Times-Advocate from Escondido, California • 27

Times-Advocate Tuesday, August 29, 1953 Bob Gainos T-A Sportswriter Delivers not one, but two homers after girls request By Chris De Luca Times Advocate Sportswriter SAN DIEGO As Jack Clark walked down the tunnel leading from the Padres clubhouse to the field Monday, he encountered Mandi Rutherford, a 6-year-old from Poway suffering from spina bifida. Mandi was also heading out to the field. As the local poster child for the Easter Seal Society, she was throwing out the first pitch. Clark looked into Mandis eyes and was moved. We just happened to cross paths, Clark explained.

She was so cute, you just wanted to give her a hug. Clark did. Then Mandi popped the question. Could he hit a home run for her Monday night? Gee, Mandi, how about a nice autographed bat instead. After all, that was Kevin Gross out on the mound for the Montreal Expos.

In case you havent checked the stats, Mandi, Clark was 3-for-19 (.158) during his career against Gross. Home run? A hit was going to be difficult enough. But how could he deny those innocent eyes? I said yeah, sure, the way Ive been swinging the bat? Clark said with a laugh later. Right, against a pitcher Ive never hit one against. Kevin Gross or not, Clark fulfilled Mandis wish and made starting pitcher Andy Benes day hitting not one but two three-run homers to power the Padres to their fifth consecutive victory, a 9-4 rout of the Expos at San Diego Stadium Monday night.

While Mandi and the rest of the 11,275 fans were excited about Clarks outburst, the veteran power hitter was moved even more by Mandis one-hop first pitch. Before the game, Mandi was rolled out to the mound in her special wheelchair. She was then lifted out of the chair and stood leaning against her crutches as she took the ball for the first pitch. Then, she reared back and fired to pitcher Mark Davis. Right away I was moved, Clark said.

I even looked over at the other team and they all stopped warming up to stop and watch her. Then we all clapped. It just makes you think Jimmy DorantetThe Times Advocate Jack Clark belts the first of his two three-run homers in Monday's game against the Montreal Expos. Please see Padres, page D2 Trains career finally just ran out of steam Lionel James would slowly rub his hands, but still theyd tremble. His knuckles were swollen and numb, his fingers too painful to move.

People are always stepping on my hands, James would say. They try to strip the ball or get me to fumble by hitting me smack on the top of the hands. I hate that." As if they were driving spikes on a railroad tie, the big guys just kept hammering. Big guys with rather ugly dispositions. Big guys who can play catch with Volkswagens, who can kick the entire beach in your face, who might need deodorant, but whos gonna tell them? And Lionel James 5-foot-6Vi, 170 pounds of courage and talent and determination could make those big guys look silly.

Except, they kept stepping on his hands. Of course, we always knew this kid never had a chance. Too dam small. Hed surely get mangled or killed. He was hearing that nonsense back in junior high.

You wanna be a star, Lionel, go play in the band. OK, he smoked em in high school 12 yards a carry. Auburn offered a scholarship. You crazy, Lionel? Their running backs all look like Bo Jackson. Be sure to get a degree.

And so he did engineering. Along the way, he not only blocked for Bo, but gained nearly 3,000 yards of his own for the Tigers. Sure, the pros were interested. The Chargers picked him in the fifth round back in 1984. But, really Lionel, get serious.

At first glance, we figured he was part gimmick. Train was his nickname from college, but most of us liked the sound of Little Train. So, thats what we called him. Actually, Lionel heard plenty of slogans and catchy phrases: The Little Engine that Little Big Man. Little Man, Big Heart.

This Train was bound for glory. And there was John Madden rambling about the Train on TV: Lionel James has a real advantage. Defensive linemen cant find him. They start looking for him and he squirts right past them. Of course, if they ever do find him, they could do some powerful damage." But, James kept getting away.

Slippery? Like chasing a greased pig. Tricky? Like catching flies with chop sticks. Good? Like nobody youve ever seen. No one in the history of the sport has covered more territory in a season than Lionel James back in 1985 when he collected 2,535 allpurpose yards. He returned kickoffs, punts.

He could sweep the end or dart up the middle. Man, he Please see Gaines, page D2 0) (O KO ril (O Chargers cut three, six more must go The Timas-Advocate ma State, joined the KI1FIL RJDS1S7 Chargers term their drug tests favorable From A wire services About two dozen active NFL players who have tested positive for steroids this summer were to be suspended today, according to NFL spokesman Joe Brown. The action comes a day after the NFL Players Association lost its bid for a temporary restraining order to halt the enactment of the leagues newest drug program. Steve Ortmayer, the Chargers director of football pperations, would not reveal Monday the teams results on the league steroid tests. However, he did characterize the results as very favorable." Players suspended will be forced to miss their teams final preseason game this weekend and the first three games of the regular season.

A veteran earning $100,000 would lose $18,750 of his base salary, plus the $700 he would have earned for the final preseason game. During their four-week absence, a player who tests clean will be eligible to be reinstated once his 30-day suspension ends. Those who do not could be forced to miss more games until a negative test appears. Upon reinstatement, a second positive test would result in a players suspension for the remainder of the season, including all postseason games. Players suspended today wont count against any teams 60-man limit.

Active rosters must be reduced to 60 today. Teams were notified late Monday if their current roster included any players using the strength-enhancing substances or masking-agent diuretics common among heavy steroid users. The NFLPA tried unsuccessfully to prevent the release of the players names and the implementation of the suspension plan, saying it would cause irreparable harm and stigmatize the player. U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan, however, refused to grant the request, saying all players had been given ample warning that they would be disciplined for using the strength-enhancing substances.

He also said the union failed to show how its members would face irreparable harm under the leagues plan. But by the time Hogan ruled, the league decided it was too late in the day to make the announcement and postponed it 24 hours. Commissioner Pete Rozelle announced the steroid policy on March 21 at the annual owners meeting in Palm Desert, the day before he revealed his decision to retire. Veterans and prospective league players, including the nations top 500 college seniors, received a copy of Rozelles plan on March 31. Doug Allen, assistant executive director of the NFLPA, said the union will proceed with its legal Please see NFL, page D2 Chargers as a free agent in 1988.

The Chargers had reduced their roster to 69 players on Monday when they waived fifth-year inside linebacker Jeff Jackson and first-year tackle Eric Floyd. Also figured to be resolved today is the matter of outside linebacker Keith Browner. The 6-foot-6, 266-pound Browner told the team last week he wanted to contemplate his future. Subsequently, he said he planned to retire. However, it is still unclear what the Chargers will do with Browner.

The team has two op- Please see Chargers, page D2 SAN DIEGO Three Chargers were cut this morning as the club moved to comply with the 60-player NFL limit. Six more players needed to be cut by this afternoon to reach the limit. Released were tight end Pat Davis, wide receiver Brian Bedford and H-back Ronnie Williams. Davis, 23, was the Chargers 1989 ninth-round draft choice from Syracuse. Bedford, 24, is a second-year player out of Cal who was acquired in a trade with Dallas last season, but spent the year on injured reserve.

And Williams, 23, a second-year player out of Oklaho Looking to bounce back ilbert plays second! banana to WitoEten out We had a real setback at NORCECA. I think we just need to get back on the right track and thats what were looking for in this series. Liskevychs teams have won more than 95 percent of their matches against Canada in his four-plus seasons, but injuries and the departure of Kemner attributed directly to the loss to Canada at NORCECA. In mid-June, about the same time Kemner quit, the injuries hit. First outside hitter Ruth Lawanson injured her left knee and required surgery.

Then hitter Missy McLinden sprained her right ankle and was out several weeks. Hitter Tammy Webb suffered a painful strain of a ligament in her left foot, hitter Sherri Danielson was slowed by blisters on both her feet, hitter Liz Masakayan sprained the lateral collateral ligament in her left knee and setter Wendy Rush injured her knee and required surgery. Danielson decided to retire and Lawanson and Rush are still out, but everyone else is healthy now. In mid-July, however, it strained the teams future plans, as six players were either sidelined or slowed by injuries. The U.S.

needed to finish first or second to Cuba at NORCECA to earn a berth in this falls World Cup and next years World Championships. Canada was considered the Please see USA, page D3 U.S. womens volleyball at San Pasqual tonight By Jeffrey Parent! Times-Advocate Sportswriter SAN DIEGO It has been a rough three months for the United States womens volleyball team. A rash of injuries decimated the squad; Caren Kemner, perhaps the teams top player, unexpectedly retired; the squad was upset by Canada a team it rarely loses to at the NORCECA (North America, Central America, Caribbean) Zone championships last month in Puerto Rico. The team, despite a top-five world ranking, placed seventh in the 1988 Olympics.

It has failed to qualify for the World Cup this No-. vember and has just one chance remaining to qualify for the 1991 World Championships. A 1 ser man would fold up the tents and hike toward a brighter day, but Terry Liskev-ych, the teams fifth-year coach, sounds almost optimistic as the team enters a four-match San Diego series against Canada beginning tonight at San Pasqual High School at 7:30. We just need to get back on the right track of identifying a starting unit for us and get- ting people on the floor to play well and also to win," Liskevych said. Weve been decimated by injuries by different people in and By Filip Bondy New York Daily News NEW YORK Todd Witsken knew hed roped his dope by the fourth set, when Brad Gilbert was downing bananas on the changeover like a condemned primate.

I saw bananas, and what looked like a brownie. He was eating all kinds of stuff, Witsken said. Maybe he thought the match was going to 19-17 in the fifth, and he just wanted to be ready in case. It was, instead, a desperate feast for an ailing man. Gilbert, the hottest player on the mens circuit since Wimbledon, suffered chills, cramps and, finally, unconditional bodily surrender on opening day of the U.S.

Open, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. The eighth-ranked Gilbert was the only seeded player to fall Monday afternoon, but he collapsed with such a thud on the grandstand court that he made up for the lack of company. In other top matches, fourth-ranked John McEnroe received just one warning for an audible obscenity on his way to a 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 win over Eric Winogradsky of France. Defending champ Mats Wilander (No. 5) of Sweden had a surprisingly easy time with Horst Skoff of Austria, 6-1, 6-3, 6-1.

In womens competition, defending champion Steffi Graf, the top seed, defeated Etsuko Inoue, 6-3, 6-1. Fifth-seed Zina Garrison defeated Radka Zrubakova, 6-2, 6-1, and No. 12 Monica Seles defeated Ann Henricksson, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. Witsken is a pesky 25-year-old from Carmel, the 63rd-ranked player in the world and the proud owner of a third-round upset over Jimmy Connors at the Open in 1986. Monday, he faced a player much younger than Connors, who was feeling much worse.

It started at 9 oclock this morning; I made about a dozen trips to the bathroom, Gilbert said. My energy was depleted, and I was tired by the second set. Witsken sized up the situation, watched Gilbert down a brownie Please see Tennis, page D2 ures in the teams transition period. -i.