The San Bernardino County Sun from San Bernardino, California • Page 12

Spirit straggles against Visalia. Dotzler to end the inning. "I just felt a little more relaxed this time," Newlin said. "It was a situation with a lot less tension today. It was good for my confidence to get back out there and do the job." Although Newlin's effort kept the Spirit in the game, the same could not be said of manager Ralph Dick.

Dick was ejected by the home plate umpire after arguing ball and strike calls from the dugout earlier in the inning. Spirit notes San Bernardino's 12-man pitching start has come in handy with two double-headers in the last week. Spirit manager Ralph Dick has been using a six-man starting rotation instead ol the usual live-man. "I think in the long run it will help us," coach Stan Sanchez said. "In August, our pitchers won't be out ol gas like some other squads." Saturday night 4-2 victory was the fourth consecutive come-trom-behlnd win for the Oaks.

The Spirit begins a three-game series with the Bakerstield Dodgers tonight at 8. Greg Burllngam (3-2). winner of his last three starts, is scheduled to pitch for San Bernardino. ning to stake Tsamis to a 2-0 lead. Stange (8-11) left the game after the inning with arm problems and was replaced by Willie Ambos.

Visalia increased its lead to 4-0 in the fourth inning when Masteller sin-gled-in Frank Valdez for the Oaks' third run, and later scored on Carlos Cappellan's perfectly executed squeeze bunt. The Oaks added a fifth run in the fifth inning and only the fine pitching of Jim Newlin prevented the game from getting totally out of hand for the Spirit. Newlin, the losing pitcher Saturday night in his professional debut, came in with the bases loaded and after Ambos allowed a run-scoring sacrifice fly to Todd Logan. Newlin, who helped lead Wichita State to a national championship earlier this year, struck out Masteller and By RICHARD GUIREM AND Sun Sports Writer VISALIA The San Bernardino Spirit ill be glad when it has seen the last of the Visalia Oaks. After Sunday's 5-1 win over the Spirit in the first game of a double-header, the Oaks have an 11-5 record against San Bernardino.

"I don't really know how to explain it." Oaks manager Scott Ullger said. "Because we approach every game the same way whether it's against San Bernardino or Salinas." Pitcher George Tsamis was the key to the Oaks' in. Tsamis tossed a complete game and allowed only five hits while striking out six in seven innings. The loss dropped the Spirit to 17-10 in the second half and games behind the Oaks in the Southern Divi sion. Tsamis lost his bid for a shutout in the seventh inning when Steve Hill doubled with one out and scored on Tom Duffin's double.

Tsamis (3-2) ended the game by striking out Jose Tartabull and forcing Rich Morales to ground out to shortstop and put the Oaks on the verge of a four-game sweep of the Spirit pending the outcome of Sunday's second game. "They've all been well-pitched and well-played games," Ullger said. "Both teams had 3'i months to prepare, so this is the way they should be playing." The Oaks built a 4-0 lead by scoring twice in both the second and fourth innings. Dan Masteller and Mike Dotzler had run-scoring singles off Spirit starter Kurt Stange in the second in C2I The Sun MONDAY, July 17, 1989 KALEIDOSCOPE It's all pun and games to Berman If ESPN's Chris Berman is not the man who made sports safe for puns, at least he's out there on the point, drawing the fire so others can sneak one in. As he figures it, it was either Frank Tanana "Daiquiri" or John May berry "HFD" who started hat's turned out to be one of the most-imitated gimmicks in sports broadcasting.

Once he reached the lofty heights of Oddibe "Young Again" McDowell or John "Let it be" Low-enstein, he was hot. "I get letters now every once in a hile from old-timers," Berman says, "and they say, i don't understand a lot of yours, but thank you for reviving a lost art Frankly, not everyone is sure that was an art worth reviving. The real test was when he was confronted by the players whose names he'd altered. How would Franklin "Ticket" Stubbs? For the most part, they love it. As he says, "There is no Mike Dim" Witt.

None of them are uncomplimentary." Quite the contrary. "A couple of years ago we had Wally Joyner on a show, and he was complaining about not having a nickname," Berman said. "I mentioned it on the air, we opened up the phone lines, and somebody came up with Wally "Absorbine" Joyner. I mean this isn't brain surgery. Anybody ith a license can go fishing." Earl was a royal pain Umpire Ken Kaiser, on Orioles manager Frank Robinson complaining about umpires: "If we didn't have it in for Earl Weaver, why would we have it in for Frank Robinson? He's a smalltime complainer compared to Earl." How tough was it, Kirby? Kirby Puckett of the Minnesota Twins, on growing up in a Chicago ghetto: "I came up in a neighborhood so tough that scouts were afraid to come watch me.

If they came in. they were afraid they might not come out and they were right." Not exactly Mr. Rogers' neighborhood Add. Puckett: He doesn't get home too often. "Do I ever go back? Never.

Sometimes I'll drive by. real fast, but I never go in." Iretrv lifeless, actually Hon Guidry, recently retired from the New York Yankees, on his hometown of Lafayette. "There's not as much nightlife here as there is in New York. And there's not as much day life, either." Rahal gets back at Fittipaldi, wins rain-drenched Marlboro GP MOTOR RACING EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. Tit for tat.

You end my streak, I'll end yours. Bobby Rahal gained a bit of revenge Sunday by holding off Emerson Fittipaldi Sunday to win the rain-shortened Marlboro Grand Prix at the Meadowlands, ending the Brazilian's three-race winning string. In 1986, it was Rahal with three straight victories and Fittipaldi who drove through the rain to a victory at Elkhart Lake, Wis. "Emerson is a great friend and a great driver," Rahal said. "He understands what all of us are trying to do, and that's to go out and win.

"I won three in a row and Emerson broke my streak. I didn't feel bad about that. It's great for a driver to win three in a row, let alone one or two." No Indy-car driver has won more than three in a row since Al Unser had a five-race streak in 1971. "I was sure trying to win four in a row," Fittipaldi said. "It didn't happen though.

I tried my best and it didn't happen. "Two times I tried to pass and both times it didn't happen. The second time we touched tires and I hit the wall. It was a great race." Rahal, who earned his second Meadowlands victory, inherited the lead when Michael Andretti, who dominated most of the race, made a mistake, locking up his brakes on the wet track and hitting a concrete barrier on lap 90. The event began in a light rain and, after several downpours that soaked the 1.217-mile, six-turn temporary circuit, it was stopped five laps short of the scheduled 150-lap, 185.55-mile distance.

ren's two cars all weekend. "We had many, many problems this weekend. It was very important to win for them." Two days before the French Grand Prix, Prost said he would leave a McLaren team here he has won two world championships but has become involved in a bitter rivalry with teammate Ayrton Senna. Since then, he has claimed his only two victories of the season and moved into a comfortable lead over Senna in the drivers' standings. Lawson wins in France LE MANS, France World champion Eddie Lawson of Upland, riding a Honda, won the French Grand Prix 500cc motorcycle race Sunday.

The 30-year-old American finished 29 laps of the 2.75-mile Bugatti du Mans course in 50 minutes, 16:94 seconds. His average speed as 95.25. The event was run before a crowd of 80,000. Countryman Kevin Schwantz, on a Suzuki, was second, .77 seconds behind the leader. Fellow American Wayne Rainey, riding a Yamaha, finished third, 1 5.511 sec- and Chip Robinson drove their Nissan GTP-ZXT to victory Sunday in the Miller High Life 500 IMSA Camel GT sports car race at Road America.

Brabham, the defending race and series champion, and Robinson covered 78 laps at an average speed of 113.032 mph, taking the lead late in the race and holding off a challenge from Price Cobb and Jan Lammers in a Jaguar XJR-10. From Sun News Services Neither Rahal nor Fittipaldi criticized the decision to stop the race early. "It got crazy," Rahal said. "You couldn't see anything. I thought I lost 10 seconds in the traffic.

It was like driving into a cloud and not seeing anything." The winner said that with 20 laps remaining, talking to crew chief Barry Green on the radio, he said, 'This is lunacy. This is nuts. You can't see a thing out There was a point when I just missed somebody by inches. It was getting beyond reasonable, it was dangerous." Fittipaldi said, "I agree with Bobby to stop the race. Being second, I should be the one who wants it to continue.

But it was dangerous. We had zero visibility down the straightaways and there was standing water everywhere." Prost wins British GP SILVERSTONE, England Nine days after announcing he will leave the McLaren racing team at the end of the season, Alain Prost sped to a 19-second victory in the British Grand Prix for his second consecutive Formula One triumph. Prost, who won the French Grand Prix a week earlier, expanded his lead in the world drivers' standings to 20 points and gave McLaren its sixth victory in eight races this season. "It was a very important victory and maybe a bigger victory for the team," said the Frenchman, whose mechanics worked until 2 a.m. Sunday to fix an oil leak that had tormented McLa i Oft i APWIREPHOTO LEADER OF THE PACK: Greg LeMond puts on the yellow jersey after he took the overall lead in the Tour de France SPORTS IN BRIEF Alzado, Roggin get network jobs LOS ANGELES Lyle Alzado and Fred Roggin are in.

And Reggie Rucker and Jay Randolph are out in the latest shakeup of NBC's National Football League announcers. NBC Sports executive producer Terry O'Neil Sunday. LeMond back on top in Tour By SALVATORE ZANCA Associated Press made the announcements at a weekend affiliates meeting in Los Angeles as he introduced NBC's new NFL lineup, including No.l analyst Bill Walsh and pregame co-host O.J. Simpson. Alzado, 40, retired from the Raiders in 1984 after a 14-year NFL career.

He first im-nressed former NBC ex- I What DoThese 3 Things Have In Common? i MITA COPIERS 2. MITA FAX MACHINES 3. W.H. BOTTOM COPIERS ORCIERES-MERLETTE, France American Greg LeMond, saying he feels stronger than in his winning year of 1986, climbed back into the lead of the Tour de France on Sunday with an impressive performance in an individual time trial in the Alps. High amid the picture-postcard mountains, LeMond took fifth place in the race against the clock and regained the leader's yellow jersey.

Laurent Fignon of France, the winner in 1983 and 1984, fell into second place, 40 seconds behind LeMond. "It's nice to have the yellow jersey again but the most important is to take it as it goes," LeMond said, know ing there is still a week to go before the cycling classic ends in Paris. "But I feel as fresh as I ever felt in the Tour de France, which is quite unusual," he said. "In '86 I had a lot more mental stress than I do now." Since his victory, however, he has suffered various misfortunes. A hunting accident, an emergency appendectomy and leg problems made him miss the last two years of the Tour de France.

"I feel I am getting stronger and I haven't had any bad days," LeMond said. "I'd say I am feeling probably as good as I have been since. I'm probably not climbing as well but I am making great improvement." Fignon, who held a seven-second margin going into the 15th stage, cracked a little and finished 10th Sunday, 47 seconds behind LeMond. Andy Hampsten, the other American challenger, faltered in Sunday's climb and finished in 1:13:30. He dropped to seventh overall, more than seven minutes back of LeMond.

Steven Rooks of the Netherlands won the stage in 1 hour, 10 minutes, 42 seconds over the 25-miles from Gap to Orcieres-Merlette. The last five miles were straight up hill. "I felt good. I probably could have pushed it harder the last hill," LeMond said. "I have to say that hill time trials are not my specialty." Marino Lejaretta of Spain was second in 1:11:06 while defending champion Pedro Delgado was fourth in 1:11:31, gaining just a handful of seconds on LeMond, who was clocked in 1:1 1:39.

"I knew I was going to do a good race. I was afraid of losing more than a minute to Delgado but I just lost eight seconds," LeMond said. Delgado is now in fourth place overall, 2:48 back, with four more stages in the Alps to go following a rest day Monday. Then there is a relatively flat stage on Saturday with a closing time trial from Versailles to Paris on July 23. Fignon and LeMond, the only American to have won the race, have alternated the lead since July 6.

First LeMond held it for five days through last Tuesday. Then Fignon took over with a burst up the mountain in the second stage in the Pyrenees. It stayed that way over the flat sections through southern France. Sunday's climb from 2,400 feet to 6,003 feet had two slopes rated first category in steepness and difficulty. The first lasted most of the first six miles of the stage.

Thousands of cycling fans parked overnight to crowd the mountain passes and curves to cheer the riders on. The riders arrived in the dual resort of Orcieres-Merlette, situated between Gap and Brian-con near Grenoble. i Fred Roggin ecutive producer Mike Weisman in an NFL audition, then O'Neil. Alzado will be teamed with Hoggin, popular sports-caster for Los Angeles' KNBC-TV. Costa Rica strengthens World Cup bid SAN JOSE, Costa Rica Costa Rica virtually clinched a berth in the 1990 World Cup Sunday, beating El Salvador 1-0 on a goal by Pastor Fernandez in the 45th minute.

Costa Rica. 5-2-1, finished with 11 points, and in all probability will go to its first-ever World Cup. In fact, the Costa Ricans believed they did qualify and celebrated as if they had clinched. The top two teams in the North and Central American and Carribean region go to the World Cup, which will be played June 8-July 8, 1990, in Italy. The United States, 2-1-1, is second in the group with five points and Guatemala, 1-2, and Trinidad and Tobago, 0-1-2, are tied for third with two points each.

El Salvador, 0-2, is last. Brazil wins soccer title RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil Brazil won its first South American soccer championship in 40 years, defeating Uruguay 1-0 Sunday in the America Cup final on Romario's goal five minutes into the second half. The victory avenged one of the most bitter games in Brazil's history, a 2-1 loss to Uruguay 39 years ago to the day in the 1950 World Cup final. Newberry wins VS. cycling race PARK CITY, Utah Matt Newberry of Reno, used stellar team strategy and then accepted a gift from teammates John Tomac and Jim Copeland to win the men's criterium Sunday at the U.S.

National Cycling Championships. Newberry was timed in 1 hour, 57 minutes and 36 seconds over the 80 kilometer course. Yugoslavs win water polo title BERLIN Defending champion Yugoslavia won the FINA World Cup water polo tournament in West Berlin, decisively defeating Italy 10-6. The U.S. finished eighth and last by losing 9-8 in overtime to Australia.

Smith and Stoklos win again MENTOR, Ohio Sinjin Smith and Randy Stoklos beat archrivals Mike Dodd and Tim Hov-land 15-13 Sunday to capture the $12,500 first prize in the Miller Lite Cleveland Open of the pro beach volleyball tour. The win was the 100th career victory for Smith, the winningest player in the history of beach volleyball. From Sun News Services 'Wre Just Simply the Best DoffiBeFoMByMRest1 MM mm SALES SUPPLIES SERVICE RENTALS (714)533-8811 1201 E. Ball Anaheim BLOOD DONORS NEEDED EVERY DAY Please help Bring another donor with you. Blood Bank of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties 399 Blood Bank Road, San Bernardino A public service message from The Sun..