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SPORTS 9
Thursday, April 13,1989
Aggies have good first signing day Ryan hurls 15 ‘K’s
Peters chooses A&M baseball; track and basketball also prosper ^ W1U Ox er BrCWCrS
By Steven Merritt
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
Wednesday was the initial signing
date for all spring sports, and Texas
A&M fared well in the signing of let
ters of intent for the baseball, track
and basketball programs.
The Aggie baseball team, cur
rently No. 1 in the nation, didn’t
hurt their future chances any today
with the signing of Brenham High
pitcher John Peters.
Up until a week ago, Peters was
thought to be leaning toward the
University of Texas. However, the
righthander announced last week
his intentions to be an Aggie, and he
followed through with his decision
today.
Peters has won 48 consecutive
games at Brenham and is only two
short of tying the national record of
50.
A&M signed two highly recruited
junior college track athletes in De
rick Thomas and Gregory Williams.
Both are from Kingston, Jamaica,
and were standouts at Southwest
Christian Junior College.
Thomps, a 5-11, 160-pound
sprinter, ran the leadoff leg on
Southwest Christian’s 400-meter re
lay at the Texas Relays last week,
which posted a lime of 39.86.
Thomas participated in Jamaica’s
Olympic trials last summer and has
recorded personal best times of
10.15 in the 100-meter dash and
20.43 in the 200-meter dash.
“He’s a great relay man who will
help us keep our tradition of great
relay teams at Texas A&M,” said
A&M Head Coach Charlie Thomas.
“Derick should also be able to help
us in the sprints.”
Williams, a 6-1, 172-pound
hurdler, missed a chance to qualify
for the Summer Olympics by one
place after finishing fourth in the
110-meter hurdles at the Jamaican
Olympic trials.
Williams owns the Southwest
Christian school record in the 110-
meter hurdles with a personal best
of 13.71 and also won the event in
the Texas Southern Relays earlier
this spring.
“Gregory, along with Derick, will
be able to come in and give us a
boost immediately in conference and
national competition,” Thomas said.
“He almost made the Jamaican
Olympic team last year and is a very
talented athlete.”
A&M is expected to sign several
other track athletes today and Fri
day.
Basketball signees include Darrin
Terry, a 6 foot 6 inch guard from
Hughes Springs, Texas, and Brooks
Thompson, 6 foot 4 inch guard
from Littleton, Colo.
Terry averaged 19.2 points and
12.1 rebounds per game in his se
nior season at Hughes Springs, lead
ing the Mustangs to a 35-1 record
and a second place finish in the state
tournament in 1986-87.
He shot 46.3 percent from the
field and 72.2 percent from the free
throw line, while averaging 3.3 steals
per game. Terry has spent the past
two seasons playing football for
Tyler Junior College.
Thompson, named the Colorado
Player of the Year in Class 4A, aver
aged 27.6 points per game during
the regular season and led his Little
ton High School team to the state
championship with a 24-0 record.
The left-hander led the Continen
tal League in scoring, assists (109),
steals (84) and finished second in the
league with 44 three-point goals.
Thompson shot 57.7 percent
from the field and hit 78.4 percent
of his free throws. He tied a league
record with 39 points in a game, a
feat which he accomplished twice,
while also setting league records
with 15 field goals and 14 free
throws made in separate contests.
Thompson and Terry join early
signees James Cooper and David
Harris, both from Mississippi
County Community College in Bly-
theville, Ark.
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Nolan
Ryan allowed one hit in eight shut
out innings and struck out a team-
record 15 batters Wednesday night
as the Texas Rangers beat the Mil
waukee Brewers 8-1.
Ryan, who has pitched a record
five no-hitters, did not give up a hit
until Terry Francona singled in the
eighth after a walk to Glenn Braggs.
Ryan retired the next three batters.
Reliever Craig McMurtry gave up
a run on three hits in the ninth.
Ryan, 42, raised his all-time strike
out record to 4,798. He surpassed
the Texas single-game mark of 14
strikeouts by Bert Blyleven and Jim
Bibby, the only two Rangers to pitch
no-hitters.
Ryan, who has never pitched a
perfect game, did not permit a run
ner until Robin Yount walked on a
3-2 pitch with two outs in the sev
enth.
Braggs walked on a full-count
pitch in the eighth and Francona,
just l-for-14, followed with a line-
drive single to left field.
With temperatures falling into the
upper 30s, Ryan had his fastball
crackling and a sharp curve! He tied
a team record by striking out six
straight batters, starting with B.J.
Surhoff in the first inning.
Ryan struck out every Milwaukee
starter. It was the 23rd time he has
fanned 15 or more in a game, and
just 7,590 fans saw it on a chilly
night.
k
In the fifth. Rangers shortstop
Scott Fletcher momentarily mis
judged Rob Deer’s towering popup
before making a lunging catch.
Julio Franco drove in four runs
and Ruben Sierra got four hits, in
cluding his second home run. Sierra
doubled home a run in the first and
scored on Franco’s single off Bill
Wegman, 0-2.
Sierra homered to make it 3-0 in
the fourth and then doubled in the
sixth and scored on another single
by Franco.
Ex-Texas fan hopes consistency becomes part of team’s game
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As incredible as it may seem to those who
occasionally follow Texas Rangers baseball,
the team has won six of seven as of
Wednesday and is enjoying an early lead in
the American League West. What’s even
better is that Texas has the best record in
the majors — that’s right, after seven
games, a feat that should be savored by die
hard Ranger fans everywhere.
Let’s see, the regular season consists of
162 games, and Texas is leading after
seven. So, with a little help from the abacus,
the Rangers can actually boast having the
best record in Major League Baseball for
approximately 4.3 percent of the entire
season.
Cynical, you say. A bit sarcastic. For the
most part, these assumptions are true. But
this attitude comes from a former die-hard
Ranger fan who saw the light several years
ago and decided to throw aw ay the Maalox
and the nervous stomach medicine and go
with any team that knew how to spell
consistency.
1 was nine years old when I saw my first
Steven
Merritt
Assistant Sports Editor
Ranger game, an experience which fittingly
exposed me to what was to come in the
future of following the club, but I was too
naive to realize the pain and suffering that
would follow.
It was a Saturday night game against the
Chicago White Sox, and three things about
the game stood out the most: Texas blew a
six-run lead in the eighth inning to lose, the
left field crowd poured six gallons of beer
on Chicago outfielder George Orta and
some loud, obnoxious woman caught a foul
ball that should have been mine.
So they choked off a win, it really didn’t
matter to me. It was my first major league
game and I was more taken with the
atmosphere — this was before the dot races
in the seventh inning — and the thought of
seeing players like Bump Wills, Mike
Hargrove and Toby Harrah.
But as I grew older, a winning Ranger
team began to mean more to me, and it
seemed as if Texas was losing more close
games and making more stupid trades each
year. The manager situation was not much
better, as it began to take a score card to
keep up with Billy Martin, Pat Corales,
Doug Rader, Don Zimmer, etc., etc., etc.
Then, in the sixth grade, I defected to
Detroit.
I liked Sparky Anderson when he was at
Cincinnati and thought he could do things
with the Tigers. They are 1-4 right now,
however. Besides, it was a new team to me, I
could now spend my time learning things
about the new players instead of watching
veterans with the Rangers getting traded
away.
I know there was some spring training
recording, used by Texas every year, that
detailed how the club was new and
improved and would be in the hunt when
pennant time rolled around in the fall.
They probably just slowed the tape down
each season to make the voice sound
different.
Maybe this year is different, maybe the
recording has been changed and they really
mean it this time.
The front office has definitely tried to
make the right moves in the off season by
actually letting go of some money to get the
top players as well as making the right
trades at the right time.
Bobby Valentine has also made what has
to be one of the better pitching moves of
the season thus far in moving Jeff Russell to
the bullpen, which has notched three wins
and two saves in 22 innings.
The Rangers are also learning how to
come from behind to win, which they did
only 30 times last year, down from 42 the
year before.
In four of the six victories so far this
season, Texas has come from behind in the
seventh inning or later.
Maybe we’ve seen the last of leaving the
tying and winning runs stranded at second
and third while the fans are treated to a
series of shallow fly balls and pop-ups that
make the opposing pitcher look good and
secure the win at the same time. Hopefully
the days of falling apart after the All-Star
break are gone for Texas, a habit which has
been hard to break the past few years.
I hope for the sake of Ranger fans who
really get excited about those spring
training tape recordings that this is the
year. Anything can be better than 70-91
and a sixth-place finish in the A.L. West last
season, a whopping 33 Vs games behind
Oakland.
Maybe the word consistency will creep
back into the Ranger vocabulary and that
4.3 percentage will keep growing for a
while.
"Ecstasy for the ear!"
The Swingle Singers
April 15 Rudder Auditorium 8pm
Imagine an entire orchestra, played on
the human voice. And imagine that
vocal orchestra playing the full range
of music, from Bach to the Beatles.
You have just imagined the Swingle
Singers, "the world's most unique
vocal group" (Boston Herald). The
Singers use only their voices to create
the full range of musical sound, from
strings to percussion. Don’t miss this
finale to the 1989 MSC OPAS season.
'The most extraordinary musical event of the year...The sound
of this group is simply ravishing. n -- St. Louis Post-dispatch
Tickets on sale in the MSC Box Office 845-1234
and through Dillard's Ticketron
This season ive bring you the world.
MSC. Opera ami I’erlor miruj Aits Society • Nemoii.il Student Center ot lev.is ACVN tini\eisit\