Tuesday, September 29, 1987AFhe Battalion/Page 9 1 Sports £S I ■ m Releasing CruuuzzzM! bad decision d him a person i who wages war re gravest crime or Sharia. , despite Montazei :h Khomeini, the standing of Jr >eaker is the a in Iran after the By Anthony Wilson Sports Writer For the past 13 years, lef t Field in the Houston Astrodome was Jose Cruz’s domain. For most of those 13 years Viewpoint the Astros played like a ng Rafsanjani nts to end Iran’s a struggle with ra ie Minister Husse ensified in rece position of Moat lical, apparemlj li ars before toppled Shah 1 ihiavi, Hashemi angling a pro-slis Ayatollah mtenced to 1 in 1979 when tile. and Shams c\ "fei iti an nge : anonymity, for Iran’s Revofc 1 Iran would ana: onday’s capture caught in the actt an’s official Islani 10 direct quotes, he destroyer f of only three su sputtering baseball team from hell while Jose cruised along, the model of consistency and excellence. Before this season, Astros fans voted Cruz the most popular player in franchise history in a Houston Post readers poll. He is the all-time team leader in games played, at-bats, hits, triples, runs batted in and total wses. He has a .293 career average with 138 home runs, 952 RBI and 288 stolen bases. But most important, he gave ev erything he had — physically, men tally and emotionally — every game. When the Astros lost the last game series to the Philadelphia Phil lies in the 1980 National League lhampionship, Cruz sat on the bench alone and wept over the lost opportunity of playing in the World Series. Cruz had only two faults in the eyes of his employers. He turned the big four-oh this year, which in the world of profes sional sports means he could be a Methusalah’s kid brother. He also makes $773,333 a year, which even in the world of professional sports is considered big bucks. So Astros management, in effect, said, “Well Jose, tne past 13 years have been um, but adios” and de cided not to sign Cruz to a contract for the 1988 season. mistake. And for three rea sons — Cruz’s loyalty, his leadership and popularity and the fact that the man can still play ball. First the loyalty factor. In his prime, although underrated, Cruz was one of the best players in the game on one of the worst teams in the league. He easily could have played out his contract in Houston, declared himself a free agent and waited for the million dollar offers to come pouring in from New York, Los An geles, Kansas City and other peren nial playoff contenders. But he didn’t. He stuck with the “Lastros”, “Disastros” and all the other cutesy names writers stuck on Houston’s last place team. And even tually the Astros and Cruz were rec ognized as winners, which is all he really wanted. Second, Cruz is the team’s leader and the crowd’s favorite. He is the only four-time winner of the Astros’ Most Valuable Player Award. “He’s been the franchise,” relief pitcher Dave Smith said. “He’s been the basis of the Houston Astros. When I first heard about Houston, he was the only guy I knew.” The fans show their appreciation of Cruz every time he steps to the plate. Along with Dome announcer J. Fred Duckett, they cheer “Jose Cruuuuuzzzzz!!!!!” as that familiar number 25 approaches the batters box. “I’ll always remember my fans,” Cruz said. “After all those good years with the Astros, I’ll remember the people who were so nice to me. Nobody can ever take that away from me.” Third, Jose Cruz can still contrib ute to the Houston Astros. Although his numbers dipped to well below his lifetime averages, he still hit .245 with 11 homers and 38 RBI in 119 games. In the first week of the season, Cruz hit .400 with two homers and five RBI and was named the Na tional League Player of the Week. Since the All-Star break, Cruz has been limited to pinch hitting. “If you look at my record,” Cruz said. “I always do better in the sec ond half. I didn’t have a chance to do it this year.” “I don’t think we have to give a re ason,” General Manager Dick Wag ner said about the team’s decision. “He’s had a great career with the As tros, but there comes a time when other people have to be given a chance. Time marches on.” I’ve got some news for Wagner. No matter how old Cruz gets, he’ll always be able to outhit Buddy Bian- calana, Dale Berra and Robbie Wine, all of whom will be given a shot at making the team again in spring training. In fact, Cruz may be able to outhit all of them combined. Needless to say, Cruz was sur prised and disappointed in the As tros’ decision, but as Wagner said,“He took the news very much like a man.” “I thought they would offer me something,” Cruz said. “They of fered me nothing. Maybe the reason is the money I make. But I thought they might offer me something for a little less money. “I just hope to play for somebody next year. I know I can still play.” It’s a shame that most teams no longer feel a sense of loyalty to play ers who devote themselves to their team. The Boston Red Sox would never have refused to resign Carl Yastremski, no matter how old he got. The New England Patriots have refused to dump veteran quar terback Steve Grogan and all his valuable experience and knowledge of the game. The Dallas Cowboys haven’t traded the oldest running back in the league, Tony Dorsett, just because they have a young stud named Herschel Walker in the sta ble. And even though Kareem Abdul- Jabbar is cursed with the double whammy of being old and overpaid, the Los Angeles Lakers are still standing by their man. It’s a pity the Astros didn’t decide to do the same thing. “I have nothing to be ashamed of,” Cruz said. “I played hard every day and never caused any trouble. It’s a shame.I can’t finish my career here.” It certainly is, Jose. Second-half stretch leaves Giants on top SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Timely trades, better health and great pitching have made the San Francisco Giants the best team in a division that kept getting worse as the season dragged on. The Giants already have en sured a tie for their first National League West title since 1971 and sought to clinch it Monday night with a victory in San Diego or a loss by second-place Cincinnati to Atlanta. “We’ve had enough help from other clubs this season,” San Francisco Manager Roger Craig said. “We’re going to win it.” The Giants are now playing like winners, and the inability of any other contender in the West to win after the All-Star break gave them the chance to finish first. Cincinnati, which threatened to run away with the division ear lier this season, was torn apart by clubhouse bickering and owner Marge Schott’s meddling. Even Pete Rose could not help tne Reds from sinking below .500 and only this week did they surface above the break-even point. Houston, the 1986 division champions, never put anything together and was killed by lack of offense. Nolan Ryan is having one of his best seasons ever, but no run support has left him with an 8-14 record. The Los Angeles Dodgers also can’t score. The Dodgers ap peared headed toward their first finish in last place since 1905 un til Atlanta and San Diego struggled. The Braves never showed anything while the Padres could never overcome their 12-42 start. That left the West wide open for the Giants, who played their best ball when it mattered most. • On Aug. 7, they were 53-55 and in third place, five games be hind Cincinnati. That was the day outfielder Candy Maldonado was activated from the disabled list, marking the first time since the end of the 1985 season the Giants did not have someone out of ac tion. Since Maldonado’s activation, San Francisco has gone 32-15 and picked up 12 games in the stand ings. “This has been a special year,” said Maldonado, who has driven home 35 runs in 42 games since returning. Twins ready to clinch AL West against Texas NL East a three-team race; Cards still in front pping Intelligei area several red mined.” :ives, speaking ( ers were trying i er zone, but that until it was swj ■ tankers in hich considers lit Iran-Iraq war. der d race ;ident ST. LOUIS (AP) — Heading into , a the final week of the s ason, St. •"“ILouis Manager Whitey Herzog has a lot of concerns. Not being able to finish off New York or Montreal in the National League East isn’t one of them. The first-place Cardinals have a magic number of five and play their final seven games of the season at home — four against the Expos and three against the Mets. On July 23, the Cardinals led the Expos by 9*/2 games and the Mets by lO'/i despite being without ace left hander John Tudor, who was out with a broken leg. Tudor is back and has won six straight, but slugger Jack Clark has been out of the lineup for most of September with a sprained ankle. “I’m concerned because we don’t have Jack Clark,” Herzog said. “I’m concerned because we’re not hitting. But there’s not a lot I can do about it. Just put them out there and play.” The second-place New York Mets started a three-game series in Phila delphia Monday night, trailing the Cards by 2‘/a games. The Cardinals have a record of 35-34 since the All-Star break and are 12-13 for the month of Septem ber. “I thought they played over their heads in tne first half,” Mets Man ager Davey Johnson said after New York’s victory over Pittsburgh on Sunday. The Expos have won 10 of 14 games with the Cardinals this season and all they wanted to do was arrive at Busch Stadium for Tuesday’s doubleheader with a chance. The Cardinals gave the third- place Expos that opportunity Sun day by dropping a 7-3 decision to Chicago while Montreal beat Phila delphia 5-3 to move within three games. • .