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Flames have scored! l$ ' :r 1 v pop star from the60s not the blgnames puteide pf £ Flame’ dynamic Igrola e fan basarome Sfiil perhaps more so than ever ' 'iert are fi8 Stars too eveim hockey’s Iginla Calgary s captain courageous might be his generation’jsMark Messier a scorer ImHi!' nnH fli hard-cor- ’ - : before the Stanley Cup finalists hap T1 5 invii andfr — v 11 rate since the playoffs oiso'k!i ’son tickets ana prevent tne team moving ana tney are piaying wiui so place nocKcytown now ucnets t once couldn't be given away Jnuch emotion — and (with) a great: from moving!- i’t be had with the Ughtnirig field- Now you can feel the buzz inAA goalie’ : Louis goi ng against the team that let ”! ingso many phone calls during SaturA: ' Calgary no matter! where you go A : Both teams are relatively wide-'- J “ 2-- F V him go and the league’s No 3 'said the Flamies’Martiri Gelinas day’s victory over Philadelphia in open in an era where coaches talk A " ' !K-A-V1 AvA A V av tvV v ' ' ' ’ii' v to :t ' V iv''v’ '! ') - - t ''L ?V ' fr v: '' 14 games Garcia (2-was steady though fy yv holding the Tigers to four hits with & - l5 ' ’V At v seven strikeouts dnd four walks He Continued from B2 V became the third Seattle starter with !" Olerud led off the seventh with a : ' two wins and lowered his ERA to 27 1 shot info the Detroit bullpen on a 0 second-be- st in the American League pitch from Jeremy Bondcrman (4-Angels 8 Orioles 3 : Vladimir Guerrero homercd Jose Raul Ibanez drove in two runs and 1 Guillen hit a three-ru- n double and the' the third for won the Mariners A only v- 1 3) arid Mears like Unser has helped teach young drivers in the Indy Racing League’s developmental series “You know he’s won four times so you've got to listen to him” said at Castroneves last year’s Indy “You either listen or you try to learn the hardest way” The hardest task for Mears was earning respect Unlike Unser and others who had driven sprint cars and midgets Mears grew up racing motorcycles before trading his “bike” for a dune buggy He quickly became one of the d drivers in the Southwest top and in 1976 started racing Indy cars for team owner Bill Simpson The next ycar Mears got his big break when Mario Andretti left - Continued from B1 Mears established himself as the principal force on Roger Penske's team winning 29 races and 40 poles Until Helio Castroneves won at in 2001 and 2002 Mears was the only multi-tim- e Indy winner who ever drove for Penske Today Mears is 52 and fans still clamor for his autograph and photos The legion of followers frequently gathers around Penske's garage or along pit road hoping to collect a signature from the Hall of Famer who earned more than $1 1 million and the nickname “Rocket Rick” Younger drivers also respect his advice Mears has served as a team adviser and driving coach for Team Penske since his retirement in 1992 Indi-anapo- lis pole-sitt- er off-roa- Penske's team late in the season to pur-sue the Formula Oik championship coordination “I liked his hand-ey- e and his ability to field a race car : y two-yea- A1- !Ar A-?- x - ? ? ’ ' ’ three-gam- : (1-- 1) Then engaged in a duel with team-maIndy Bobby Unser a three-tim-e winner Mears was preparing for a shootout It ended when Unser lost a gear with about 20 laps left and Mears cruised to a lopsided second victory that put him in the spotlight “I tried not to let it change me as a person but it changed my lifestyle” he said Twelve years after his last Indy start Mears’ legacy remains strong He holds records for the most Indy wins from the pole (three) most front-rostarts ( ) and most consecutive front-rostarts (six) He became the first driver to win three PPG Cup championships and ranks seventh in career wins and fourth in career poles Penske and Rutherford call Mears the greatest Indy qualifier ever and A1 Unser a former teammate refers to him as one of racing’s good guys te ’ w three-tim- riyers ana waiancne -an A under all conditions” Penske said “He was very easy on a car That was a huge benefit in knowing when to go and when not to go” ' Penske hired him full time in 1978 and Mears responded with a front-roqualifying run at Indianapolis and victories at Milwaukee Atlanta and Brands Hatch England “We knew he was something special even though he didn’t come ' from the same background as the rest of us” said Johnny Rutherford a e Indy winner At Indianapolis Mears ended Tom r Sneva's reign on the pole by outduelinghis 1978 teammate with a four-la- p average of 1 93736 mph On race day Mears followed his motto: Keep it clean and stay near the front At one point Wally Dallenbach raced out of the pits ahead of Mears When Dallenbach's wheel fell off' Mears narrowly avoided disaster t 1) 1) ' ' hit a down thp right-fiel-d with six runs! nine hits and three A fj' ' line blooperNate Field (2-to score ! walks in fourinnings and Baltimaire against lost its fourth straight: V V Bobby Crosby The A’s have won five straight and ! Athletics 3 Royals 210 innings Eric Byrnes singled in the winning eight of nine overall and have beaten !' the Royals 10 straight times their ' run in the 10th and Oakland com- - v e longest streak ever against Kansas City sweep pleted its second of Kansas City in a week " ' t A Mike Sweeney hit a solo home run! for the Royals who lost their fourth ! Arthur Rhodes struck out a two in the 10th for the win Byrnes straight Angels completed a sweep Aaron Bele (343) allowed three eamed — and six hits A: runs five through innings The sweep was ' the Angels’ fifth this season of at least three games and they have the best record in baseball at 29-1- 5 tying the best start in franchise history and lead the AL West by 3 12 games Daniel Cabrera (2-- was charged ' V three-gam- e 3) '"i 'f ? time in their! last : ’To say we were going to get to the Stanley Cup you know is hard' to believe” Gelinas said ’A A ' A' : A ' — -- Kea wings gone'' : - start-- ! v! 24 houre :ams are overioved i ? : '' : 1 1 w w “He was probably one of the best teammates I ever had because he did no hiding or conniving on you” A1 Unser said “He didn’t pull any shenanigans he told you the truth Rick's theory was that as long as he V could outrun anyone else he’d go ! with his teammates” Mears went on to win Indy in 1984 1988 and 1991 and while he was one of the best to ever drive the 2 12-mioval Indianapolis ato taught him about the pitfalls In head-to-head Ie 1981 Mears finished 30th after he and six crew members were burned in a pit fire He missed the next race still recovering from facial burns but went on to win the PPG Cup title A quarter-centur- y after his first win Mears is still feeling the effects “Those first 10 steps in the morning feel like 25 years” he said But he added “time flies when you're having fun” |