SPORTS
Thursday, October 12,1989
The Michigan Daily
Page 9
-";r.s.V;............. .... W orld Series is still
v*s tthe great fall spectacle
By Jonathan Samnick
Daily sports writer
Ah, to win the World Series, the oldest and
most celebrated championship in professional
sports. You can tell me all you want about the
Super Bowl, but I can't respect a game that only
approaches its hype once every ten years.
The World Series is the event where players
can make their careers or be remembered forever
for their mistakes.
Ernie Banks, the greatest slugging shortstop
in baseball history was never able to get his team
into the post season. Banks is a Hall of Famer
but his career will forever be marred by the team
that played around him.
Gene Mauch managed for over 30 years but
never made it to the World Series. He'll forever
be remembered for his '64 Phillies, who blew a
six game lead in the final two weeks of the
season, and for his '86 Angels, who came within
one strike of the Series before collapsing to the
Boston Red Sox.
It is during this time of year when the leaves
turn yellow then brown and then fall to a heap on
the ground that the other sports begin their
seasons and baseball's fall classic takes
precedence.
LAST WEEK, I sat and watched the playoffs
and rooted for the Chicago Cubs try to avenge
Ernie Banks and for the Toronto Blue Jays to
turn our attention north of the border to their
convertable home.
But no, this will be a Golden Gate Bridge
Series and either those big guys from Oakland,
who should be playing football anyway, or the
San Francisco Giants will try to finally bring a
winner to the Windy City West.
And the fans will live and die in the crucial
moments of each game and the players will enjoy
the spotlight and some lesser known player will
have his fifteen minutes of fame. Then it will be
over. The losers will go home for the winter and
the winners...well they will wear the ring.
The winners share this year for the World
Series is about $90,000 but the World Series
ring remains forever. The ring signifies what
only the players will know - the feeling of
victory. Any member of the team, whether he is
an up-and-coming first baseman, an aging
catcher, or a manager who finally had his dream
season, will wear the ring as a symbol of
accomplishment.
The normal reaction after it's over is to
rejoice or despair about the teams we rooted for.
But what about the players? Will they ever get
there again? Can Will Clark hit a game winning
home run, will Jose Canseco strike out in the
bottom of the ninth of game seven?
THE SERIES is the event that many
children dared to dream about and few men ever
get a chance to play in.
I am reminded of an incident last year months
after the conclusion of the baseball season. The
NFL playoffs were in full swing as the Bears and
Eagles tackled each other in the fog. I ordered my
drink.
The people around me were rooting hard and
constantly reminding themselves of the point
spread. An older man sat to my left and was
looking around for someone to talk to. He turned
to a younger man who had an intense interest in
the game. When the older man realized he was
being ignored he held up his hand. Sure enough,
on his fourth finger, there it was.
"You ever see one of these?" the silver haired
man asked.
"1964 St. Louis Cardinals," he said proudly
into the gleam of the red and silver stones.
Suddenly football wasn't so important
anymore.
The other man reached towards the ring and
touched it like a wide-eyed kid as he listened to
the man tell his stories.
The '64 Cardinals were the team that rose tip
and beat Gene Mauch's Phillies on the final d4y
of the season.
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Daily File Photo
Michigan State tailback Blake Ezor will be healthy , for the first time in
three weeks, for Saturday's game versus Mihcigan. He may not return to
the starting line-up, however, as he now finds himself competing for the
.iob with first-year back Tico Duckett.
Perles hesitant about
choosing tailback
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CRYSTAL v
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by Rick Kessler
State News Sports Writer
EAST LANSING - If someone
were to describe the running styles
*of MSU's tailbacks, it might sound
like a horror movie promotion - a
slasher, a cutter, a grinder and a
ripper.
And if each one were to represent
a different gore flick, don't count on
MSU's head coach George Perles to
tell you which one is the best - at
least not until Saturday.
With injured starter Blake Ezor
- the slasher - back this week,
*Perles said, "it is still up in the air
as to which player will start against
U-M Saturday in Spartan Stadium.
Ezor was the number one tailback
last season and coming out of pre-
season this year. Usually, a starter's
return from injury - a separated
shoulder in Ezor's case - would
also signal a return to the lineup.
But what makes that scenario unsure
is the play of freshman tailback Tico
Duckett - the ripper.
In the 17-14 victory over Iowa
last week, Duckett ran for 175 yards
on 30 carries. And to further drill
holes into the game plan, Hyland
Hickson - the cutter - is back to
full health and Scott Selzer - the
grinder - can always be counted
on..
But, like the climax in the
Friday the 13th epics, the battle is
down to just two people. Ezor and
Duckett have the nod and the one
who has the best practices
throughout the week will start
against U-M.
"Who's going to start, Blake or
Tico?" Perles said on Monday. "I
don't know that yet. We'll see how
practice goes. Last week, Tico ran
every day in practice and was ready
to play. Tico earned the start because
he was ready to play that week and
then he went out and did an excellent
job."
One thing is for sure, Perles will
stick with whichever tailback is hot.
He used both Hickson and Selzer in
the Iowa game, but Duckett was
playing out of his mind and stayed
in the game.
If Ezor gets the start and plays
well, he'll stay. But if he shows
signs of fatigue or a poor
performance, he'll be yanked quicker
than a plot twist. The same goes for
Duckett if he starts.
APPhOt
Three of the big bats for the Oakland Athletics: Dave Henderson(left), Dave Parker(center), and Jose Canseco,
warm up at their home stadium in preperation for the first game of the 1989 World Series. Henderson and
Canseco will be playing centerfield and rightfield respectively. Parker will be the DH only in the games hosted
by .)6 A's The firs^ game w;ll be played in Oakland on Saturday night.
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