11
ruary 14,1991
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District officials
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nable to reopen
summer in part
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tores
ons unless it re-
council’s action
Amendment.
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predicted the
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ince it regulates
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namese families,
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VICE
>34
Thursday, February 14,1991
Arbitration
breeds greed in
pro baseball
TThere’s just something
about the start of baseball season every
spring.
It’s different
from football sea
son when the cold
weather keeps
fans inside, load
ing up on pizza
and spirits.
Baseball season
lets you go out on
a warm, sunny
day and play
patch after watch- Steve 0‘Brien
ing the big-leag- s _ ort8wr|ter
ers on television.
Baseball is also cherished by
Americans because it has kept a sense of
authenticity and nostalgia through the
years. The playing surface of most pro
baseball stadiums is just like it should be;
open to the elements and played on
grass.
And this season if you go out to one of
those big league ballparks you’ll smell
the scents that make baseball unique.
You can catch the aroma of hot dogs
as venders walk through the stands, and
the scent of popcorn and fresh peanuts
is never far away. The smell of freshly
cut grass after the infield is groomed is a
favorite of mine.
But this season, fans will pick up a
familiar odor from the outfield that is
unfamiliarly strong.
The stench that threatens the game of
baseball is arbitration.
Arbitration, simply put, is when a
team’s salary offer for a player is below
what the player demands. The two agree
to let an outside source decide what the
player is worth.
A big problem with the system occurs
when a ball club tries to convince the
arbitrator, who isn’t necessarily well-
versed in baseball, that a player isn’t
worthy of a salary increase.
This can create friction between
players and management.
Palmiero’s case
Texas Ranger’s first baseman Rafael
Palmeiro settled with the Rangers for
$1,475 million yesterthjLy, avoiding
arbitration. But I would have loved to
hear what the Rangers were going to say
about Palmeiro if the case had gone to
arbitration.
How can you say anything negative
about a player who came in third in the
American League with a .319 batting
average last season?
Palmeiro was a bargain for the
Rangers, playing for on/y $300,000.
Palmeiro also led the league with hits
(191) and road average (.350) and also
averaged .346 against the league’s top 14
pitchers.
How do we solve this problem?
One way would be to start a salary cap.
A salary cap would limit the amount
of money teams could pay their players,
thus discouraging sky-rocketing salaries.
A figure of $25 million per team
would work.
Bonus checks, of say $200,000, could
be given to the players of teams who
make it to the playoffs.
With a salary cap, players like Texas’
Pete Incaviglia, will be given less
leverage in arbitration. Incaviglia, who
has significantly lower hitting statistics
than Palmeiro, wants $2.1 million a year.
The Palmeiro’s of the league, who
deserve the money, will get their fair
share of a team’s alloted salary because
management will not be able to waste
their $25 million on questionable
players.
Fiscal responsibility
With a salary cap, major league
management will have to move from
being unconscious to budget conscious.
Also, a major problem in professional
baseball is that players in small markets,
who may be just as productive as players
in larger markets, want salaries
equivalent to players like Boston’s Roger
Clemens, who will earn close to $5.5
million this season.
But it doesn’t make since for a player
like the Pittsburgh Pirate’s Doug
Drabek, who’s 1990 stats are comparable
to Clemens’, to demand even close to $5
million a year.
Markets like Pittsburgh, Seattle and
Kansas City have signed players to big
contracts the past few years, but they
Won’t be able to keep it up for long.
The smaller markets just can’t
generate the T. V. revenues and ticket
sales that larger ones can.
Take the Boston Red Sox for
example. Their 1991 season payroll of
$40 million doubles the Seattle Mariners’
1990 net income. Teams in smaller
markets are at a disadvantage without a
salary cap.
Does this mean the league’s best
players will only want to play in markets
that can pay them big salaries?
Maybe, and if it’s not already a trend
it’s sure to become one.
A salary cap, which would keep teams
from trying to outbid each other for
talent, would bring parity and sensibility
back to a sport that needs it.
Sports
The Battalion Sports Editor Alan Lehmann 845-2688
Ags fall apart in second half, lose 68-62
A&M Solidifies hold on last place
By Scott Wudel
The Battalion
JAY JANNE-R/The Battalion
Texas A&M guard Lynn Suber and SMU guard Mike Wilson (3) reach for a
loose ball during Wednesday’s 68-62 Aggie loss at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
The Aggies ran out of luck Wednesday
night.
Texas A&M basketball team didn’t have
enough fresh legs to defeat Southern Meth
odist University, losing their second
straight game, 68-62.
The Aggies stumble to a 1-11 Southwest
Conference record, 6-17 overall. The Mus
tangs trot to 6-6 in the conference, 11-12
for the season.
A&M remains cellar-bound in the con
ference. The Aggies play their next game
Feb. 20 in Waco against Baylor. The Bears
broke a five-game losing streak Wednesday
night to increase their SWC margin to two
games over A&M.
The Aggies exploded out of the gate in
the first half, taking an unusual 14-point
lead with 7:27 left in the opening stanza,
and then headed into the locker room with
a 38-28 lead at intermission.
SMU went on an 18-6 run to take the
lead midway through the second half. The
Aggies struggled with fatigue, leading to a
mess of missed shots and a lack of rebound
ing strength.
A&M coach Kermit Davis Jr. said the Ag
gies couldn’t find their first half enthu
siasm.
“In the second half (SMU) just kept tip
ping,” Davis said about the Mustangs sec
ond shot opportunities. “It was guards, it
was forwards — nobody on our team would
get a body on people.
“All of a sudden the dam just broke and
we couldn’t fight back.”
Lynn Suber said the second half was the
story of the ball game.
“What it boils down to is they wanted it
more than we did,” Suber said. “They just
took us out of our game.”
Suber tried to explain the Aggies’ 32.1
percent shooting woes in the second half.
“We would shoot the ball and it would go
halfway in,” he said. “It seemed as if some
one had put a lid on the basket.”
SMU coach John Shumate said the Mus
tangs played their ugliest game of the year.
He said his young players were able to
reach in and pull out their reserve energy.
“We struggled and our concentration
level wasn’t there in the first half,” Shumate
said. “With a young team, it’s a jeckel and
hyde situation and that’s why you need
depth.”
The tired Aggies, who have struggled be
cause of a lack of depth all season, were
without one more body Wednesday night.
Davis announced earlier in the day that
transfer player Isaac Brown had been dis
missed from the team for the remainder of
the season. The coach said after the game
that Brown had trouble meeting his on and
off-the-court responsibilities.
“Isaac had been struggling with some of
the things we were doing,” Davis said. “I
think he’s a talented person, he just had a
problem with an academic situation — miss
ing a study hall and we disciplined him for
it.
“It just didn’t work out for both parties, I
think its best for Isaac and Texas A&M.”
Davis said Brown will stay in school for
the remainder of the semester.
Brown said Wednesday night that he
plans to return to Mississippi next year to
attend school. The junior transfer averaged
12 points while starting in 17 games for
A&M this season.
Brooks Thompson lead A&M scorers for
the fourth straight game. The sophomore
guard scored 16 points, but was held to only
three points in the second half.
Anthony Ware had a season-high 14
points for the Aggies, while shooting 7-9
from the field.
But the Aggies needed rebounds to stop
the Mustangs. SMU outrebounded the
home team 31-19 after halftime.
SMU’s Mike Wilson was a thorn in the
Aggies’s side the whole game. Wilson con
nected on 11 of 17 shots and finished the
night with 26 points.
The Mustangs’ Tim Mason lead all re
bounders With 13 boards.
The Aggies scored the first basket of the
second half but then let SMU run off 12
straight points, tying the game on a layup
with 16:12 remaining.
The Mustangs took their first lead at of
the game, 46-44, when Troy Valentino hit a
jumper from inside the free throw line.
A&M fought back from U 12-point deficit
but could only close the gdp to six as time
expired.
The Aggies held onto a 14-point lead in
the closing minutes of the first half when
Thompson stole an SMU pass and found
Suber open for a layup.
A&M used aggressive defense to keep
the Mustangs off-balance in the opening
minutes.
The Aggies shot better than 57 percent
f rom the field in the first half.
Flying daredevils
entertain crowd
By Douglas Pils
The Battalion
The Bud Light Daredevils flip-flopped
into G. Rollie White Wednesday night and
in the process stole the show from the
Texas A&M basketball team.
Before the Aggies’ second half swan dive
to the depths of the Southwest Conference
cellar with a 68-62 loss to Southern Meth
odist, the Daredevils dazzled the 2,289 in
attendance at halftime.
For 10 years the Daredevils have de
lighted fans in basketball arenas around the
world with their routine consisting of aerial
acrobatics and spectacular dunks with the
assistance of small trampolines. Ty Cobb,
who originated the idea 10 years ago while
as a cheerleader at the University of Missis
sippi, led a group of four power-packed dy-
namoes through a eight minute exercise in
excitement.
This year the Daredevils started a second
team in order to spread their magical per
formance to a wider audience. The two
teams put on about 140 shows a year, and
team member Gary Hedrick said the rigors
of each show can get tough, but that each
member pysches up to please the crowds.
“Each guy has his own idiosyncrasies
about getting ready,” Hedrick said. “Some
just sit around and think things over and go
over the moves in the routine, and others
just listen to Walkmans.”
Cobb and Hedrick are the elder states
man of the foursome, none of which mea
sures over six feet tall. Cobb, who comes
from a cheerleading background, acts as
the group manager and Hedrick, who
started as a gymnast, is the team captain.
Adam Hardy, the youngest of the group,
and Keith Rooks round out the team.
Hardy was also a cheerleader and Rooks
was an NCAA All-American gymnast.
Cobb returned this year, after a two-year
absence, to form the second team, but he
said he’s not going to stay around after this
year.
“It’s always great being in front of the
crowds,” Cobb said. “But after all these
years, this will be my last. It’s time to settle
down and get on with my life.”
After touring for the better part of eight
years, Cobb will tie the knot at the end of
the Daredevils’ current tour when he weds
Becky Glass. Cobb credits Glass with his de
cision for hanging up his,speakers, which
he will do for good this time.
“I’m not really sure what I’ll do after we
get married,” he said, “I’m just planning on
being a husband and a family man for a
while.”
Cobb, who said his mom wanted to name
her first son Ty before she ever met his fa
ther, will be missed his teammates said. But
after 10 years of success and millions of
enthralled fans, they all agreed the show
will definitely live on for many years.
Aggies blank out matched Crusaders 6-0
By Craig Wilson
The Battalion
Texas A&M reserve rightfielder Brett
Weinberger had grounded out and
dropped a fly ball. Then he got angry.
Weinberger’s subsequent three-hit af
ternoon highlighted a 6-0 Texas A&M (4-2)
shutout of the University of Mary Hardin-
Baylor (0-4) Wednesday at Olsen Field.
The junior transfer from Glendale (Ari
zona) Junior College made the most of his
first start with a two-run homer off Cru
sader starting pitcher Neil Ling in the third
inning.
Aggie head coach Mark Johnson had
nothing but fond words for the upstart
Weinberger.
“Brett had a great day,” Johnson said.
“That was his first day out across the line
for us and he really had an outing.
“He got three hits and he hit the ball
hard all three times, and he picked up our
RBIs real well, so I was very pleased with
his performance.”
Weinberger, who was not projected as a
top player this season by the coaching staff,
said he was delighted with his performance.
“I was glad to get in the lineup today,”
Weinberger said. “I was real excited. I’ve
been waiting for my chance and I was just
glad that I was able to get in there.”
Weinberger said he was not sure he had
gotten enough bat on the ball when his op
posite-field round-tripper crossed the right
field fence.
“I didn’t think I hit it that hard,” he said,
“but I kept running and I guessed it carried
out.”
Weinberger also hit to the right side on
his fifth inning, two-run triple and seventh
inning single.
“They were throwing me outside all day,
so all I could do was try to hit the ball,” he
said.
Aggie freshman Kelly Wunsch started on
thfe moundand scattered three hits while
striking out five Crusaders in four innings.
After a short relief stint from junior
Brian Harrison, who struck out two batters
in two innings, the finishing touches were
put on by freshman Jeff Granger, who
pitched the final three frames.
Granger’s heat produced four strikeouts
and helped the youngster gain plenty of
confidence.
“I finally got to get on the hill,” Granger
said, “and it’s been a long time since I’ve
been in the action. It felt great to be out
there.
KEVIN IVY/The Battalion
Mary Hardin Baylor first baseman
Phillip Schulze drops a foul pop.
“I was throwing everything high and
Coach Lawler’s been working with me to
keep my pitches down and I’m just trying
hard to go out there and pitch strikes. Ev
erything will come if you keep the ball in
the zone.”
Despite his success, Granger admitted
having a case of the jitters.
“The first inning I was real nervous,” he
said. “There were more fans than pretty
much are my whole home town.
“It took me a while to get settled in, and
once I did it felt good to have the fans be
hind me. It’s exciting to get out there and
be able to pitch in front of them.”
Junior first baseman Conrad Colby had
an eighth-inning double to pu^h A&M’s
lead to 5-0. j
He then scored when second baseman
MIKE MULVEY/The Battalion
A&M shortstop Jason Marshall sets for a throw to first base to complete a
double play in A&M’s 6-0 win over Mary Hardin Baylor Wednesday.
Ron Johnson grounded into a fielder’s
choice.
Coach Johnson said he jumbled his
lineup to get a feel for his players and at
tempt to find a winning combination.
“We’re still feeling around,” Johnson
said. “We’ve got some good guys sitting on
the bench. We just want to feel who our
players are and give everybody a chance.
“Yesterday and today some of the guys
we put in there did a good job and they’re
gonna keep pushing guys, and that’s good.
We weren’t really pleased with our perfor
mance yesterday and this will help.”
The Ags host Northeast Louisiana for
three games beginning Friday afternoon at
3 p.m. at Olsen Field. The teams will square
off Saturday in a 1 p.m. doubleheader.