Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 48

The Detroit News Joe Falls Page 2e I Sunday, Apbil 28, 1996 Ex-Tiger Hernandez pitching baseball to sons 1 nreepuim yiun to improve Tigers includes using farm system and signing top free agents A man was talking about the Tigers the other day and said the thing he noticed is that not many people talk about the Tigers any By Jerry Green The Detroit News Once upon a time in Detroit, the manager could tnyidle out of the dugout, wigwag toward the bullpen and feel secure. Guillermo Hernandez would nod at the summons, throw one more warm-up pitch with his left arm and march to the mound. The manager, Sparky Anderson, would stuff the baseball in Hernandez' hand and trundle back, head down, to the dugout. 0 No more damage, no more threat. How many times did we watch this scenario that summer just a dozen years ago? Encore after encore as the Tigers, with their historic 35-5 start, devastated the division swept through the pennant playoffs and dom Whatever happened to.

1 izjir tfr XmMjM Sliiiiiilij 'iiiriiffittMuW I) 1 1 1 11 1 more. It is hard to tell if this is true, but it probably is. I know I don't hear much talk about our ballclub. Some people are still down on baseball after the strike, and the Tigers are not a very good team. Those are two valid reasons for the disinterest.

Another is the Tigers don't have many players the fans know about. Saturday's attendance actually, they called it tickets sold was announced at 13,067. That figure includes almost 7,000 season-ticket meaning around 5,000 paid their way into the park. A pretty low number and a truer test of the interest. Saturday wasn't the best of days for baseball.

It was sunny, but windy. The ballpark felt chilly and everyone wore jackets, coats or sweaters. Saturdays are not the big-draw day they used to be, but they are not the worst, either. He pitched for the team in Caguas, down the island from San Juan, where he lives with his wife, Carmen and their two sons. The baseball hunger drove him, but it was, in reality, a moonlighting adventure.

"I get up and work at my company," Hernandez said. "It's steel construction. I go it the projects. "You got to make your money somehow." A year ago, Hernandez did actually attempt to return to baseball. "I went to the Yankees," he said.

"I was working out because I want to make a comeback. Not as a replacement. With the ball-club." It was during the '95 spring, when the major leaguers were still on strike. He spoke to Gene Michaels, then the Yankees general manager. It was about a job that did not involve pitching with the replacement players, Hernandez said.

said if you give me a chance, Fll go working. He say, "it's the only way you can prove you can "I don't want people saying I'm a replacement player." The experiment ultimately was abandoned. The hunger this spring takes Hernandez to the Puerto Rican sandlots and to autograph shows such as one in Detroit this past week. He goes to the ball fields around San Juan because Guillermo Jr. has become a pitcher at 16, like his father and namesake.

"Guillermo?" said Hernandez. "He pitched last Saturday. He won 2-1. He just started pitching. He was' a first baseman and outfielder before.

He's hard-throwing. He's tall and big." A prospect? "I think he's going to be a pitcher," said Hernandez. A lefty? "No, he's right handed?" With a screwball? "Screwball? Not yet. It's too early for him yet. Fastball.

Change-up. A little slider." The second son is 14-year-old Xavier. "He doesn't want to play this year," Hernandez said. "He plays volleyball and base-ball. He's a second baseman.

I think hell play baseball later this year." Willie Hernandez marching in from the bullpen in that proud gait in the season of '84 and the security he carried with memory is something to warm Detroit baseball fans in the season of "96. inated the World Series, No 24-run bombardments, teams fattening their stats, America giggling on ESPN about the Tigers bullpen back then, in 1984. The Tigers had Willie Hernandez to preserve the victories and the late Aureliq Lopez to set him up, coming out of Sparky's bullpen. Where is he now, Guillermo Hernandez, the American League's most valuable player and Cy Young award winner of '84, the dignified relief pitcher who saved 32 of the Tigers' 104 victories with his artistic screwball and was the winner of nine others, the reliever who saved another victory in the playoffs and two in the World Series? He is living back in Puerto Rico, where he answered the ringing telephone himself. "The Tigers need relief pitching, Willie, Guillermo," said the caller from Detroit.

"No kidding," said Hernandez in his flavored English, and you could sense some humor in the deep voice. Tm in good shape. I might come back." ,7 That might not mesh with the youth movement, No, at 43, his confessed age, Hernandez says he is still using his left arm to pitch baseballs, coach his two sons, while not exactly keeping tight tabs on baseball in the major leagues. II "How's the pitching?" he asked. "(Mike) Henneman still playing with the Tigers?" After he was told that the pitching is hJUj tt ii 01 iv vt ur an cua What was there to see? I count only three players on the Tigers who have any appeal Cecil Fielder, Alan Trammell and Travis Fryman.

Fielder will always be some sort of an attraction because he can hit the ball over tall Kiiilfinrra uriK a oinrrla aunnrr RicardoFigueroa Special toThe Detroit News Former Tiger Guillermo Hernandez runs a construction business in Puerto Rico. besieged and that Henneman now operates winter past. I didn't play in this league for 12 from the bullpen of the Texas Rangers, Her- years. nandezsaid: "You need baseball you need food in "I'm working out. I played winter ball this your stomach when you're hungry." Hill's stature continues to climb, on and oftthe court BEHIND THE SCENES I 1 Vartan kupelian Mike O'Hara 11 Question of tha week Are the Bulls a lock in the NBA? O'Hara: "Nope.

When they have to play good teams night after night, they'll find it tougher. Look for Orlando to win In the East." Kupellan: Tm not even sure Orlando has enough character to beat the Pistons. I'll take da Bulls." It is nice to see Tram still out there, but we've seen it for 20 years. And as fine a player as Fry-: man is an honest workman who goes about his job with great diligence I'm not sure how many fans are willing to pay to see him perform. He is more of a manager's player than a fan favorite.

You may say then that who showed for Saturday's game against the Oakland A's were'; here simply because they like the game. And 5,000 in an area the size of Metro Detroit is pretty" small. So, what do the Tigers doT about it? Not much, I'm" afraid. It is not likely they will win' much this season or next season. The arrival of their new sta-" dium will be the greatest stim-' ulus of all.

These crowds of 13,067 will be closer to 30,000. It happens all the time with a new stadium and usually lasts a long' time. The problem comes when the novelty wears off. In the meantime, the Tigers will have to find ways to improve; their team. For all the work they put into it, they will need a share of luck.

What must happen is this: Mike Ditch, who has been hurt financially, will have to shell out some more dough to buy a couple of established free agents, like it or not Your best players are devel-l oped in the minors but if the Tigers intend to build strickly from within the system, it could take so long Ilitch would not be; around to see it. 1 General Manager Randy Smith will have to make at least one significant trade and get a player who is a positive force everyday. Two would be even better This is where luck comes in" because it is very hard to work such deals. The other teams are' not dumb. The Tigers must develop a nucleus of the team from their; farm system five or six play-i ers who can perform consist tently at the major-league levJ All this is asking a lot.

But the men in charge of this team, and this includes Ilitch, must understand it takes more than player development to produce a champion. Nobody can gather that many good young players. Chuck Swirsky. Obviously, it took a sizable chunk of dough to attract Brandstatter. But two other factors swayed him: the opportunity to be part of WJR's state-wide network, which WWJ does not have, and the fact that WJR has rights to broadcast Michigan bowl games, which WWJ also lacks.

There was one ticklish point in Brandstatter's move to WJR: He will replace Jerry Hanlon, his former line coach at Michigan and a close friend. "I spoke with him personally," Brandstatter said. "I was disappointed to see him go. He loves the game." Channel 7 sportscaster Dave Lew Allen was on a scouting mission of his own at this weekend's Lions minicamp. His station is looking to replace Chris Spielman for the Seven Sports Update show, hosted by Lew Allen on Sunday nights.

Spielman, who left the Lions for Buffalo as a free agent, had a wide following. He connected with Detroit's sports fans because of his blue-collar image. One problem is finding a player who will commit to doing the show every Sunday night, win or lose, no matter how he feels. "We'd like to get something done," Lew Allen said. Camping out Lions management seems to think that receiver Brett Perri-man will show up at training camp on time and ditch his trade demand.

Perriman is unhappy with his contract, which will pay him $925,000 in base salary in 1996. Perriman's fine for missing mini-camp was $1,000 a pittance. The rate goes to $4,000 a day when training camp opens. The Lions shouldn't be so sure that Perriman will relent and report on time. For starters, if he never reports and forces a trade, there is no fine.

And if the Lions do not believe Perriman is serious, they need only look at his bio in the media guide. It shows that the Lions acquired Perriman in a trade with New Orleans on Aug. 21, 1991. The Lions gave up a fifth-round draft choice. Why such a low price? Because Perriman refused to report to camp with the Saints.

There's nothing to say he won't do it again. It's been two years since Dream Team II won the gold medal at the world championships, but whenever USA Basketball officials gather like in Atlanta this weekend for a pre-Olympic media briefing Joe Dumars' name always comes up. Dumars is remembered for his quiet contributions on a team that is known for the bloated egos of Dominique Wilkins and Derrick Coleman, among others. Dumars was the first to volunteer to give up his minutes for team peace, an uncommon gesture these days. i But this isn't about Dumars.

It's about Grant Hill, a member of the 1996 U.S. Olympic team who is expected to continue the legacy as a consummate team player in Dumars' image. 1 U.S. Olympic Coach Lenny Wilkens said Hill's role hasn't been defined but offered a clue when he said, "He's very versatile." Hill's versatility won't be limit-Id to the court. He has been recruit-red for Olympic Aid, an historic urinative between the Atlanta organizing committee, UNICEF and the JJ.S.

Committee for UNICEF to provide food, medicine and shelter for an estimated 18 million children in '14 war-torn countries. The cast of international athletes is expected to serve as advocates by global awareness. These aren't just stars these are Edwin Moses, Michael Jordan, iBonnie Blair, Johan Olav Koss and iNadia Comaneci among them. "I'd like to inspire others to join this worldwide effort to help people who need it most, the children of war," said Hill, whose stature continues to grow. graces Jim Brandstatter's decision to fehange stations as color commentator for Michigan football games night be a signal as to which station will win the battle for exclusive Rights for the team's radio broadcasts.

On Friday, Brandstatter signed rWith WJR-AM leaving WWJ-AM, for whom he had worked since 1989. Both WWJ and WJR will continue to do Michigan games for one Toiore season. After that, all indica- Cons are that one of the stations will negotiate a contract with the uni- Grant Hill versity for exclusive rights. Brandstatter, an offensive lineman for Bo Schembechler's Michigan teams from 1969-71, is an immensely popular figure among Michigan fans because of his radio and TV work on Michigan football. In fact, many consider him the second-most identifiable person connected to Michigan's program next to Bo.

This is Brandstatter's second stint at WJR. He did Michigan games for the station for several years but switched to WWJ when the station secured the Lions' games in 1989. Brandstatter will continue to- do color on Lions games for WXYT-AM. It is well known in broadcast circles that Michigan officials would like to negotiate an exclusive-rights contract after this year and that WJR and WWJ are interested, too. As one source familiar with the situation put it: "This will be the mother of all rights negotiations." Brandstatter professes to have no knowledge of which way the negotiations will go.

The University of Michigan will do what's right for the University of Michigan," he said. "That's regardless of where I am. I know that. I expect nothing less." Hiring Brandstatter was made a priority by WJR sports director Cut, trash and burn The Tigers need another word to use in reference to the guys who come in after the starting pitcher gets knocked out They certainly are not relief pitchers. Relief? Yikes.

Really, what does Manager Buddy Bell say when he goes to the mound? Remember to go for two after this guy gets a hit? Tony Mandarich, trying to make a comeback with the Colts, looks great. But our cynical side wonders if he isnt returning after three years out of the NFL with the intention of writing a book. One of our local sportsters is taking golf lessons. After failing to make contact on one mighty swing, the teaching pro said: "To be honest, I don't know what you did wrong except miss the ball." Maybe his biggest mistake was taking up the game in the first place..