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Show rWf 2D The Salt Lake Tribune " Sunday, July y v irry r-rnrrrr '-r-'t j y y y y' y y-- y--y y- y,f - "y--- iy yf xy-- 'rr"rf yy rrrrrrr r 15, 1W4 Balboni Is Happy Escap ee From Y ankee Asylum By Murray Chasa New York Times Writer NEW YORK Steve Balboni is one inmate who escaped the asylum, like Scott McGregor, Tippy Martinez, Willie Upshaw, Damaso Garcia, Mike That's five years, and that's exactly how often Balboni led his league in home runs: the Florida State League in 1979, the Southern League in 1980, the International League in 1981, 1982 and 1983. And he was such a terror with his bat in those last two years that he led the league in home runs even though he spent much of his Heath, Joe Lefebvre, Jim Beattie and Tim Lollar, among others. Some time before Beattie departed the pressure and tumult of the Yankee scene, the operator of the asylum said he looked scaped stiff on the mound. While Kefi Clay was there, the operator said he had spit the bit. !George Steinbrenner, though, never said anything nasty about Balboni. Tte Vankees principal owner simply e (Included, presumably on the advice of his baseball people, that the n Balboni would never be the tCTTor with his bat in the major leagues that he had been in the time commuting between Columbus and New York. Balboni relinquished his commuters pass this year. The Yankees gave y him a ticket to Kansas City last December, and he has traveled elsewhere only as a and fully appreciated member of the one-wa- full-fledg- Royals. Its completely different here, he said during a pause in the Royals visit to Yankee Stadium this weekend. No one puts any pressure on me. All I do is worry about going out and doing my job. I dont have to worry soft-spoke- after year after year after year after year. L.A.s Hershiser about whether Ill be playing tomorrow, or whether Ill even be here tomorrow. As Steinbrenner has pointed out often, not everyone can play in New York and for the Yankees. It not only takes talent, he has said, but also takes a strong constitution. Freedom from turmoil and turbulence on a baseball team is not among the Bill of Rights, but an increasing number of players prefer to take their life, liberty and pursuit of happiness elsewhere. Balboni, of course, did not have a choice, but he is delighted that the Yankees finally made the right choice for him. "One thing they do here that they didnt do in New York is that someone talks to you, the burly first base-ma- n said. They talk to you and let you know how things are. Manager Dick Howser, he continued, told me at first I wasnt going to be platoon- - "V 5, Red Sox 4: At Seattle, Cowens and Dave Henderson walloped solo home runs and each scored Mariners twice, as the Mariners held off the Eld Red Sox. Seattle Vende Berg gained the victory with relief help from Roy Thomas and Mike Stanton, who worked the final two innings for his sixth save. left-hand- er Yankees. For one month, from May 9 when he was hitting .280, through June 10, Balboni collected only 10 hits In 65 times at bat, a .154 pace that dropped his average to .217. It was during that period that Howser began platooning him with Dane Iorg, whom the Royals had obtained from St. Louis. Iorg, in fact, did much of the playing at one stretch because Balboni played only three games in 12 days. On the 13th day, he did not rest. He played against California and hit two mammoth home runs. Howser, sens- - Vi? f V- - v rtft ' , y - with a shutout of the Braves. Berenyi pitched the first seven innings and allowed just two singles. He struck out three and walked four in posting his fourth victory in six decisions since being acquired by the Mets in a trade with the Cincinnati Reds on June 15. losThe victory broke a seven-gam- e A1 d right-hande- ' . Shuts Out Cubs Continued From Page D- -l who went the route while allowing five hits. ing, then things got real bad and he explained that he had to platoon. I was going bad and so were a lot of the hitters, Balboni went on. He had to do something to try to score some runs. But at least I kept playing part of the time while I was in my slump. I dont think I wouldve gotten that chance with the ing something that even Balboni couldnt sense, immediately began writing his name in the lineup every day. That was the biggest lift of all, Balboni said. I was surprised. I thought I'd have to do that more than once, do it two or three times, to get back in every day. But he had confidence in me and put me back in. Balboni unleashed a torrent of home runs, 10 in 14 games, cooling off only a couple of days before the break. All-St- There are even more times, though, that Balboni strikes out. There are few home-ru- n hitters who do not strike out often. Balboni leads the Royals in home runs (15) and runs batted in (38), but also in strikeouts (69). The strikeouts dont bother me, Howser said. Games where he doesn't hit well dont bother me. We re looking for RBIs from him. AnJ whether he's 0 for 21 or has 10 home runs in 14 games, they still pitch him like it's the seventh game of the World Series. Everybody has respect for him. That includes the Yankees, whose pitchers have thrown two of the pitches he has hit for homers. Balboni, meanwhile, has regained I havent even his thought about it, he said when asked if he felt vindicated by his perfor- mance. I'm just glad things have worked out the way they have. I would've liked to play in the majors earlier in my career, but maybe it wouldnt have worked out. Im not holding a grudge against anybody. I'm happy the way things worked out because I'm happy to be with this team. And out cf the asylum. (Copyright) 'v' ' ''1 si !V ' ' x v r- vr- if , v "'.;a ft '' " ing streak for Berenyi against Atlanta. Pirates 6, Giants 2: At Pittsburgh, and Rick Rhoden pitched a five-hittutilltyman Jim Morrison drove in four runs, as the Pirates won a quickie from the Giants less than 24 hours after the two teams played an marathon. Saturdays game took exactly three hours less than the 5 hours, 11 minutes needed to play Fridays nightcap, which didn't end until hour of 1:32 a.m. the unbaseball-lik- e er Yankees 1: At New York, rookie Dennis Rasmussen and Dave Righetti combined on a seven-hittand Oscar Gamble blasted a solo home run as the Yankees defeated the Royals for their fourth straight victory. 4, Royals er Indians 5, Rangers 0: At Arlington, Texas, Steve Farr, staked to a four-ru- n lead in the first inning, combined with Ernie Comacho on a five-hitt- H J- - EDT. er to pitch the Indians past the Rangers. It was Farrs first major league victory. Cardinals 7, Padres 6: At st. Louhomer is, Art Howe belted a two-ru- n in the fifth inning and added a runsixth, as scoring single in a five-ru- n National League Dodgers the Cardinals defeated the Padres. Howe's homer put the Cards ahead It was the first homer since the 1982 season for Howe, who sat out all of 1983 recovering from surgery to his ankle and elbow. The Cards then broke the game open with their five-ru- n outburst in the sixth, which featured a two-ru- n double by David Green, a triple by Darrell Porter, and an RBI single by Howe. 8, Cubs 0: At Chicago, .... 2-- 1. Orel Hershiser pitched a two-h- it shutout and struck out nine batters to boost the Dodgers over the Cubs. The rookie righthander, trying to secure a spot in the Dodgers starting rotation, allowed only three fly balls, and only two Cubs runners got as far as second base. "You will not find many games pitched that well In this ballpark against this kind of a ballclub with the vdnd blowing out, said Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda. I got the ball low and made the batters hit my pitch, said Hershiser, who pdded that his secret for success waf getting the batters to hit a lot of ground balls and hope my sinker is working. He didnt make any mistakes in the strike zone, and we helped him by p swinging at some bad balls, said Manager Jim Frey. Hershiser, who had been a reliever in Hie early part of the season, has wod his last three starts since beating the;Cubs 1 on June 29. He has allowed only one run in the last 35 innings Hershiser allowed only two singles and- - did not give up a hit after the third inning. The only hits off the were by Jay rookie right-handJohnstone in the first and Bob Der-niin the third. v , . 4 Associated Press laserpholo Chicagos Greg Lnzinski upends Baltimores Rich Daucr at second to break up a double play. The play allowed Har- - from third with what would turn out to be the winning run as the Chisox defeated the Orioles, old Baines to score 3-- 2. run-scori- Expos 6, Reds 2: At Montreal, to beCharlie Lea pitched a come the major leagues first winner and Mike Stenhouse knocked in three runs with a single and a homer in the Expos triumph over the Reds. Lea, 14-struck out six and walked one in pitching his g sixth complete game. At one point Lea retired 17 of 18 batters until a one-osingle by Gary Redus in the eighth. It was the eighth straight loss for the Reds, while the Expos have won four straight and have moved above the .500 mark for the first time since June 1. Scott Edges Walker in Kinney Mile six-hitt- 4, team-leadin- ut Chi-cag- 7-- Phillies 4, Astros 3: At Houston, Glenn Wilson drove in three runs, indouble in cluding a two-ru- n the sixth inning, to rally the Phillies to victory over the Astros. With the Phillies trailing 2 in the sixth, Ozzie Virgil and Von Hayes opened the inning with singles off loser Vern Ruble, and both scored on Wilsons double to center. Jcry Koosman, 10-won for the ninth time in his last 12 decisions, giving up seven hits in seven innings. A1 Holland finished up for his 19th save. er 3-- e( Mets 7, Braves 0: At Atlanta, Bruce Berenyi and Tom Gorman and Keith combined on a two-hittHernandez knocked in three runs and scored three, as the Mets extended their winning streak to eight games 7, er Tribune Wire Services American record holder Steve Scott held off 1976 Olympic champion John Walker of New Zealand and won the featured mile Saturday in the Kinney Invitational track and field meet at Berkley, Calif., while three United States relay teams turned in sizzling times. Scott, who had predicted that the winning time would be under 3 minthe fastest ever on utes, 50 seconds was far off in his American soil forecast, despite the help of rabbit Peter Churney, who set the pace for nearly the first three laps. Scott, after taking the lead with about 300 meters remaining, was clocked in 3:56.40, far off his American mark of 3:47.69. Walker finished second in 3:56.77, and the next four finishers also were timed in four minutes or less. Walker was followed by Richie Harris (3:58.98), Mark Fricker (3:59.25), Tony Rodgers of New Zealand (3:59.8) and Agberto Guimaraes of Brazil (4:00.00). Meanwhile, the United States relay team of Willie Smith, Alonzo Babers, Ray Armstead and Walter McCoy was clocked in a sparkling 3:00.11, the second-fastes- t in the world this year, behind only the 3:00.07 posted by an East German team. The Americans time also broke the track record at the University of Californias venerable Edwards Stadium. The old mark was 3:02.9, by a U.S. team in 1971. 1,600-met-er The U.S. mens relay unit of Sam Graddy, Ron Brown, Calvin Smith and Harvey Glance also smashed the stadium mark, clocking 38.91. The previous record was 39.1 by a United States team in 1966 and matched by an international team in 400-met- er 1971. In the womens relay, the United States No. 2 team of Chandra Cheeseborough, Jackie Washington, Brenda Cliette and Randy Givens upset the U.S. No. 1 team in 42.88, a stadium record. The No. 1 team was hampered by a poor handoff between Alice Brown and Diane Williams, the second and third runners. 400-met- er The No. 1 team, however, won the womens relay in 3:25.99, despite dropping the baton on the first handoff from Roberta Belle to Valerie Brisco-Hook1,600-met- er s. Elliott Trade At Villanova, Pa., Jim Spivey, winner of the Olympic h trials, took the lead on the of the final lap and pulled away to an easy victory in the mile feature of the Jumbo Elliott Track Meet. RooseRoy Martin, a velt (Tex.) high school sprinter, won a double when he captured the 100 and 200 meter dashes. Spiveys main competition was to have been Olympian Sydney Maree, who scratched because of a hamstring injury. Spivey was never worse than third in the field of nine. He won by at least 15 yards over Kevin Johnson of Team Adidas. Spivey was clocked in 3:54.99, with Johnson running a 3:56.84. I was at ease the whole race, said Spivey. I was pleased with the time because we were going so slow over back-stretc- the first two laps. I never pushed the entire race. Martin, cousin of pro football player Harvey Martin, exacted a measure of revenge in the 200 when he beat Thomas Jefferson of Kent State, who edged him for third place in the Olympic trials. Martin ran the 200 in 20.78, while Jefferson was clocked in 20.85. He also beat Jefferson to the tape in the 100, running a 10.40 to Jeffersons 10.50. Danny Harris of Iowa State University, who fihished second to world record holder Edwin Moses in the Olympic trials 400 meter hurdles, won the event Saturday by two feet. Harris was clocked in 50.0, outrunning Villanovas Tony Valentine, who ran 50.18. But Harris said the withdrawal of Moses from the race disappointed him. Five meet records were broken Saturday. Olympian Roger Kingdom won the-11meter hurdles in meet record time of 13.32. Adamson, Hamilton Top Silver Cup List at Bonneville By Dick Rosetta Tribune Sports Writer WEST VALLEY CITY It was a night to remember for Boises Kenny Hamilton and Salt Lake's T.J. Nish. As for Salt Lake's Jim Waters and well, they Spokanes Jan Sneva dont want to remember Saturday at all, thank you. Hamilton, demonstrating his repertoire of driving tricks, dipped dramatically close to the all- ; ; - ... A y tiVi 20-ye-ar Funny Cars, D- -l tm 1 time track record with a lap in qualifying, overcame a penalty (due to being involved in an p main event accident) in the and went on to finish ever so close to Salt Lakes Dick Adamson (Adamson 85 points, Hamilton 82) during the first night of the 5th annual Silver Cup Series at Bonneville Raceway Park. Adamson and Hamilton will lead d field of the lightning-quic- k race cars back onto Bonnys d mile oval Sunday to conclude the event with qualifying at 6 p.m and racing at 7 p.m. It was announced Saturday night that the purse, at first thought to be 33,000, would be pumped up to near $20,000 through efforts of the sponsoring Salt Lake Valley Racing Association. While Adamson, Hamilton, and the rest of the fraternity will be around to slice up that pie, Waters and Sneva won'L 14.540-secon- d l ' V $'X ' '5c..Nc 50-la- super-modifie- one-thir- go-fa- st i K , Tribunt Staff Photo by Dan Milter The chase is on! Salt Lake City's (1) Terry Nish leads the way Saturday night during super- - Setting third quick time in the rear engine car once campaigned by owner Vern Madsen and his brother-drive- r Bill to four season championships. Waters and Boises Kelly Newman locked irons in the fast trophy dash and Waters was sent careerning into the turn three wall, almost demolishing a $30,000 piece of machinery. Waters was unhurt. Salt Lake veteran Terry Nish, trocalled on to fill out the four-ca- r race in a phy dash, won the four-la- p car dubbed Frankenstein because of its frightening-fas- t appearance, but from then on the night belonged modified four car trophy dash at Bonneville Raceway Park. Boise racers Kenny Hamilton, mostly to Adamson and Hamilton the Idahoan who has had two unsuccessful attempts at qualifying for the Indy 500. Starting at the back of the d main event (starts in the division are inverted, sending the fastest cars to the back of the pack to add excitement to the short-trac- k racing), Hamilton brought his hot pink, offset Oswego roadster up field to through the horsepower-lade- n be seventh by the 11th lap and then fifth when the first checkered flag 18-c- super-modifie- fell. But that finish by Hamilton and the k finish by Spokanes Jan Sneva in the first was altered in dramatic fashion in the second half of the main. Sneva, brother of former Indy 500 winner Tom Sneva, had pumped his snub-nose- d rear engine creation, past race leader Chris Hendricks of Evanston, Wyo., on the seventh lapof the first-plac- e first It was partial retribution, of sorts, for Sneva, who towed the 800 miles from Spokane a year ago for the Silver Cup only to experience mechanical failure. But disaster struck Sneva again on I in 90, car Nol 98, and Kelly Newman, in car No. are in hot pursuit. Nish, however, won. the 11th lap of the restart. Snevas right rear tire tire gave way (it just went poof, like I ran over something, said Sneva) and he rammed into the turn one wall, putting him out for the night and obviously for Sunday night. But he took someone very imporHamilton. And although Hamilton and his Pink Lady came back from the back of the pack again (if a car is involved in an accident, it automatically is sent to the back) to finish sixth, there was old Dick Adamson slipping home third to lead. gain the precious three-poi- tant with him nt Meanwhile, teenager T.J. Nish and then Kenny Hamiltons son David were putting on a look of the future by finishing first and second, respectively, in the overall main finish. T.J. was challenged repeated- ly and kept his pedal to the metal for the victory. Adamson was third and Boises Tom Naylor was fourth. Newman was fifth and Kenny was sixth. Salt Lakes Dale Jordison, making his first start of the season, drove to a semi-mai- n p win, edging out Ric Williams and Rocky Card the latter driver making his first start ever in a rear engine car. 20-la- b r,. |