6B
Wednesday, April 9, 1997
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Royals' home opener promising
Kansas City ready to re-embrace national pastime
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — If general manager Herk Robinson had sat up all night writing the perfect scenario for Kansas City's home opener, it would have gone something like this:
Right-fielder Jermaine Dye gets a double and two singles. Jeff King hits a home run to keep the game tied in the eighth.
Then, with the game still tied in the ninth and 40,000 fans sitting nervously on the edges of their seats, Jay Bell's third hit of the day scoots the winrun to third.
A few minutes later, King lifts a sacrifice fly to left to score the winning run in a 6-5 Royals' victory.
That's exactly what happened.
At the first home game of the season, Kansas City reaped immediate rewards from Robinson's off-season moves that
brought in Bell, King and Dye.
Together, the three newcomers were 8- for-13.
"They're all talented," manager Bob Boone said. "The whole group is dynamite."
Before the game, the Royals returned to the good old days and retired the jersey numbers of two of their greatest players and the manager who guided them to the 1985 World Series championship.
Frank White's No. 20, George Brett's No. 5, and the No. 10 worn by the late Dick Howser were retired as fans gave a standing ovation.
"That was awesome," said White, perhaps the greatest defensive second basemen of his era. "Seeing all the fans and so many old friends really brought back memories of the old days."
The numbers, cast in bronze four feet high, now are displayed just beneath the electronic scoreboard in center field.
Brett, who retired with a .305 lifetime average and three AL batting titles, also was honored earlier Monday when a bridge spanning Interstate 70 near the stadium was renamed for him.
Nancy Howser represented her late
hus band,
Dick, who
died of brain cancer in 1987 and remains the only manager to guide the Royals to a World Series championship.
As each one got out of a stretch limousine and walked down a red carpet to
the pitchers mound, the crowd cheered as video highlights flashed on the jumbotron — a mop-haired Brett spraying base hits all over the field with his quick, classic swing. White leaping and diving and making one brilliant play after another; a pensive Howser in the dugout; Howser running onto the field after the last out was made in the '85 World Series.
The ceremony also marked the 25th anniversary of the opening of Royals Stadium, which was renamed Kauffman Stadium in 1993 in honor of the late Ewing
Kauffman, the club's founder.
"Being a native of Kansas City makes today really special for me," White said. "It was wonderful."
Twelve-year-old Nathan George wore a bright blue Royals cap and a light blue Royals jacket.
On a chilly but sunny day, a sellout crowd was having a good time as well, excited about the prospects of a retooled offense.
He also wore his glove just in case a foul ball got through the net behind home plate where he was sitting.
"I bet we go to the playoffs this year," he said. "We got a lot of good players in trades this year. I think we're going to hit more home runs, too."
In the late innings, the marketing department probably was rethinking its decision to distribute souvenir baseballs to the first 40,000 fans through the turnstiles.
Play was halted several times as balls sailed out of the stands onto the field.
"It figures," said a woman sitting behind first base. "Out of 40,000 people, you're bound to get a few idiots."
Olympic costs prove too steep for four cities
The Associated Press
Dollars apparently have dashed dreams of holding the 2008 Olympics in half the American cities that were in the race just two months ago.
Officials of the U.S. Olympic Committee said yesterday they expected formal applications — each accompanied by non-refundable, $100,000 deposits — from Cincinnati, Houston, New York and Seattle before a May 1 deadline.
Those four cities have given preliminary indications of solid interest in bidding for 2008, SOC president Bill Hybl and executive director Dick Schultz said.
"We made it very clear to the cities that there are some new requirements and some very tough requirements." Schultz said.
Four other cities that had fancied themselves Olympic host material — Baltimore, Boston, Chicago and Washington — apparently were scared off by new International Olympic Committee mandates that local governments guarantee the billion-dollar budgets of the games.
Hybl said that, once the deadline passed, the USOC's executive committee would review the applications and make a recommendation to the full board about whether the United States should pursue an unprecedented fifth Olympics in 28 years. Hybil said.
Any recommendation would follow a mid-June conference call of the USOC executive committee, with the 100-member board then voting by mail. A final decision about whether to go for 2008 is scheduled to be made at an executive committee meeting in Indianapolis June 28.
"If we decide to go ahead and bid, then we'd put together a very detailed seminar for the cities," Schultz said.
In mid-February, the USOC held a seminar in Philadelphia for cities interested in the Olympics and other events, such as the Pan American Games, USOC conventions and international sports conferences.
More than 40 groups showed up, headed by the eight cities hoping to join Lake Placid, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Salt Lake City as U.S. Olympic hosts since 1980.
For almost four hours, they were bombarded with facts about the high costs of their municipal dream, a quest that could require several billion dollars and last almost a decade.
Chicago quickly got cold feet and last week announced its withdrawal. Although Hybl and Schultz said the door remained open, other officials said little had been heard from Baltimore, Boston and Washington since the Philadelphia session.
The IOC, disappointed by the extremes to which Atlanta's organizers went to finance their $2 billion Olympic budget entirely from private sponsorship, ordered that future bids carry City Hall guarantees to fill any financial holes — including 100 percent financing if that remote possibility proved necessary.
"We don't think we'd have to ask a city to fully indemnify (an Olympic budget)," Schultz said. "But the mayors are going to have to sign off on this."
Firm to play virtual ball
The Associated Press
Seattle company will air game live via Internet
LAS VEGAS — The baseball game is on. Turn on the computer.
The computer?
That's Rob Glaser's vision of the future.
That's Rob Glasser's vision of the future.
He's chairman of Seattle-based Progressive Networks, whose technology is being used to air today what it calls the first live professional baseball game via the Internet: the Seattle Mariners vs. the Cleveland Indians.
Progressive is among the companies that sells technology letting people see live pictures and hear live audio through the Internet.
Glaser, part owner of the Mariners, negotiated the arrangement with Major League Baseball. It allows Fox Sports Northwest television's broadcast of the Mariners-Indians game to be carried simultaneously on the Internet.
The Internet show won't look as good as television, Glaser said in an interview. The players' movements will look jerky, not fluid like on regular television. Current computer technology can't move video as quickly as television.
"Internet-related technology is evolving everyday, and we will learn from this experience."
MichaelBernstein vice president of business development for Major League Baseball
Michael Bernstein, vice president of business development for Major League Baseball, said, "This is very exciting. Internet-related technology is evolving everyday, and we will learn tremendously from this experience."
Progressive's technology is called RealVideo ABC, CBS, Fox and Time Warner are among the companies that license the technology.
Glaser said a basic version was available free on the Internet.
"Delivering this baseball demonstration with the excitement of Randy Johnson on the mound and Ken Griffey Jr. at bat will give Internet users a real picture to the future of the Internet as the next mass medium," Glaser said.
Home-opener loss to Marlins leaves Cubs with 0-7 record
The Associated Press
CHICAGO — The winless Chicago Cubs matched the worst start in their 122-year history as the Florida Marlins used Charles Johnson's two-run double in the seventh inning to win 5-3 yesterday and go five games above. 500 for the first time.
Al Leiter, whose record is 2-0, allowed five hits and three runs in six innings, walking three and
The loss in the chilly, windy home opener dropped the Cubs to no wins and seven losses, mirroring the start of the 1962 team. To avoid breaking the record on tomorrow, they must defeat the same Florida club that has beaten them four times this season and improved to a 6-1, the major leagues' best record.
striking out six to outpitch Steve Trachsel, whose record is 0-2, on a 29-degree day that included a wind-chill factor of 1 degree.
Trachsel took a three-hitter into the seventh inning before giving up Bobby Bonilla's leadoff single. One out later, Bonilla stole one.
he laid, Donta sore since ond and went to third on catcher Scott Servais' bad throw, the Cubs' 12th error this year. Trachsel walked Devon White and struck out Jeff Conine before Johnson sent the next pitch down the left-field line to put Florida ahead 4-3.
The Marlins added a ninth-inning run on Moises Alou's single and Devon White's RBI double. Robb Nen pitched the ninth inning for his third save.
Johnson, the National League Glove catcher for the last two seasons, caught two Cubs stealing bases and picked Dave Hansen off first base after he led the seventh inning with a pinch-hit single.
Gary Sheffield hit his home run of the season, and he also doubled and scored as the Marlins won
their first road game. They were 28-53 away from Florida last season.
Sammy Sosa hit his first home run and drew a bases-loaded walk that gave the Cubs a 3-2 fifth-inning lead. Sosa, who had 40 home runs and 100 RBIs last season, entered the game with neither and a batting average of .095.
Notes: Attendance was announced at 35,393 below capacity at Wrigley Field, and thousands who held tickets didn't show up. Many of those who did were bundled up in thick coats and blankets. Knowing that the temperature would fall throughout the day, the crosstown White Sox rescheduled last night's game against Toronto for Aug.19.
Consistent hurling solidifies Colorado victories
The Associated Press
DENVER — The pitching-rich Colorado Rockies? Seven games into the season, anything's possible.
Known for their sluggers more than their sliders, the Rockles have allowed only 14 earned runs — and 17 overall — in their last six games. The starters have a stellar 2.08 ERA during that span.
"I can enjoy this, as long as they want to keep throwing up the good innings," Rockies manager Don Baylor said.
The bullpen has been equally effective thus far, and three scoreless innings from Darren Holmes on Monday lowered Colorado's team
ERA to 3.69.
These can't possibly be the same guys who had a 5.59 ERA last season.
"Same guys, just getting better." Rockles pitching coach Frank Funk said. "They're starting to believe in themselves and not worrying about Coors Field. This is home. This is where we have to pitch well. We'll have a bad day. As long as they're few and far between, I'll take it."
At 5,280 feet, Coors Field always will present problems for pitchers because the thin air helps balls fly out of the park. But Kevin Ritz won 17 games last year, many times outlasting opposing pitchers in high-scoring games at home.
three hits and one earned run in a 13-2 win Monday. "You go out there and pitch a good six or seven innings, you're going to have a chance to win." Swift is the key to Colorado's long-term pitching success. He is a sinkerball pitcher who has started more major league games (183) than the rest of the Rockies rotation combined (172).
"Having what I call the lead cow
with the bell on the neck, that's Swifty," Funk said. "Everybody else will just follow his lead."
The Rockies, who led the NL in homers and runs in 1996, have scored 40 runs in the last four games.
If the hitters can avoid a slugging slowdown on the road — Colorado hit just. 219 away from home last year—and the pitchers can keep the ERA less than the unspectacular team record 4.97, the Rockies might turn opponents' worst fears into reality.
"Everybody knows if we get pitching, we're going to be awful tough." Rockies catcher Jeff Reed said. "Bottom line, we've just got to do this the whole season long."
Save time and money... Shop the Classifieds!
GRADS It's Not Too Late GRADUATION ANNOUNCEMENTS Lowest Prices Fastest Service Custom Printed Low Minimum Orders
HIGH QUALITY REGALIA Double Stiched Gown Seams Better Fitting Caps Fuller Tassels
HERFF JONES COLLEGE RINGS
Officially Licensed KU Rings by the maker of
The Heisman Trophy, The Jesse Owens Award, Pun American Games medals,
Olympic Games medals and the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Congratulations on your Achievement and thanks for shopping with us over the years!
Jayhawk Bookstore at the top of Naismith Hill! 1420 Crescent Road 843-3826
Congratulations
to Heather Valler and LaTina Sullivan the Business Manager and Editor for Summer 1997
&
Sarah Scherwinski and Spencer Duncan the Business Manager and Editor for Fall 1997.
We wish you the best of luck! THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Beagle Productions Present:
Saturday April 12th 7 am - 7 pm
FIRE SALE
Hundreds of bicycles, clothing, boots camping and cycling accessories Carhartt workwear and much more!
Don't Miss This Sale!
Cash and Check ONLY Sale held at: 547 N. Locust, N. Lawrence, KS.