4
Hockey
vs. Miami-Ohio
Friday and Saturday, 7:30
Yost Ice Arena
The Michigan Daily
SPORTS
Wednesday, October 12, 1988
Football
vs. Iowa
Saturday, 3:30 p.m.
Channel 7, ABC-TV
I
THE SPORTING VIEWS
BY JEFF SHERAN
Oh, how easily they forget. Yankee fans are quick to criticize Mets
fans now that the Mets have become perennial contenders. What they
fail to realize is that Mets fans were in the same position a mere
decade ago.
It was just twelve years ago that the New York Yankees had
ascended to the top of the baseball ladder, competing for three straight
World Series titles, and winning two of them. At that same moment
in sports history, the lowly Mets were wallowing in the ineptitude of
the M. Donald Grant regime.
Yankee fans often refer to their cross-town counterparts with fair-
weather-fan undertones. For Yankee fans, admitting a preference for
the Mets is like succumbing to peer pressure.
What the followers of the Yankees don't understand is that Mets
fans deserve this good fortune. It is not easy to be a fan of a team that
was consistently the worst team in baseball. And while Yankee fans
must suffer through their team's current woes, compared to the Mets
of old, today's Bronx Bombers are like the 1949 Yankees.
PITTING the Yankees of recent years against the Mets of the late
seventies and early eighties shows no comparison between the two.
No matter how many championship opportunities the Yankees have
squandered, they are still the winningest team in the eighties. The pre-
Davey Johnson Mets could not even contend with their hapless
cellarmates, the Chicago Cubs.
Second, regardless of the Yankees pathetic pitching staffs of late,
they have at least boasted fearsome batting lineups to almost
compensate. Premier hitters, such as Don Mattingly, Dave Winfield,
Don Baylor, and Rickey Henderson, have notched more than a few key
hits to bail out Yankee pitching.
In contrast, not only did the Mets have no pitching whatsoever, but
they fielded a batting order where Dave.Kingman was the offensive
savior of the team. Now that's pitiful.
The team featured such lead arms as Mark Bomback, Ed Glynn, and
Pat Zachary. And if (when) the Mets fell behind the burden fell on an
aging Amos Otis, or perhaps Ron Hodges, Len Randle, or Ellis
Valentine.
IN ADDITION, the Yankees have at least put together teams
that look good on paper. Mike Pagliarulo and Rafael Santana on the
left side of the infield seems effective enough. But how do you start a
third base-shortstop tandem of Elliot Maddox and Frank Taveras?
Furthermore, it is important to note the ownership of each club. A
mere mentioning of the name George Steinbrenner should be enough.
But let us examine Mr. Steinbrcnner's actions a bit closer.
His "'win now-who cares about later" attitude has no doubt hindered
It's time for Mets fans
to enjoy the good life
the success of his team. Recent trades, such as the exchange of the
blossoming young star Jay Buhner, for the aging, unnecessary hitter
Ken Phelps, have been ridiculous moves.
The manager shuffle, especially when done with the intent to
upstage the playoffs, always tends to receive top billing in the
headlines.
S T EINB R E NN E R' S threats to trade superstars such as
Mattingly and Winfield also continues to draw the public's interest.
But M. Donald Grant was worse.
Grant headed a team that never had a shot at contending, much less
playing .500 ball. He never put any money into the team, virtually
placing his team in last place. While Steinbrenner tightens the purse
strings when it comes to signing free agents like Jack Morris, he does
spend the money, willingly or unwillingly, when it counts, a la Don
Mattingly.
The Yankees owner has also always claimed to be one player away
from a pennant. His blunder is acquiring the wrong player.
Passing up Morris was a huge mistake, but the Yankees still had a
chance to contend without him. Grant assembled teams that were often
nine players away, and no matter who he acquired couldn't help.
Perhaps a summary of the Steinbrenner/Grant comparison is this:
Steinbrenner is notorious, even disliked for his actions. Grant was
hated, and was much more difficult to endure. Entertaining trade
rumors concerning Winfield and Mattingly is a less severe crime than
actually trading Tom Seaver.
LOYAL METS fans are being justly rewarded for their
sustenance through lean times of awful baseball. And Yankee fans
want to take the glory away from them.
Note that throughout the history of baseball, the New York
Yankees have always prospered. Always. They have won more
pennants, more playoffs, more championships than any other major
league team. And now they are not winning it all. The Mets are.
What goes around, comes around, and Yankee fans must learn that.
Met fans do not like the Mets because they are winning. They like
them because they are the Mets, because they brought National
League baseball back to New York, because they gave us Casey
Stengel, Terrific Tom, and "Ya Gotta Believe."
And, yes, because they gave us Darryl Strawberry, curtain calls,
and low-fives.
Mets fans are no longer the bastard offspring of frustrated Yankee
fans, distraught Dodger fans, and estranged Giant fans. They have their
own team to root for now, and if their team is winning then sobeit.
So don't worry, Yankee fans. Your glory days are not through, but
for now, they belong to the other New York fans. Met fans.
THE SPORTING VIEV
Page 10
VS
Decision on designated
hitter rule needed now.'
BY DAVID FELDMAN
The 1988 World Series is going
to be a real World Series, right?
This October, a great baseball team
will be champion. Last year,
Minnesota's Metrodome beat the St.
Louis Cardinals.
This year, the players, not the
ballpark, will make the difference.
No domes this time. No balls being
lost in the roof. No garbage bags for
outfield walls. Everything will be
determined on the diamond. Baseball,
pure and simple. No unfair
advantages for the home team, right?
Wrong.
UNTIL the designated hitter is
either accepted or rejected by both the
American and National Leagues, the
visiting team will always be at an
unfair disadvantage. The visitors in
World Series games must play
according to the home team's rules,
making fair competition impossible.
It no longer matters if the DH is
good for baseball or not. The
disparity in league policies is
making the World Series into a farce.
The American League A's will
have some tremendous advantages
when they play at home. The.A's are
built for the DH. Dave Parker and
Don Baylor form an awesome lefty-
righty DH combination. NL teams
don't have the luxury of carrying
such non-fielding fence busters on
their rosters. Which pinch hitters
could the Dodgers trot out as DH?
Rick Dempsey? Tracy Woodson?
Then there's the matter of one
Dennis Eckerslcy. With the DH, no
pinch hitting is necessary, no middle
relief necessary. The A's can go
directly from their starter to the Eck
Man. The great NL lefty-righty
reliever combinations, likLe
LA's(Orosco-Howell) and New
York's(Myers-McDowell), lose much
of their impact when one bullpen
stopper is sufficient.
When they're on the road, AL
World Series teams are forced to
swallow some bitter NL medicine.
PICTURE THIS: Top of the
fifth. A's trail the Dodgers, 1-0. One
out, man on third. Pitcher Storm
Davis at the plate. Storm Davisat
the plate?
It just doesn't sound right. Wht
could Manager Tony LaRussa
possibly call? A squeeze? While-at~
AL pitcher attemptingzto execute;a
squeeze bunt can be entertaining t
is rarely a pretty sight. Maybe
LaRussa could pinch hit? Sorry, it's
too early for Eckerslcy, and Rilcle
Honeycutt just is not a top-notch
bullpen ace.
The A's, like a host of Americdaj
League squads, would simply not be
the same team if they were deprive"'
of the DH.
Lame duck Commissioner Peter
Ueberroth formally introduced -the
concept of unifying the DH rule. 11.
will now be up to his successor, A.
Bartlett Giamatti,, to make this
concept materialize. The questions of
whether to DH or not to DH is now
obsolete. The fact is that major
league baseball desperately needs a
decision. Now.
1
Study in Britain
Michigan Daily
SPORTS
763-0376
I
;I
The Fall Classic. Tradition.
Champions. America. And grossly
bloated advantages for the home
team.
SENIORS: Get in the Picture!
Spend a term or year at a British university through Beaver College. If you are interested in
learning more about our programs in Britain, Ireland, and Austria, come meet our program
representative.
Date:
Time:
Place:
Thursday, October 13
3:00 to 4:30 p.m.
International Center
603 E. Madison
We will also have a table in the Michigan Union MUG from 11:00 to 2:00.
We hope to see you there!
Senior portrait photography for the 1989 Ensian yearbook
ends Friday! Don't miss out on a lifetime of memories. Get
your picture taken today between 8:30 and 4:30 on the
second floor of the UGLi.
4aIg
ENSIAN
ALL CAMPUS YEARBOOK
Beaver College Center for Education Abroad
Glenside, PA 19038 (215) 572-2901
AT LAST!
A job that really does some-
%hing FOR YOU!
- $5.00-$6.50/hour plus
bonuses
X plug into the University's
alumni network
I A- C.. -l t*%- r,.+-,i+-Affi,-^+iro Anfinn Gmnlnwor I