Bristol Herald Courier from Bristol, Tennessee • 15

Brettifts for cyce eis ftoyas defeat wQgfiSSgP: stir 1 Bristol Herald Courier I Bristol Virginia Tennessean I ISiSSs JI Thursday July 26 1990 Associated Press Ryan has gotten used to doffing his cap this year 'Q? jffiffigBKi a 40 r' Jr £Wt 2 i AIA? fOri? flL 'ng JSKX 'aOtW 'll VVrW 8 ZSkr ifeWd Ryan hopes to join 300 club against New York Yankees Scripps HowardJSt Petersburg Tlnwa On the shelf where Nolan Ryan collects milestones an other spot has been cleared To go along with his six no hitters and 5202 strikeouts Ryan is about to add his 300th victory Ryan 43 gets his first shot at 300 Wednesday night when his Texas Rangers play the woeful New York Yankees at Arlington Stadium Ryan has defeated the Yankees twice already this sea son and has won his past five decisions make the start despite a stress fracture in his back that has bothered him for months and a sore ten don in his right leg A crowd of 42000 will watch (tickets were gone by ri seldom pay much attention to numbers but something really wanted To get 300 kind of sets you Nolan Ryan day the earliest sellout in team history) along with more than 100 reporters from out of town and a national cable TV audi ence (ESPN 8:30 pm EDT) Ryan would become the 20th pitcher to achieve 300 wins the sixth in the past eight years and the eighth since 1963 seldom pay much atten tion to numbers but some thing really Ryan said recently get 300 kind of sets you In many comers 300 victo ries is the ultimate pitching milestone know of anything that would rank ahead of said Bill James the noted base ball author So Ryan either Wednes day night or Monday in Mil waukee or Aug 5 against To ronto or sometime after that will join a special and eclectic cast There are roughly three groups of 300 game winners: the five modern day stars the three wartime standouts and the 11 who did the bulk of their pitching before the 1920s Are 300 victories now worth more than 300 victories at the turn of the century? Yes according to James and John Thom another noted baseball author As a result both said achievement is much more impressive than those of the pitchers from 1880 89 Golden Age and the 1903 20 deadball eras or one thing the game was different then Pitchers routinely would make 50 or 60 starts a season almost always last a complete game and pitch 350 400 innings a year They rarely were side lined by minor injuries such as blisters Relief pitchers were Please see RYAN Page 3C Bo hopes Tigers learn winning ways KEVIN EWING Sports Writer In Bristol where baseball and losing are mentioned in the same breath a man accus tomed to winning is trying to set the record straight Bo Schembechler winner of over 200 college football games and recently hired presi dent of the Detroit Tigers base ball organization is in Bristol this week preaching a message of hope to the local team not interested in this he said Wednes day night before the Tigers game with Pulaski when you take these guys away from home a little different and hard on them think be okay Schembechler has been in town the past several days as part of a nationwide tour of the parent affiliates and while generally impressed with the area he said maybe too much emphasis is being placed on the Tigers 7 26 record an organization on any level you want to he said what you want to do is win at the ex pense of the development of the Bo should know Before taking over as president of the Tigers in Jan uary Schembechler coached the University of Michigan to a 194 48 5 record to finish as the all time winningest coach In his career he amassed 234 wins and managed a Michi gan program with a budget of over $20 million dollars That fact plus his intense love of baseball led him to taking the job in Detroit Now he hopes some of his success can rub off on the Ti gers top to bottom improved our Please see BO Page 3C Herald CourierToby Tobler Detroit Tigers President Bo Schembechler talks to Bristol Tiger Greg Haeger a University of Michigan graduate iaHWWgSSS 2 flMP I ft 1' i A ffSL I i SI i i Todd Day makes difference as US eagers stop Italy Associated Pre SEATTLE Ready aim fire! This time the US basketball team was ready Carl Lewis took aim at his 64th straight long jump victory and Randy Barnes won the shot put at the Goodwill Games on Wednesday Scrambling to stay alive in the tournament the US bas ketball team rebounded from a 92 85 loss to the Soviets the night before with a 113 76 rout of Italy that sent America into the medals round do have US basketball player Billy Owens said after the loss to the Soviets in the first meeting of the two teams since the 1988 Seoul Olympics And what a to morrow it was Basketball The United States took a 21 point lead at halftime hold ing the Italians to 27 percent Please see GAMES Page 3C Don Mattingly Mattingly out indefinitely Associated Press ARLINGTON Texas Don Mattingly may miss the rest of the season with back problems that forced him out of the starting lineup for Wednes day game against Nolan Ryan and the Texas Rangers New York Yankees manager Stump Merrill said Mattingly who signed a $193 million five year contract extension the day before the season started has been both ered by back spasms for several months and has struggled at the plate He missed seven straight games before the All Star break an ongoing Merrill said want to risk it at this point in the sea Asked whether Mattingly could be out for the rest of the year Merrill said rule it The team officially said status was day to day The Yankees next play on riday a doubleheader in Cleve land Mattingly is batting only245 with five home runs and 35 RBIs He has not homered since May 20 the longest drought of his career The six time All Star first baseman began the season as a323 career hitter He averaged 27 home runs and 114 RBIs in his last six years The Yankees have slumped Please see INJURY Page 3C i sidelines i 3" Seat for Winston only night race is one hot ticket ANYBODY WHO thought he might wait until the last minute to get a ticket for the Busch 500 at Bristol International Raceway on Aug 25 might want to consider putting the ticket money toward buying a television because the only other way of seeing the race In the last few years it been unusual for the Busch 500 or the Valleydale 500 for that matter be sold out Usually though there are some standing room only tickets left Not this time absolutely nothing left in the way of a ticket at BIR according to vice presidentgeneral manager Ron Scalf he said Wednesday has been for a while I even get my own mother in if I Reserved seating for the Busch event the only night race on the Winston Cup schedule was sold out almost immediately after the Valleydale 500 in April In June BIR put about 800 tickets which had not been picked up or had been turned back in back on sale They were gone almost before it was announced they were available guess this is probably the earliest ever had a said Scalf feel sure if had another 20000 seats we could have sold them You believe the number of people had calling us had a guy call this morning from Australia who was wanting to come over here for the race He was wanting two tickets and I had to turn him down I think the movie (Days of Thunder) has really got more people interested in racing It seems getting a lot more call from new Another record crowd is expected for the Busch 500 which will be broadcast by ESPN and will get the green flag at 7:40 pmx One ticket still available is for the Busch Grand National event the Jay Johnson 250 which precedes the LORI WORLEY SPORTS Bk WRITER ii tn Busch 500 on riday night at 9 pm All seating for the race is general admission and tickets are $20 As usual 10 or 12 Winston Cup drivers including Harry Gant and Dale Earnhardt are expected to participate in the GN event OVER THE past couple of years the surface at BIR has been a bone of contention between the drivers and BIR officials This time around however there should be no problem with the condition of the surface according to Scalf The track has been sealed with a different type of sealant which has already been tested on the surface in excellent said Scalf expect any problems at all The last race we used a sealer that made the surface slick The drivers also have much practice on the track time the track has had time to cure filled in any little gliches with concreate and the sealer has worked well the type used on CART tracks and supposed to be the most durable kind We tested it and it shown any If the number of Winston Cup competitors running in the Jay Johnson 250 is up this year probably because drivers will be anxious to find out what the surface will be like think they necessarily are so concerned with having to be in the race which sometimes bothers the Grand National drivers as they are with checking out the said Scalf usually the reason in it and this year with the points battle so tight you can bet there will be a few in BIR PIT NOTES: Drivers will begin testing at BIR as early as Aug 9 with Hendrick Motorspats expected to be among the first to test More construction at BIR is in the works in the near future Either a glass tower or an additional 10000 seats will be built in Turn 3 possibly by next year The one addition to the facility for this race is a new building in the infield for Goodyear to store its tires NASCAR has tentatively revised the date for next Valley dale 500 This year the race was run on April 8 in 1991 it looks like it will be a week later on April 14 About half of the reserved tickets for the 1991 Busch 500 have already been soli I.