The Bradenton Herald from Bradenton, Florida • 31

THE HERALD SATURDAY JUNE 28 2003 Fernandez leads Watson by one at Senior Open PMC SO Mike Henry BasAdH i i TAMPA BAY DEVIL RAYS 3 it mm recent4 1 in on 1 to to if I 1 Grieve still in lineup to his surprise Rays DH says incident with Lou Piniella will have no impact oh his approach on baseball field ROGER MOONEY Herald Staff Writer ST PETERSBURG Ben Chieve was the lineup against file Atlanta Braves Friday night Surprised? He was was actually wondering if I was even going to be coming to the field Grieve said v' One day after be was the subject of a verbal araault from Tampa Bay man- -ager Lou Piniella Grieve said he was embarrassed by the amount of attention ay TUC the incident 116 -received He also NUMBERS denied ever saying Piniella Ben when Pin- batting average fella asked Grieve has dipped since why he argue his final season tim called third in Oakland: strike that ended Vm Thursday's 44 loss the New York 2000 279 Yankees 2001 264 words 2002 never came out of my Grieve 2003 23B said bbre Traded to Rays game asked me alter 2000 season it was a strike and was trying to think of something to say to avoid what Grieve called several news outlets including ESPN on Thursday night to explain his side of the story kind cl embarrassing when you Bee outburst) on TV all the time" Grieve said Pinidla did not want to talk about the ASSOCIATED PRESS Tampa Antonio Perez steps oh second then throws to first for a double play Friday against Atlanta It was one of the few bright spots for the Raya who dropped to a woeful 4-20 this month Poor Braveis Retire theif i 1 1 i Piniella has every right to call out Grieve -a -'v Hooray for Lou Piniella' Devil Says fiuu tick of being forcefed baseball's worst team this side of Motown are celebrating '-V Mount tirade against Ben Grieve who epitomizes the waDdngdead mind-set -i-PinieDa wants driven than Tropicana Field Roy Campanella the Hall of Fame Brooklyn Dodgers catcher have to have a lot of little boy in you to play this But message to Grieve rang loud and dear after the Btone-feced one struck out looking to end 4-3 loss to ftie Yankees: Be a man and start earning your Salary ThqRaysmaybe22 i-gamegautoffirst place but Piniella wants soroeslgn Grade Ben cares about I game this at-bat and the 17000 who paid fbr a ticket 1 Grieve may not be ready to accept his responsibility for the woes fofect he might have greased die skids fir his departure to a real baseball Siberia such as Detroit or Milwaukee by -Calling a St Petersburg Times reporter late Thursday night to give his side of die story Maybe feelings were hurt when he heard outburst Or maybe he bypassed Lou because he was worried about a physical altercation with die fiery manager V' Whose wrestling match with firmer Reds reliever Rob -Dibble in the early 1990s still gets air time on ESPN naaatn In case you missed it -4 yes there arepeople who ignore the Devil Rays lots of diem PinleDa erupted when Grieve sent up as a pinch-hitter walked cahtiy- to the dugout after a called third strike by umpire Wally Bell ended the game In the ensuing onesided conversation Grieve told Pinfella he thought Mariano pitch was I high Why then he protest this call? An angered Piniella told reporters Grieve said Grieve said he told Piniella care" referring to BelL During his entertaining postgame press conference 1 which is certain to be replayed ad nauseam Piniella implied Grieve is the one who care PinleDa may want to get rid of Grieve (die remaining $275 million an his contract be damned) or light a fire under a player who averaged 24 homers and 93 -RBIs with Oakland from 1996-2000 but may lack a wick-' i 1 One question Lou: What took so long? Yes it was a stroke of bad luck fir Grieve to be traded -to Tampa Bay from Oakland fir Roberto Hernandez and Cory lidla before the 2001 season But not opce hashed I speared to enjoy being a' Ray or made the changes heeded to revive a 1 bncepromising career He pftra is sera walking around the dubhouse with amazed "What am I doing here?" expression This die first time a Rays manager questioned approach to hitting Former Rays Skipper Hal McRae petitioned on several Last season was typical: on to drive in runs looked fat 6L5 percent of file pitches thrown to him Almost half pf his 121 strikeouts were mil pH I Grieve can look all he Wants but Pinfella and most Rays fens are tired of watching I Mha Hmy iparlt mkr am readied at 74i-70SO ext 2212 or mkarybradnHoiditnldcom Gonzalez get mtibh help rifiira V' The Braves took a 44 feed in the second inning behind dmddy ddGmse thxn the If Lou Rays No errors mind: you but shoddy nonetheless With one run in and men on second and third with one out Gonzalez delivered a low pitch that catcher Toby Hall took an awkward stab at before it passed him and bounced to the backstop scoring Chipper Jones' Andruw Jones advanced to third and Javy Lopez took the walk Gonzalez the best pitcher Gonzales was charged with a wild pitch PETERSBURG outburst Thursday night was an fire up file Tampa Bay Devil lift them from their midseason hl tactic IhflaH Atlanta Braves who had lost two found the cure for what ailed Tampa pitching stag hits and three home runs to beat 62 on Friday at Tropicana Field racking far as Pm concerned Pinfella said GRIEVE TO 4D ASSOCIATED PRESS Devil Rays manager Lou Piniella felt wish to comment farther on Thursday's Incident with Ben Grieve BRAVES 8 RAYS 2 TODAYS GAME: Victor Zambrano I (44 378) has been pitching well for Tampa Bay butthe rlghty faces a tough challenge against a potent Atlanta lineup and pitcher Shane Reynolds (5-2 530) USpjlL FSFU 970AM INSIDt aJuiesi Gonzalez rejects trade to Montreal: 6D Jeremi -5- at W' HOWARD FENDRICH Associated Press S' i- ST postgame attempt to Rays and dnlHmma The straight them in up 14 the Rays file past He allowed 6H Innings was a lot of was up It was Pinfella sharp ratified to but Hall should have had the ball Moments later Vinny CmHiia grounded to Damian Rolls at third and Andruw Jones wandered too for off the bag Failing to make Jones commit to home Rolls tossed the ball to the plate allowing Jones to scurry back to third Castilla reached to load the bases RAYS TO 4D month have his best stuff: six earned runs op nine hits in 1 feeling good but I thought I made mistakes Gonzalez (8-4) said trying to get the ball in and I left it probably Just one of those days" said while Gonzalez pitched so well of late he waa a below-average start LITTLE LEAGUE a new SCHEDULE DISTRICT 16 TOURNAMENT AtfiglmoodfM Url2s Division ID Braden River vs: Manatee National Field 6 Newtown vs Central Sarasota Field 8 1 Manatee American vs Sarasota Field 5 Central Sarasota vs North River American Field 6 Venice National vs Manatee Central Field 8 4 pjn Englewood vs North River National Field 5 Venice American vs North Port Field 6 9-10s DMskm ID am Manatee Central vs Braden River Field 3 Central Sarasota vs Newtown Field 4 Venice American vs North Port Field 5 1 Manatee National vs North River National Field 3 Venice National vs North River American Field 4 4 pjn Manatee American vs Englewood Field 3 Manatee East vs Central Sarasota Field 4 DOUGLAS A RAID Herald Staff Writer 1s Pitching has long been a critical ingredient to any championship team But this weekend when the Little League All-Stars take the field for the District 16 tournament in Engte- wood pitching will be even more important A few new rules instituted fills year made sure of that This summer the All-Stars will play more games in fewer days and pitchers are being held to a much tighter innings count In the past a pitcher could pitch three innings one day and come back the next day and throw again There was an innings limit of nine for file entire tournament TTiis season if a pitcher throws less than three innings one day he come back and throw the next day If he throws more than three innings he pitch for 48 hours When the first pitch is thrown at 10 am today the rules likely will be at the forefront of managerial strategy UTILE TO 2D i WIMBLEDON FnglnnH Venus Williams is back in a Grand Slam groove pounding serves dictating points not letting opponents into the match And now the two-time Wimbledon champion gets a chance to inflict her good fixm on file player responsibte fbr surprising exit at the last major Williams picked up a third consecutive lopsided victory outclassing French Open semifinAlist Nadia Petrova 6-1 6-2 on Friday to reach the 1 round of 16 at the All England Club fbr TODAY ON TV file sixth year in a row Williams next feces another Russian Vera Zvonareva who beat her in the fourth round at Roland Garros earliest loss at a Slam in two years The American prepare property for that event because of an abdominal injury no excuses fbr me I have to perform If I have a bad day a bad Venus Williams Zvonareva who beat fourth round Andre Agassi faces test in Younes Bollettler! student faces Jelena Dokic action continues Ch 8 ASSOCIATED PRESS advances to play Vera her In Paris In at Wimbledon his first tough Aynaoui while Marla Sharapova as third round ESPN27ajnj noon ESPN 3 Jun Wimbledon notebook Scores and schedule 2D 5D TO 2D V(- 11.