The San Bernardino County Sun from San Bernardino, California • Page 27

TUESDAY, May 16. 1339 The Sun C3 5piriL reliever uoti wants to stand out in crowd By JAMES CUR RAN Sun Sports Writer not related." It may have gotten pretty confusing in spring training, when Goff the pitcher was throwing his fastball in the upper-80s to Goff the catcher. "It was kinda cool throwing from Goff to Mike. "When I pitched in high school, it was Goff to (Rob)Shoff." But as the save leader in the California League, Goff may be putting up the numbers to which Seattle has to pay attention. A former starter and middle reliever, Goff has nine saves with 16 strikeouts in 18 innings.

His ERA holds at 1.50. And some think pitchers like racking up numbers as a starter. "I enjoy this," said Goff. "I'm an everyday player and you're not able to play every day as a starter. I hate sitting around (between starts) and charting (other players)." Goff wasn't without promise as a starter.

His senior year at Red Bluff Union High School he enced pitcher and I'm glad he was here for that time. I really learned a lot about pitching from him." Although Goff likes his cur-' rent role, he wouldn't rule out starting again. In fact, he believes his relief work could be beneficial' should such a change take place. "If I get into a jam as a starter, I would have the experience to work my way out of it," said "But now I have to concen-! trate on what I'm doing here in; San Bernardino. If Seattle needs a stopper down the road, I'll be around." Until that time, Goff seems to be enjoying the pressure of th-; warting an opponent's final chance to win.

"I don't see it as a stud role. just see it as a chance to get the job done. With two guys on in the; bottom of the ninth, the fans look; at that as an exciting time. In San. Bernardino, if the fans see me' coming out, I hope the fans will' look and say, 'Now we're gonna figured a change was needed.

"When he came up to me and said the Mariners wanted to make me a reliever, I said, 'That's I wanted that challenge," Goff said. In 1988, Goff recorded 16 saves at the Mariners' Single-A affiliate in Wis. He was sent to San Bernardino toward the end of the year and notched two more saves in the last two weeks of the season. That stretch of good fortune carried over to this year. But what about the log-jam of relievers in the Mariners system? "It's not my job to look up to the other guys and wish I was there," Goff said.

"It doesn't bother me to see the other guys doing their job. That's the way the organization has to work with everybody doing their job." And although jealousy exists in many organizations, Goff contends he is happy for Jones. "He deserves to be up in Double-A," said Goff. "He's an experi was 7-0 with an 0.78 ERA. He was drafted by the New York Mets in the tenth round of the 1984 amateur draft, but opted instead for Fresno State where he majored in business administration.

He was a starter at Fresno, too, compiling a 25-14 record through his junior year. He was signed by the Mariners after that year. "I just figured now was my best shot," said Goff. "I wanted to get at least three years of college out of the way and then try and go as far as I could in baseball." Goff plans to continue taking classes over the offseason at Grand Canyon College in Phoenix, where he currently lives, until he graduates. He spent his first months of professional baseball at Belling-ham, Wash.

But Goff future as a starter ran aground as he compiled a 5-6 record there with a 7.60 ERA. Mariners' coach Ross Grimsly .1 4 V. i Mike Goff Spirit reliever has nine saves the block," said 23-year-old Mike. "That's always been the first question people have asked me, even when we played against each other in college, but we're A i Brabham set to race if Sullivan can't go F' i morning. He was then fitted with, a smaller, temporary plastic" brace to protect his arm from an-1 other blow.

Another rigid plastic cast from the top of the hand to above the elbow will be put on his arm on Tuesday. Sullivan said he still felt some pain but "the big problem is not lifting; it's if you do any twists in the arm." He said he didn't expect his: ability to steer the race car to be' affected. "I'll probably try to drive the-car someplace else to get the feel of it," he said. "Qualifying will be a question right up to Friday night." Sullivan is anxious to get back into his car. "I've been over in the garage.

to get fitted in the car to where' I'll be more comfortable," he said. "They moved the steering wheel and the gear lever over to make things easier for me. "Luckily, this is not one of the. most physical races we run. The' track was smooth before, but -they've repaved it and it's reaL smooth now." Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS A third Penske team car will be in the May 28 Indianapolis 500.

The only question is whether the driver will be Danny Sullivan or Geoff Brabham. As of Monday, car owner Roger Penske was expecting Sullivan, who broke the outer bone in his right forearm in a crash during practice last week, to be ready to qualify this weekend and join front-row teammates Rick Mears and Al Unser in the race. But Brabham, a seven-year Indy veteran who last drove in the race in 1987, will be testing a backup Penske car just in case. Brabham raced at more than 215 mph on Monday during practice. "I've got two weeks (until the race) to get strong enough," Sullivan said Monday.

"If I have to, Brabham will qualify, and then I'll start the race." Sullivan, 39, the 1985 Indy 500 winner, had a hard cast on his right arm removed Monday 1 -'S 0 li A it jwt I it sstJ Mike Goff would like to make a name for himself in the Seattle Mariners organization. But for the "stopper" in the San Bernardino Spirit bullpen, there are a couple of problems in trying to separate himself from the other players. For openers, he is just one of many short relievers groomed by the Seattle organization lately. The major-league club has two decent stoppers in Mike Schooler and Mike Jackson. And in the minors, the Spirit saw Calvin Jones given a promotion to Double-A Williamsport, Pa.

Then there lies the problem of the name itself. Goff is also the name of a Seattle prospect who endeared himself to Spirit fans last season. Catcher Jerry Goff played half a season with the Spirit before being promoted to Williamsport. "Just call me the new Goff on Sunday Silence improves Associated Press BALTIMORE The likelihood that Kentucky Derby winner Sunday Silence will run in the Preakness inproved Monday, as a field of seven remained on course for the second leg of the Triple Crown. The bruise in Sunday Silence's right front foot improved dramatically over the previous 24 hours, the colt's veterinarian, Alex Harthill, said Monday at Pimlico.

The injury was detected late Saturday and first treated Sunday. "He's come a long way in a short time," said Harthill, who flew in Sunday from Louisville, to oversee the treatment of the injury. Trainer Charlie Whittingham said Sunday Silence still was a likely Preakness starter. He plans to gallop the colt 1 'A miles today and work him five furlongs Wednesday, the first workout for the son of Halo since winning the Derby May 6. A decision to scratch from the Preakness will not be made until after Wednesday's workout.

Seven colts are listed as likely starters in the 1 3-16-mile race. The others, in addition to Sunday Silence are Easy Goer, Houston, Dansil, Hawkster, Northern Wolf and Pulverizing. Lendl wins 78th Grand Prix title Associated Press HAMBURG, West Germany Ivan Lendl of Czechoslovakia won his 78th Grand Prix title Monday when he beat Austrian Horst Skoff 6-4, 6-1. 6-3 in the rain-delayed final of the German Open tennis tournament. Lendl had to struggle in a difficult opening set as Skoff, ranked 31st in the world, used his sharp, hard-hitting baseline play to move Lendl around the court and often catch him out of position.

Skoff, who beat second-seeded Boris Becker of West Germany in Sunday's semifinals, broke Lendl's serve to take a 4-2 lead in the first set. But a double fault at 40-30 in the next game cost him dearly. Lendl broke Skoffs serve in the seventh game as he went on a four-game sweep to win the first set in exactly an hour. "At first, I was hitting the ball short, but once I got my length everything began to take shape. Overall I was very pleased," said Lendl, who earned $135,000 in taking the tite.

Stanley Wilson Super Bowl incident costs career if. in i wiiif i i -Hv IN TRAFFIC: Bucks' Sidney Moncrief tries to take the ball to the basket between Pistons Mark Aguirre (left) and Bill Laimbeer in Monday's NBA playoff game. Pistons sweep undermanned Bucks j. 1 4 7:33 lea in the first half, cut it to 10 at the half and then overtook the Bucks by outscoring them 32-17 in the third quarter. They then survived one last Milwaukee charge in the final two minutes to complete the four-game sweep.

"It was a tough job, we got it over with and now we can go onto the next step," Dumars said. "I wasn't thinking we would sweep. I just thought we had a shot to win each game. But if you'd ask me if we'd sweep the Milwaukee Bucks before the series, I'd have said probably not." Detroit, now 7-0 in the playoffs, will play either the Chicago Bulls or the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference finals as the Pistons bid for a return trip to the NBA championship series. Bill Laimbeer and Isiah Thomas scored 17 points each for the Pistons and Thomas finished with 13 assists and 10 rebounds.

The injury-plagued Bucks had missed the 1985 and 1987 seasons because of drug problems and is currently being treated at a Phoenix clinic. Under the NFL's drug policy, a player who fails a drug test once is not suspended but can be tested regularly for cause. If he fails again, he is suspended for 30 days; a third failure means a permanent ban with the option to reapply for reinstatement after a year. Browne would not say, however, if Wilson's suspension resulted from the drug policy or from conditions given him in April 1988, when he was reinstated after agreeing to what Associated Press MILWAUKEE Detroit's Joe Dumars never envisioned a sweep of the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference semifinals. But he never doubted that the Pistons would win each game once it got under way.

Not even Monday night, when Detroit fell behind by 21 points to the injury-ravaged Bucks, who were down 3-0 in games and had only eight players in uniform. "They were playing seven or eight guys and we felt over the long haul we'd be a little fresh toward the end of the game," Dumars said after scoring 22 points in the Pistons' series-clinching 96-94 victory. "I don't know if that was the case in fact. But we made the run, took the lead and were able to hold on." Detroit fell behind by 21 with 11 UOtt, to get permission from NBA President David Stern to play the game when an injury to Rickey Green left them with only eight players, one less than the league minimum. The Bucks already were without starting forwards Terry Cummings and Larry Krystkowiak, as well as center Paul Mokeski, and swingman Paul Pressey.

But Fred Roberts scored a career-high 31 points and Ricky Pierce added 22, helping the out-manned Bucks pile up their early lead. "Roberts ate us up. I thought he was going to beat us by himself. He just made field goal after field goal over the top, you name it," said Pistons coach Chuck Daly. "The Bucks were outmanned but they came out on fire.

I was afraid of a letdown on the part of our club. We did it on defense. I wanted to get the Bucks' lead down to 10 at the half and work from there." the league called "certain conditions." Bengals coach Sam Wyche said the day of Wilson's Super Bowl suspension: "Part of the situation coming into the season was that it was a final chance." Wilson began last season as Cincinnati's starting fullback but injured a knee and lost the job to rookie Ickey Woods. The night before the Bengals lost the Super Bowl 20-16 to San Francisco last January, Wilson missed a team meeting and was reportedly found in his room. The Bengals were unable to locate him for nearly two weeks afterward, and he spent 10 days in a California rehabilitation clinic last February.

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