Tuesday, September 29, 1987AFhe Battalion/Page 9
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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
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he destroyer f
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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
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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. • .<is
“Ideally, I would like to have been
two down going into St. Louis,”
Montreal Manager Buck Rodgers
said. “But the bottom line is that
we’ve got to win (in St. Louis). The
brass ring is out there. We got to
grab it.”
At the start of the season, the only
thing the Expos were expected to
grab were top draft choices. They
were picked to finish last.
But a strong offense led by Tim
Wailach, Tim Raines, Hubie Brooks
and Andres Galarraga, and unex
pected pitching contributions from
Dennis Martinez and Pascual Perez,
have the Expos poised to win the di
vision.
“It’s an opportunity to leave there
ahead of them,” Raines said of the
series in St. Louis. “We have to win
at least three. If we can win four, the
momentum will definitely be with
us. We’ve done well all year against
them. But it’s different circum
stances this time.”
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Heading
into the final week of the season, the
American League West-leading
Minnesota Twins were in good
health both physically and mentally.
Knuckleballer Joe Niekro, who
missed his start Sunday because of a
hip injury, was ^scheduled to start
Monday’s game at Texas against the
Rangers.
Leading home run hitter Kent
Hrbek, who missed much of the last
two weeks with an abdominal injury
and a virus, officially proclaimed
himself fit Sunday with a tape-mea
sure homer, his 34th of the season.
Manager Tom Kelly has kept fa
tigue to a minimum, as only Kirby
Puckett, Gary Gaetti and Tom Bru-
nansky will have played more than
150 games by season’s end.
Mentally, the Twins are also on
top of their game.
They went 7-2 on their final
homestand to finish their home sea
son with a 56-25 record at the Met-
rodome, the best home showing in
the majors.
They went on the road Monday
comfortable in the knowledge that
they needed only one victory in their
last six games — or one Kansas City
loss during that span — to clinch
their first AL West title since 1970.
“The Rangers swept us last time
we went down there (June 26-28) . . .
but that was a long time ago,” A1
Newman said. “When they came in
here on this homestand, we swept
them and that’s got to get us a little
respect from them.”
Asked about his possible pitching
rotation for the AL Championship
Series, Kelly only said: “I’m worried
about winning a ballgame in Texas.
After that, I’ll worry about other
things.”
Tuesday night, Kelly will start ace
Frank Viola, 17-9. Viola, with a 69-
48 record since 1984, is the winning-
est left-hander in the majors over
the last four seasons. He’ll be shoot
ing for his third 18-victory season.
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