The Salt Lake Tribune from Salt Lake City, Utah • 22

17 I 1 C2 The Salt Lake Tribune Sports August 27 1991 1 1 1 Angels Fire Rader Hire Buck Rodgers I i b't 1- liA L' ''s 47 0 ki 1 li A i I 14 1 444M I' A 0) ma N- 'wit I --0 --No' i i '44- --ft 4k A 1' Lt lkil'''' 1 i -Or 'I I 1 i "I 'NI -A I 0 $0 A 1 1-- 4 s' i s' l'r '1 -------6- 1 dr --te 0 I-- Ik '''''4 -A 4' I 4 --AP i00 I 1 Jui I ri- -I 1 1 li -a 4 4 4 dez ii A4 --t 't l'" -o tof 2000 '1 '00s 771 rf- '-4 I RIIP 4a wts- 15e'AP' btW lit )1 RN:" it od -or here for a while" The Angels moved into first place by one percentage point over the Twins with a 44-33 record on July 3 but then lost 19 of their next 27 games to fall into last place on Aug 4 with a 52-52 record California has been in last place since with a low point coming last Thursday when a 2-1 loss to Oakland put them 15 games behind the Wins Rader under contract through the 1992 season was let go despite the Angels' three-game sweep of the Red Sox that left them 13 games behind Minnesota entering Monday night's game against the Tigers The 47-year-old Rader is the seventh manager to be fired this season while Rodgers is the first of the group to be rehired Other managers fired this season were the Indians' John McNamara Don Zimmer of the Cubs Nick Leyva of Phi Ilies John Wathan of the Royals and Frank Robinson of the Orioles The Angels won eight of their THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ANAHEIM Calif The Angels who fell from first place to last in the AL West in a month fired manager Doug Rader and replaced him with Buck Rodgers Rodgers fired as manager by the Montreal Expos on June 2 signed a three-year contract on Monday to take over a team that has failed to win a division title under Rader despite the acquisition of such stars as Dave Winfield Mark Langston and Gary Gaetti "This is kind of a dream come true coming back to a place where you were born-type thing" said Rodgers a member of the original Angels in 1961 "There's always bitter-sweet to every managerial change I got the bitter about three months ago It's sweet for me today "I'm going to come in here listen to my coaches and keep a wide-open mind I think there are some outstanding players on this club Why it's not a contender I don't know I don't expect to be a quick fixer I'm going to be around Al HartmannThe Salt Lake Tribune 1 Trappers runner Eddie Ortega glances I home Ile was put out by Butte catcher back at umpire to confirm the bad news at I Lanny Williams as part of double playi II File limo Doug Rader Angels Boot Him Out final 13 games under Rader but it was their inability to beat the threetime division champion Athletics who won 12 of 13 games against California Angels' general manager Dan O'Brien who signed a contract-extension Monday through 1994 said Rader took the bad news as well as could be expected "I don't think be was surprised at least I didn't get that feeling" O'Brien said Trappers Dump on Butte Get Dumped on by League Dodgers Wake Up in 9th Shock Cubs "Any ballplayer with any pride thinks about things like that" Belmonte said "So I imagine it was in the back of their minds" On the field the Trappers jumped in front early against Butte starter Bo Magee With two out Theron Todd and David Rolls walked In eight innings Magee eventually walked nine Four of those Trappers scored including Todd and Rolls Estevez made sure of that when he ripped a 1-2 mistake by Magee over the wall in right "I've been pulling off the ball lately" Estevez said "I haven't been driving the ball and when you do that sometimes you start doing things you shouldn't" In this case Estevez said "I was down in the count I was just trying to stay alive" Steve Cunha drove in the final two Trapper runs with a fifth-inning sacrifice fly and a two-out triple in the seventh That helped Salt Lake improve to 45-21 in the race with Northern Division contenders Great Falls and Helena for best overall record The winner hosts two playoff games the loser hosts one By Steve Luhm THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE The Salt Lake Trappers learned a lot Monday on a drug education night at Derks Field No 1 the Trappers found out the Pioneer League ship will be decided by a three playoff series not the tra- ditional and possibly advantageous best-of-five No 2 the Trappers learned they haven't impressed the right people despite leading the league in pitching and being sec' ond in hitting Only one Trapper Rick Hirtensteiner was named to the All-Star team No 3 the Trappers found out Nick Belmonte was overlooked in Manager of the Year voting The winner? PJ Carey whose Billings Mustangs started the evening with a 24-41 record only 2012 games behind Great Falls in the Northern Division Oh yes the Trappers also beat the Butte 5-1 before a crowd of 8648 Carlos Estevez drilled a three run homer in the first while Willie Ambos Mark Stephens and Dan Furmanik combined to six-hit the Copper Kings Ambos (7- 4) got the victory and Stephens usually a starter pitched three brilliant innings in relief He struck out eight "The last five or six starts I've felt real confident" Stephens said "I went out again and tried to do the same things I've been doing I wanted to get ahead and keep the count 0-2 or 1-2 I was able to do that for the most part" Stephens' trip out of the bullpen was aimed at keeping him sharp for the post-season "I won't get another start until the playoffs" he said "and pitching coach Mark Brewer wanted me to get some work Stephens worked over the Copper Kings "He's just coming into his own" said Belmonte "He's established himself as one of the best in the league Our whole staff has even if the rest of the league doesn't think so" Translation: Belmonte can't figure out how a couple of his pitchers were left off the All Star team Guys like Kevin McDonald (7-1 316 ERA) and John Gilligan (6-1 165 ERA) come to mind Did the All-Star snub bother some deserving Trappers? Jeff Blauser's first career grand slam and Dave Justice's two-run homer rallied the Braves who overcame an early six-run deficit Reds 5 Phi Ilies 4: At Cincinnati Chris Sabo hit a decisive two-run homer his first ever against Philadelphia rallying the Reds in a game that cost the Phillies out- fielder Lenny Dykstra for the rest of the season Padres 7 Pirates 5: At Pittsburgh Tony Gwynn's two-run homer off Bob Kipper won the game in the 10th inning after Jack Howell's two-out pinch single tied it in the ninth Cardinals 7 Giants 6: At St Louis Ozzie Smith's two-run homer keyed an early Cardinal burst helping surging St Louis with- stand two homers and five RBIs by Will Clark Mets 6 Astros 4: At Houston Mackey Sasser had three hits- including a 10th-inning double that drove in the decisive run THE ASSOCIATED PRESS It took the Los Angeles Dodgers until the ninth inning to wake up Monday night in Chicago and the result sent the Cubs to bed wondering what happened In what appeared to be an easy Cub victory turned into a loss when the Dodgers rallied for four runs in their final at-bat to nip the Cubs 4-3 The victory kept Los Angeles in first place in the National League West a game ahead of the Atlanta Braves Chicago's Rick Sutcliffe was breezing along with a three-hit shutout when Mike Scioscia led off the ninth with a single Lenny Harris then bunted but third baseman Chico Walker made a wild throw and runners were on first and second Dave Hansen grounded out to second as the runners moved up Cubs manager Jim Essian then pulled Sutcliffe for Chuck McElroy (5-2) "He didn't have much left" Essian said of Sutcliffe "He didn't have the same pop he had earner" Pinch hitter Mitch Webster then beat out a bunt to first baseman Mark Grace as Scioscia scored rad Harris moved to third Brett Butler followed with a double to center scoring Harris and sending Webster to third while cutting the lead to 3-2 "He (McElroy) threw the ball up and I got it After that the momentum seemed to pick up said Butler Les Lancaster replaced McElroy and was greeted with a two-run double by Juan Samuel that gave the Dodgers the lead "1 just hit it in the right spot" Samuel said "I was just trying to hit at least a fly ball hard (to tie the game) I was looking for the first pitch I figured he would try to get ahead of me" Reliever Jim Gott (3-3) pitched one-hit ball over two innings Jay Howell got the final three batters for his 14th save Braves 14 Expos 9: At Atlanta Twins Sluggers Knock Indians Down in First Round Yankees Taylor Agassi Stunned Reach Agreement THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK The Yankees and Brien Taylor ended their stalemate Monday night when the nation's No 1 draft pick signed a minor-league contract only hours before a final deadline nati and Indianapolis he had vomited during matches And after Monday's match he asked: "Where's the toilet?" "I had a virus" Agassi said "It gets affected by the heat and exhaustion But I don't want anybody to say I'm making excuses I felt recovered" Blue Jays 5 Orioles 2: At Baltimore Jimmy Key finally won his 100th game and the Blue Jays re-tamed at least a share of first place in the AL East Rangers 10 Yankees 2: At New York Rafael Palmeiro Kevin Reimer Geno Petra lli and Julio Franco hit home runs powering the Rangers past the Yankees Red Sox 3 Athletics 0: At Oakland Calif Roger Clemens pitched a three-hitter for only his second victory since the All-Star break as the Red Sox handed the Athletics their fourth straight loss Tigers 5 Angels 1: At Anaheim Calif Mark Leiter extended Detroit's winning streak to seven games with his fifth straight victory and Detroit spoiled the managerial debut of Buck Rodgers three-game series from the second-place White Sox Tapani (12-7) allowed two runs and six hits in eight innings improving to 10-1 in his last 16 starts He struck out three and walked one while lowering his ERA to 294 The Twins had hits in each of the first three innings but couldn't score until Mack drove a 2-0 pitch for his 16th home run in the fourth Minnesota hit two straight pitches over the fence in the sixth but only one made it out Chili Davis who has not homered since Aug 6 was robbed of one when Mark Whiten reached high over the fence in right to catch his fly Harper however lined the next pitch into the stands in left for a two-run home run his seventh THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Manager Tom Kelly warned the Twins against swinging for the fences in the expanded dimensions of Cleveland Stadium Apparently they weren't paying attention "I told the boys to hit some line drives because it's Death Valley out there But they didn't listen to me" Kelly said after the Twins hit three home runs and beat the Indians 5-3 Monday night Kevin Tapani won his seventh straight decision keeping the Twins undefeated in eight games against Cleveland this season Shane Mack Brian Harper and Kirby Puckett homered and the Indians' defense robbed the Twins of a fourth Cleveland had helped the Twins during the weekend by sweeping a Continued From C-1 Agassi played like a windup toy against Krickstein fast and mechanically He could barely find his way around the court On one serve in the second-set tie-break he lost his grip on his racket double-faulting dS it flew into the net He was missing the court on ground strokes by feet not inches Afterward he shrugged off the embarrassing loss "I mean" he said "worse things could have happened Nobody died out there" Maybe something did Agassi 21 had been erratic before He had played bad matches before But he had always blasted breathtaking ground strokes and smiled and mugged and thrown clothes to the fans So they loved him Until Monday In the third set Agassi displayed no fight If there was an explanation for his poor performance Agassi wasn't willing to give it But in the last two tournaments he had played before the Open he had become sick In both Cincin Krickstein who has been a pro Taylor selected in June after for eight years once was ranked his senior year in high school was consistently in the top 10 just as scheduled to begin classes at Agassi is now But after years of Louisburg NC Junior College at fighting injuries ankle knee el- 8:40 am Tuesday If the 18-yearbow back he is ranked No 47 old pitcher had started school ma-He has played 15 tournaments this jor league rules would have pro year but gotten past the second hibited the Yankees from round only three times negotiating with him again until But Agassi made 61 unforced after Louisburg's baseball season errors hitting shots with seeming- ended in May ly no purpose some of which land- The signing was announced at ed in the stands rattling around New York's game with the Rang-the blue seats like the shots hit by ers at Yankee Stadium Terms of the ball boys and all girls be- the contract were not disclosed al- tween the day and night sessions though it was estimated to be Agassi always says that winning worth $1 million for three years the US Open is his most precious dream But after losing so quickly The Yankees put a $650000 Monday after advancing to the three-year contract offer on the semifinals in 1988 and 1989 and to table early and raised it as the the final in 1990 he seemed blase deadline neared oti rrl kV7)N a czj 0 rrl WI ON Lk 0 I a 4 4 Ilhr 41' I- Re 4 oommok rLVrt J7TV' SEISITH ANNUAL 5K RACE q8ZIFT1 2F119 411PVIT4 A klqi IA IPS 7q BEAT BEEMOVENS RE111 SYMPHONY AND RECENT A RIBBON Saturday August 31 1991 Registration from 7:30 to 855 Int Race Starts at 9 am Start and Finish at Symphony Hall TUESDAY AUGUST 27 MIMI 1170)0 PM Salt Liikelts Butte Ns Pick up family-pass coupons at all Hardee's Get your $10001 4 Mai nta' soi deck a Utah SroPhcr For am mimnaon oli Ata 51( La Dada )ett kJ S3205b2b katl Tatpit Sak lake Oty Lakh MI01 Erdomi ramilm Erdosel Is my meedurclable eery lee Law Breeden( Awards lo 35 Canoes Including Corpotate Wks Weir red Clydesdale Few Refreshments ler Norm d1 Runners Renve 2 tor 1 Dionne to a Utah Symphony Concert Ptc-regettatiao Ocotillos Wettondo Aurae 2B 110 Moduli Gowen Tine oil Day ol Roes Day ol Let SI2 ledudss Tette insuly Ran lately ol 4 Owing at saint address) 115 leducin T-slists rot withold Taint 484-99011: At Gimp Nene Na WIEN A LOW I A 1114 0 011 Sur 61' Age Tmoon Tawl Sur 9 I 3 A pbooloomOotmo opoollolo hi Woo so I Gomm" mom Am ok 1 Oni ont pimul maim lb I 4044 moo om ammo am SI rot A glom moondol loot 61' Imam mg Mk IR WINN AI moo okt hot oleo moo st poolo a 10 poi omMo I I II he Amino I( I noodosomnk rotor roto 1 NA et moo NA am memamoma arming r' oIM MAO ARM AAM Monookoo SooMom ad mIonl Mad owe ol yom mod al IAA mod Moo Inempool tio mi nA (3 wog www wiwwwwww wwwww wwwwwwwf ww ww 000m dimy oponne oebold OM In Mr Meow 11 EIN (op hon Woobo mooMo mimeo mon Swam tponi min II RACE MANAGEMENT BY SALT LUCE ntAa Ctill Lite Favorites FM100 UPCOMING EVENTS 0 FAN APPRECIATION FIREWORKS NIGHT! Thursday August 29 7:00 pm Bring this stub to receive a general admission ticket for only $100 or a box seat ticket for only $300 (Good for August 29 1991 only Please redeem at the Berks Field Ticket Office) iiMON01063111M1MOMMEVY I 1 1 UPCOMING Thursday receive a general Py PAlluEg Cu August APPRECIATION 0113 pm Bring Kg th I admission ticket for only $100 or a box seat ticket for only $300 EVENTS (Good for August 29 1991 only Please redeem at the Berks Field Ticket Office) 1 a 1.