Kingsport Times-News from Kingsport, Tennessee • 18

4D Kingsport Times-News Thursday July 6 1989 Schmidt says reputation earned him All-Star game starting berth Patrum initiated 9 Race of Champions Canseco note ashamed tobestarterE Associated Press ZZHZ Associated Press By KENNY BRUCE Sports-News Editor most memorable were the 1979 game in which he got a double and triple off Nolan Ryan and in 1981 when he hit the game-winning homer He said that his selection while unique mean taking the voting away from the fans see anything wrong with the fans voting Let them have something to he said adding the only potential downside would be the affect on the players finishing behind him Howard Johnson the guy who deserves to be the starter sure that he will Sabo finished second but on the disabled list As long as he (Johnson) feel Schmidt aware at the time that Bonilla finished behind Sabo just happened to be a favorite They (fans) probably said Mike Schmidt is our favorite at third I probably have made it if I was playing (the All-Star game) will be my last not on an active roster NL president Bill White and All-Star manager Tommy Lasorda of Los Angeles will make the decision on replacement A starter does not have to be named until gametime Schmidt said that even if he had been allowed to play he would have declined is nothing to gain If I strike out have to live with that the rest of my life If I got a hit be second-guessed say that I could still do it should not have retired made the right he said belong on the Schmidt said White informed him that he would be introduced to the crowd to take a bow Schmidt said he will wear a uniform and would sit in the dugout during the game He said a home run hitting contest had been suggested but he declined retired player belong in a home run contest (at the All-Star Schmidt said Schmidt was on 11 NL All-Star teams seven as a starter He says the PHILADELPHIA Mike Schmidt' says sentiment and the fact that his name is synonymous with third base resulted in his becoming the first retired player ever voted a starter on a major league All-Star team Schmidt who announced his retirement from the Philadelphia Phillies on May 29 beat out Cincinnati third baseman Chris Sabo as the starting third baseman on the NL team in the results of the voting announced on Wednesday Schmidt received 729249 votes to 713113 Bobby Bonilla was third with 649659 and the New York Howard Johnson fourth with 647415 probably was a lot of kids punching my name on the ballot because synonymous with third Schmidt said when he was told he had been voted as starter it will start a new craze Guys will start to retire before the All-Star he jested Under baseball rules Schmidt will be replaced as the starter since Canseco to play in All-Star game HUNTSVILLE Ala Jose Canseco who has performed well enoughiloJ be a Southern League AttCi Star plans to play Tusj day night in the major-league All-Star Game -Canseco was elected Wednesday to starting spot in the American League outfield He has not played for Oakland this season because of a fractured left wrist and is with the Class A A Huntsville team Canseco the Mbsi Valuable Player last season is just 5-for-22 (227) with no extra-base hits fof4 the Stars in the Southern League He has driven in two runs and stolen one base fans are and been extremely supportive" of me all season long de-' spite all the negative things that have he said are the ones who vote for who they want to see in the game their favorites obviously one of their Canseco did not take batting practice Wednes- day and was not in the lineup against Columbus He did not play Monday night preferring to rest his sore wrist and was back in the lineup Tuesday Canseco said he intends to make his 1989 major-league debut on Sunday 1 against Texas hope to play at least once before the All-Star he said Canseco played down reports that Athletics manager Tony La Russa had threatened to not let him' play in the All-Star Game unless he played once for the Athletics think he said think what Tony wants is for me to play at least one game -for the Continued from page ID American Starters Statistics through July 5 for the American League starters in the 60th All-Star Game to be played July It at Anaheim Calif HR National Lineups Statistics through July 5 for the National League starters In the 60th All-Star Game to be played July 11 at Anaheim Calif STARTERS 1 AB HR RBI AVG Catcher Santiago SO 247 21 60 5 30 243 First Base Clark SF 296 55 99 13 59 334 Second Base Sandberg Chi 292 42 77 10 33 264 Third Base Schmidt Phi 148 19 30 6 28 203 Shortstop Smith StL 273 39 79 1 31 289 Outfield Mitchell SF 291 54 85 27 75 292 Strawberry NY 228 31 51 16 37 224 Gwynn SO 329 50 117 4 35 356 Race of Champions event at Kingsport Motor Speedway will feature several of top Winston Cup drivers each sporting his own long list of accomplishments But the hard work and long hours of one particular person in the sport will not be brought to the despite that if not for him there would be no show to put on Bruce Patrum has been working with NASCAR drivers for 15 years covering everything from souvenirs to sponsorships when I got started booking drivers into short tracks Patrum said Wednesday the time it was more of booking one driver into a particular track racing against local These days the Greensboro NC resident handles as many as 26 Winston Cup drivers for the Race of Champions tour an idea that has grown from literally next to nothing to a thriving racing circuit years ago when I got started we worked one said Patrum "The second year it was up to seven and last yer we had 25 races really taken Interestingly the biggest problem securing drivers for the races Instead working around finding open dates when the races can be run as a matter of fact not had any problems getting a Patrum explained had a small group of drivers that I worked into races previously They helped me out anytime I had a rain-out and then I helped them out whenever they had some free time to race for me just built up from there Now just about every name driver on the circuit has run our races at one time or One such notable entry just became a of the touring group this season A Poyt a fourtime winner of the Indianapolis 500 and one of motorsports most recognized names competed Monday night in Grand View Pa was lined up through a close friend of his Rick said Patruip had told him he ought to consider it that it was a good deal and paid good Then when I saw Rick he mentioned that I ought to approach AJ about One of the big attractions of the circuit for several of the veteran drivers according to Patrum is the fact that the racing is enjoyable some of the rivers been so long since they raced for the fun of it 20 or 25 he said is so much pressure racing on the Winston Cup tour you afford to lose a race or look bad because you could lose a sponsor They race here because a lot of fun they all think the best on dirt and if they lose they can always come back the next night and try Recent races have seen tremendous crowds for the local tracks as well Although only 500 advance tickets were sold for the Bradenton Fla stop another 8000 were sold at the gate A capacity crowd of 7500 turned out to see the action Monday night in Grand View can usually tell beforehand how a race is going to go Patrum added it has a good solid weekly crowd and promoted well then you can count on a super Because of the number of tracks wanting a date Patrum says he has been forced to run two series on the same night Tonight for instance when KMS is playing host to Rusty Wallace Rick Wilson Richard Petty and company another group of drivers will be running a similar show in Columbus Ohio normally run two shows in one said Patrum every now and Hthen you'have to overlap to get datesforthetra- cks There was one stretch last year when we hit 11 races in nine days But by the end of that run we were really worn activities at KMS get under way with an autograph session with the drivers from 6 until 7 pmSuper Stock and Hobby divisions will comepete before local Late Model drivers and their Winston' Cup teammates take to the track at approximately 9 pm AB Catcher 255 20 First Base 239 36 Second Base 297 40 100 Third Base 300 49 Shortstop 325 46 Outfield 293 51 327 40 110 0 0 0 RBI AVG 4 26 322 15 48 243 10 61 337 2 35 323 10 48 283 20 56 266 5 44 336 0 0 000 Steinbach Oak McGwire Oak Franco Tex Boggs Bos Ripken Bal Jackson KC Puckett Mm Canseco Oak Canseco last American League Most Valuable Player has been out of action since spring training with a fractured wrist He is playing for Class AA Huntsville team on a rehabilitation assignment Joining Canseco will be Athletics teammates Terry Stein-bach at catcher and Mark McGwire at first base fans are and have been extremely supportive of Canseco said are the ones who vote for who they want to see in the game their favorites and obviously one of their Will Clark led all vote-getters with 1833329 and Bo Jackson got the most in the AL with 1748697 Darryl Strawberry won a spot in the NL outfield but will not play because of an injured toe Only one race was decided in the final week Julio Franco overcame a 7000-vote margin and passed Steve Sax of New York as the second baseman San Kevin Mitchell leading the majors with 27 home runs and 75 RBIs led NL outfielders But Ruben Sierra who leads the AL with a 338 average and is tied with Franco for the league lead with 61 RBIs finished sixth in the outfield Ozzie Smith of St Louis will start for the seventh straight year as the shortstop Cal Ripken will start for the fifth time as the shortstop Also elected for the AL were Bos- Wade Boggs at third base and Kirby Puckett in the outfield For the NL Benito Santiago of San Diego will start at catcher Ryne Sandberg of Chicago at second base and Tony Gwynn of the Padres in the outfield Eleven of the 16 players elected earned bonuses with Boggs getting the largest at $50000 Earning $25000 were Santiago Mitchell Strawberry Gwynn Steinbach Franco Jackson and Puckett McGwire got $20000 while Sandberg got $10000 K-Mets hold on score 4-2 win Kingsport 4 Bluefield 2 Burlington rips Wytheville 11-0 From staff reports Martin Roso Engle Bluefield 9 Kingsport 4 Alexander Harris Kessinger Fordyce IP ER BB SO Bluefield Martin 5 Teixeira 3 1 Kingsport Engle 5 3 Polanco 3jj 2 Sample 'ii 0 Engle Sample Martin Wood and Schmitt Vazquez was once a shortstop Continued from page ID quez want to do well here I want to finish with a good record and move up in the ranks (prickly as was' nervous the first time I was on the mound here I know what to expect from myself or my team mates at first I know I can pitch here In Kingsport Vazquez started out as a relief pitcher but worked his way into the starting rotation He saw most of his action in the bull pen until the starting nod came from pitching coach Randy Niemann June 27 in Martinsville Vazquez answered the call with a stellar performance- He pitched seven strong innings and gave up only four hits He struck out 10 batters while walking only one Martinsville plated only one run in the game It occurred while Vazquez was on the mound but was unearned The Mets -Won the game 8-1 handing Vazquez his first victory in as many starts Back in Kingsport from the eight-day roadtrip1 Vazquez is 2-0 with a 165 ERA He will put his unblemished record on the line when he takes the mound Friday to face the Burlington Indians Magadan injured sidelined Associated Press Continued from page ID the win for Kingsport 4-2 uping the Mets record to 8-7 two games behind division leader Elizabethton was just getting a feel on the first hitter and I threw (Kessinger) three straight fast-balls -the first one high the strikerand the-third one a Jittle butsiSe'TTJsaidT Sample who is now the Appalachian League save leader with three Eschen was going to give Polanco a chance to finish the game but when he fell behind he knew he had to go to his ace reliever really pitched well for us but our closer If we get to the tuation where we did tonigi and the a good hitter and ahead in the count we have to go to our said Eschen was pretty much a predetermined thing If Polanco got ahead of the hitter he could finish but if he got behind we would have go to he added Starter Engle (2-1) pitched five inning allowing three hits and two runs both earned in picking up the win He also struck out six while walking four and although' his control was off Engle considered this a good outing was just aiming the pith-es really I just let myself throw like I should so it cost me some walks I got tired in the last inning and it cost Engle said referring to two-run shot In the bottom of the first inning Kingsport scored all the runs they would need Catcher Brook Fordyce walked and tljird baseman Reid Hartmann reached on pitcher Tom Mar Nolan Lane went 3-for-5 with two RBI to lead the Burlington Indians to an 11-0 victory over the Wytheville Cubs Clyde Pough was 2-for-3 with a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth The homer was his second of the season Burlington scored four runs in the seventh inning without a hit The first three batters reached on walks and an infield error Then after a strikeout Wytheville pitchers walked in three of the runs With two out Jacques in relief for Wytheville hit the first batter he faced to bring in the fourth run He struck out the next batter with the bases still loaded to end the inning Scott Allen picked up the win for Burlington Tommy Taylor was tagged for the loss Other games rained out MARTINSVILLE The Johnson City-Martinsville game was postponed because of rain It will be made up today in a doubleheader scheduled to begin at 6:30 pm The teams will play two seven-inning games The Bristol-Eliz-abethton game was also postponed due to rain No decision has been made as to when the game will be made up PRINCETON The Princeton Pirates will host the Pulaski Braves in a doubleheader tonight at 7 pm in order to get in their two-game series postponed because of rain Steele Creek to host Water Fest Jet skis wave jammers and wet bikes will take to the water at Steele Creek Park Sunday July 16 when the Bristol Yamaha Water Fest hits the water Sponsored by WXBQ FM Atlas Honda Yamaha Pizza Plus and Spectra International the event is being held to help raise funds for the Bristol Parks and Recreation Department and competiton will be held in three different events drag racing freestyle tricks and closed course Sanctioned by the Personal Watercraft Foundation the activities will comprise round one of the Southeastern Regional championship series Racing action is set to begin at 1 pm in Hartmann to make the score 2-0 The barrage finished just yet however Designated hitter Alberto Castillo tapped a roller back to the pitcher but catcher Jimmy Roso handle throw as the ball squirted away and Harris slid across the plate to up the score to 3-0 Left fielder Kyle Washington struck out and right fielder Robbi Guzik grounded out to second to end the inning The Mets added another run in the second as Fordyce nailed 3-2 pitch for a 360-foot shot over the right center-field fence threw me a fastball up and out so I just went with the Fordyce said Martin (1-3) took the loss for Bluefield going five innings while giving up 4 runs three earned walking two and striking out four Action heats up at Cherokee Jack Case of Surgoinsville took Modified honors last week at Cherokee Dragway defeating Jim Lumpkins of Mooresburg in the finals for the title Other winners included RE Gross (Super Street) Adkins Brothers (Pro) and Scott Lee (Bike) Gates open for weekly competition every Saturday at 3 pm with first round qualifying getting under way at 4 pm Race of Champions scheduled for Kingsport Speedway tonight UnocalChallenge tops $100000 Running out of gas five laps from the finish proved costly for Winston Cup driver Mark Martin But the untimely move moved the bonus provided by Unocal for any driver winning both the pole and race at any one event over the $100000 mark Martin who won the pole for last Pepsi Firecracker 400 at Daytona International Speedway was on his way to collecting the $98-800 bonus when his Ford Thunderbird came to a sputtering halt When drivers roll into Pocono Pa on July 23rd for the running of the AC Sparkplug 500 they will be shooting for a bonus award of $108800 Morgan Shepherd won the pole for the Pocono event last year while Bill Elliott walked away with the win fore turining their rides over to their Winston Cup counterparts for the remainder of the event schedule calls for an autograph session with each of the Winston Cup drivers from 6-7 pm on A-side grandstands only Super Stock and Hobby divisions will be the first on the track at approximately 7 pm The first leg of the Late Model feature with KMS regu- lars at the wheel is expected to be under way by 9 pm with the Winston Cup show to follow Continued from page ID we know what to expect we trust each other's judgement Racing against local drivers is fun but different because some local drivers get wrapped too up in beating you and you wind up leaving the track with your car all beat Pairings for the Late Model feature consist of Jason ChamblissCombs Danny BlevinsWilson Roger Clendenin Wallace Donnie CarrollJarrett Rick UtsmanKyle Petty and Dale Ball-Wal-trip The race format calls for local drivers to compete against one another over the course of the first half of the race be fielding error putting runners at first and second First baseman James Harris who upped his batting average to 370 and his RBI total to 15 -both tops in the Appalachian League doubled down the left-field line to bring Fordyce around to score Hartmann stopped at third putting runners on second and third for left fielder Tim McClinton McClinton stepped in smashing 2-0 offering into right field for a single driving HOUSTON New York Mets first baseman DaveMag-adan strained a back muscle while fielding a groundjball during pre-game warmups prior to Wednesday game against the Houston Astros Magadan was scratched from the starting lineup and his status is listed day-to-day The Mets moved second baseman Tim Teufel to first and played Gregg Jefferies at second i.