Times-Advocate from Escondido, California • 19

Sports TIMES -ADVOCATE Gross puts his best sting on Chicago CHICAGO It was as if Ron wide right of the net. Newman knew what the outcome "It feels good," sighed Newman would be all along. after the victory. "I was pretty confident we'd do Newman, who has directed the something," said the San Diego Sockers since about midway Sockers coach. through the season, expected a "Something" ended up being mini-game to be necessary.

what no other NASL team could ac- "We didn't play too well the first complish this season beat the game (the 3-2 loss), but the other Chicago Sting in Comiskey Park. team was just so up," said NewThe Sockers won the pivotal man. "I've seen it happen before mini-game, 2-1, in a shootout (3-0) when you win that first game (the to win the series two games to one Sockers 2-1 victory on Wednesbefore 12,267 and a nationally tele- day), the other team gets so hyped vised audience. up they usually roll right over you, The Sockers now advance to the which they did." American Conference semifinals Indeed. After the Sockers took a against an opponent still to be 1-0 lead on a Sanchez penalty kick determined.

That series opens goal at 8:48 of the first half, Peter Thursday night at 8 in San Diego turned around and scored two Stadium. goals within 12 minutes to help the The San Diego Padres baseball Sting assume a 2-1 halftime lead. game that night against the New Peter beat Gross at 33:07 and York Mets has been rescheduled then 28 seconds before the half, he for 1 p.m. did it again, this time from long After 120 minutes of action, Chi- range. cago was just no match for the The Sting insured the first-game Sockers in the alternating, best-of- victory at 70:19 of the second half five shootout.

on Karl-Heinz Granitza's first goal Hugo Sanchez wasted no time of the series to make it 3-1. Granitputting San Diego up 1-0 in the za was the second leading scorer in shootout as he beat Chicago goalie the American Conference. Ed Parkes to the left corner. Peter O'Sullivan made it a reSocker goalie Volkmar Gross spectable 3-2 with 8:10 to play on kept the score that way by blocking assists from Sanchez and Jim Derek Spalding's attempt with a Stamatis. diving stop.

Despite the setback, Newman reNext it was Leonardo Cuellar's mained his usual confident self. turn to beat Parkes. Whereas San- "The mini-game always seems Associated Press Photo chez elected to go to the left, Cuel- to swing back in favor of the other SOCKERS' PETER O'SULLIVAN ADVANCES TOWARD FIRST GAME GOAL lar pushed his shot to the right as team and it did with us," said NewParkes dove to his left. man. "I was confident." not require the shootout but Ressel goaltender, Newman also lauded saves while Parkes earned five.

Gross, the American Confer- He was also very wet by the end ruined those plans with just 1:52 to his substitutes for the big win. The Sockers should have lot of a ence's fifth leading netminder who of the day as the entire mini-game play in the game. "We're very lucky with the very confidence as they enter Thursalso registered 10 shutouts, gave was played in a steady downpour. The Sting forward slipped a good bench we have," praised the day's conference semifinals. In the Sockers a secure 2-0 lead by Just as they did in the regular damp ball right through Gross' Sockers coach.

Chicago, they have already defeatrejecting Peter Ressel's try. game, the Sockers scored first. grasp to tie the game, 1-1. The 3-2 loss was a very physical ed the American Conference's When Jean Willrich beat Parkes Gert Wieczorkowski dribbled a "The only thing to do is just shoot one. In all, 42 fouls were whistled, ranking team.

to the right, that meant Chicago four-bouncer past Parkes. Manu it," said Ressel. "'The rain made 25 of which were called against the had to score, or else be eliminated. Sanon was credited with an assist. the ball too slippery for the goalie.

Sockers. The Sting were 21-11 on the reguIt was adios Sting. This time Sanon suffered a knee injury and It was a lucky goal." Chicago held a decided advan- lar season with 187 points. Gross didn't have to do any work at had to leave the first game before Chicago obviously wasn't as for- tage in shots, aiming 27 at Gross But now they are history in 1980, all as Ingo Peter, who scored two returning in the mini-game. tunate in the shootout as Gross eas- compared to just 13 for the Sock- which the Sockers would also like goals in the day's first game, shot It looked like the Sockers might ily bested Parkes.

In addition to his ers. Gross was credited with four to become. Padres bounce back to gain a split with Phillies By GREG SIDDERS fact that the Padres had just lost their dropping the Phillies 5-1 behind John added, "You can't win if your pitchers With the score 2-0 in the sixth and T-4 Sports Writer ninth consecutive home contest. Curtis' four-hit pitching. aren't doing well, either." the bases loaded, he was relieved by of SAN DIEGO Generally, profes- Finally, he said, "It doesn't matter Broderick Perkins went 3-for-3 and Both were problems for the Padres rookie right-hander Mike Armstrong.

sional baseball teams enjoy entertain- whether you play at home or on the drove in three Padre runs in the in game one last night. He had filled the bases by giving up a in ing guests at their home. road if you play badly, you don't nightcap. The losing pitcher was Nini San Diego scored once in the first pair of singles to Greg Luzinski and San Diego Padre manager Jerry win. We've been playing badly." Espinosa, now 3-5.

inning, and then went scoreless for Manny Trillo and walking Garry Coleman pondered that fact in a very The Padre loss evened San Diego's The Padres finally got a combina- eight straight. Maddox. quiet Padre lockerroom after the home record at 30-30 and dropped tion of good pitching and good hitting, Meanwhile, left-hander Bob Shirley Armstrong did not do well in his Philadelphia Phillies had beaten the their season mark to 53-76. but that wasn't the case in the first wasn't having the best of outings. In one-third inning of work.

He went 3-0 Padres, 6-1, in the first game of a twi- The Padres bounced back in the game. his five innings of work, he gave up on Larry Bowa before the Phillie night doubleheader. second game to snap that nine-game "You can't win if you can't score," five runs all earned on 10 base shortstop popped out to third base- to At the same time he pondered the San Diego Stadium losing streak by Coleman said. Then, after a pause, he hits. Please see Padres, B-10 JOHN MAFFEI Get rid of complainers I've had it right up to my eyebrows with the Padre players complaining about how bad a manager Jerry Coleman is and about how badly they want off the San Diego ball club.

It just burns me up when I hear about guys like Rollie Fingers and Gene Tenace saying they want to be traded. But what burns me up even more is that they're still on the Padre club. Fingers blasted Coleman last week because the manager had the nerve to lift the pitcher after he had given up three runs in onethird of an inning. What's a manager to do leave a guy in to give up three more runs? And what gives Tenace the right to popoff? He's hitting a cool .206. At least Fingers has nine wins, 17 saves and a respectable 2.98 ERA.

If those guys want to be traded, then get rid of them. Padre president Ballard Smith could do both his club and the Dodgers a favor by trading Fingers to Los Angeles. The Dodgers are in the thick of a three-team pennant race with the Houston Astros and Cincinnati Reds i in the NL West. But the Dodger bullpen is hurting. Don Stanhouse is pitching now, but still isn't 100 percent.

Terry Forster remains on the disabled list, Steve Howe is effective but over- SUNDAY, AUGUST 31, 1980 B-1 Clippers sign top draft pick NEW YORK With owner Irv Levin watching, Michael Brooks, the first round draft choice of the San Diego Clippers, signed a multi-year contract, ending weeks of negotiations. A 6-7, 210-pound All-American forward at LaSalle is expected to become a starter for the Clippers power forward after scoring 2,682 points for the Pioneers, the seventh highest figure in college basketball. With Brooks in the fold, it leaves only seventh round pick Paul Anderson of Southern California College unsigned by the Clippers. Mistakes embarrass Chargers By JOHN MAFFEI T-A Sports Editor ANAHEIM Be it pre-season or the regular season, mistakes can cost teams football games. Last night before 61,550 fans in Anaheim Stadium the San Diego Chargers made more than their share of mistakes in dropping a 34-17 decision to the Los Angeles Rams.

Fortunately, for the Chargers, the contest was a pre-season affair. San Diego assumed early command of the game scoring with 9:19 gone in the first period when Clarence Williams scored from one yard out. The key plays on the 12-play, 29- yard drive were a 51-yard halfback pass from Don Woods to Gregg McCrary and vital short yardage gains by fullback John Cappelletti near the goal line. The Rams tied the game late in the first quarter when Pat Haden found Billy Waddy running free in the end zone between Charger defenders Glen Edwards and Jerome Dove. The play covered 11 yards.

The drive started after Pete Shaw fumbled a short Frank Corral punt. The fumble, which the Rams recovered at the Chargers 14, was the first a handful of Charger mistakes. The Rams extended their lead early the second quarter when Corral booted a 38-yard field goal, but the Chargers fought back to retake the lead, 14-10, on the next series. San Diego went 65 yards in seven plays with Cappelletti taking a handoff at the two, bouncing off three Ram defenders and swinging outside score. A worked, Bobby Castillo is on and off and rookie Joe Beckwith is hurt.

Fingers could help the Dodgers win the NL West and if he does, I'm sure the players and management could put up with his constant complaining. In return for Fingers, the Padres could demand slugging third baseman Mickey Hatcher and Beckwith. Hatcher is a talented player, but is mired on the Dodger bench behind Ron Cey. In San Diego, Hatcher might be the starting third baseman for the next 10 years. Beckwith has the talent to become the ace of the Padre bullpen.

The chance of getting much in return for Tenace is remote, but if the man wants out get rid of him. Because of their current last place standing in the NL West, the Padres figure to have a drastically different look as the final weeks of the 1980 season mercifully draw to a close. Star rightfielder Dave Winfield is at the end of his contract and his signing anew with San Diego appears remote. Despite Winfield's inability the last two months to drive in runners in scoring position, his departure will leave the team with a gaping hole in right. Jerry Turner might be the answer in right, but the best bet is that Luis Salazer, the man whom the Padres obtained as part of the Kurt Bevacqua deal, will inherit the job.

Salazar figures to be one of many new faces that finish up the '80 season and opens in '81 for the Padres. First baseman Willie Montanez is having a fine year, but is on the last year of his contract. The Padres don't figure to offer him much of a contract. If that's the case, Willie will most likely be moving down the road. San Diego has a player coming from Montreal in the deal that sent pitcher John D'Acquisto to the Expos.

Every indication is that the Padres will receive slugging first baseman Randy Bass from Montreal. Bass played for the Denver Bears of the American Association this season, hitting .333 with 37 homers and 143 RBI. He was named the league's MVP. Bass could join the team as early as tomorrow, but Denver won the Western Division of the American Association, so he won't be available until after the league playoffs. Bass or Broderick Perkins figure to be Montanez' replacement.

The Padres already have Hawaii farmhands Craig Stimac, Mike Armstrong, Perkins, Chuck Baker, Barry Evans, Tim FlanPlease see Maffel, B-10 That score, however, was the last Charger highlight of the first half as the Rams took advantage of some shabby Charger play to score two more touchdowns before the half ended. Ram quarterback Haden, who completed 17 of 29 passes for 188 yards on the evening, passed five yards to Victor Hicks to put the Rams ahead, 17- 14. Less than 90 seconds later, Haden again found Hicks, this time from seven yards out to give the Rams a comfortable 24-14 lead with 30 seconds to play in the half. Haden was a late replacement at quarterback for Vince Ferragamo, who suffered a pulled groin injury. The first Haden-to-Hicks touchdown was set up on a 26-yard pass from Haden to Billy Waddy, who left cornerback Willie Buchanon grasping for air.

The second score came after defensive end Reggie Doss, who had sacks, tackled Dan Fouts, forcing a fumble which was recovered by Codie Jones. The Rams scored first in the second half when Corral connected on a 31- yard field goal, but the Chargers countered with a 55-yarder by Rolf Bernischke, which would have been a club record for distance if it had come in a regular season game. Bernischke's effort brought a wide grin to coach Don Coryell's face. That smile immediately turned to anguish when Drew Hill returned the ensuing kickoff 92 yards, outracing Shaw and Dove to the end zone. Hill took the kick in the middle of the field, broke straight up field, got a great block on Cliff Thrift and was in the clear.

"We got beat pretty bad by a pretty good football team," said Coryell. "Maybe we were thinking too much about our 12 wins last year and not about winning this year. We had two key fumbles in the game that cost us two touchdowns. We just can't do that and expect to be winners. "One of the only positive things is that we didn't get anyone seriously hurt." Wide receiver John Jefferson, however, threw a scare into Coryell when he sat out the second half with a pinched nerve in his neck, but was declared fit after the game by the Charger doctors.

Staff Photo by Jim Baird SEND COMPLAINING ROLLIE.