painter, 4-1, earned the vie- a 3-1 decision over the Bears before a With the Bears nursing a 1-0 lead when Bish drove in two runs with his single, but would later win the gold medal in tank in the 1943 tory after replacing Spokane starter Ryan crowd of 2,827 in Northwest League base- Mike Galle scored on Billy Lott's groun- another Yaldma error allowed Spokane to Sicilian Games. Thibault in the seventh.

ball at Indians Stadium. dout in the seventh, Spokane opened the add to its cushion. Old Blood and Guts was just 26 at the time and a "Our team's a great comeback team. eighth on a base hit to left by Kevin Far- As Bish rounded first, the throw to third Spokane mounted a serious threat in the mere lieutenant, and the irony of his Olympic minute We weren't worried that we were behind low. Following Matt Mieske strikeout, by center fielder Rafael Rijo flew into fifth inning, loading the bases on a single was that he was a crummy marksman.

In a field of because we know we can come back, and Jay Gainer added another base hit. Pinch- Yakima's dugout, allowing Spokane's third by Darius Gash, an error that allowed Far- 32 shooters, he finished 2Ist, though he claimed he that has won us a lot of games," Bish said. hitter Jim Elliott then was safe on a field- run to score. low to reach first and a walk to Mieske was penalized for missing the target completely on "We're a good late-inning baliclub." er's choice when shortstop Steve Kliafas "We've got to give credit where credit is with two out. But Gainer grounded out to Please see BLANCHETTE: C4 "That was a big two-out hit by Bish," dropped second baseman Scott Doffek's due.

That kid (Bish) had a good base hit," end the inning. ci Cardinals hire Torre 1 fo Associated PreIS ss ST. LOU The St. Louis Car- tiviiitllyt 6. Cardinals when he resigned (finals today announced that Joe .1 while," Roberts said.

"I was burn 1 a4 )' Torre has been named manager of The announcement surprised no burned one, since published reports over the 1 1 011t." 1 the team past few days had said that Torre was On the way to burnout, Roberts '1, ,4 "During the selection process, I in- to be the successor to Whitey Herzog. rewrote records for wins in a season J'. 't if terviewed a number of very good can- Cardinals interim manager Red at Playfair (74 in 1978), wins in a 4, i didates," said St. Louis General season at Longacres (81 in 1986) and ot, Li '0 4 io 1 Manager Dal Maxvill. But I kept Schoendienst, reached in Philadelphia Tuesday before St.

Louis played the number of years as leading trainer at It 4,4 coming back to Joe Torre I'm 4 r'''' Phillies, said he was unaware when Longacres (five). lis. confident he will be a very good man- I his third stint with the club would Roberts' championships "in Seat- ager." end, but he was pretty sure how it Playfair, tie," as horsemen call Longacres, Torre said he was excited about re- would turn out came in 1981, '82, '85, '86 and '87. i1 0 ,) turning to active participation after 1, Clint Roberts, his father, was top 'ee'''; -4 I I A I being out of the game for more than "I have not talked to Maxvill and trainer at the Renton track for three it 1 If five years. know about as much as anyone else," i years, giving the Roberts family eight I "St.

Louis has always been special said Schoendienst, who has guided training titles in the '80s. oil to me," he said. "It's always been a the Cardinals to a 13-10 record. "But And that was just the half of it. 1 second home for me and now it will if it's not Joe Torre it would be a big 1 1 "There were times for three or four be my home." surprise." years when I had horses at two and The hiring of Torre, 50, ended a Torre had been the front-runner to three tracks at once," Roberts said.

Staff photo by Kit King month-long search for the successor succeed Herzog sine the early dav i Please see PLAYFAIR: C5 Tom Roberts, back In the saddle, so to speak. to I lerzog, who was in his 11 th season of the search. POTZI'E h7 lia By Jayson Stark .4, I. Knight Rtdder MILWAUKEE 4 and Bob Gibson never ti ii ,1, ,0 i Neither did Carl HI 74J, 4'''' or Robin Roberts. 4 le''' .4 Lots of good pitch op.or7 4, AL 0,, ii --'17 '4 great pitchers nev ,4 the one, the only Nolan )' l' i ,41) 1 night.

-j It is the 300 Win Chi -r- night, it had admitted 4 Nk history of baseball. Nov Tuesday night, the 'd I i 1 4 Club swung open to 12 Pk --t living legend who has 1 ''''Yeh; 4 'k ture. I 111 A i i He beat the Milwal Roberts figures it's time to give back to Playf air a loberts figures it's time give back to PI ayfair io gi 1 By Dan Weaver Staff writer Through the 1980s, Tom Roberts won a lot of horse races, handled a ton of money and missed a lot around the house. So instead of working for success, the 35-year-old thoroughbred trainer decided to let success work for him. Once the No.

1 trainer at Playfair, Longacres and Bay Meadows and a one-time runner-up at Golden Gate Fields, Tom Roberts of Lapwai, Idaho, decided he could afford the luxury of dropping out. That was a year and a half ago. He returns to horse racing tonight when Playfair Race Course opens its 54th season with first at 6:30. "I decided I had to get away for a Dan Weaver all writer Through the 1980s, Tom Roberts on a lot of horse races, handled a in of money and missed a lot around le house. So instead of working for success, le 35-year-old thoroughbred trainer to let success work for him.

Once the No. 1 trainer at ongaeres and Bay Meadows and a le-time runner-up at Golden Gate ids, Tom Roberts of Lapwai, Ida- decided he could afford the luxu- 1 of dropping out. That was a year and a half ago. He to horse racing tonight when layfair Race Course opens its 54th with first at 6:30. "I decided I had to get away for a.