ON THE TUBE Major League Baseball Atlanta vs. NY Yankees, TBS (3), 4:30p.m. ‘itfimiifiirninniiimirnnniiiniminnnnnnf Emerald 1997 EMS BASEBALL Poohs leading the way In his third season with the Eugene Emeralds, Pooh Hines leads in the dugout as well as the plate OVER THE YEARS ■ 1995: Drafted in the 47th-round draft by the Atlanta Braves and batted .242 for Eugene in 44 games ■ 1996: Led Northwest League with a .352 batting average and 10 extra-base hits through the first 21 games ■ 1997: After 13 games, Hines leads the Emeralds with three home runs and a .444 on-base percentage By Joel Hood Freelance Sports Reporter Zachary “Pooh” Hines can’t remember ex actly where his quirky nickname came from. “It seems like I’ve been called that since birth,” Hines said. “All my life, through high school and grade school, I’ve just always been Pooh to people.” But Hines can remember the last time he felt this good and this relaxed at the plate. It was last season when he was the Northwest League’s hottest hitter through June. Through the first 21 games last season, the Eugene Emeralds’ second baseman lead his team and the league with a .351 batting aver age and 10 extra base hits. But as the Ems' season unfolded, a severe thumb injury forced Hines to the bench for the remainder of 1996. “That was hard to deal with last year,” Hines said. “I had gotten off to a real good start, and then I tore my thumb up sliding into second base. It’s hard coming back from an injury like that.” In July, the Georgia native elected to have season-ending surgery to repair the ligament damage in his thumb. He also decided to re turn home to be with family and friends and begin a long road of rehabilitation. Hines’ off-season regimen included an in tense weight training schedule, a strict run ning program and hours in front of the tele vision watching the big-leaguers battle it out. “I trained a lot more this past off-season than I had before,” Hines said. “ I lifted a lot more weights and ran a lot more. It’s hard work getting back after an injury. ” As hard as it was to sit through the Ems’ division championship season, Hines’ in jury may have been the best thing for him. Turn to HINES, Page 8 CHAD PATTESON/Emerald ccIt’s hard to get close to guys on the team. I’ve learned to just take care of myself; that’s the only way you’re going to make it” Pooh Hines Ems' Outfielder Pooh Hines, Eugene's third year outfielder, stands on the steps of the Ems’ dugout at Civic Stadium during the their 5-2 loss to the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes. Hines sat out the game with an injury, but went 1-for-7 in Eugene’s three game homestand against Salem Keizer last weekend. Ems continue slump, push losing streak to eight games ■ EMERALDS: Salem-Keizer outscored Eugene 17-4 during its three-game sweep of the Emeralds last weekend By Ryan Frank Associate Editor Emeralds’ outfielder Pooh Hines called Eugene’s current state the lowest in his three years with the team, and manager Jim Saul said he has done all he knows to do to correct his team’s recent downward spiral, but things just do not seem to be going the Ems’ way. Plagued by poor pitching and even worse hitting, the Ems (2-11) are on an eight-game losing streak af ter being swept by the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes (8-5) over the weekend. “We just lost three games and eight in a row. I’ve done everything I know to do,” a visibly frustrated Saul said. While he was clearly not satisfied with his players’ performance, Saul would not lay the blame on his team’s pitching, hitting or defense. “I am putting people in scoring position; put the blame on me,” Saul said. Against the Volcanoes, Eugene scored just four runs in three games and on Saturday was shutout for the fourth time in their 13 games. “The hitters are putting too much pressure on themselves,” said Hines, who was l-for-7 over the weekend. In the first game of the three-game homestand on Friday, Eugene’s Ben Wyatt gave up four earned runs on eights in five innings, as Salem-Keizer defeated the Ems 5-2 and pushed its winning streak to six games. Greg Strickland was the only Emerald with multi Turn to EMERALDS, Page 8 EMS BASEBALL ■ WHAT’S NEXT: The Ems(2-11) began a three game series in Portland Monday and return to Eugene for a five game homestand against Yakima on Thursday a p r MONDAY S RESULTS MLB Kansas City.7 Chi. Cubs.8 Florida.8 Boston.5 NYMets.0 Detroit.14 Atlanta.0 NY Yankees.1 Philadelphia.1 Baltimore.8 Montreal.2 Toronto.1 San Diego.15 Oakland.6 Chi. White Sox.1 Pittsburgh.3 Milwaukee.3 Cincinnati.4 Minnesota.1 St. Louis.2 Cleveland.6 Houston.4 Anaheim.7 Colorado.11 Texas.3 Los Angeles.2 San Francisco.8 Seattle.6 Interleague play riding high on novelty factor Interleague play is like Milli Vanilli, Right now it is the popular thing, but wait a year and rather than blaming it on the rain, maybe we’ll be blaming it on the powers that be in Major League Base ball. Yes, interleague play has brought more fans out to the games and created a renewed interest in the game, but we are only in the first stages of the idea. Wait for the novelty of the concept to wear off, and see if fans are still coming to the ballpark in greater numbers. Remember, disco was popular for a while, too. However, I will not say there are no bene fits coming out of interleague play. For one, baseball is in trouble. For the sport that used to be classified as OPINION I I Ryan iran . America’s pastime, it is in dire straits. When stacked up | against the NFL and the NBA, there is no com parison. Both sports draw more fan interest and attention in today’s world of short attention spans and interest in fast-paced sports. Baseball needed to do something to draw fans, something different that would make them want to come to the ballpark. And to an extent, interleague play, along with re alignment, has filled that role. The New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves series tonight will surely be one for the ages. And the first-ever meeting be tween the Mets and Yankees earlier this season was certainly something special. But you have to remember that every game is not a Y ankees-Braves type of game. For everyone of those, you’ve got a Kansas City- Chicago Cubs matchup. The first go-round of interleague games was exciting and fresh, especially the inter city matchups, but after the third and fourth versions of the “Subway Series,” will fans still be as interested? The idea of marginal returns says no, and I tend to agree. Also, there was a certain beauty to base ball’s old way of doing things that made it different. Three years ago, baseball was the only sport without interleague play and the only Turn to FRANK, Page 8