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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas

Sports

Wednesday, July 22, 1998

LLers open `B' division subsectionals


PECOS, July 22 -- The first of three Pecos teams to earn a
trip to the subsectional baseball tournament will also be
the first to play in them, when the Little League ~`B'
All-Stars take on the Lubbock-area's District 2 champions
tonight at 8 p.m., at the Lubbock Southwest Little League
complex.

It's the first-ever trip to subsectionals for Pecos in the
9-10 year-old division, in their first year of participation
in the youngest of the five Little League Baseball
divisions. Pecos' 11-12 year-old Little Leaguers will open
their subsectional tournament on Thursday in Midland against
the Amarillo area's District 1 champion, while the Junior
League All-Star team of 13-year-olds drew a first round bye
in their subsectional. They'll open play in Big Spring on
Friday against the winner of the first round game between
the District 2 and District 3 (Midland-Odessa-El Paso-Big
Spring) champs.

The `B' squad went through District 4 play undefeated,
routing North Concho in their opener, 15-1, then pulling
away from San Angelo Lake View in the sixth inning of their
second round game to win, 11-5. Pecos scored a 6-3 victory
at San Angelo Western in the semifinals before coming back
last Friday to beat Western at home, 3-2, to claim the title.

Eddie Vela picked up three of the `B' team's four wins,
twice as a starter and once in relief against Lake View,
while Isiah Rayos pitched Pecos to their 6-3 victory at
Western.

Win or lose, the `B' team will play again on Thursday in
the double-elimination tournament, against either the
District 1 or District 3 representative. Two straight
victories would give Pecos Friday off, with the championship
game scheduled for Saturday.

Losses in the subsectionals are carried over into the
sectional finals, which are scheduled to be played in either
Snyder or Abilene next Tuesday. The winner there will move
on to the State Little League Tournament, scheduled this
year for San Antonio.

Niners bank on Bill after Policy canceled


By DENNIS GEORGATOS
AP Sports Writer
SAN FRANCISCO, July 22 -- Carmen Policy apparently is out as
the San Francisco 49ers' president, and his replacement
could be Bill Walsh, whose decade-long stay as coach
coincided with the team's rise to power in the NFL.

The stunning changes at the highest administrative levels
come in the midst of the team's summer training camp and
could signal that Eddie DeBartolo is about to regain control
of the club he co-owns with his sister, Denise DeBartolo
York.

The departure of Policy, a chief architect of the 49ers'
success in his eight years as club president, was first
reported by CNN/SI on its Web site Tuesday night. It was
also reported that Walsh, who led San Francisco to three
Super Bowl wins in 10 years as coach, is a likely candidate
to replace him, at least on an interim basis.

Policy is expected to pursue an executive position with the
expansion Cleveland Browns, who will begin play in 1999.

As word of the changes spread, team vice president Dwight
Clark and coach Steve Mariucci were seen meeting with public
relations executives Tuesday night at the club's training
camp in Stockton.

Policy's stay with the club had become tenuous since it
became known earlier this year that his relationship with
Eddie DeBartolo had soured.

``I'm not exactly stunned but I'm sorry that it came to
this,'' Clark told The Press Democrat of Santa Rosa. ``But
as far as this team is concerned, we have a great team
assembled and we're going to go play football.''

Policy reportedly informed NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue
of his decision last weekend and flew to Youngstown, Ohio,
on Tuesday and personally handed his resignation to Mrs.
York.

She assumed active ownership of the franchise in December
from her brother, who gave up his role as team chairman
after the U.S. attorney's office in New Orleans told him he
could be indicted in a federal investigation involving a
Louisiana gambling fraud case.

However, eight months have passed without any charges filed
against DeBartolo, although the inquiry remains open.

In the meantime, DeBartolo has moved to resume control of
the team, entering into negotiations with his sister over
her share of the club.

Larry Thrailkill, chief financial officer of the family-run
Edward J. DeBartolo Corp, was expected to meet with Eddie
DeBartolo as soon as today, and DeBartolo also was expected
to speak with Tagliabue.

It was during DeBartolo's withdrawal from active ownership
that he had a falling out with Policy, who had said publicly
he didn't expect to remain with the 49ers if DeBartolo
returned.

The two, friends for 30 years and once described as close as
brothers, have not spoken to each other since a heated
meeting in January.

DeBartolo believed Policy was somehow trying to take over
the 49ers himself or organize a group to bid on the team and
buy it from the DeBartolo family, something Policy has
denied.

Policy joined the 49ers front office in 1983 as vice
president and legal counsel. He became team president in
1991 and was regarded as one of the top executives in the
league. His work with the salary cap and recruitment of free
agents was widely praised as a key factor in San Francisco's
1994 Super Bowl campaign, the most recent of the team's five
Super Bowl titles.

Hot Juan reaches 110 in Rangers' win


KANSAS CITY, Mo., July 22 (AP) -- The comparisons to Hack
Wilson are becoming more frequent for Juan Gonzalez.

The Texas Rangers slugger is aware he is on pace to break
Wilson's 68-year-old single-season record of 190 RBIs in a
season, but he insists the pressure to maintain that pace
didn't contribute to a recent streak of nine games without
an RBI. It also did not motivate him to drive in nine runs
in the three games since slump ended.

``In my mind, I know everybody's talking about Hack Wilson's
record, but I'm playing my game. I'm just taking it
day-by-day,'' said Gonzalez, who homered twice and drove in
five runs in Tuesday night's 15-5 rout of the Kansas City
Royals.

Gonzalez has a major-league leading 110 RBIs in 99 games.
Wilson had 103 RBIs after the same number of games in 1930.

Gonzalez hit a solo homer in the second inning and a
three-run shot in the sixth that gave Texas a 15-4 lead. He
also had an RBI single in the Rangers' nine-run first
inning.

``The last three games, I've been trying to be more
patient,'' Gonzalez said. ``I've been trying too hard and
maybe losing a little bit of my mechanics.''

Gonzalez wasn't the only Ranger with a hot bat, as Texas hit
a season-high six home runs against the Royals. That matched
the Royals' record for most home runs by an opponent, first
set by the Boston Red Sox in 1977.

Texas' Roberto Kelly and Mike Simms each hit three-run
homers in the first inning. Simms hit his off starter Jose
Rosado (4-8) and Kelly against reliever Jim Pittsley.

All four of the Rangers' hits against Pittsley were home
runs. Kevin Elster hit a leadoff homer in the third inning
for an 11-3 lead, and Rusty Greer led off the fourth with a
homer that made it 12-3.

``I didn't have to tell anybody anything (about Pittsley),''
Kelly said. ``It was obvious that everybody was on their
game and swinging the bat well.''

Rick Helling (13-5) pitched a seven-hitter with three
strikeouts and no walks. He retired 15 batters on fly balls.
It was Helling's second complete game of the season. He went
the distance on April 3 in a 5-0 win at Toronto.

``That wasn't an easy game to pitch,'' Texas manager Johnny
Oates said. ``Rick did just what we wanted him to do, which
was throw the ball in the strike zone and make them swing
the bat.''

Helling's 13 wins put him second in the AL behind the
Yankees' David Cone, who also won on Tuesday night.

``You get a big lead, the main thing you want to do is get
your team on and off the field as fast as you can,'' Helling
said. ``You want to keep them out of the heat, let them get
back to swinging the bats again. I gave up a few runs, but I
was trying to make quick innings for us and save the
bullpen.''

Eight of the Rangers' first-inning runs were unearned, the
result of an error by Royals third baseman Dean Palmer, who
misplayed a grounder by leadoff hitter Mark McLemore.

Rosado lasted just two-thirds of an inning, giving up eight
runs and six hits.

Will Clark and Fernando Tatis also had RBIs in the first.

Jeff Conine and Johnny Damon hit solo home runs for the
Royals. Conine added an RBI single in the seventh inning.

Gymnast at Games paralyzed


By HAL BOCK
AP Sports Writer
UNIONDALE, N.Y., July 22 -- For every gymnast, the worst
fear is losing control during their gravity-defying routines
as they spin and somersault through the air.

That worst fear became reality for 17-year-old Sang Lan
during warmups for the women's vault competition at the
Goodwill Games, and today the Chinese gymnast is paralyzed
after landing on her head as she practiced for the
competition.

Sang was attempting a forward vault when she tumbled,
landing on the floor of the Nassau Coliseum head-first. She
was removed on a stretcher to the Nassau County Medical
Center where Dr. Brock Schnebel, chief medical officer of
the games, evaluated her injury.

Schnebel said X-rays and a CAT scan showed Sang with a
fractured-dislocation of the sixth and seventh cervical
vertebrae.

``This has resulted in an injury to her spinal cord,'' the
doctor said.

Schnebel said Sang was unable to move her legs and had only
minimal motion of her arms.

``She cannot feel from her mid-chest down,'' he said.
``This is consistent with a spinal cord injury at the C-6,
C-7 (sixth and seventh vertebrae).''

Schnebel said it was too early to predict if Lan could
recover from her injuries and be able to walk again.

The other gymnasts were unaware of how seriously Sang had
been injured and the competition started on time, with
American Vanessa Atler winning the event.

At the track, Michael Johnson showed he's still the boss,
Maurice Greene left Donovan Bailey almost speechless and one
of track's most enduring stars showed he might at last be
finished.

Johnson, the 1996 Olympic 200 and 400 champion, erased any
thoughts that his career might be on a downslide, winning
the 400 in a meet-record 43.76 seconds.

Johnson's time was the 12th-fastest in history -- he holds
nine of the best -- and the fastest in the world since he
ran 43.75 at Waco, Texas, on April 19, 1997.

Greene, who has been bad-mouthed by Bailey since winning
last year's 100-meter world championship, quieted the
Canadian by racing to victory in 9.96. Bailey appeared to
shut down with 80 meters left and finished seventh at 10.30,
far off his world record of 9.84.

``I guess I'm the world's fastest man,'' Greene said,
summing up the outcome. ``I'm just getting started.''

But Sergei Bubka, the greatest pole-vaulter in history,
gave more signs that the end of his career is near.

The 34-year-old Ukrainian, who has set the world record 35
times and is the only one to clear 20 feet, no-heighted for
the second time in three meets. On his final try at 18 feet,
8¼ inches, the 90-second time limit ran out and Bubka did
not even make an attempt at the bar.

Jeff Hartwig won the pole vault with an American record
vault of 19-8½, breaking his American record by one-quarter
inch.

Jackie Joyner-Kersee, the 36-year-old world record-holder
in the heptathlon who has not completed a multi-event since
the 1996 Olympic trials, looked woefully out of shape at the
start of her final heptathlon. The two-time Olympic gold
medalist finished her first four events in second place with
3,833 points, 34 behind leader DeDee Nathan.

``It's been difficult,'' Joyner-Kersee said. ``I'm trying
to stay positive and execute. I'm a fighter.''

The final three heptathlon events are Tuesday.

Atler was convinced somebody would overtake her 9.662
score. But nobody ever did, sending the 16-year-old from
Canyon Country, Calif., home with a gold medal.

``It was nerve wracking,'' she said of watching the other
gymnasts. ``I was very nervous each time someone would go
up. I was really nervous after the last vault. They were
really good competitors.''

Finishing behind Atler were Elena Dolgopolova of Russia,
who took the silver with 9.600. Simona Amanar of Romania,
winner of the bronze in the all-around competition on
Sunday, took another bronze in the vault with a 9.587.



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Pecos Enterprise
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324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
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Copyright 1998 by Pecos Enterprise