Richmond Times-Dispatch from Richmond, Virginia • 43

a Richmond Timet-Dispatch Sunday August 13 1989 E7 tr'i John Mizerock 222 lifetime hitter Tommy Greene Still a top prospect Drew Denson No 1 pick in 1983 Terry Bell Kash Beauchamp Still a question-mark Kent Mercker Kept under wraps? Hindered by injuries The label: but they can and they do a cr apshoot The scouts admit it How else can you journeyman minor-leaguer having been And that business he hears during clubhouse tomfoolery hurt Mercker or get gets old i I quickly too explain selected before i Bell a From Day One Roger Clemens in the draft? their careers the seven started with i a logjam of talented outfielders in the Toronto chain then tatted 300 when given a chance to play every day last season at Greenville had to scrap for playing time in Richmond Meanwhile undrafted Atlanta starter John Smoltz is one of the National best young pitchers and i Richmond second ham-man Mark Lemke a 27th-round choice may be the top position prospect on roster The birddogs always win their evaluation game I consider myself a first-round said Mercker just another Triple-A player trying to make But to the legions of serious fans and baseball sdmlnis-trators Mercker and his fellow No Is are something else Like it or not that will never change But first-rounders find that kind of treatment deal with compared to the pressure to succeed Tm supposed to cone said Mercker 21 ZOtb-round pick probably on the way up as are Greene 22 and 23 Each has risen through minor-i system predictably although progression has been a bit slower than expected Each is still considered a prospect who will play in the major leagues one day But no sure thing Mizerock Bell and Beauchamp can tell them all about it A serious arm who made it to By John TlnUpikk staff writer For better or worse with no divorce possible the player and the tag will forever be one first-round draft choices the chosen whom scouts and front-office personnel deem most likely to succeed The prestige and the signing bonus accompany the honor So does an avalanche of expectations On the Richmond roster there are six such heralded athletes an inordinate amount for any dub major- or minor-league John Mizerock Terry Bell Drew Denson Tommy Greene and Kent Mercker all were chosen in the initial round of the June draft Kash Beauchamp was a No 1 choice in the winter draft Denson (Ttt) Greene f85) and Mercker (86) have been property since they signed Mizerock (79) was taken by the Astros Bell went to the Mariners Beauchamn to the Blue Jays 1 Robbie Wine a seventh first-rounder with the 11-Braves was traded Friday to Indianapolis for left-handed pitcher Jack McKeon All were labeled cant-miss by scouting system "With so many scouts and said Mizerock make a mistake with physical ability But they cant see inside head What is it Yogi Berra said? Something like This something more than their teammates: a substantial signing bonus often a six-figure dad can remember thinking did I do to i said Bell the former Old Dominion catcher had been playing my whole life for nothing It was really While their salaries have never been significantly different than the rest of the players on their level always been considered the bonus babies subjects of a certain amount of resentment especially from older players are some No Is who carry it around with them all the said Bell deserve that kind of resentment For most of us though that passes You realize really no better than anybody gotten pretty tired of being expected to pick up the check at every meal He also believes Richmond manager Jim Beauchamp is under orders to watch his etch count especially closely so as not to burn out the gh-dollar property "That gets said Mercker particularly care for that protecting me but like to think of myself as a competitor In certain situations when they take me out like to keep ton for parts of four seasons a now is catcher-tutor for young arms long been considered a strong defensive catcher and strategist but he has a career minor-league batting average of 222 Beil 26 has also been haunted by injuries the latest a serious knee ligament tear last season in Double-A Greenville The 17th player chosen in the draft was on loan to Class A Peninsula a co-op dub when he was called up to replace the injured Wine as backup Richmond The still out on Beauchamp 26 He was caught in NOTE Responding to questions about the construction of two new skyboxes on the concourse behind the plate at The Diamond and the resultiM decrease of the existing handicapped area Richmond General Manager Brace Baldwin said that a new handicapped area willbe built in the stands down the left-field line Baldwin indicated the handicapped area behind the plate will still be substantial and the new area down the left-field line will include cover and lavatory facilities think going to be a tatter setup than we have he said fall to Clippers (Though Thuadayk gamaa) and the other half is physical Faith keyed turnaround by Beasley By Denise Wood i staff Tony Beasley began his sional baseball career with only four hits in 44 at-bats and the feeling he was dangerously close to destroying an opportunity of a lifetime Beasley 22 has since climbed to 272 with 44 hits and 15 stolen bases in 11 attempts in his first season with tta Class A Erie (Pa) Orioles of tta New York-Pennsylvania League It was tough at said Beasley a Bowling Green resident linking i kept thinking gotten this grounded into a 4-6-3 inning-ending double play tta third "That was a big inning to said Richards (9-10) that 1 felt really But Sanders rebounded in tta eighth with tta winning hit "You could tell he was trying to go tta other said Shaddy of tta left-handed swinging Sanders Said Sanders: part of the NOTES Braves and Clippers play tta second of tta three-game series tare this evening at 7 Richmond will start right-hander Gary Eave (9-3 349) against righthander Bobby Davidson (6-2 110) Dinwiddie High product Mike Christopher who was 5-6 with 441 ERA in 73 Columbus innings was demoted to Double-A Albany two days ago Former Brave Dave Griffin who was hitting 489 with 12 homers for the Clippers is likely out for the season with a hamstring pull McKeon the left-handed reliever Hoy I Lorarao Bundy Timothy Oartar Cany R-Braves Continued from first page wild pitch I don't do that and he sacrifices then got a guy on second with one out and our said Richards But Wasinwr bunted Meulens to third and tta infield had to play up as Sanders batted with one out Sanders dropped a soft liner just over tta head of shortstop Chris Shaddy back pretty sure I get said Shaddy But Meulens trotted home with tta go-ahead run The newest Brave Joel McKeon then gave up Tim RBI double to make it 3-1 Shaddy ran through tta stop sign of third-base coach Sonny Jackson and still scored in the first On second when Mark Lemke who had three hits slashed a bouncer up tta middle Shaddy did not know that shortstop Becker made a diving stop A good throw hone from Becker would have nailed Shaddy but Becker appeared surprised by Shadds move and threw wide to the plate as first run scored Cooper bouncy artificial surface cost Richmond a run in tta fourth With Drew Denson on first running on tta pitch John Mizerock cracked a liner deep into tta right-center-field gap As Denson was on his way to third tta ball bounded over tta fence to a ground-rule double and Denson had to stop at third Alex Smith then grounded out to tta third out Although tta Clippers tied it at one in the fifth it was an inning Richards win remember fondly Leadoff man Oscar Azocar hit a medium-speed grounder down tta first-base line that first baseman Denson reach Tta ball which maintained its speed on tta plumy grass rattled around tta right-field corner to a triple John Fishel drove in Azocar with a single and Dave Sax followed with a hit-and-run single that put Clippers ut Rich- on the corners with nobody out ards walked Meulens to load tta Richards then got Wasinger to hit into a 5-2 toceout before Sanders Sanders silent sort of whom the Braves obtained from the Montreal system in exchange to catcher Robbie Wine joined the dub yesterday The 26-yeaKold who will be used exclusively as a reliever was 4-2 with a 346 ERA in 28 Indianapolis relief appearances The acquisition of McKeon who was 3-1 with a 245 ERA with the White Sox in gives tta Braves 12 pitchers to tta final 20 days of tta season One reason to tta move: Richmond plays three straight doubleheaders in Toledo after leaving here Outfielder Greg Tubbs stole his 17th base but been caught IS times continuing a trend haunted him for the last few years Tta Braves pulled off 1-4 double play in tta first inning Becker hit a 1 liner off Richards Lemke caught the ball in tta air and tagged who was stealing Richards had gone 18 without giving up an earned run be- fore tta fifth-inning scon Chris Burke and Ken Ross maintain Sanders roughed them up in Tta concourse immediately following tta 16-4 win over -the Cli ppers Sanders and his companion that day Carolyn Chambers countered with assault charges against Ross Sanders a two-time All-America coraerback from Florida State and tta fifth player taken in tta NFL draft he is currently negotiating with tta Atlanta Falcons was released on 15000 bond Sanders in an interview with tta Atlanta Constitution last week said he struck no me and that he went to tta concourse to protect Chambers who he claimed was being harassed Tta New York Yankees parent team have fined Sanders to his presence in the stands though no figure has been released just comment on tta situs-: tion at said Clipper manager Bucky Dent in book any reprimand from tta commis- opportunity and now going to blow it as if it was just better competition I really felt I could play in this league I was just struggling within myself I get a base hit to anything "I tried to think positive I have strong Christian beliefs and kept faith I knew He put me here to nothing" Beasley 'believed he was put here to pitch and spent his high school and half of his college career on tta mound It until he transferred to liberty Baptist College from Louisburg (NC) Junior College that his worth as an every-day player was discovered actually went to liberty as a pitcher My fielding and hitting were strong and tta coach felt I could give more to tta team as a shortstop playing every As a Liberty shortstop he racked Sa career average of 330 with 105 a an on-base percentage of 443 and 28 stolen bases in 45 attempts pitcher at Louisburg hurt my opportunity of getting drafted out of tne there glad they did the change at Liberty ju ttay I probably wouldn't be tan playing morns (Throu(h Thuradayk garnet) lor fenny tcher Fred Pettis thift who ldtag td the ybiJt le the i in-ctory last i' Chris Robhi two indfr- lughn fora Indi- and 088 'f-ll runs 11 tain go in Since lavid deci- with rl in II the Cubs ppetf sev-o 7-0 La He's and hi liked MS fodr ered it the SstiA and ed a it- at xpos fifpt- even i-ltci Juty COLUMBUS Ohio Deion Sand-os talking Well not much anyhow Sanders tta 22-year-old Columbus Clipper outfielder who was involved in a scuffle last Sunday at Tta Diamond was given an opportunity to explain his position last evening before tta Richmond Braves and Clippers played at Cooper Stadium Interviewer after introducing himself: do you want to talk about what happened last week in Sanders: not talking especially to tta Richmond paper after ail of that stuff been Interviewer "Well kind of tough to tell both sides of this thing if you talk about it? Sanders: aU be told on the 17th all got to On Aug 17 in Richmond General District Court Sanders will be tried on two misdemeanor assault charges filed by two Richmond men informed of (A) (AA) Chk Nenpert VCU MlIMi FMCtaeh Gariand Slaughter Rm Snyder Cm VVniRM VE jy Tkytar Lou Tammy Tkj PH Toman 9 Zona attaintments Beasley has four brothers and three sisters and brother Rodney plays in tta Chicago Cubs farm system Tony says many phone calls to his dad helped him pull through tta early struggles talent is not limited to what he can produce with a bat and glove He was asked a few weeks ago Broncos deny charges pro Tta Orioles made Beasley their 20th pick in the June 1989 draft plucking him out of college just 13 credits shy of a business management degne Beasley figures those can wait at least until he is 26 and has a handle on when his baseball career might be headed For now Beasley has recognised pro ball as a commitment "You an on your own completely Beasley said time to be a man you mess around got to take tta opportunity seriously "It is a different atmosphen than college a job now and if you produce you get released pit to be morn His commitment to baseball coupled with faith and family support toned things around to Beasley who said he often feels amazed by his Janszen says CINCINNATI (AP) Pete Rose took amphetamines as a player according to a former friend who has made a series of charges against the Cincinnati Reds manager Paul Janszen said Rose considered in 1967 whether to play again but one reason he did not was because he was concerned how tta amphetamines would affect him if he to give his rendition of tta National Anthem before garnet The result was a performance that stirred the home crowd and earned him tta duty any time he wanted it used to sing tta anthem before basketball games in college They I wanted to do it here I Imeif Ii sort of auditioned to tta team and tta coaches and they liked amines under those conditions Janszen told Tta Cincinnati Post in an interview published yesterday a to work you have to take it quite some time before you actually Janszen said from New York mere he is promoting his just-released Penthouse magazine article about his relationship with Rose By Scripps Howard News Service DENVER Former officials of a Denver strike force against organized crime differ on tta degree of tta Denver involvement in tta 1981 drug investigation which is mentioned in the new book How Organized Crime Influences Professional Author Dan Moldea claims that three Denver Broncos were "quietly by commissioner Pete Roselle after being investigated in a cocaine-game fixing case That claim is inaccurate according to former All-Pro safety Billy Thompson named along with linebacker Tom Jackson and return specialist Rick Upchurch Moldea an investigative reporter based in Washington said the reprimands came in 1981 after tta Colorado Organised Crime Strike Force learned that eight to 10 Broncos had accepted cocaine from Denver area drug dealers to inside information about tta team not correct I never got a letter from Rozelle or tta Thompson told tta Rocky Mountain Newt In feet he said that NFL officials said "We apologize to causing you that Former Broncos owner Gerald Phipps said he was Rose used amphetamines that happened I sure aware of it" Phipps said But he added "That kind of thing was strictly between tta player and tta Thompson Jackson and Upchurch were questioned at length but never charged Jackson and Upchurch could not be reached to comment Rich Nathan director of tta strike force character- ized account as an exaggeration and said the NFL to lengths I think were in pursuing 1 tta case were serious drug problems but I think Mol- deaj is doing what tta gamblers involved did He's said Nathan now a Denver attorney and former general manager of the Denver Gold Nathan said tta strike force "found to sup- port the claims that games were fixed and said players were guilty only of in their associations However one of tta top-ranked policeman Bob Cantwell division chief for patrol and operations took issue with characterization "What Rich refers to as a police' officer would look at from a different perspective: possible said Cantwell resumed taking them Janszen a Cincinnati body builder who is a major accuser in baseball's investigation into gambling said Rose admitted to him that he took or amphetamines as a player If Rose then 46 had played in 1987 it vfould have been mainly as a pinch hitter and he felt it was not worth taking amphet tm.