UN I V E R S I T Y D A I L Y K A N S A N
3B
Thursday. February 22, 1996
Tvler Wirken / KANSAN
First-year Kansas baseball assistant coach Steve Lienhard throws batting practice at Hoglund-Maupin Stadium yesterday. The Jayhawk assistant played part of last season as a replacement player.
Former pro helps Jayhawks' pitching
By Dan Geiston
Kansan sportswriter
One year ago this week, Major League Baseball was in its greatest state of turmoil.
Baseball players were on strike, forcing owners to open spring training with replacement players. Replacement ball sparked a furious debate amongst union players, fans and other personnel.
One man who experienced replacement ball up close was first-year Kansas baseball assistant coach Steve Lienhard.
After a five-year professional baseball career, Lienhard had finished working as a pitching coach in the minor leagues when he was asked to play replacement ball.
But it was more than financial reasons that Lienhard agreed to play.
"I was sitting at home doing camps and clinics when the Rangers called," he said. "They asked me if I would be a replacement player. At the time, I needed money so I did it."
"I was done playing ball," he said. "I thought it would help me get a coaching job."
It was a trying situation for most involved. The replacement players were lashed out at by Major Leaguers who labeled them scabs or strikebreakers. Detroit Tiger manager Sparky Anderson even walked out on his players. Fans were torn.
"The problem wasn't really with guys like me," Lienhard said. "It was with the Double-A and Triple-
A prospectse who tried to use it as a stepping stone."
But Blenhard said he enjoyed his time as a replacement player.
"I thought I'd be there for two weeks and ended up doing it two months," he said. "It was a good experience. It was a learning experience."
When replacement ball ended, Lienhard's association with professional baseball also ended. But it also allowed Lienhard the chance to get back into the Big Eight Conference, where he enjoyed his greatest success.
From 1983-87, he played for Oklahoma State. The Cowboys made three trips to the College World Series, highlighted by a second-place finish in 1987. That year, Lienhard went 9-3 and was the Cowboys co-captain.
Lienhard learned lessons there that he hopes to pass on to this year's Jayhawk team.
"I think it was an expectation of success where we expected to win the Big Eight, the regional and to make the College World Series," he said. "It was what baseball was all about. What good talent was all about. They brought my talents up to another level."
Lienhard was drafted in the 28th round by the San Francisco Giants in 1987. He had some success with the Giants — he was the 1989 California League Pitcher of the Year — but was released on the last day of spring training in 1991.
He was then picked up by the Milwaukee Brewers, but was
released after two years in the minors.
"The thing I felt good about was that I always gave it all I could," he said.
But Lienhard had displayed enough knowledge about the game that he was offered minor league coaching jobs. He coached at various levels in the Giants organization and on a co-op team. A co-op team is comprised mostly of Class A players who need more playing time.
"You don't coach in the minor leagues unless you show people you have the work attitude and maturity to be in that situation," he said.
A great work ethic and the ability to handle college kids also appealed to Kansas baseball coach Bobby Randall. When the restricted-earnings spot opened in November, Lienhard applied, turned down an offer to coach in the Brewers organization, and was hired by Randall in January.
"He is a proven winner who brings in a lot of Big Eight and professional baseball experience," Randall said. "I believe Steve will fit in with what we are trying to do with this program."
Lienhard said he loves being a Jayhawk, but wishes he could spend more time with his family in Wichita. He stays with his uncle in Lawrence.
"I love it here," Lienhard said. "I couldn't have wanted it any better."
Military may have new role at Olympics
The Associated Press
ATLANTA — Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is complaining that some of the 10,000 military personnel assigned to the Atlanta Olympics may be used to drive buses, cook or provide laundry service for athletes.
In a letter, McCain, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, warned the Department of Defense against designating $7 million to provide more than Just security services for the 1996 Summer Games.
activities to be totally inappropriate." McCain wrote.
"I find the use of our military personnel for such
Since 1992, the Department of Defense has appropriated more than $35 million for security at the Atlanta Games. The Senate Armed Services Committee has not yet been asked for the additional $7 million.
He sent a similar letter to Billy Payne, president of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games.
Dick Yarbrough, director of communications for the Atlanta committee, said Olympic organizers had no intention of using military personnel as cooks or valets for Olympic athletes, although there had been discussion about using them to transport athletes.
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