The San Bernardino County Sun from San Bernardino, California • Page 47

C10TheSun SUNDAY, July 14, 1991 Brazilian sweeps sprints at track meet Former Spirit player finds chasing dream can mean life as a vagabond States, who did not get higher Associated Press By MARC STEIN Sun Sports Writer took second and third in 10.34 and 10.57. Da Silva won the 200 meters in 20.31 seconds. Jefferson was timed in 20.66. American Jim Spivey won the event with a clocking of 3:36.99 minutes. He beat Italy's Stefano Mei by 1.29 seconds.

Troy Kemp of Bahamas won the men's high jump with a leap of 7 feet, 8 'A inches, beating Hollis Conway of the United than 7-7 Larry Myricks won the long jump with a leap of 26-2 'a. Among the women, Evelyn Ashford led a good showing by Americans with a victory in the 100-meters. She was timed in 11.20 seconds. Natasha Kaiser won the 400 meters, Arnita Epps took the 100-meter hurdles and Connie Prince captured the discus throw. ROVERETO, Italy Rob-son da Silva of Brazil won both sprints at the Prize of the Oak track meet Saturday.

Da Silva edged the Ezinwa brothers of Nigeria in the 100 meters and beat American Thomas Jefferson in the 200. The Brazilian sprinter won the 100 meters in 10.33 seconds. Davidson and Osmond Ezinwa CHOOSE YOUR OWN GREEN FEE (INCLUDING 12 CART) 140 innings. He seemed to be one of the Padres' better prospects. In 1989, with San Diego's Double-A Wichita affiliate in the Texas League, Holsman became a starter and an all-star.

But at 0-1, with a 7.45 ERA for the Spirit, he was released on June 14. "The first two months of the season, I hadn't really even pitched," Holsman said. "(Spirit manager Tommy Jones) was nice about it. "I wasn't upset about it at all. I had to go home and get a job." Holsman returned to San Diego, seeking employment and time to purge baseball from his mind.

He expected to wait until spring training before pitching again. Then the Milwaukee Brewers called. "At first, they offered me next to nothing, what I was making in my second year," Holsman said. "The next day, they called back and made it possible for me to come and play." Holsman made his debut for Stockton on June 25 in San Bernardino. It was the first of six consecutive run-free appearances, spanning 11 '3 innings.

Now, he hardly seems bothered here. Born in Eau Claire, Holsman smiles at the thought of trying to impress his home-state Brewers. "I think my major concern now is getting guys out," he said. "You've got to show them what they want to see. "That's what I realized.

I don't make any of the decisions." the Expos' Double-A affiliate. He said he was sent to Double-A to get some work. That first month in Harris-burg, Holsman pitched in four games, a total of six innings. Holsman said he was asked in May to go on the disabled list, two days after telling his wife that she could drive from San Diego to join him. No sense staying apart, Holsman reasoned, if he would be in Harrisburg for awhile.

Holsman's wife arrived, and within two weeks they were gone. Holsman, at his request, was released. To get back to San Diego, via cross-country drive, the Expos provided Holsman with $300 in essence, 10 cents per mile. "I didn't feel like I should be on the disabled list in a league I've pitched in for two years and had done well in," Holsman said. "They traded for me, and never used me." A week later, Holsman signed with the Mariners, who assigned him to the Spirit.

He never pitched worse than he did in San Bernardino, allowing 12 hits, 10 runs (eight earned), and eight walks in 9 innings. "I knew I was on my way, just by the way I was throwing," Holsman said. "It just didn't come there." In the Northwest League in 1987, Holsman had a 1.89 ERA and eight saves. The following season, for the Riverside Red Wave, he led the California League with a 2.38 ERA, and had 170 strikeouts in STOCKTON An accomplished craftsman, Rich Holsman also has baseball tools, with which he is rebuilding a career, using mostly a screwball. It is Holsman's out pitch, capable of crazy twists.

At times, it is as profitable for Holsman as the lightweight, shatterproof mini-safe he invented in 1989, made to attach to clubhouse lockers. "The Holzy" is what he calls the lock box, of which he sold several to San Diego. But the Padres weren't as interested in his pitching. They traded him to the Montreal Expos in April, and he since has been released twice. The second farewell was issued by the Seattle Mariners, after Holsman suffered through four miserable outings with the San Bernardino Spirit last month.

"You play because you like the game," Holsman said. "My attitude since (being released) has been a lot healthier. 1 have the game in my hands." Clearly, there are more stable professions. Until finding serenity in Stockton where Holsman, 25, has not allowed a run in six relief appearances since joining the Ports in late June he gathered little more than jet lag and tire wear in 1991. In April, Holsmpn traveled from Yuma, and spring training with the Padres, to Har-risburg.

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I could have hit a lot more if I weren't injured." Still, Keitges moved up to the Cal League and the Spirit in 1990 and held his own, hitting .276 with 26 doubles, nine homers and 60 RBI. "I thought I had a pretty good year, but I felt I didn't hit enough home runs for them," he said. "I changed my batting stance about six times during the year and that only compounded my problems." Keitges said "I changed my swing about million times" this year. "When you change your stance that many times in one year," he says, "you never really feel comfortable at the plate." "These (minor-league coaches) are paid a lot of money to help players hit," Baccala said by phone from his Petaluma home. "It's always easy to make excuses, but when (the front office) makes a decision, guess what happens." Magallanes, in his second year with the Spirit, said a pro baseball player's career doesn't always hinge on numbers.

"You could put up solid numbers all year and still not go anywhere," Magallanes said. "It also depends on who the organization has at your position at the other levels." Some of the Mariners' top players are first basemen. Through June 30, some of the organization's top hitters were Triple-A Calgary's Tino Martinez (.343, 12 homers, 48 RBI) and Double-A Jacksonville's Jim Bowie (.319, six homers, 44 RBI). Bubba Smith, a first baseman at Single-A Bellingham, was batting .302 with a home run and 11 RBI in the team's first dozen games. Since Keitges was cut almost a month ago, the position has been covered by a committee that includes Greg Hunter, Delvin Thomas and Marc Newfield.

Reportedly, Keitges, a devout Christian, was labeled by executives in the organization as non-aggressive. But he says he simply had lost his enthusiasm for the game. "When I first came to San Bernardino, it was all new to me," he said. "I was in a new league, a new city, a new team and I was excited. But I hit .276 last year and I was sent back here this year.

I wasn't as excited because I had been in the game for a while now and I knew what it took to move up. I know that hurt my play a lot." "I would never say anyone was non-aggressive because he was a Christian," said Baccala, "but I remember he was a mild-mannered guy. He wasn't the type of guy who got all fired up. He let his bat do the talking for him." Keitges and his wife returned to Sacramento last week and he intends to return to Cal State Sacramento. He Is two years away from a bachelor of arts degree in criminal justice.

"I would like to get into the Secret Service or something like that," he said. "If not, I'll go work for my dad who's a lawyer. I loved playing baseball, but now it's time to get on with my life." Continued fromC1 turned to the normal world. He is noteworthy only in that he spent l'a seasons in San Bernardino and was well-known by Spirit fans. "Baseball can be a cruel business, that's for sure," said Butch Baccala, a scout who signed Keitges for the Seattle Mariners.

Many players are caught off guard when that final judgment arrives, unaware how precarious their careers have become or unable to accept that they are failing. Keitges, however, could see it coming. "It didn't really surprise me. I kind of expected it. I mean, I'm getting older (24 on Oct.

31) and I wasn't putting up the numbers that were good enough. "It got to the point where I was struggling so much that baseball wasn't much fun anymore. I wasn't surprised when I was let go." Others were. He was second on the Spirit team in doubles (nine) and RBI (33) and tied for first in homers (five) in 59 games. But his batting average was .209 when Mariners minor-league executives decided to cut him loose.

"The organization gave me my chances. I just didn't take advantage of them," Keitges said. "I did good enough to keep playing, but I never played up to my potential." To at least one of his teammates, though, the release was a surprise. Third baseman Bobby Magallanes, Keitges' roommate on road trips, still keeps Keitges' baseball card posted above his Spirit clubhouse stall, a mini-shrine of sorts to his released buddy. "Look at these numbers," says Magallanes, as he takes down the card and examines the back of it.

"He had pretty good years for this organization. But I guess it's what you do now in this business. If you aren't playing up to your potential, you could be gone just like that." Keitges, a 6-root-5, 238-pound left-handed hitter, was a JC All-American at American River College in his hometown of Sacramento. That's where Baccala saw him. The Mariners selected Keitges on the 54th round of the June 1987 draft, and Baccala signed him.

"I thought Jeff had all the right tools to make it," said Baccala, who is no longer with the Mariners. "He was big and he was a dominating hitter in college; he had a lot going for him. But just like anybody else, it was a roll of the dice when we drafted him." Keitges showed some promise his first year in the Seattle organization, batting .234 with seven home runs and 38 RBI in 71 games at Single-A Wausau (Wis.) of the Midwest League. In 1989, Keitges blossomed and enjoyed his best season as a pro. He batted .275 and was second at Wausau in homers (10) and RBI (46) in 316 at-bats.

But even then Keitges said he didn't feel right. "I never played up to what I was capable of," he said. "I was it's filled with 48 pages of: Parts Service Tires Accessories Chemicals much at Everyday Low Prices! Br MAMWr MOT MCK.