Fort Worth Star-Telegram from Fort Worth, Texas • 45

MOTORSPORTS REPORT 30 TCU EXTRA 10D BIG 12 FOOTBALL REPORT 110 THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 9 1999 Star-Telegram wwwstar-telegramcom Burkett keeps Indians puzzled Sports Right-hander leads way to shutout Yankees could be the best playoff match? Yes really Any combination of 14 Rangers victories and Athletics losses clinches the By TR Sullivan Star-Telegram Stuff Writer ARLINGTON The Cleveland Indians lead the world in runs scored have a roster filled with All-Stars and most-valuable-player candidates and own the best record in the American League This is a team that last night in the most dra -s IT yiaw JkltofW Ml American MLjLeaejtje West I title for Texas TfcTlWJ'k 4 matic moment ot the game brought a guy with 143 runs batted (m in off the bench to pinch hit for a guy with just 92 RBI ARLINGTON Hit rewind Go back a couple of months to the All-Star break Listen to the local chatter from fans and media Everybody was already talking October Talking about the playoffs And asking even then for benevolence from the baseball gods Please don't let it be the Yankees again in the first round "Be sure you get it right" Rafael Palmeiro requested last night at The Ballpark in Arlington "That was fans and that was media saying that You never heard it in this room The players don't have Yankees phobia but we may be the only ones within a hundred miles who don't" (More on GALLOWAY on Page 7D) RAKDY GALLOWAY COMMENTARY AL K3ME-FIELD RACE The Ranoershope to finish asl one of the top two al division wirK" ners and earn home-field advantage for the first-round playoff series: Pet GB Cleveland 86 53 619 New York 85 54 612 1-Texas 85 56 603 2JT The Rangers will begin selling postseason tickets atv 9 am Saturday Call (817) 273-5100 or (888) 96TEXAS Yet for all their offensive firepower the Indians have somehow become totally befuddled by Rangers pitcher John Burkett Burkett with a huge assist from reliever Tim Crabtree mastered the Indians for the second time in three weeks pitching the Rangers to a 3-0 victory at The Ballpark in Arlington Burkett with 6 scoreless innings last night has won two of those games beating Cleveland 6- (More on RANGERS on Page 4D) Star-TelegramAusoN Woodworth Shutting down the Indians John Burkett pitched 6 shutout innings and struck out seven batters Leading off i A -i Sanders cools talk of start He's rocking in church but not 'me' on field TCU EXTRA The dark days for TCU's women's cross country team that Alison Harvey of Fort Worth knew as a freshman have given way to what could be a very bright 1999 season 83 TCU (0-1) By Clarence Hill Jr Star-Telegram Staff Writer IRVING The house was rocking two nights ago at Christ Our King Church in Piano home of Cowboys cornerback Deion Sanders' "Primetime Tuesday" ser- vice The preacher's message was about faith and how true believers should praise God in bad times as well as good times Before long the entire congregation was shouting and dancing in the aisles' including Sanders and his surgically repaired left big toe The All-Pro cornerback's hopes of playing in Sunday's season-opener at Washington have dimmed even though he returned to the practice field two days ago for the first time since the April surgery- Yet he joyously raised the roof and did his signature touchdown dance (More on COWBOYS on Page 6D) at urn iiifn iiiiiii-iiM Hi ii i HIULL'llttlWJMJJJV mm Wm mmmsiM -A Lrj Korthwestern(0-1) Time: 11 am Saturday TV: KLDTCh 55 TCU's football team will try to bounce back from their Sunday loss MT0TKE SEMIFIXALS Lindsay Davenport fends off a challenge from Mary Pierce and Yevgeny Kafelnikov withstands a record 48 aces from Richard Krajieck to advance at the US Open 130 OTKai'sssaFiiuis Lindsay Davenport (2) vs Serena Williams (7) Martina Hingis (1) vs Venus Williams (3) KarSSESSFCM Yevgeny Kafelnikov (3) vs Andre Agassi (2) TMS adds weekend on road course Special to the Star-TelegramJERRY Laizure Oklahoma freshman linebacker Eric Thunander intent on what assistant coach Brent Venables tells him has overcome an abusive childhood and a severe hearing impairment On the field Thunander reads lips SCORES A14-5D ML 50 Rangr3 Rockies 5 Indians 0 Expos 1 Athletics 6 Padres 7 Wed Sox 2 Pirates (10) 4 Tigers 5 Mots 7 Devil Rays 1 Giants Orioles 10 Reds 6 Twins 0 Cubs 4 Yankees 9 Braves 5 Royals 5 Cardinals 4 White Sox Astros 10 atAngels Phillies 2 Btae Jays D'backs 9 aWMariners Brewers 1 Marlins 5 I' Dodgers (13) -4 ByJohnSturbin Star-Telegram Staff Writer FORT WORTH A fourth weekend of racing featuring exotic prototype and production-based sports cars of the American Le Mans Series has been booked for a road course to be constructed at Texas Motor Speedway for the 2000 season "Ji The ALMS-sanctioned Grand Prix of Texas is scheduled for Sept 2 the Saturday of Labor Day weekend on a road course that will be carved through the east side of the track's sprawling infield Like the Daytona International Speedway the road-course at TMS also will incorporate portions of the 15-mile quad-oval and its 24-degree banked turns (More on TMS on Page 3D) Oklahoma 's Eric Thunander speaks up for deaf children and the abused He has been there father gets mad at you because you didn't hear him because I don't hear a lot of things all the time and he tries to get your attention by sticking a gun into your face "I was always thinking 'What happens if that gun goes I wouldn't be here if it had So I live every day to its fullest" Life may yet throw curves at Eric Thunander But the guess is that he will meet them straight on Obstacles are nothing new (More on SOONER on Page 6D) By Mike Jones Slur-Telegram Staff Writer NORMAN Okla The ominous nightmare of the man holding a gun in his face came often to the young boy in those days Sometimes reality was even more terrifying "Think about it" urged Eric Thunander now a freshman linebacker at Oklahoma who has already worked his way onto the two-deep chart "If you're 7 years old and your second SCORELIKE For the latest in scores call our scoreiine number (817) 338-7827 Code 12SQ Hitchcock sheds a painful life with pounds TRACKING TMS 4 'AIL Colo This was how Stars' coach Ken Hitchcock rewarded him Key dates at Texas Motor Speedway next year April 1: Texas 300 (NASCAR Busch) 7l April 2: DIRECTV 500 (NASCAR Winston Cup) June 9: Pronto Auto Parts 400 (NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series) June 10: longhorn 500 (Pep Boys IRL) Sept 2: Grand Prix of Texas (American Le Mans Series) Oct 13: Bluebonnet 300 (NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series) Oct 1 5: Lone Star 500 (Pep Boys IRL) Full 2000 TMS schedule 120 comfortable talking about publicly because for the most part his war against obesity has been fought behind the scenes It is an intensely personal struggle fought hand-to-mouth every day every hour every minute You win a battle here lose one there hoping to survive (More on REEVES on Page 7D) secretly checked himself into Baylor Medical Center He used an assumed name because this was a private battle one that needed no headlines no film at 11 no nightly updates on Sports Center Until now the surgery that was performed on July 2 wasn't something Hitchcock even felt JIM REEVES self for winning the Stanley Cup: Pain Lots and lots of pain Less than two weeks after that fateful night of June 19 in Buffalo when the Stars brought the Cup home to Texas Hitchcock SPORTS BRIEFLY 2D MOTORSPORTS 3D 14D BASEBALL 4-5D 7D PRO FOOTBALL 6D COLLEGES 6D10-11D HOCKEY 7D scoreboard 12d Tennis 130 outdoors 13d i COMMENTARY.