The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, April 02, 1987, Image 11

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    ooden to be treated
for drug use problem
are Due
15-0544
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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) —
wight Gooden, the talented but
oubled New York Mets pitcher,
greed Wednesday to undergo treat-
ent for a “drug use problem”
father than be suspended by Com-
issioner Peter Ueberroth.
The 1985 National League Cy
Young award winner probably
■'ould have started on Tuesday
when the World Series champions
Opened the season against Pitts-
lurgh.
I Mets General Manager Frank
Kashen said Gooden voluntarily
look a drug test earlier this week and
it gave “some indication of past us-
|ge, but the extent is uncertain.”
I Edwin Durso, baseball’s secretary-
measurer and executive vice presi-
aent, said Cashen called Ueberroth
6n Monday and told him “there was
a dear indication of a drug prob-
Km.”
■ “The commissioner made it per-
iiectly clear to the Mets that, consis-
tent with past policy, he was pre-
Bared to take severe disciplinary
felction against Dwight Gooden if the
player did not seek an appropriate
remedy,” Durso said.
■ Ueberroth, in a statement from
■handler, Ariz., said: “Our policy is
ample. If a player is willing to help
Rmself, he gets one chance. If he is
unwilling to cooperate or a problem
Occurs a second time, then we will
‘take the penalty route.”
I Ueberroth conditionally sus
pended 11 players, among them
Keith Hernandez of the Mets, in
March 1986 following testimony
during drug trials in Pittsburgh.
I All 11 were allowed to keep play
ing if they donated part of their sal
ary to drug programs, performed
Ibminunity service and agreed to
undergo drug testing.
I Gooden agreed to treament fol
lowing a 1 ‘/2-hour meeting Wednes
day morning with Cashen and Joe
Mcllvaine, the club vice president of
operations.
Rumors involving Gooden, 22,
and drugs surfaced last summer af
ter the pitcher’s often brilliant out
ings became inconsistent. His record
dropped from 24-4 in his Cy Young
season to 17-6 while his earned run
average rose from 1.53 to 2.84.
Gooden also struggled through a
series of off-the-field incidents. He
missed the Mets’ ticker tape parade
after winning the World Series and
then got into a fight with Tampa po
lice in December.
The Mets placed Gooden on the
15-day disabled list, and team
spokesman Jay Horwitz said, “We
don’t know when he’ll be back.”
Jim Neader, Gooden’s agent, said
Gooden would “go in for an evalua-
“Our policy is simple. If a
player is willing to help
himself, he gets one
chance. If he is unwilling
to cooperate or a problem
occurs a second time, then
we will take the penalty
route. ”
Peter Ueberroth
tion soon, probably by the end of the
week,” most likely in New York.
Neader said Gooden “doesn’t
think there is a major problem, but
there is a question in his mind. He
wants to get it answered. Dwight is
feeling positive, he wants to get this
taken care of.”
Gooden’s father, Dan, said he had
“no idea” his son had a drug prob
lem.
“He said he’d never messed with
the stuff,” Dan Gooden told the
Tampa Tribune. “I don’t know what
to say. It’s kind of stunning.”
Cashen told other Mets about
Gooden’s problem Wednesday
morning before the team left for an
exhibition game against Pittsburgh
in Bradenton.
“The first reaction in the locker
room naturally was shock,” Horwitz
said, “but you could tell everyone
there felt a lot of sympathy and
stands behind Dwight 100 percent.”
Gooden was the National League
Rookie of the Year in 1984 when he
jumped from Class A Lynchburg to
the majors at age 19.
Thursday, April 2,1987TThe Battalion/Page 11
Sports
Aggies complete sweep of Eagles
Photo by Bill Hughes
Texas A&M’s shortstop Ever Magallanes tags out to steal second base. The Aggies finished a sweep
North Texas State’s Jesse Ramon as he attempts of the Eagles by winning the final game 9-5.
By Hal L. Hammons
Sports Writer
The Texas A&M baseball team
completed its sweep of North
Texas State Wednesday af
ternoon at Olsen Field with a 9-5
victory.
Three Aggie pitchers scattered
eight Eagle hits to help raise
A&M’s record to 30-12-1. Gary
Geiger (6-2) got the win in relief
of starter Randy Pryor. Pat Wer-
nig got the save. NTSU dropped
to 9-27.
The A&M offense came from
all quarters, as six Aggie batters
got more than one hit. Second
baseman Terry Taylor hit a pair
of doubles, and outfielder Tim
McWilliam contributed a double
and a triple.
A&M Coach Mark Johnson
said, “(McWilliam) led our team
in hitting in the fall, so he hasn’t
shown what he can do yet.”
But the star of the show was
undoubtedly freshman John
Byington. The third baseman got
two hits of his own, including a
towering home run that cleared
the left-center field wall with
room to spare.
Johnson said about Byington,
“The gifts he has came from God,
not from coaches or from any
body else.”
Byington started the offensive
show for the Aggies in the second
inning. After drawing a walk, he
stole second base and then third
when he alertly noticed the third
baseman talking with the pitcher
and nobody covering the base.
The first of Taylor’s doubles
brought him home for the game’s
first score.
NTSU tied the score in the
fourth inning as first baseman
Tony Olivares homered off
Pryor, but the Aggies rallied in
the sixth to blow open the game.
Shortstop Ever Magallanes
opened the sixth with a single.
Livingstone sacrificed him to sec
ond, and Byington singled to
move Magallanes to third.
Center fielder Chuck Knob
lauch grounded into a fielder’s
choice that forced Byington at
second, but it allowed Magallanes
to break the tie.
Then with two outs, McWilliam
tripled to score Knoblauch, and
Taylor brought him home with a
double to the left-center field
gap. First baseman Jim Neumann
followed with an another double
to score T aylor.
In the seventh, NTSU’s Keith
Cullum singled and moved to sec
ond on a ground out. Third base-
man Jesse Ramon singled to
move Cullum to third, and a
Magallanes throwing error al
lowed Cullum to score.
However, the Aggies followed
with offense of their own. With
two outs, Byington’s home run
brought home designated hitter
Livingstone, who had singled,
and the score was 7-3 Aggies.
After two A&M errors allowed
another Eagle run in the top half
of the eighth, McWilliam doubled
and Taylor was struck by a pitch.
Neumann bunted the runners
along, and right fielder Don
Wren’s single brought both
home.
Eagle DH Danny Suges
walked, and Ramon homered to
open the ninth, but Wernig set
tled down and retired the next
three batters for the save.
Johnson said he was very
pleased with his team’s effort. He
said the series, coupled with the
three-game sweep of Texas Tech
last weekend, will provide some
much-needed momentum as the
Aggies enter an important home-
stand against Baylor this week
end. The first game will be at 7
p.m. Friday, and a doubleheader
will start at 2 p.m. Saturday.
“FREE BOOKS”
rry Sauce, GW
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You could win a $200 voucher to help buy next semester’s
textbooks at The TAMU Bookstore, compliments of Lucky
Leaf® Apple Sauce! look for entryblanks and the full details at
participating Texas A&M campus snack bars. Rich, thick
Lucky Leaf® Apple Sauce comes in handy single-serving
packs that are just right for snacking, perfect for packing.
When it comes to snack food, it’s a natural!
No purchase necessary.
Offer ends April 10,1987
Texas A&M University Food Services
“Quality First”
Imagine finding a
new love A on your
wedding
day...
NSC OPAS and The Houston Ballet
present "La Sylphide", the story of a
young bridegroom who awakens on
his wedding day in the presence of a
slender, graceful young woman (a
sylph). He discovers he is in love with
the sylphide as his young bride-to-
be prepares for the ceremony.
Festive guests are arriving,
including a fortune-telling hag
whb prophesies that he will not
marry his betrothed.
"La Sylphide" will be performed
by the Houston Ballet, Thursday,
April 9 in Ruddier Auditorium
at 8 p.m. The Houston Ballet
performance
marks the end
of the NSC Opera
and Performing Arts Society's four
teenth season.
Great seats are still available for this beautiful, suspenseful drama.
To find out how the love triangle unfurls, order your tickets at the NSC
Box Office today. VISA and MasterCard call 845-1234.
v lemorial Student Center • Texas A6r v l l ni\ersit> • Box I I • College Station T\ 77844-9081