Sports
iber4ji
Jcte
SSOI
’s makeupi
many pj
chologists
will saj
said Mis
i r woman d
lartmenm.
Criminal It
ty.
:used the®
)ing.
/iew will
hours befe
sued, Bulls
ed him inti
oyed then
m the piil
the case.l
I him he
BI special,
that's noi
erviews.
not want mi
f er just topi
id fomiet
/ Directord
“You can
ile in anil
can't mat
rosecution.
andldouh:
d do that."
;en critical
e case. Bui
lagues have
the Nan
nces protest
I John As!
a I invest!
secution, li
ing plague
:ars and c«
vorld's for
ease.
The Battalion
Page 5 ♦ Tuesday, November 4, 2003
Billy dealt to Philly
Money more important to
McLane than winning title
DALLAS SHIPP
I t’s happened
again. Another
all-star from
the Houston
Astros has been
traded to put more
money in the bank
account of Astros
owner Drayton
McLane. And the
best news of all? It
probably isn’t the
last boneheaded
move McLane will make this off-sea
son since catcher Brad Ausmus and
outfielder Richard Hidalgo are both
facing the cutting block.
The Astros traded Billy Wagner —
a 100-mph fastball throwing southpaw
— to the Philadelphia Phillies Monday
in exchange for a mediocre right-hand
ed pitcher who barely qualifies as a
major league caliber pitcher in
Brandon Duckworth, who was 4-7 last
year with an ERA of 4.94.
The move proved what Wagner said
about McLane and the Astros’ front
office following the final game of the
Astros’ season.
“This team is based on competing,
not winning,” he said.
There isn’t a sportswriter
in America who could write it
more eloquently.
McLane and Co. have traded or
released all-star after all-star to dump
big salaries in exchange for young
players with potential.
Wagner, who was due $8 million
next season along with a $2 million
buyout, is the team’s all-time leading
doser with 225 saves in nine years.
But McLane said those fans who
are most loyal — the ones who shell
out $45 per game for a seat and pay $6
for a watered-down beer — should
look at what he has done for the team
in recent history.
“1 think you judge us for what
we’ve accomplished and the commit
ments we’ve made in the past,” he said.
Do those commitments include
National League MVP Ken Caminitti?
Cy Young Award winners Randy
Johnson and Curt Schilling? Or all
stars Freddy Garcia, Mike Hampton,
Vinny Castilla and Moises Alou?
Which commitment are fans supposed
to be thankful for McLane?
If McLane wanted to dump some
large salaries, why not centerfielder
Craig Biggio, who can barely throw
the ball to second base, or first base-
man Jeff Bagwell, who will make $16
million next year? Biggio and Bagwell
have combined for a career postseason
batting average near .125. Why not get
rid of these enormous contracts for
players who are on the way down
instead of a 32-year-old closer who is
among the best in baseball?
As much as Houston fans love
Biggio and Bagwell and everything the
two have done for the city, they would
appreciate a World Series champi
onship more.
But why is McLane worried about
such petty amounts of money in the
first place?
According to an article in The
Houston Chronicle this September,
McLane claimed the No. 195 spot on
the Forbes 400 list of the richest people
in America, up 16 spots from last year.
Since 1996, McLane has increased
his net worth by at least $680 million.
Not bad for an owner who whines
relentlessly about losing money every
year with the Astros.
Who didn’t make the Forbes 400
list? Yankees owner George
Steinbrenner, who goes out every year
to buy up free agents who give the
hated Yankees a chance to win the
World Series every year.
If McLane is losing so much
money, he should do the team and its
fans a favor and sell the Astros to an
owner like Dallas Mavericks owner
Mark Cuban.
While he may not be the typical
Ruben DeLuna • THE BATTALION
owner of a sports team, Cuban is a fan
first. He doesn’t care how much of his
money he spends because he is never
going to miss it. He just wants to win.
That’s the kind of owner the
Astros need.
Senior wildlife and fisheries science
major Chris Niebuhr, a lifelong AstroS
fan, said the trade makes it difficult to
See Money on page 7
I
Wagner just the
beginning of
reducing payroll
By Michael Lutz
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON — The trade of Billy Wagner to
Philadelphia was only the start of general man
ager Gerry Hunsicker’s restructuring of the
Houston Astros.
“This is a major move toward regaining the
flexibility in our payroll,” Hunsicker said
Monday. “We are in a situation that we have a
small number of players taking up a significant
part of our payroll and it causes tremendous
inflexibility.”
Houston got rid of Wagner, who makes $8
million next season, for right-hander Brandon
Duckworth and a pair of minor league right
handers, Taylor Buchholz and Ezequiel
Astacio.
Wagner converted a career-high 44 saves in
47 chances last season.
The Astros had a payroll of about $71 mil
lion last season and owner Drayton McLane
doesn’t intend to increase it next season.
“We’re not there yet,” Hunsicker said.
“This is not the end result of a process. This is
the beginning of a process. We’ve got to con
tinue to look for opportunities, and where that
takes us is difficult to say.”
Wagner predicted his own departure on the
final day of the regular season when he criti
cized the Astros for not making a move to bol
ster the roster for a playoff run.
“I’d heard rumbling that I might be traded
and stuff,” Wagner said. “I was surprised when
it happened just because of how close the
Astros were to getting to the playoffs and hav
ing the season I had. We might have made a
step and got another starting pitcher. They
obviously are going a different way.”
See Wagner on page 7
Student Health Services
is offering again this year a limited number of
ar
Wednesday Nov. 5th & Thursday Nov. 6th
At the following locations:
gg ie!
1 per fa
Gig ^
) Flops
g Em 1 on
llcction.
lip Flops."
8-0100
Evaluation/
egotiation
ATTENTION GRADUATES OF DECEMBER ’03 & MAY ’04!!!
Commons Lobb ,r
11 am-7pm
Wehner Lobby
9am - 5pm
Free vaccines are available to currently enrolled students only,
Staff and faculty flu vaccines will be available for $18.00
Meningitis vaccines will also be available for a fee of $90.00
Rec Center Lobby
11am-7pm
MSC Room 225
9am - 5pm
I
Special thanks to the following TAMU departments for their donations:
Athletics - Memorial Student Center - Residence Life - VP of Student Affairs
-learn about salary
-discover how y
-evaluate ben
-discern how and
ranges and averages
Jur offer compares
efit packages
when to negotiate
Wednesda
4-5
111
y,Nov. 5
pm
dus
CoW P [
£ Ameri c< ,
Career CenterI
Texas A&M University
With you every step of the way
http://careercenter.tamu.edu
209 Koldus 845-5139