Monday, April 4, 1988/The Battalion/Page 9
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Leave the yells at Kyle
jYours Truly repents in sackcloth
Hal L.
Hammons
Sports viewpoint
I must admit, when I read
Ithe letter from one Mike
iFreeman, Class of ’91, in
JFriday’s Battalion I was
Isomewhat less than
Isympathetic to his cause. He
[was so incensed at the
laudacity of the Corps of
[Cadets — which had the
[nerve to show up en masse
[to last Monday’s Texas A&M
[baseball game — he even
[misspoke himself, saying the
[Aggies played Oklahoma,
[rather than Oklahoma State.
[Silly boy, don’t you know
[that Oklahoma is a
{basketball school?
In my own defense, I am not used to siding with
[“Aggie fans” who object, God forbid, to the grand
[old tradition of Aggie yells. Some of the cadets took
[the initiative to lead the over-capacity crowd in the
[yells, ordinarily not a part of the afternoon and/or
[evening’s events at Olsen Field.
It seemed at first that Freeman wanted to voice a
[petty gripe about the big crowd baseball fans have
[been looking forward to for, well, forever.
The bigger-than-usual attendance has not been
[limited to games against No. 1-ranked opponents or
[games on national television. Although that game
[had by far the biggest turnout of the year (an Olsen
[Field record, by the way), this weekend’s well-
[attended series against Texas Tech testifies that the
[numbers definitely are on the way up.
Baseball’s traditional role of sub-sport may be in
[jeopardy in College Station. It could even go the way
[of U-of-Texas ball, which recently has seemed to
[challenge football’s attendance numbers.
And some resentful fan thinks his grueling hours
[in the bleachers watching the Ags beat up on Sam
IHouston State and Lubbock Christian somehow
[have been made less noble or something like that.
[Bigschmeal, right?
Well, Mr. Freeman and others of your ilk, I
|apologize. You were right, and I was wrong.
I finally came down from the ivory press box
[Saturday to get the points of view of the huddled
[masses. The ones who were pretending to tidy up
[the second deck with their brooms during the
/second game, indicating the sweep of the Red
[Raiders that was soon to be completed. The ones
vho mock opposing players who look stupid on the
[field. (There was a lot of mocking this weekend.)
[You know, the weirdos.
Of course, the Chief Weirdo is George, as all
|A&M baseball fans know — George meaning George
Lengel, a graduate student in physics from Mercer,
Penn. George said the huge turnout Monday was
indicative of a rather hypocritical spirit on the part
of the “new converts.”
“Everybody’s front-running because we’re
winning,” he said. “If crowds would be like that
every game, it would be no problem. Just coming out
to be on TV, that’s bush.”
The turnout for the two-game series with North
Texas State last week would seem to make George’s
point rather well. The day after the record-breaking
turnout of 5,373, a mere 673 showed up to watch a
less-watchable opponent play the same Texas
Aggies. Consistent isn’t exactly the first word that
comes to mind, is it?
Keith McKay challenges George for the honor of
being the biggest mouth (no offense, big guy) on the
second deck, and he sides with his comrade. The
senior political science major from Longview agrees
that real fans would “show up for more games, not
just for free batting helmets and TV. . . .
“Where were they the 22 games before that?” he
asked me. I had no answer for the man who claims to
miss games only when one is during one of his
afternoon classes.
“We’re ranked No. 3 in the nation. You’ve got to
support stuff like that.” I hear you, Keith.
Of course, none of them resented the new fans
per se— it was the hypocrisy of the situation that
riled them. And also the imposition of the
neophytes’ traditions upon the established ones.
It is the stand-bys’ position that yells have no place
at baseball games, aside from the usual rendition of
the Aggie War Hymn provided by a tape of the
Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band. And I surprised myself
by agreeing with them after thinking for a while.
Keith put it like this: “Aggie baseball is fun
because in football and basketball the yell leaders
have control. In baseball, you can do whatever you
want.”
Maybe it was the simple statement of Kim
Steadman, one of the Diamond Darlings, that
convinced me about yells not belonging at this
particular ballpark: “It’s a tradition here, and I’m a
big supporter of traditions, but it has never been a
tradition to do yells at baseball games.”
Like Lreeman said, Aggie baseball has its own
traditions — the brooms, the heckling of opponents
with unusual names, the “Take him out! Leave him
in! Take him out! Leave him in!” that accompanies
the opposing manager on mound visits.
The diligence of the die-hards merits the respect
for these institutions. The hypocrisy charges, of
course, are just a few packed houses from being
proved unmerited.
•learn about the performing arts
•get involved on campus
•help bring Broadway and
classical artists to A&M
•have fun/keep off the streets
41
:parti
Information Sessions:
Tues. April 5, 7:00 pm, 308 Rudder
Wed. April 6, 7:00 pm, 510 Rudder
Applications are also
available in 216 MSC
for more information call:
Paul at 268-8682 or 845-1515
^Memorial Student Center Opera and Performing Arts Society
A&M pitchers strike out 35
in 3-qame sweep of Tech
By Loyd Brumfield
Sports Editor
The Texas A&M baseball team
showed there is a wide gap between
second place in the Southwest Con
ference and, well, second place.
The Aggies destroyed Texas Tech
in a three-game series at Olsen Field,
winning Friday’s opener 11-3 and
sweeping Saturday’s doubleheader
10-0 and 5-3.
Third-ranked A&M, which came
into the series tied with Tech for sec
ond in the SWC, now stands all alone
in the No. 2 position with a 5-1 con
ference record and a 33-7 overall re
cord.
The Red Raiders fell to 25-14-1
overall and 4-5 in the SWC.
The Aggies did the job thanks to
near-perfect pitching and a rejuve
nated hitting attack. Tech was held
to 14 hits during the series, and
Raider batters were struck out 35
times. In contrast, the Aggies struck
out nine times and belted 26 hits.
“Tech came in with some good
numbers,” said A&M Coach Mark
Johnson, referring to Tech’s confer
ence-leading .342 batting average
going into the series. “But our pitch
ers did really well.”
A&M got its most dominant pitch
ing performance from senior Sean
Snedeker, who went the distance in
Saturday’s first game. He scattered
seven hits and struck out 10.
“Sean came out and dominated
from the first inning,” Johnson said.
“Once he took control he never let
g°”
Snedeker upped his record to 5-0
overall and 2-0 in conference play.
Randy Pryor and Nick Felix also
pitched well for the Aggies. Pryor,
who also went the distance, im
proved to 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the
SWC with a win Friday. He pitched a
four-hitter and struck out 13.
Felix threw for seven innings in
Saturday’s second game, striking out
nine while giving up five hits. Junior
Scott Centala came on in the eighth
to finish the game, striking out three
and giving up just one hit.
“Our pitchers are doing a great
job out there,” A&M shortstop
Chuck Knoblauch said. “They can’t
score runs if they can’t get on base.”
Errors also plagued the Raiders.
Tech had seven for the series to
A&M’s none. They were especially a
key in the second game of the dou
bleheader, when two Raider errors
enabled three A&M runs to score.
With the Aggies up 1-0, A&M’s
Scott Livingstone reached first
thanks to Tech first baseman Mark
Gustafson, who mishandled a Liv
ingstone hit and let it roll deep into
right field.
The error allowed A&M right
fielder Jim Neumann and cen-
terfielder Kirk Thompson to score,
and Knoblauch came home when
Tech right fielder Donald Harris’
throw overshot home plate.
The Aggies took control in the
first inning of Saturday’s opener
when Livingston homered for the
eighth time this year to knock home
Knoblauch, who reached base on a
single into centerfield.
Later in the inning, second base-
man Terry Taylor doubled to the
centerfield wall to knock home John
Byington and Tom Carcione, who
See Aggies, page 10
Spring training over;
baseball season here
From the Associated Press
Kirk Gibson, Jack Clark and
Lee Smith signal a year of famil
iar faces in new places while
spring’s high hopes turn to reality
Monday when Roger Clemens
throws the first pitch of the 1988
baseball season.
The Los Angeles Dodgers,
New York Yankees and Baki-
See related stories, page 11
more Orioles all made major
changes during the winter with
Bob Welch, Brett Butler and
Danny Jackson among those oth
ers who switched leagues.
The Minnesota Twins, trying
to become the first World Series
champion to repeat since the
1977-/8 Yankees, stood pat. The
only changes they made came in
the financial department — they
now have seven million-dollar
players, the most in the major
leagues.
In Boston, Clemens could be
come the first pitcher to win three
straight Cy Young awards. He
will begin that effort today at
12:05 p.m. when Detroit and Jack
Morris face the youthful Red Sox
at Fenway Park in the first game
of the year.
“We’re probably a better ball-
club than we were in 1986,” Bos
ton manager John McNamara
said, referring to the Red Sox
team that came within one strike
of winning the World Series.
One improvement is the addi
tion of Smith, a top reliever from
the Chicago Cubs.
Detroit, wiped out by Minne
sota in the American League
playoffs, will try to squeeze an
other year out of its veterans, now
minus Gibson, who signed a free-
agent contract with Los Angeles.
The Tigers, as usual, had the
worst record in the AL during
spring training while looking at
lots of youngsters.
BRING YOUR PARENTS TO THE
1988 *>MSC VARIETY SHOW
GOTTA
A* BL
PARENTS’ WEEKEND
Friday, April 8, 1988 7:30 PM
RUDDER AUDITORIUM
EMCEE: EDDY STRANGE
TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THE MSC BOX OFFICE AND AT ALL TICKETRON OUTLETS
$4.00 AND $5.00
• •••••••••••••••a *
CHEATING
AWARENESS
week::
APRIL 4-8
What are your scruples?
Open Forum: Wednesday, April 6
Zachry Lobby 12 noon
Student Government, Academic Affairs Committee
Call Battalion Classified
845-2611