Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 28

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4:05 1:35 1:35 7:05 1:15 TV CTV It was nice to see Chris Webber smile a few days ago, considering how I the media transformed perhaps the final seconds of his fabulous college i career into a Greek tragedy. True to our tendency of style over substance, the most-asked question in the press room following Monday's game was whether Webber cried. So what? It's a natural emotional release. If Michigan won, would there have A numerical review of the Tigers' ugh 1 2-7 loss to Oakland on Wednesday night: 1: Where first-base umpire Ken Kaiser ranked it on the list of worst games he has ever seen 3: Tigers relievers who have given up a homer to the first barter they have faced this season (Mike Munoz and Tom Bolton on Monday, and Greg Gohr on Wednesday in his debut). 5: At-bats by the teams' cleanup hitters with the bases loaded.

Cecil Fielder hit a grand slam and walked in his two. Oakland's Mark McGwire had a two-run single, a walk and strikeout 7: Walks issued by the Tigers in the sixth inning, when Oakland scored nine runs against four pitchers. None of the walks was intentional. 15: About how many feet short Kirk Gibson was of hitting a grand slam on his drive to the track in the eighth inning If it had gone out, a) the Tigers would have pufled within 12-11; b) the A's would have needed reliever Dennis Eckerstey, and c) the Tigers could have tost a game in which they hit two grand slams. 249: Minutes the game lasted.

It began at 10:05 and ended at 2:14. That's 4 hours and 9 minutes an Oakland Athletics record for a nine-inning game, one minute short of the Tigers record, and nine minutes short of the major league record for a nine-inning game. 405: Combined pitches. By John Lowe been a deluge of headlines proclaiming "Webber smiles!" I don't think so. One newspa-: per in town even coaxed its readers to call in their embarrassing athletic moments.

I assume this was done to humanize Webber's mistake. It happens to everyone, Chris. But I Drew Sharp cm Tigers' start got quick fix Vincent, from Page 1C longer talks directly to the media about the shortcomings of his team or the importance of this game or that one. No more twisting logic and fantasy into an indecipherable glob. Here, he maintained there wasn't much wrong that time and patience wouldn't cure.

He was not, he said, going to worry about it. But Tuesday he met with everyone except his pitchers, and scolded them for their sloppy baserunning in the opener. Before Thursday's game, he met with his pitchers and catchers in the wake of Wednesday's awful 12-7 loss. It had been two games. Only two games.

Only the first of 162. A "marathon," Anderson called the season, discounting the meaning of two ugly losses. But in private, where only players talked to players or managers or coaches, it was acknowledged that Thursday's game was not just another game. "We needed it," reliever Mike Henneman said, after a clutch double play ended the game and saved the win. "We needed to come out of here with a win to get this show on the road." Henneman isn't dumb.

Or deaf. Neither are his teammates. "You hear everybody else panicking," said -winning pitcher John Doherty, who was 0-4 with a 10.26 ERA during spring training. "But we know the pitching isn't as bad as people say, and the defense is going to be OK. But we knew we needed a win." In the first two games, everything had failed the Tigers.

They had committed three errors and baserunning blunders. They had walked 17 and given up 19 earned runs, and if you want to look at the absolute worst of it, Greg Gohr left his first game with an ERA of 135.00; Mike Munoz gave up a home run and three walks in two appearances and never got anyone out; and relievers John Kiely and Tom Bolton have ERAs of 18.00 and 27.00. Not even a grand slam by Cecil Fielder and a team batting average of .310 could produce a victory. Another game like the first two and the Tigers would have been able to hear the laughter all the way to the West Coast. But that is not what they got.

Instead, they got a gutty performance from Doherty, who pitched 7V3 innings the longest outing of his career before a Mark McGwire home run made the score 3-2 and chased him. Going to the bullpen has been risky business. Munoz gave up a home run to the first batter he faced; Bolton gave up a home run to the first ships unless it can pound the ball up the middle for those crucial two yards. And a basketball team doesn't win without a strong backcourt. It must have someone who can get the ball to the right people in the right spot at the right time.

And someone who can nail the open shots consistently when they're available. The Wolverines simply don't measure up in that category. U-M's 1989 championship team was better because it had the elements a true point guard (Rumeal Robinson) and a pure shooter (Glen Rice) this team lacked. That doesn't mean the Fab Five were underachievers. We were all so transfixed with the flair with which these five talented, charismatic individuals played the game, we closed our eyes to their shortcomings.

We all envision that special work of beauty we can point to years later as an example of artistic perfection. That was the premise of the Dream Team and the Fab Five. Watching them carried historical significance. You wanted to frame every snapshot in your mind because you might never see anything like it again. But the youthful irreverence that charmed some, disgusted others and captivated everyone ultimately cost the Wolverines.

But the only price they paid was a game, nothing else. Steve Fisher equated the stunning loss to being worse than death. Sounds as if he has a future in journalism. Georgetown coach John Thompson supplied a voice of reason when he recalled what he told Fred Brown after a similar episode in the 1982 championship loss to North Carolina. He told Brown that if throwing a pass to the wrong man was the worst mistake he ever made, he'd have a wonderful life.

So keep smiling, Chris, for you clearly understand the relative insignificance of your misfortune. And eventually, perhaps the rest of us will, too. doubt any callers struck out in the Little League championship or muffed a 2-inch putt on national television. Amid the overkill, did anyone stop to realize that perhaps this team just wasn't as fab as its nickname indicated? Their natural ability is unparalleled, the Wolverines missed two key components all season consistency at point guard and perimeter shooting. The title was lost long before Webber's mind wandered.

It disappeared six minutes earlier with Jalen Rose's shooting touch and Jimmy King's two missed jumpers from the perimeter. a Championship teams are proficient in the fundamentals. It doesn't matter how many batters rattle the fences, baseball teams don't win championships without the two-out, run-scoring single to the opposite field. It doesn't matter how quickly a football team scores points, it doesn't win champion- Tigers shed sloppiness with solid play in win By John Lowe Free Press Sports Writer OAKLAND, Calif. After all sorts of sloppiness in their first two games, the Tigers played solid baseball Thursday the kind that wins one-run games.

In a 3-2 win over the Athletics, the Tigers scored all their runs by driving in a runner from third with fewer than two outs. That's the situation when a team must score, because a run can score on an out. The Tigers missed such a chance in the first, when Cecil Fielder hit into an inning-ending double play with runners on first and third. But after Dan Gladden led off the third with a triple off starter Storm Davis, Tony Phillips singled him in with one out. The other runs came on sacrifice flies Chad Kreuter's in the fourth and Gladden's in the eighth.

Gladden's RBI was vital for two reasons. It gave the Tigers a 3-1 lead. And it came after a fabulous play by third baseman Scott Brosius gave reliever Rick Honey-cutt a chance to escape a jam. Honeycutt came in after former Tiger Edwin Nunez walked the first three batters of the eighth. Kreuter greeted Honeycutt by pulling a hard grounder that looked like a two- or three-run double.

Brosius made a diving stop and got up to throw out pinch-runner Gary Thurman at home. Leftfielder Rickey Henderson ended the inning with a diving catch of Scott Livingstone's looper, a would-be RBI single. REST STOP: Manager Sparky Anderson held Mickey Tettleton and Milt Cuyler out of the starting lineup. Anderson said he was resting both players after Wednesday night's four-hour-plus game. Resting centerfielder Cuyler seemed a slight precaution against a recurrence of his knee problems.

But Anderson declared this week that Cuyler has completely recovered from September surgery to his right knee. "Let me make this clear," Anderson said. "Milt is 100 percent." NOTES: Shortstop Travis Fryman said he had two things going against him when he booted Mike Bordick's grounder in the ninth, putting runners on first and second with none out. Fryman was on the move to cover second, because it was a hit-and-run. And umpire Jim McKean was standing between the mound and second and obscured his view for a split second.

Mark McGwire's homer was his 30th off the Tigers. That's seven more than against any other club. When the Tigers turned the game-ending double play, Kirk Gibson was the first one out of the dugout, pumping his first. You know it's bad when Anderson has nothing to stay to the press after a game. And he had nothing to say after Wednesday's 12-7 loss.

"Hideous" and "one of the worst" were applied to Wednesday's game by the pitcher and the manager and that's by the winning pitcher, Kelly Downs, and the winning manager, Tony La Russa Greg Gohr handled with poise what happened to him Wednesday night: He gave up the game-losing homer to the first batter he faced in the majors, Terry Steinbach. He faced five more batters, and four reached base. "I'm not too worried," Gohr said confidently, with the trace of a smile. "If it happens every time, I would be. I just have to regroup." Livingstone returned to third base after missing one game with a sore right knee.

batter he faced; Gohr gave up a homer to the first batter he faced. You had the feeling Anderson had his fingers crossed or his eyes covered in the dugout. But Bob MacDonald got Troy Neel to ground out, then Henneman came in and coaxed a fly ball from Terry Steinbach to end the eighth. With Henneman on the mound, the Tigers do not warm up anyone else. They win with him or lose with him.

So when he walked the leadoff hitter to start the ninth and Travis Fryman booted what appeared to be a double-play ball, it was easy to imagine disaster for the Tigers. Easy to figure they would find a way to lose. A sacrifice bunt and an intentional walk loaded the bases with one out, and the Tigers were every bit as close to defeat as to victory. Then Jerry Browne hit a grounder to Fryman, who recovered from his earlier mistake to scoop up the ball and flip to Lou Whitaker, standing on second, with Rickey Henderson barreling down on him. Just as Henderson wiped him out, Whitaker relayed to first, where Mickey Tettleton filling in for Fielder scooped up the throw on the first hop, ending the game.

I thought I heard a sigh come from the dugout. This, after all, is an improvement; last year the Tigers lost their first six. GAME 3 Tigers 3, Athletics 2 the yW greni were 1 CONGESTION I ITU BE EXPECTING VJU1LL BE LIKE THE THAT BIG OF Vf AUURJL LODGE OR Tr A CROWD? 17 CHRySLERAT 4 i 1 BOTITUL i needsomeT wxeases. flf KlNP OF 4 lip- at bibb so avg. 4 0 3 1 1 0 .643 2 0 0 0 2 1 .250 5 0 1 0 0 2 .231 3 0 0 0 1 1 .273 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 .222 3 2 1 0 1 1 .444 3 0 1 0 1 1 .083 2 0 0 1 1 0 .000 3 1 1 1 0 0 .375 4 0 0 0 0 0 .125 30 3 7 3 7 ab bi bb so avg.

3 0 2 0 2 0 .444 5 0 1 1 0 0 .250 4 0 0 0 0 0 .083 3 1 1 1 1 0 .500 4 0 1 0 0 0 .250 4 0 0 0 0 0 .308 3 0 1 0 1 0 .375 4 0 0 0 0 1 .091 2 1 1 0 1 0 J75 32 2 7 2 1 001 100 010- 3 7 1 000 010 010-1 7 0 DETROIT Phillips cf Whitaker 2b Fryman ss Fielder lb 1-Thurman pr Tettleton lb Gibson dh Deer rf Kreuter Gladden Livingstone 3b Totals OAKLANO RHenderson If Browne 2b Sierra rf McGwire lb Neel dh Steinbach Brosius 3b Bordick ss Fox cf Totals Detroit Oakland ON DECKANGELS SERIES: Tigers at California for three games, tonight through Sunday. LAST SEASON: Angels won seven of 12 games. TVRADIO: Tonight and Saturday, 10:05, PASS, WJR-AM (760); Sunday Channel 4, Tigers network, WJR, 4:05. PITCHING: Tonight RHP Mike Moore (0-1) vs. RHP Scott Sanderson (0-0); Saturday LHP David Wells (0-0) vs.

RHP John Farrell (0-0); Sunday LHP Bill Krueger (0-0) vs. LHP Mark Langston (1-0). 1-ran for Fielder in the 8th. Fryman (2). LOB: Detroit 10, Oakland 9.

26: Gibson 1 Neel 1 3B: Gladden 1). HR: ivcG wire 1 off Doherty. RBIs: Phillips (1), Kreuter ID, Gladden (1), Browne (1), McGwire (5). SB: Phillips (2), Whitaker (2). CS Phillips (2).

Fox. SF: Kreuter, Gladden. GIDP: Fielder, Browne 2. Rumen left in scoring position: Detroit 6 (Fryman 2, Fielder 3, Livingstone); Oakland 5 (Browne 3, Sierra, Steinbach). Runners moved up: Whitaker, Kreuter, Livingstone.

DP: Detroit 2 (Whitaker, Fryman and Fielder), (Fryman, Whitaker and Tettleton); Oakland 2 (Bordick, Browne and McGwire), (Steinbach, Bordick and McGwire). DETROIT ip erbb so np era Doherty (W 1-0) 7 1-3 7 2 2 3 1 102 2.45 MacDonald 1-3 0 0 0 0 0 4 0.00 Henneman (SI) 1 1-3 0 0 0 2 0 14 0.00 OAKLAND Ip erbb so np era Davis (L 0-1) 7 7 2 2 4 5 124 2.57 Nunez 0 0 1 1 3 0 15 27.00 Honeycutt 2 0 0 0 0 I 27 0.00 Nunez pitched to 3 batters in the 8th. Inherited runners-scored: Honeycutt 3-1. IBB: off Henneman (R. Henderson) 1.

HBP: by Honeycutt (Whitaker). 2:57. 19,874 Umpires: Home, Kaiser; lb, Johnson; Webber's forgivable but not forgettable TIGERS AVERAGES 2b, McKean; JO, vollaggio. How they scored THRO INNING as last year?" SAM GARDNER, Huntington Woods Not a feeling, Sam. A conviction.

Game-ending DP gives Tigers 1st win TIGERS, from Page 1C is tied, and No. 3 hitter Ruben Sierra bats with the winning run on third. At best, the Tigers go to extra innings on the road. Either way, they faced an 0-3 start. The Tigers stunk in Monday night's opener, according to Kirk Gibson.

In Wednesday night's 12-7 loss "the worst game I've ever seen," said first-base umpire Ken Kaiser they were so poor that manager Sparky Anderson called a brief postgame meeting to blister them. Thursday's loss would have been the worst, because it would have meant wasting the career-high 7V3-inning performance by John Doherty, and because the Tigers basically would have given it away. Any Tiger who was asked, including Anderson, said this was a relief. "Absolutely, this is a huge relief," Tettleton said. "After last night, it's a big boost.

"We don't have to worry about 0-6," Tettleton said, referring to last year's start, "or worse." (He joined the '88 Orioles shortly after their 0-21 start.) Oakland loaded the bases in the ninth on a leadoff walk, Fryman's error on a grounder and an intentional walk after a sacrifice. Then Whitaker and Tettleton did something at which they're quite inexperienced. Coach Dick Tracewski said it was one of the few times he'd ever seen the nimble Whitaker wiped out on a double play. Whitaker said it was the first time it had ever happened with the game on the line. But there was good reason the Tigers didn't hold on Henderson with the bases loaded, and the all-time stolen-base leader bore down on Whitaker full speed.

"It was a great pivot by Whitaker because of the way Rickey came in so hard," La Russa said. "I just got the ball and let go," Whitaker said. And so here it came at Tettleton on one hop. "I'm just glad the ball went in my glove," Tettleton said. La Russa has often commended the Tigers' professionalism.

He saw it again Thursday, when they showed no effects of Wednesday night's walk-filled giveaway. "There was no carryover," La Russa said. "They just turned the page. Doherty deserves a lot of credit for how he pitched. But we did so many things right today, it's hard to believe we got beat." As hard to believe, maybe, as that game-ending double play.

Whitaker's half-sister killed Associated Press BRIDGEPORT, Conn. A half-sister of Tigers second baseman Lou Whitaker was killed in a drive-by shooting, police said, but the woman's fetus was saved by Caesarean section, hospital officials said. The infant, called "Baby Grey" by Bridgeport Hospital officials, was in good condition Thursday night, a hospital spokeswoman said. His condition was listed as serious after birth and upgraded to fair Thursday morning. Judith Grey, 31, died an hour after the 4-pound, 8-ounce baby was delivered.

The baby was a month premature. Whitaker's sister, Matilda, said Grey is his half-sister. Police said Grey was walking with a group at about 1 2:30 a.m. Wednesday when several shots were fired from a passing car. Grey collapsed in the street.

Ambulance workers kept Grey's heart beating by pressing on her sternum en route to Bridgeport Hospital. In an effort to keep blood flowing to the baby, her chest was opened and her heart squeezed to pump the blood. Detroit: Davis pitching. Gladden tripled to right. Livingstone popped to shortstop Bordick.

Phiips singled to right, Gladden scored. Whitaker walked, Philips to second. Fryman popped to second baseman Browne. PniHips stole third. Whitaker stole second.

Fielder touted to first baseman McGwire. 1 run, 2 hrta, 0 Trod, 2 toil on base. Tigers 1f Athletics 0. The Love Letters of a sports writer: "Aren't you guys throwing a smoke screen around Chris Webber? I'm reluctant to blame Michigan's defeat by North Carolina in the NCAA final on him alone, but there's no escaping he made the critical error that removed their last chance FOURTH INNING Detroit: Gibson doubled down the ieftfteid Una Deer singled to left-center, Gibson to third. Kreuter Nt sacrifice fly to centerfielder Fox, Gibson scored.

Gladden fouled to first baseman McGwire. Livingstone popped to leftfielder R. Henderson. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left Tigers 2, Athletics 0. FIFTH INNING Oakland: Doherty pitching.

Brosius popped to second baseman Whitaker. Bordick lined to centerfielder Phillips. Fox walked. R. Henderson walked, Fox to second.

Browne singled to center, Fox scored. R. Henderson to third. Sierra grounded to third baseman Livingstone. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 ML Tigers 2, Athletics 1.

GEORGE PUSCAS Love letters EIGHTH iNNING win. I mean, "therms no it "'-what fie did was dumb." St. Clair Shores CHinmm. Why he called a time-out when presumably his teammates were aware they had none coming is difficult to explain. Through Thursday Batting PLAYER AB 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA Phillips 3 14 1 9 0 0 0 1 1 0 2 Gibson 3 9 3 4)00231 0 0-1 .444 Gladden 2 8 2 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 1-1 .375 Fielder 38130015220 0-0 .273 Whitaker 3 8 2 2 0 0 0 3 2 0 1-1 .250 Fryman 3 13 3 3 0 0 1 1 3 2 2-2 .231 Tettleton 39)200)2110 0-0 .222 Cuyler 27)11000130 00.143 Livingstn 2 8 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0-1 .125 Deer 3 12 010000160 0-0 .083 Kreuter 1 2000001100 0-0 .000 TOTALS 10) 14 29 3 2 )4 )4 )9 4 54 .287 OPP.

-99 23276052222 )5 3 4-5 .273 SB-Stolen bases and attempted steals. Pitching PfTCHER QS IP ER HR BB SO ERA McDonald 0 0 1 00 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.00 Henneman 0 0 2 Vh 0 0 0 0 2 2 0.00 Doherty 10 1 11 Vi 7 2 2 1 3 1 2.45 Krueger 0 0 1 0-1 3Vfr 5 2 1 0 3 3 2.70 Moore 011 0-1 4 644032 7.71 Leiter 0 0 1 0-0 3 2 3 3 0 3 5 9.00 Kiely 0 11 2 2 5 4 1 3 1 18.00 Bolton 0 0 1 (H) Vi 1 1 1 1 0 0 27.00 Gohr 001 '3 3 5 5 1 2 0 135.1 Munoi 002 0 1)1130-TQTAL5 1 2 1-3 25 27 23 2) 5 22 )5 7J6 OPP. 2 1 1-3 27 29 )4 )4 2 )4 19 4.67 Saves (1): Henneman. OS-Quality starts and games started. A quality start is one in which a pitcher allows three earned runs or fewer and goes at least six innings.

NOTE Totals include pitchers' errors and players no longer with team. Team Vs. AL East: 00 One-run games: 1-0 Vs. AL West: 1-2 Extra innings: 0-0 Vs. righty starters: 1-2 1993 attendance: Vs.

lefty starters: 00 1992 attendance: On grass fields: 1-2 1993 att. average: On artificial turf: 00 1992 att. average: Detroit: Nunez pttching. Fielder walked. Truman ran for Fielder.

Gibson wafced, Thurman to second. Deer waJked, Thurman to third, Gibson to second. Honeycutt relieved Nunez. Kreuter grounded into fielder's choice, third baseman Brosius to catcher Steinbach, Thurman forced at home, Gibson to third. Deer to second Gladden Nt sacrifice fry to rigtitfieider Sierra, Gibson scored, Deer to third.

Livingstone popped to tefrftetder Henderson. 1 run, 0 hits, 0 errors, 2 left. Ttgert 3, Athletics 1. Oakland: Tettleton to first base, batting fourth. Sierra fouled to third baseman LMngstone.

McGwire homered to left on 1-0 count. MacDonald relieved Doherty. Neel grounded to second baseman Whitaker. Henneman relieved MacDonald. Steinbach lined to leftfielder Gladden.

1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left. "I am truly mad on how Mike Peplowski was not added to the second All-Big Ten basketball team or even honorable mention. It is a crime not to add him. He was second in scoring at MSU, first in rebounding in the Big Ten and had one of the highest shooting percentages in the country, and he might possibly be a No. 1 draft pick.

He deserved more recognition than he got. Sure, State didn't go to the NCAAs, but without him they wouldn't have won half their games." KRISTOPHER CZAR, Lansing He's an OK player, Kris. But whom did his team ever beat? That's how things are measured these days. "Charles Barkley may be a heck of a basketball player. But like a few other obnoxious megabucks athletes, he has proved it doesn't take much brainpower to be a millionaire." JOSEPH KALETA, Sun City, Ariz.

So what are we waiting for, pal? FINAL SCORE: Tigers 3, Athletic 2. PUZZLE SOLUTION Al. No doubt Webber will be forgiven, although he can't expect basketball historians to forget. "After all the scouting you did in Florida, what advice do you have for our beloved Tigers in 1993?" JERRY LAY, Alpena Duck. R- 2 5 w- f'y'.

lllZilli.lil Dandies, eh? Those smart, dashing LL lapel pins are gifts to all whose sparkling thoughts appear here. Send your sports beefs or bouquets to Love Letters, Detroit Free Press, 321 W. Lafayette, Detroit 48226. "After reviewing the Tigers' pre-. games, is there an ominous feeling that this year vgU be the same fciaWPMwairfijpiMaafcaai.