OCR Text |
Show Sunday, February oon 16, 1992 THE HERALD, Provo, Utah, - Page G5 QWS w !J y pain ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) Five months off the mound can seem like an eternity to a pitcher, especially if the layoff is caused by arm V Dwight Gooden felt good. trouble. The New York Mets took an important step on the comeback trail this past week throwing off the mound for the first time since a Sept. 7 operation to repair rotator cuff damage in his pitching shoulder. Gooden, 27, didn't feel any pain or discomfort and was optimistic about his chance of being ready for opening day. "The toughest part was trying to hold back and not do too much on the first day because it's been a while since I've been on the mound," said Gooden, who was 7 with a 3.60 ERA last season. "But everything felt good. Everything's on schedule. I'm looking forward to spring training. ' ' , Gooden played catch with former team trainer Larry Mayol, then threw off the mound to Mets manager Jeff Torborg for five minutes before ending the brief workout. Torborg liked what he saw, but stressed that Gooden and the Mets won't rush his rehabilitation. "When you see somebody protecting a weak arm, they will normally work around the ball so you don't get that real power back-pinthe manager said. "But he had that backspin. He felt no dis-- ; comfort. The important thing is he i right-hand- er it (LPLJ Columbia sJfok 13-. ," feels so good." : Gooden will rest two days before throwing again. He has been flaying catch three days a week Since early December but hadn't thrown off a mound since the surgery- Parka He also runs daily and is lifting weights to get ready for his ninth ;! tnajor-leagu- e season. "Everything's going well," the said. "On Monday, .Wednesday and Friday I play catch, run and go inside to work on ;my upper body. On Tuesday and Thursday, it's a lot of lower body work." Torborg said it was difficult to tell whether Gooden would be ready for opening day in April. l, right-hand- er , MMiLtTII' W H Ml 11 II IMil II HUM irm II Ml ! lTT!iririlllim IIIBiyiMI , ; raves' tickets are hot items UrZ& tfilsmm MN c I jfl 4 - Last seaATLANTA (AP) son's success by the Atlanta Braves has carried over into spring training with hot ticket sales for the defending NL champions' exhibition games. ! Ham Higgins, the Braves' ticket director at their West Palm Beach, Fla., spring training site, said five Of the IS games are sold out and many others are expected to be. The Braves open their exhibi-tjo- n season on March 5 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Only 400 bleacher seats remain. I "I used to keep mail orders in a folder in the past," Higgins said this week from his Florida office. "There's still about a month to go ajid now I've got a file drawer full of mail orders a foot thick. "In 12 years, I've never seen anything like this," he said. ''Ticket sales have never been this astronomical. It's just been amaz- ; PgEg 1 I . J The increase in ticket sales, boosted by the Braves' 191 season that landed them in the World Series, has spread to the regular season as well. The Braves have sold 10,000 season tickets, already double the 5000 sold last year. At an open house on Saturday, 20- - and packages will go on sale and tam officials expect a huge turn- sr?niDESCENTE rwW l last-to-fir- st Pn Wt Kteli pnsiy jOlviFllS J5C.JJ fifrandoe SlJf ' NoSSirx 1 rAOCLulJ V' wvSB o VSARANAC f out. SKI BINDINGS CCljilB!l Snowboards 40-gi- fTMMS CiERRfiHERB 1 Freestyle: d -- snowboard CR" ; Spring training tickets went on sale Dec. 2, and more than 1,700 tickets for the full pack10 the Jan. before sold were age 15-ga- cutoff. Last year, ,300 season tickets were sold. J The rest of the tickets are sold individually for the 7,060 scats at Municipal Stadium in West Palm 1 Beach. "There's really no comparison ftom a year agQ," Higgins said. Ticket sales nave just been outstanding. "For instance, a group in Atlanta has chartered a plane bringing in 128 people. They're coming in March 28 for the Dodgers, sitting in' the bleachers. They're coming in at 10:30 a.m., coming to the game, tnen tiying oac iu mianm. . itjstibelievable. i Inn mi iiraim .,,.,,. , iwmniiiiiniiiiiinwiiiiiMi wimm , ' mniniiiiin'i i 'I n rrvj in VA I 1.11 iiiMiliMiiiwiiininifoiiiiiiiMiiOT & f i w imnm . i in. i vwj .m e trsrj ilmiri i ni imi n mil " " i '4 |