Times-Advocate from Escondido, California • 13

'fn. v. TIMES ADVOCATE SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27. 1990 B3 SPORTS free agent roster grows to 79 KNIGHTS VS. COMETS TODAYS GAME MATCHUP: San Diego City College at San Marcos High School.

THE OUTLOOK Baseballs PLAYERS: Catchers Gedman, Boone and Dempsey are looking for new teams RONALD BLUM A Sports Writer NEW YORK Fourteen more players are eligible for free agency and nine of them already have filed. The 14 became eligible when their teams declined to offer salary arbitration by the Thursday midnight deadline and the majority filed Friday, raising the free agent total to 79. Under the collective bargaining agreement, players who would be bound by the five-year restriction CHARGERS NOTEBOOK i OUTLOOK: San Diego City had a bye last Saturday, which was the best thing to happen to the Knights in six weeks. The Los Angeles and Orange County schools ran roughshod over the Knights, who averaged just slightly over six points a game. Conference play offers San Diego City a chance to re-build their confidence.

The start of conference play boosted the Comets' confidence level last week, when Palomar easily handled Southwestern, 37-1 1. The win was the second-straight for the Comets and their improving defense. WHEN THE COMETS THE BALL Second baseman Tom Herr of the New York Mets was in the group waiting to find out if arbitration would be offered, but late Thursday he agreed to a one-year contract worth $1.4 million, a raise of $575,000. Other players filing riday were Chicago Cubs infielder Curtis Wilkerson; Kansas City pitcher Steve Crawford, infielder Steve Jeltz and outfielder Willie Wilson; Milwaukee pitcher Paul Mir-abella; New York Mets pitcher Dan Schatzeder; Pittsburgh pitchers Jerry Reuss and Zane Smith and catcher Don Slaught; St. Louis infielder-outfielder Denny Walling, and Toronto third baseman Lance Mulliniks.

COMETS OFFENSE: No, it wasnt a hallucination. The Comets actually came out running the ball and running well against Southwestern last week. Running back Od-iou Pine scored three touchdowns and added a total of 100 yards rushing and receiving. Fullback Eric Franssens also added 62 yards. For the possibilities of how the Comets will be able to run against the Knights, see the next graph.

KNIGHTS DEFENSE: The skys the limit. The Knights have the dubious distinction of being the conference's worst defense. On the average. San Diego City gives up about 400 yards a game. In particular, the Knights are atrocious against the run, allowing opponents to gain an average of about 24 1 yards per game.

THINGS BRIGHTEN FOR BERNST1NE WHEN THE KNIGHTS HWE fuer of St. Louis and John Candelaria of Toronto. Five players who were not offered arbitration did not file Friday and have until Nov. 4 to submit their names: California outfielder Brian Downing and pitcher Greg Minton, Seattle first baseman-outfielder Ken Griffey San Diego outfielder Fred Lynn and San Francisco catcher Terry Kennedy. Minton has announced his intention to retire but he has not been placed on the voluntary retired list and remains on the Angels roster.

The Giants have until Nov. 10 to exercise a 1991 option on Kennedy for $1 million. Jerry Glanville has been waiting to (0-6) vs. Palomar College (3-4), 1 :30 THE BALL I Gulls top Salt Lake SALT LAKE CITY Clark Donatellis slap shot with a minute, 46 seconds left Friday night snapped a 4-4 tie and lifted the Gulls to a 7-4 victory over the Salt Lake Golden Eagles. Donatelli and Brent Sapergia added empty-net goals in the final minute to put the Gulls second straight victory away before 3,995 at the Salt Palace.

Donatelli, Sapergia and Mike Gober each scored twice for the Gulls. San Diego, with 9 points, move into sole possession of second place in the International Hockey Leagues West Division. Peoria leads with 14 points. Gulls goaltender Glen Hanlon stopped 31 of 35 shots. OPENING DIEGO COMETS DEFENSE: This unit continues to improve.

Against Southwestern, the Comets held their opponent to a single touchdown for the second straight week. In particular, defensive lineman Tamasi Amituanal (6-3, 330), and the linebacking corps has played well. KNIGHTS OFFENSE: Well, the Knights are at the bottom in offense as well. Through six games, San Diego City has only scored six touchdowns. In their last game four games, the offense has been shut out three times.

Running back Derrick Jenkins has been the Knights' sole bnght spot. ROBERT DUCKETT Times Advocate staff writer SAN DIEGO He was an angry young man 2 Vi weeks ago, but two games of substantial work and solid success have bnghtened the outlook of Chargers running back Rod Bernstine. Bernstine, who talked of wanting to be traded after an Oct. 7 loss to Pittsburgh, has since earned the ball 19 times for 1 25 yards, a 6.6-yard average, in games against the New York Jets and Los Angeles Raiders. He has 257 yards on 46 cames and two touchdowns heading into Sunday's 1 p.m.

game here against Tampa Bay. I was upset a couple of weeks ago, because when you think you can play, you want to let people know, said Bernstine. "But I've been definitely happy with the role they've put me in the last two weeks. This last week (against the Raiders), they let me carry the ball in crucial situations, and that made me feel good. I just wish it'd be in winning ball games." Chargers coach Dan Henning has been cnticized for not using Bernstine enough, but the four-year veteran likes rotating with Marion Butt, the NFLs leading rusher with 581 yards.

When you have two running backs going in and doing the job, it makes the coaches job a lot easier," said Bernstine. Against the Raiders, Manon was running up and down the field, but then I went in and switched them up, and had some success." It's similar to a knuckleball pitcher relieving a hurter who throws heat. "Yeah, Marion is a pounder who runs over people. I'm a little more finesse, although I can run over people, too." And how about all of that talk about the durability of Bernstine, who had iwo knee operations in three years? He hasn't missed a down with an injury this season. Ive never thought I wasn't durable, he said.

"I had a couple of freaky injuries one time I didn't get hit and the other time my own man leg-whipped me. That's not lacking durability. Thats being unlucky. SMTIH, PATTEN WILL BE ACTIVATED BRIEFLY i Dougherty lifts Sockers to seasons first victory Staff and Hire reports ST. LOUIS Even the Sockers first win did not come easy.

Paul Doughertys power-play goal 5:11 into overtime Friday night lifted San Diego to a 6-5 win over the St. Louis Storm, snapping the Sockers two-game losing streak since opening the Major Soccer League season. Glenn Carbonara and Jim Ga-barra also scored twice each and Jacques Ladouceur once for San Diego. Preki had two goals and two assists for St. Louis, and Terry Brown, Mark Frederickson and Daniel Donigan added single goals GRAND SAN Henning said he will activate both linebacker Billy Ray Smith (pulled abdominal muscle) and offensive tackle Joel Patten (off-season knee surgery) from injured reserve today.

On the 47-man roster, Smith will replace H-back Joe Caravello, who dislocated his knee in practice Thursday and is expected to be out the rest of the season. Henning wouldn't say who would be moved off the roster to make room for Patten. I'm not at liberty to tell you the adjustment I'm going to make, he said. H-BACK ORR SIGNED Battlelines are drawn for Glanville vs. Wyche against repeat free agency must be offered salary arbitration in the five days following the World Series or else the restriction is lifted.

Under the previous agreement between the players association and the clubs, teams did not have to make those decisions until January. Filing Friday from this group were first basemen-outfielders Danny Heep of Boston and Gary Ward of Detroit; catchers Rich Gedman of Houston, Bob Boone of Kansas City and Rick Dempsey of Los Angeles; second base-men Willie Randolph of Oakland and Wally Backman of Pittsburgh, and pitchers Tom Nieden- 1 "i ey League franchise. But Sanders, named NFL executive of the year in 1979, is best remembered for helping to assemble the Air Coryell Chargers teams of the late 70s and early 80s. With Don Coryell as coach and Dan Fouts at quarterback, the Chargers used a record-setting pass offense to twice reach the AFC championship game. But they were tripped up a step short of the Super Bowl both times, losing to Cincinnati 27-7 in the Jan.

10, 1982, Ice Bowl and to the then-Oakland Raiders 34-27 on Jan. 11,1981. Johnny played a major role in Chargers history, and hes been a big part of professional spprts in FINE HARDWOODS The Chargers signed H-backtight end Terry Orr, a five-year veteran who was cut last week by the Washington Redskins. Henning hopes the 6-foot-3, 227-pound Orr will make contributions on special teams and H-back in place of Caravello. Orr is halfway between (H-back Craig) McEwen and (tight end Derrick) Walker, said Henning.

Hes not as good a blocker as Demck, but he's very accountable. He can learn a number of different positions, and once he's with us for a while, we won't be afraid to put him in and ask him to things in different areas. MR. UTILITY Friday, November 2, 1990 10:00 am 3:00 pm Your new source for exceptional quality, fair prices and broad selection from our uncommon inventory of fine hardwoods. Lumber Plywood Mouldings Hardwood Flooring Accessories Stains Finishes Power Hand Tools Cabinet Doors Hardware Free: The first 200 visitors who present this ed or a copy of our flyer wilt receive a free mini splinter-removing tweezers $3.96 value Linebacker and special teams standout Steve Hendrickson hasn't played in a game on the offensive side of the ball since his days at Napa High School, but Henning said he will be moved to H-back as a "precautionary measure." It looks like that may be his area of help for our football team, said Henning.

He runs hard, plays hard, practices hard. I think you can spot a guy on offense easier than on defense. He can fill a role of (former Padre Tim) Flannery proportions." The 6-foot, 245-pound Hendrickson was an all-state fullback in high school and didn't become a full-time linebacker until college at Cal. Last season, he was the San Francisco 49ers' backup fullback for four weeks when starter Tom Rathman was the only healthy player at the position. I'm going to enjoy it.

It'll be fun, said the always-enthusiastic Hendrickson. Somebody said Ill be taking the hits now instead of delivering 'em. But I think I'll still be giving out the blows. The biggest change may be Hendrickson's number he'll wear 34 instead of 56. GOEAS A WINNER AT LEFT TACKLE? 1562 Cherokee, San Marcos.

GOOD FOOD GOOD face Sam Wyche's Bengals. thats about it, Wyche said. Very few players are going to do much different because of the way a coach feels. Glanville may not agree with Wyche on much, but he agreed on that. I have long since realized that the players are the guys who decide the games, not the coaches or the coaches feeling about each other or one coachs feelings about the way another coach inspires his team, Wyche said.

Cincinnati (5-2) has won five consecutive games since Atlanta (2-4) won the opening game in the series in 1971. Sundays day schedule includes Buffalo at New England, Detroit at New Orleans, Miami at Indianapolis, Minnesota against Green Bay at Milwaukee, the New York Jets at Houston, Philadelphia at Dallas, Chicago at Phoenix, Cleveland at San Francisco, Tampa Bay at San Diego and Washington at the New York Giants. The Los Angeles Rams are at Pittsburgh on Monday night, hile Denv er, the Los Angeles Raiders, Kansas City and Seattle are off this week. Cincinnati will complete a stretch of five consecutive road games hen it plays at Atlanta, the city Wyche was born in. The Bengals are 2-2 in that span.

Sanders, a Hall of Fame at Occidental and Van Nuys, taught and coached in the Los Angeles City Schools system before joining the Los Angeles Rams as a part-time scout in 1952. He became director of player personnel for the Rams in 1964 and assistant general manager in 1969. Six years later, he joined the Chargers as an assistant to the late Chargers owner Gene Klein, ho promoted Sanders to general manager in 1976. This is a man who made his mark, said Rick Smith, the Chargers former public relations director who also worked with Sanders in a consultant role for the Gulls. ALL YOU CAN EAT: HOMEMADE SPAGHETTI CRISP GARDEN SALAD TOASTED GARLIC BREAD COME WATCH THE GAME WITH US! NFL: Its time to even the score, even though the teams are different from a year ago.

The Ao( tated Press Jerry Glanville is dressing for war as he gets ready for Atlanta's game against Cincinnati on Sunday night. Glanville was Houstons coach last December when Sam Wyche led the Bengals to a 6 1 -7 rout, the worst defeat in Oilers history. Wyche denies running up the score, but he had his team prolong fourth-quarter drives with fourth-down rushes and even had Jim Breech kick a field goal with 21 seconds left. After the game, Wyche ran onto the field and taunted Glanville. He called the Oilers a sorry, stupid football team and said Glanville was probably the biggest phony in professional football.

Glanville, who took over the Falcons after being fired by Houston, posed in a combat helmet for a story about Sunday nights game. The two coaches didnt talk about each other following Atlantas 34-17 preseason victory and they arent talking about the feud now. Once the officials says its time to play, the coaches stand 6n the sidelines and cheer them on, but San Diego for a long time, said Chargers owner Alex Spanos. I extend our deepest sympathy to Mrs. Sanders and the family.

He was a great, great football man and a great judge of talent, Jack Teele, the Chargers assistant to the president, said of Sanders. Born in San Antonio, Texas, Sanders was involved in football most of his life. His family moved to Van Nuys as a youngster, and he played football and was a high school sprint champion at Van Nuys High School. He was a running back and three-year letterman at Occidental College in Eagle Rock, and was a starter on the 1948 team that went 9-0. Rookie Leo Goeas has apparently won the job at left tackle after Eric Floyd started the season there.

Henning said that with a successful return by Patten to a part-time role at left tackle, Floyd would make a subtle slide to guard and backup right tackle. Veterans Broderick Thompson and David Richards play nght tackle and guard, respectively. Goeas broke a bone in his foot in training camp but returned to start in the last three games. TOD LEONARD Time Advocate 31 6 WEST MISSION vrv CA 92069 (619) 471-7322 FRIENDS GOOD TIMES' ESCONDIDO 746-6188 1450 AM Former Chargers general manager dead at 68 TO BAY! U.C.L.A. BRUINS vs.

OREGON STATE Saturday, October 27th "LIVE" at 2:55 P.M. on OBITUARY: Johnny Sanders dies of apparent heart failure in San Diego The Associated Press "lA MESA Former Chargers general manager Johnny Sanders, who ran the club in the teams glory years, died Friday of apparent heart failure, officials said. He was 68. Sanders, the Chargers general manager from 1976 through 1987, was pronounced dead early Friday at Grossmont Hospital, according to deputy coroner George Dickason. He most recently served as an administrative consultant to the Gulls of th International Hock.