Fort Worth Star-Telegram from Fort Worth, Texas • 67

Wednesday AM April 22 1992 I Fort Worth Star-Telegram I Section Page 5" i 1 BASEBALLPRO FOOTBALL ilk APAli AK ABLAIAPIth 9 alAL4111bAILAk ALAIfr aLak II pi i 4f4711do IV el vf it 11 11 or BASEBALL PRO FOOTBALL 1 Willingness to sign on draft day remains high priority Jones says Ekgc)vagmaDerPrf tr vi V4 L4 14 V8 V2 Ll 13 Li 1 V1 V1 V4 L4 14 1 tr V8 V2 11 13 11 V1 Cowboys notes Ryan to return pitch Saturday Bohanon to start as scheduled Robinson goes to bullpen i i 1 A "4 i '4 4 iibA06o' Smith Solomon to Dallas in 1989 as part of the Herschel Walker deal That trade included a stipulation that the Cowboys could not trade Solomon to another team in Minnesota's division the NEC Central Last September the Cowboys traded Solomon to the New England Patriots who then dealt him to the NFC Central's Tampa Bay Buccaneers A statement from the league said Tagilabue "found no basis for awarding compensation or taking any further action in the matter" The Cowboys could have been penalized financially or by loss of draft picks' Briefly GTE is busy installing 10 telephones into the Valley Ranch "war room" for Sunday Chances are each one will get some use "Sometimes we have five or six calls going on at once" Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson said "And then sometimes well go 20 minutes without a call If that happens we usually pick up the phone and call someone" The old Cowboys trinity of Tom Landry Tex Schramm and Gil Brandt sealed themselves off with two phones ESPN will again cut to live shots in Dallas' draft room via a remote-controlled camera Barring a probable trade the Cowboys' draft work will conclude Friday when they rank each player for the final time What information goes into those evaluations? For top players how about two reports from scouts one from Dallas' top scout two scout reports from all-star games an individual workout report from an assistant coach a coach report from all-star practices and games two or three reports from the national scouting corn bine two or three film grades a medical history personal questionnaire and reports from the player's college coach and strength coach "If the player was a senior last year we've got some kind of report on him" BY MOUE Winn Fort Worth Star-Telegram IRVING A trick the Chicago Bears turned to avoid a holdout two years ago the Dallas Cowboys have turned into draft-day religion As the Bears did with No 1 pick Mark Carrier in 1990 the Cowboys signed their 1991 top picks to contracts on draft day Sunday owner Jerry Jones said he expects the strategy to work again When the Cowboys who went through a 49-day holdout by Emmitt Smith in I 990 select a player in Sunday's first or second round bet they not only like his talent but also his agent and signability a word Jones coined to describe a player's willingness to accept a draft-day deal "We've talked to players and agents and it seems like they're going to be more receptive to it" Jones said "And if there is reluctance by a player or agent to negotiate on draft day we know who they are too" Last year Dallas spent $52 million on draft-day signing bonuses to avoid holdouts with top picks Russell Maryland Alvin Harper and Dixon Edwards This year Jones has increased his scope to include signability conversations with not only agents but players Signability was discussed in theory but not de BY TR SULLIVAN Fort Worth Star-Telegram ARLINGTON Texas Rangers manager Bobby Valentine made his pitching decisions yesterday letting Brian Bohanon take his normal starting turn pushing Nolan Ryan's return from the disabled list to Saturday and demoting Jeff Robinson to the bullpen Bohanon will start tonight against the Detroit Tigers and Ryan will start Saturday against the Boston Red Sox replacing Robinson in the rotation "This is just the best way we feel we should go" Valentine said "We have to go with five starters we think we know who they are Knowing our schedule and the way things go we'll need six before it's over and Robinson is a good guy to have" Robinson has made only I I relief appearances in his career to go with 109 starts but has no qualms about the new assignment "Everybody has said that I'm a little wacky and probably belong as a reliever anyway" Robinson said "I look at this as a positive Maybe it will be a good thing as far as my career I'll just go out there and throw the ball as hard as I can and as long as I can and go after people That's the best way I pitch anyway" In his I I relief appearances Robinson has given up I I earned runs on 17 hits in 18 innings of work "He has a very durable arm and can throw often" Valentine said "He doesn't need the normal rest like most starters He's resilient" Robinson said most of his offseason workouts with pitching coach Tom House were directed toward preparing for relief work since that was the role he had expected coming into spring training before Bohanon hurt his arm "My arm the last two years has gotten to the point where I bounce tail when the Cowboys brought in 20 draft-eligible players earlier this month The National Football League prohibits pre-draft negotiations "We had the top picks in here and we asked them how they felt about negotiating on the clock" Jones said "A reluctance to negotiate the dollars involved and agents will all be factors in ourchoices this year" Solomon ruling The Cowboys were acquitted by NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue yesterday of any wrongdoing in last year's trade of linebacker Jesse Solomon The Minnesota Vikings filed a grievance with the league office last year asking the Cowboys to be penalized for the trade which they felt violated a previous trade agreement Solomon was traded from Minnesota ts 0 a St ip 1- 9 9 3- fS re it at ig ed 1 0 ch 381 111 147 )61 304 195 )00 )83 If 305 356 308 143 154 180 174 )00 125 )00 0 0 for 1 the I ts 0 a St ip 9 3- re 1 it at ig ak ed 1 0 ch or V11 381 111 391 147 )61 304 195 370 )00 )133 vq )05 )56 )08 143 154 180 174 )00 125 )00 rirmomr 0 led for the Rangers APRIL -20 21 22 I SE 23 HSE 24 25 Detroit Detroit Boston Boston 7:35 pm 735 pm 835 pm 1205 pm 26 KM 27 Nrrr 28 Kwr 211 30 KPIT Boston Now Yost New Ywk Now Yotk Chicago 12705 pm 6:30 pm 6:30 pm 6:30 pm 705 pm Homo games Ranking the kickerspunters How experts rank the top kickerspunters in the April 26-27 National Football League draft: Player School Height Weight Jason Hanson K-P Washington St 5-11 180 Comments All-pro leg as kicker and punter Height Weight 5-11 180 Carlos Huerta Miami 5-6 172 Conunents: The most experienced accurate placekicker available Mark Bounds Texas Tech Comments Solid pure punter but a little flaky Roman Anderson Houston Comments: Accurate but not much range Pump Tudors Tenn-Chatt Comments: Big kicker but lacks consistency Fireovid sent down Catcher Ivan Rodriguez is returning to Puerto Rico for the funeral of his grandfather and it cost pitcher Steve Fireovid an extra few days on the major-league roster Because Rodriguez will miss at least one game it would have left the Rangers with only one catcher: Geno Petralli To avoid that the Rangers designated Fireovid for reassignment for the purpose of outright assignment to Oklahoma City and called up catcher Doug Day-Is Davis' stay with the Rangers will be short When Rodriguez returns from Puerto Rico and Ryan is ready to come off the disabled list Davis will be re turned to Oklahoma City Fireovid would have been sent down Saturday when Ryan is scheduled to be activated With Rodriguez gone Petralli will have to start tonight against left-hander Scott Aldred Petralli has only 137 career at-bats with a 204 average against left-handers He is 3 for 10 against them this season Sierra back in lineup Ruben Sierra returned to the Rangers' lineup last night against Detroit after missing one game with a hyperextended left wrist Sierra said there still was some soreness in the wrist but he wanted to play "I'll be fine" Sierra said "There's probably a little something there" Valentine said "But he's a special guy who loves to play he'll play through it" The results of Sierra's magnetic resonance imaging exam showed no damage to the bone cartilage and ligament There is some swelling but that is considered normal for a hyperextension Franco limited Julio Franco is on the active roster but don't look for him to do more than pinch hit for a while Franco still is experiencing some pain in his right knee and hasn't even started running on it "It's getting better but it still feels bad" Franco said Asked if he could play second base Franco said: "Out of the question I can hit but not much more I need to start running on it then build from there" back good" Robinson said "I know I can pitch two days in a row or throw one day take one off and throw another" Ryan had hoped to return tonight but Valentine preferred to keep Bohanon in his normal starting spot rather than pushing him back to Saturday Kevin Brown is scheduled to pitch tomorrow night and Jose Guzman will pitch Friday in Boston "Whatever they want to do is fine with me" Ryan said "I don't know if I'll be 100 percent you don't know that until you go out there but the more time you give something of this nature the better chance you have ofgettingover it" Ryan has been sidelined with a tight left calf muscle and an inflamed right Achilles' tendon The calf has not given Ryan any trouble since he started throwing but the Achilles' remains a concern "It never feels as good as you'd like it to but it's getting better" Ryan said calendar 1 MT Chicago 7:05 pm 2 Chicago 12:05 pm er grounded out to second baseman Newman Tigers 3 Rangers Rangers homered to right center on 3-1 count Sierra grounded out to shortstop Trammell Gonzalez flied out to right fielder Deer Reimer struck out to catcher Tefileton Tigers 3 Rangers I Tigers seventh: Gladden popped out to shortstop Huson Whitaker singled to left Trammell grounded out to third baseman Palmer Whitaker to second Fielder singled to center Whitaker scored Tettleton struck out Tigers 4 Rangers 1 Ramon ninth: Gladden to left field batting 1st Cuyler to center field batting 9th Palmeiro tripled down the right field line Sierra hit sacrifice fly to right fielder Deer Paimeiro scored Gonzalez struck out Reimer doubled down the right held line Palmer grounded out to second baseman Whitaker Tigers 4 Rangers Rangers averages Hitting AB 2838 HR RBI SB Avg Gonzalez Reirner Fariss Palmer Than Huson Rodriguez Sierra Downing Petralli Palmairo Daugherty Newman Cangelosi alez 60 9 20 3 0 3 11 3r 50 9 16 6 0 1 9 1 16 3 5 0 0 1 5 50 8 15 20 411 45 4 13 5 0 0 5 44 7 12 2 1 0 2 guez 48 8 13 3 0 1 6 53 9 14 6 1 2 9 ing 21 3 5 1 0 0 1 13 1 3 1 0 1 4 Aro 51 9 11 3 1 2 5 lefty 31 3 6 1 0 0 3 20 1 3 1 0 0 2 Mosi 10 2 1 0 0 1 2 333 320 313 300 289 273 271 264 238 231 216 194 150 100 Team 512 76 137 34 3 16 74 I 291 Opp 5 09 4 134 26 1 10 59 4 263 Pitching IP ER BB SOW ERA Manuel 2 Russell 5 Ryan 4 Brown 25 Guzman 19 Mathews 6 Rogers 7 Bohanon 11 Fireovid 6 Witt 19 Bannister 6 Robinson 16 Rosenthal 4 0 4 5 19 16 0 0 3 1 3 1 8 6 5 5 0 4 1 2 4 4 16 9 I 0 000 1 1 159 0 0 208 3 0 216 1 1 233 0 1 284 0 0 352 0 0 386 1 0 405 1 2 426 0 0 540 1 1 563 0 0 773 6 6 2 1 5 9 2 2 2 4 3 3 1 9 7 5 6 4 5340 9 9 7 16 5426 10 10 4 7 442 1 9 10 20 10 20 7 TIMM 135 134 64 53 50 92 9 6 153 OPP 132 137 74 72 54 101 4 9 491 18 (Palmer 6 Pairneiro 2 Thon 2 Gonzalez 2 Brown Win Romer Rodriguez) Opponents 11 Doubts 19 Opponents 13 Saone Texas 5 (Russell 3 Rogers 2) Opponents 3 1 (Brown) Opponents I Comptes graneeTexas 2 (Brown 2) Horne attendance 210435 (8 dates 26304 avg Last pear's attendance 197703 (8 dates 24713 down on the way to the mound Staring at anything but the task before him the mind wanders maybe back to his hometown of Mamou The other night coming in from the bullpen he was 6 not 26 and he and his brother were tackling the black labs in the tall grass or shagging whiffle balls in the dining room Since college he has run to keep his head and body together Sometimes they have to make him quit running Grieve said "I'm a firm believer in running after an outing" Manuel said "It's good to change the blood over replace the blood It's like changing the oil "I do it to stay fit Some people think I'm retarded" He starts the run by thinking about pitching maybe how last night's performance went maybe about keeping his head on straight Then the endorphins kick in "I look at how a cow is chewing the cat in a field or I think about building a big house on some land with horses" he said "I know it keeps me healthy I want to pitch until I'm 40 if I can "If I go out of the game I don't want it to be because of an injury I want it to be because I just gave out I just gave until I didn't have any more" Just like is dad Just like the land old otf off (5) et- Et 1 go RA 37 87 79 RA 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 le I in s- he 1'94 in le ye 310 311 384 333 133 367 300 194 )14 100 vl $OO 328 88 )59 258 150 Ill )00 500 111 0 xis vs 3 RA 10 RA 60 100 100 res 110 Draft From Page 1 Hanson who seems to be able to do both placekick and punt I'm not real sure where Huerta will go but he's a proven kicker Traditionally kickers haven't been high picks But in the past years most kickers had used tees Now you get a better evaluation of them in college when they kick off the grass" Cowboys needs Dallas remains solid with veteran punter Mike Saxon but must fill a void created by kicker Ken Willis' Plan jump to Tampa Bay The Cowboys signed Buffalo's Brad Daluiso in Plan but he's primarily a kickoff specialist Huerta who has the Miami advantage on his side could be a possibility Rangers From Page 1 difficulties to get through seven innings But the Rangers couldn't overcome the three runs the Tigers scored in the first two innings including a two-run homer by Fielder in the first The second-inning run came when Tony Phillips reached with no outs on a strikeout-wild pitch went to third on Travis Fryman's hit-and-run single to right and scored when third baseman Dean Palmer fumbled Mark Carreon's double-play grounder for an error "That was a tough inning" Witt said "But that stuff is going to happen you just have to bow your head and keep your team in the game" Witt did but the Rangers couldn't solve the endless array of off-speed curves and sinkers Gullickson kept offering them In the tradition of Mike Boddicker Tom Candiotti and others another soft-tossing right-hander kept the Rangers' fastball-eating offense in a slumber "We should do better against guys like that" Rangers hitting coach Tom Robson said "The only problem is a lot of those pitches weren't strikes He'd throw one bad pitch and you'd think he'd come in with a strike but he'd throw another one just off the plate It takes a lot ofguts on his part but that's the way he pitches" Valentine would have preferred the Rangers be more patient especially after they fell behind early by taking some pitches working the count and the pitcher Instead the Rangers kept hacking away at what Gullickson offered "Some teams are patient and some are aggressive" Gullickson said "I guess they score so many runs because they're aggressive" Not right now The Rangers' flood of offense has slowed to a trickle during this homestand The Rangers have scored only 23 runs in eight games after scoring 53 times in their seven-game opening road trip "I think we're getting good at-bats but we're not putting runs on the board" Valentine said "The 5-9 180 Fort Worth Star-Telegram MARK GAR greets Cecil Fielder after home run temporary respite from his miserable slump Palmeiro 4 for 35 in his previous 10 games had three hits including a fourth-inning home run and a ninth-inning triple and scored both Rangers runs Gullickson held the Rangers to one run on five hits through seven-plus innings handing it over to Mike Henneman after walking Ivan Rodriguez to start the eighth 5-9 180 5-8 200 IL I Is in id to to In In 1 ii I 0001' i I 41k4A oltr i i 1 7 114 1 4 'k 1 4 At I 4 I k' mwo 40' ik I I ''''''N 0 A I 4 41 4 I I 1 i 4 I 1 MAY Tigers 4 Rangers 2 Detroit AB el Be SO Avg Gladden c1-11 5 0000 1 222 Whitaker 2b 4 2 1 0 1 0175 Tramrnell sa 40 1 000 191 Fielder lb 4 1 2 3 0 1 255 Tetheton 4 00003 235 Phillips dh 3 1 1 0 1 1 227 Deer rt 4 0000 1 214 Fryman 3b 4 0 2 000 296 Carman If 3 00 1 1 1 167 Cuyler ct 00000 0 188 Totals 35 4 7 4 3 a 7 4 BIB Texas Hugon so Daugherty dh Palmeiro lb Sierarf Gonzalez Reimer IS Palmer 3b Newman 2b a-Petraill ph-2b Rodriguez Totals AB 4 4 4 3 4 4 4 2 so Avg 0 273 0 194 0 216 0 264 2 333 1 320 1 300 0 150 0 231 0 271 1 0 0 0 3 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 7 2 32 1 1 4 Detroit 210 000 100-4 7 0 Tom 000 100 001-2 7 1 a-grounded out for Newman in the 7th (6) 7 Texas 5 Trammell (3) Reimer (6) (1) Pairneiro(2) off Gullickson Fielder (6) off Witt RBI Fielder 3 (16) Carreon (4) Paimeiro (5) Sierra (9) Huson Runners left in scoring 2 (Whitaker Deer) Texas 2 (Daugherty Premer) Runners moved 1 (Whitaker Trammell and Fielder) Texas 1 (Mathews Huson and Pairneiro) Detroit ER BB SO ERA Gullickson 2-2 7 5 1 1 1 3 509 Henneman 2 2 2 1 1 0 1 675 Texas IP ER BB SO ERA win 1-2 7 6 4 4 3 6 426 Mathews 210002 284 Gullickson pitched to 1 batter in the 8th Inherited 1-0 2 Young First Tschida Second Denkinger Third Sholock A-20220 How they scored Tiger first: Gladden out to center fielder Gonzaira Whitaker walked Trammell flied out to left fielder Reimer Fielder homered to left on 1-2 count Whitaker and Fielder scored Tettieton struck out Tigers 2 Rangers Tigws mend Phillips struck out to first on Witt's wild pitch Deer flied out to right fielder Siel Fryman singled to right Phillips to third Carreon safe on third baseman Pairner's fielding error Phillips scored Fryman to second Gladden popped out to second baseman Newman Whitak my Whatever I did would come from within Barry Manuel" He didn't get a lot of direction in pitching in a town of 4000 counting horses and cows without so much as a Dairy Queen or a decent bail field For the longest time they had to rent videos at the service station and baseball was played with whiffle balls or masking tape rolled into lumpy beige spheres The family that couldn't afford to feed the livestock scrounged for baseball mom selling extra Tupperware dad giving part of his paycheck from the rice-drying facility to send their son to baseball camp in Missouri Manuel remembers it was a Greyhound He remembers he had never ridden a bus "I remember I was scared to death" he said "But that's where I really began to learn to pitch" Back at Louisiana State where he was the ace stopper and in the minors at Port Charlotte Fla and Tulsa he used to get angry when he pitched poorly Then he'd lose confidence Then he'd give in to hitters Then he'd get angry again and the cycle continued "Now I figure hey I have a bad outing God just didn't intend for it to be that day" Manuel said 4 I tuith harA turkrie tars mu num What crImPtimPc he hnc tn tnik hinicelt 111 with hard work on own Sometimes he has to talk himself From Page 1 better? He's more he's got pitches other great work ethic" ethic born on the farm the fields ofsoybean Louisiana where a lose his way and dependent on the of nature as it was pitching" he said "I to do things for yourself was ever going to mom and dad to thank I 0 years ago shortly became too much of a He had a massive while talking to his the fire on a family his mom just about and she still reminds all success is contingent work and tenuous wanted to play baseball 6" Manuel said "I would but I wanted only way to do it was Mar Barry Manuel confident and than his fastbal "He's got a It is a work et and nurtured in and rice of rura short kid cod survival was a fickle elements upon hard wor "A lot like knew you had self that nothil be given to me "I have my for that" His dad died after the farm financial burde heart attack daughters by cam pout Manuel calls every other da minds him tha tingent on hard "I decided I ball when I was didn't think I to "I knew the Manuel Barry Manuel confident and than his fastball "He's got a It is a work and nurtured in and rice of rural short kid could survival was as fickle elements upon hard work "A lot like knew you had that nothing be given to me "I have my for that" His dad died after the farm financial burden heart attack daughters by cam pout Manuel calls every other day him that on hard "I decided I when I was didn't think I to "I knew the Third-base coach Dick Tracewski offense hasn't really clicked the way it can but it will Hey that guy out there won 20 games last year didn't he? It's not like he's a bum They make good pitches they're going to get you out They make bad pitches or average pitches we're going to hit them out" The only Ranger to have any offensive success was first baseman Rafael Palmeiro taking at least a Et) LIVE 0 BlacIE May 1 Arm -A r' MU nne Art Cent ('-'1i Pride Joy in 111EAIRE gsh ICI tel JUUILLE Cal 535-0168 I I ao000-Avak "0110RAILAb-A44115ok.