UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Tuesday, September 24,1996
3B
Baseball star honored late
Negro League player died before color barrier fell
The Associated Press
PITTSBURGH—Josh Gibson was born too soon.
The "black Babe Ruth" hit at least 800 home runs in his 17 years with Pittsburgh's two Negro League teams, but he died just months before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier to join the Brooklyn Dodgers.
"Without Josh there would have been no Jackie," said Ruck Bock, author of several books about the Negro League.
Gibson was honored yesterday with a historical marker in the city's Hill District. Historians agree Gibson would be a household name if black men had been allowed to play in the major leagues during his career.
Nobody has hit longer home runs at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh or at Yankee Stadium, and one of his drives was estimated at 700 feet — 134 feet beyond Mickey Mantle's longest.
The Rev. Harold Tinker, 91, played with Gibson and remembered a game in 1930 when they were behind 3-1 in the fifth innings against Port Vue, a team in southern Allegheny County.
Tinker, up first, hit a single. The next batter walked. When Gibson stepped up, Port Vue's pitcher decided an intentional walk would keep the powerhouse from hitting a homer.
But on the second ball, Gibson called a time out, walked to out second base and informed Tinker he could hit the pitches out.
"And I looked at him and said, 'Are you crazy?' Tinker said.
A walk would load the bases. But Tipher gave Gibson the go-ahead.
"This guy threw his third pitch way outside, and lo and behold Josh reached out and swung, and he didn't hit that ball over the right-field
fence," Tinker said. "He hit the ball halfway back to Pittsburgh over the center-field fence. I'll never forget that day."
The marker by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission is on the sidewalk in front of Ammons Playground, once Ammons Field, where Gibson helped organize the semirop Crawford Colored Giants in 1929.
A year later he joined the Homestead Grays, the last championship team in the Negro League. He also played for a few years with the Pittsburgh Crawfords, where he caught pitches from Satchel Paige.
Josh Gibson Jr., 66, remembers Paige and other Negro League legends visiting his grandmother's home in the Hill District. The younger Gibson lived with his grandmother after his mother died giving birth to him and his twin sister, Helen, who died in 1985.
The elder Gibson traveled year-round, playing for Latin American teams in the winter. He was named Most Valuable Player in the Puerto
Rican League in 1941.
"When he traveled around the world, he always brought souvenirs back for me and my sister," said Gibson's son, who was a teen-ager in 1947 when his father died of a stroke at age 35.
Ruck said a statue of Gibson, who never played on a losing team, belongs beside those of Honus Wagner and Roberto Clemente outside Three Rivers Stadium.
Gibson recently formed the Josh Gibson Foundation to raise money for a community center in his father's name.
Stories about him "usually began,
"It was the longest home run I ever
saw hit ... and it was a black man
who hit that ball," Ruck said. "In the
United States, Josh gave the Negro
League instant credibility. Along
with Satchel, he was the marquee."
After watching Gibson, who played many exhibition games against white superstars,white Americans had to realize black athletes were not only equals of white athletes, but often their superiors,
Mariners remain unsinkable despite recent loss to Texas
The Associated Press
SEATTLLE — If Ken Griffey Jr. says so, it's good enough for his Seattle Mariners teammates.
"You never give up," Griffey said. "Anything can happen. That's just the way this club goes about things."
The Mari-
The manners figure they didn't come this close in their chase of the Texas Rangers to finish second in the AL West. Not after closing their deficit from nine games on Sept. 11 to one game — before a 13-11 loss in their home finale to Oakland on Sunday.
it's not all over yet," Griffey insisted. "I'm notpacking up my locker until it's all said and done. That's all there is to it."
Added pitcher Chris Bosio: "We've overcome a huge deficit. That speaks a lot for these guys. And we've played great baseball on the road."
The Mariners, who had their club-record 10-game winning streak halted by the A's and two prodigious home runs by Mark McGwire, have eight games left.
They were to open a three-game series Monday night at California before moving to Oakland for a fourgame series starting Thursday. If necessary, they'll make up a rainout next Monday in Cleveland.
Sunday's loss dropped the Mariners two games behind Texas and 1 1/2 back of Baltimore in the AL wildcard race. Still, the Mariners believe they're going to catch the Rangers.
No doubt about it, they say. After all, didn't they sweep a four-game series from Texas last week?
"Let's go 6-1 on this road trip and take our chances," manager Lou Piniella said.
"Hopefully, we can do better," Griffie said. "Hopefully, we can go 7-0 and not have to play Cleveland."
Well, maybe a trip to Cleveland wouldn't be so bad. If it
Lou Piniella
ges the Mariners a second straight AL West championship.
"We'll go back to Cleveland if we have to," Alex Rodriguez said. "We'll go to China if we have to. We don't care."
Although the Mariners lost the finale of a homestand that got them back in the division race, they nearly won by overcoming a 13-3 deficit after 5 1/2 innings. They scored seven runs in the bottom of the fifth
"The way we've been swinging the bats, we feel we can come back any
time," said Edgar Martinez, the Mariners' two-time AL batting champion who was 8-for-10 in the Oakland series to raise his average to .340.
The Mariners scored 32 runs in the A's series, but hitting is not the problem. It's pitching. Piniella used 11 different pitchers in the three games against Oakland. After surrendering three homers on Sunday, the Mariners have given up 210 for the season.
A year ago, the Mariners won a one-game playoff with the Angels to win the division title, sending the franchise into the postseason for the first time.
"Hey, listen, we won 10 in a row and we went 6-1 on this homestead," Piniella said. "What else do you want?"
Griffey loved it, but he could do without the pressure of a winner-take-all playoff, he said.
"Hopefully, we won't have to do that," he said. "Hopefully, Texas will
Enthusiastic Seitzer plays tough baseball, sharpens Cleveland
By Ken Berger
AP Sports Writer
CLEVELAND — Kevin Seitzer waddles into the Cleveland Indians clubhouse, his shaky knees packed in ice. He calls himself another piece of the puzzle. How important a piece, he doesn't seem to realize.
Seitzer brought an 11-game hitting streak into last night's game against the Minnesota Twins. Since the Indians acquired him in a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers, Seitzer is batting 388 with a home run and 14 RBIs. He has made Kenny Lofton an even scarier lead-off hitter, if that can be imagined.
"I sure appreciate all the nice things you guys have been writing in the paper about me," Seitzer said after going 3-for-4 in Sunday's 6-5 victory against the Kansas City Royals, one of his former teams. "But I don't like people making a big fuss over me, if you know what I mean. Because these guys were awesome when I got here."
"He makes a big difference," Lofton said. "His style of play fits right in with ours."
They're better now. Seitzer adds a new wrinkle - hit-and-run, situational hitting, hustle. The Indians tried to bash their way to a World Series title last year and failed. The lineup still has plenty of pop, but it's not one-dimensional anymore.
Seitzer, who will be playing in his first postseason, seems to be the perfect choice to hit behind Lofton. He batted behind Willie Wilson with the Royals.
"Willie Wilson was a great leadoff hitter and an impact player," Seitzer said. "But I think Kenny is
probably faster than Willie was. And there's not as good a bunter in baseball as Kenny is."
Kevin Seltzer
Seitzer's knees are usually too
sore to play the field, but when he does, it's quite a sight. He pats the pitcher on his rear end — hard — after a putout at first base. When the inning is over, he high-fives everyone he can find.
When Seitzer bats, he runs out everything, even routine pop-ups. After the game, he ambles into the clubhouse like a mummy, with bags of ice the size of grocery bags taped to his legs.
In sports, players like Seitzer can bring out the best in teammates. They also can make those who don't play hard look bad.
"He brings a lot of enthusiasm, but a lot of guys play hard," Lofton said. "Seitzer's just one part of it."
The sometimes volatile Indians clubhouse has been calm lately. Seitzer wants to keep it that way.
"You guys have really been nice to me," Seitzer said. "Try to be nice to everybody else, please."
On Sunday, not even Albert Belle could dampen Seitzer's enthusiism. Belle motioned in disgust when Seitzer failed to score from second on Belle's single. The slugger then refused to slap hands with Seitzer in the dugout. Seitter just blew it off.
It probably wouldn't matter to him anyway.
"I don't think he was upset with me." Seitzer said.
"All I really care about is win-
ning." Seitzer said.
Baseball-broadcasting duo scores shot in playoffs
In the last seven years ESPN has done more for baseball than anyone else, and I don't think baseball has been as appreciative as it should be." Joe Morgan ESPN broadcaster
By John Nelson
AP Sports Writer
Don't get him wrong. After seven years of baseball at ESPN, Joe Morgan is glad to finally make the playoffs.
"It's just that I think baseball should be the one that's excited," Morgan said.
"In the last seven years ESPN has done more for baseball than anyone else, and I don't think baseball has been as appreciative as it should be."
There is real justice in Morgan and play-by-play man Jon Miller getting a shot at the playoffs. They have been together since ESPN's first season in 1990, and in that time, they have become the best baseball broadcast team on television.
ESPN will do as many as 12
division series games beginning with a doubleheader on Tuesday, marking the first time major league baseball's playoffs have appeared on cable TV. ESPN's other two broadcast teams will be Chris Berman with Buck Martinez and Gary Thorne with Dave Campbell.
NBC and Fox will share the rest of the division series games. NBC will then do the American League playoffs, while Fox has the National League playoffs and World Series.
"We're happy to do it, obviously." Morgan said, "but I think baseball is getting even more from this than ESPN. For seven years, we've been there day in and day out, every day of the week. The networks, they're just there on the weekends."
Morgan, a former Cincinnati Red, was a first-ballot Hall of Famer whose 22-year career left a mark that most major league second baseman could never hope to hit. Now, he describes himself as a fan first, an announcer second.
"If you remember a few years ago when CBS had baseball, you never even knew when they'd be on the air. I'd get upset because I didn't know if a game was going to be on or not," Morgan said. "That really hurt baseball."
Morgan also will join NBC's coverage throughout the playoffs, working in a three-man booth with Bobs Costas and Uecker. It looks like Fox's No. 1 team in the championship series and World Series will be Joe Buck, Tim McCarver and Bob Brenley.
"I've worked for all the networks," Morgan said, "but the one thing that baseball doesn't understand is that until ESPN came along, nobody knew who the Seattle players were, who the Indians were. All they knew was the Yankees or the Dodgers, the teams in big market cities. We introduced people to Ken Griffey Jr."
OUT TAKES: Morgan was no overnight success as a broadcaster. He first did college games for ESPN in 1986. He talked too fast, he was hard to understand, and he just didn't communicate very well. Now, he's among the very best of the analysts along with Jim Kaeat, who fills in on Fox, and Uecker.
"It was the same for me in baseball. I wasn't very good at first. I had to work very hard at it," Morgan said. "But I'm
used to it. I was always the smallest guy out there, so I always had to work hard."
One advantage Morgan and Miller have against the other top baseball broadcast teams is familiarity.
"I would be less than honest if I said we clicked right away," Morgan said. "For one thing, he was from a radio background, and I had never done anything but TV. I'd say we've been very, very comfortable with each other the past four years."
Costas and Uecker have been together three years at NBC, but first there was the strike, and now NBC doesn't do regular-season games. So they haven't had a chance to work together much.
Since this is Fox's first season, none of its teams have been together long, although
That was an uncomfortable situation, at best. Jack Buck came from radio, and he stepped all over McCarver, who tends to get underfoot of even the most parsimonious partners.
By design or coincidence, ESPN's baseball teams seem to spring out of a slightly different school of thought. At both Fox and NBC, the play-by-play announcers play straight man to the analysts. At ESPN, it's Morgan and Martinez playing straight man to Miller and Berman.
"Jon is probably even funnier off camera than he is on camera," Morgan said, searching for the proper way to describe his partner.
"Jon is kind of like he is,"he said.
No bloodletting or medical experiments required!
McCarver did work with Joe Buck's father, Jack, at CBS.
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