Sports Editor:
Brad Schmidt
adam j ude@dailyemerald .com
Tuesday, July 09,2002
Best Bet
MLB All-Star game.
5:00 p.m., Fox
Williamses'
Wimbledon
Ws warrant
a washout
Two of anything is one too many.
Imagine two Shaquille
O’Neals, a pair of Tiger Woodses
or a duo of Greg Madduxes.
It’s not pretty.
Sure, there’s always the lofty goal
of “raising the bar” while providing
“good competition.” But in reality,
it’s just a tad bit stale when a domi
nating force is
duplicated.
lwo oi tne same
is bad for sport.
Point in ques
tion: The
Williamses, who
over the weekend
won the Wimble
don doubles title
and competed
agamsi eacn oiner
in the singles
championship.
Ask the most
fluent fan about
Serena and Venus
and they’ll say something like, “Well,
er, it’s hard to compare the two be
cause they’re just so similar. Serena
is more emotional and a bit stronger,
but Venus has a quiet, well-strate
gized game.”
And what does the nonchalant
viewer know about the Williams sis
ters? How about, “They’re twins,
right?”
Wrong. But hey, they might as well be.
The success — moreover — the
domination by the Williamses is the at
the root of this evil. No one wants to
see an identical replica of anything,
especially in tennis.
In sports, we root for many things,
one of which is the underdog. When
the Williamses are playing, the under
dog is the Pop-Tart you had for break
fast — it never had a chance. Further
more, when the Williamses play each
other or play as a team, it becomes
routine, predictable and old. That’s
not how it’s supposed to be.
The reason rivalries work is because
of differences, not similarities.
Would the great ’80s rivalries of
Magic vs. Bird have taken place with
two Johnsons instead of one? Magic
would probably have full-blown AIDS
instead of just HIV by now ... but that’s
a different story.
The Williamses are too much alike.
They’re 18 months apart in age. Sere
na is blonde. And, uh, yeah. That’s
about it.
For this whole Williamses thing to
work, the two ex-Comptonians need a
makeover.
During the next doubles match they
play, Venus needs to “accidentally”
bean her sister in the back while serv
ing. In retaliation, Serena can then
knock over a half-hearted serve to
their opponents, which can then be
fired fiercely back at Venus for a direct
head shot. And so on.
After the match, Serena could say
something along the lines of “Venus is
just jealous of me because I’m better
looking than she is. Oh, and I’m a bet
ter tennis player, too.”
In response, Venus would look
Turn to Brad, page 6
Brad
Schmidt
Sports editor
Ems defeat Indians in rubber game
Fluid hitting and strong
pitching propel the Emeralds
to a 13-7 victory over Spokane
By Brad Schmidt
Oregon Daily Emerald
Midway through the first in
ning Monday, the thermometer
just above the right field fence
read 80 degrees.
On the field, the Eugene Emer
alds were even hotter.
The Ems (8-12) scored three
runs on four hits in the first in
ning to set the tone of what went
on to become a hitting exhibi
tion, then rallied behind the
strong right arm of pitcher David
Pauley to dominate the rubber
game of a five-game series with
the Spokane Indians 13-7.
With the early offensive pro
duction, Pauley kept Spokane (7
14) at bay. Pauley (2-0) struck out
the side in the first inning, struck
out one in the second, two in the
third and one more in the follow
ing inning to amass seven strike
outs after four. Pauley pitched
six scoreless innings and gave up
only two hits before being re
placed in the seventh.
“He was good. He’s been really
good,” Ems manager Jeff Gardner
said of Pauley. “He was aggres
sive with his fastball.”
The Ems opened the game
with a double to left-center field
by third baseman Rolando Agos
to. Agosto then scored after the
Indians’ left fielder misplayed a
pop fly while looking into the
sun, letting the ball drop just in
front of his glove. Two batters lat
er, shortstop Khalil Greene sent a
pitch past the Spokane third
baseman, allowing second base
man Brian Burgamy to score.
Right fielder Steve Baker
knocked in the final run of the
inning after sending a high
blooper to shallow right field.
The Ems continued their hot
hitting and got a little help from
the Indians’ pitching in the bot
tom of the fourth inning, when
Baker and first baseman Jeff
Brooks connected on back-to
back solo home runs. A total of
three Indians pitchers then pro
ceeded to hit two players with
pitches and walk two more to
allow another two runs to score
Adam Jones Emerald
John DiBetta (50) covers first base and awaits an oncoming throw to put out a Spokane runner during Friday’s 8-3 loss.
uncomesiea.
In the fifth, Baker continued
his sizzling performance, jack
ing another ball out of Civic
Stadium for his second solo
shot of the game and giving Eu
gene an 8-0 lead.
“Baseball is a crazy game,”
Baker said. “I was in a bit of a
slump, but I got some good pitch
es that got left over the plate.”
After falling behind in the
count 0-2 in the sixth, Baker
fouled-off three straight pitches.
Refusing to go down and wait
mg tor a pitcn to ms liking, bak
er finally connected and sent a
sharp grounder past the
Spokane third baseman for his
fourth RBI of the game.
“It was nice for him,” said
Gardner, who watched Baker
finish the game 4 for 5. “Hope
fully this will get him going
again. He could be a dominant
offensive player.”
The Emeralds finished the
game with a total of 16 hits. Even
more shocking, however, was the
Ems’ fielding, which yielded
only one error. Fart ot the superb
defense can be attributed to the
sure-handed Greene, who joined
the team last week after agreeing
to terms with the Emeralds.
Greene, the 13th overall draft
pick by San Diego Padres, hit
.348 in his first six games with
the Ems amid being honored on
the national level for his 2002
collegiate performance.
Greene will be named the
winner of the prestigious Gold
en Spikes Award today. The
Turn to Baseball, page 6
Off-field problems take focus from game
By Mike Phillips
Knight Ridder Newspapers
MILWAUKEE — Baseball’s All-Star Game
landed in commissioner Bud Selig’s home
town Monday, complete with fireworks and
a home run derby. But instead of celebrating
the mid-summer classic, players spent the
day defending it.
“I’ve been here an hour, and I think I’ve an
swered one baseball question,” said Braves
pitcher Tom Glavine, who, like all the All
Stars, had to spend an hour interview session
with the media. “It would be nice to talk
about the half season I had or my team had,
but this is reality. This is part of the game.
“Any time you are in a labor year, you are
going to have a dark cloud.”
The cloud keeps getting darker. Baseball
faces more problems today than at any time
in recent years. Less than 48 hours after Ari
zona outfielder Luis Gonzalez hit his dramat
ic ninth-inning, World Series-winning single,
Selig and the owners voted to eliminate two
franchises. The game has been unraveling
since, and the All-Stars came to Milwaukee
amid questions about a possible strike,
steroid use and contraction.
“You just want the fans to enjoy the
game.... It’s a shame this takes away
from the game.”
Luis Gonzalez
Arizona Diamondbacks
“Obviously, we know what’s going on.
There is a cloud hanging over this game,”
Gonzalez said. “The last two work stoppages
have just magnified everything that’s going
on. No one wants another one.
“You just want the fans to enjoy the game.
When we go on the field, we will enjoy this
game. It’s a great time, and everyone in Mil
waukee is excited. It’s a shame this takes
away from the game.”
Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa and Giants
home run king Barry Bonds received stand
ing ovations when they were announced
for the derby, but with all the unanswered
questions about steroid use in the big
leagues, fans wonder every time a long
home run is hit. Sosa hit four homers over
500 feet, including a 524-foot shot. Sosa
and Bonds deny using steroids, but without
testing, the questions hang over every long
ball they hit.
“It’s gotten to the point that every time
someone gets injured, someone says — ‘He’s
on it.’ And every time someone hits a home
run, someone says — ‘He’s on it,”’ said Yan
kees first baseman Jason Giambi.
The All-Star Game has never been
played with so many questions about the
Turn to Strike, page 6