Erik Bishoff Photographer
Forward Eleanor Haring struggled Saturday against the Huskies after going 8 for 12 on Thursday.
POINT
continued from page 7
injury on Feb. 7 against Oregon State.
"Corrie's our transition point guard,"
guard Brandi Davis said. "I know if I run
the floor like I'm supposed to, she's going
to get the ball to me or whoever else runs
the floor. I think that not having Corrie
hurt us a little bit, but I really feel that Kayla
Steen came up and stepped up to the chal
lenge tonight. She did a great job."
Forwards have roller coaster
homestand
Against Washington State on Thursday,
starting forwards Eleanor Haring and
Kedzie Gunderson shot a combined 65
percent, leading the Ducks with 16 and 13
points, respectively.
Haring, specifically, had talked during
the week leading up to Saturday's rematch
against Washington about wanting to make
sure that the Ducks weren't on the receiv
ing end of another 45-point thumping.
"I think (Haring) just missed some
good shots," Smith said. "I think that ex
citement maybe just caused some overanxiety
on her part."
Haring opened the first half with six-con
secutive missed shots before finally hitting
her seventh attempt with 2:49 left in the half.
"She missed some shots and it didn't go
her way," Smith said. "She was 1 for 8 in the
first half and I think had she gotten off to a
better start it certainly would have given
them some different defensive problems."
The freshman from Australia finished
the game 3 for 13 after going 2 for 5 in the
second half. Gunderson was 0-for-2 in Sat
urday's game and fouled out of her first
game this season.
Guards work Mendiola sisters
For the first 29 minutes of Saturday's
game, Wagner and Mizusawa played fero
cious defense on Washington's top player:
Giuliana Mendiola.
"We just stayed in front of her," Smith said.
"We really tried to make everything difficult
for her. Our whole team did a very good job
just coming off screens, making sure they
were there, bumping here, just keeping her a
little bit off her game. Perhaps near the end
she stepped up a bit. *
Mendiola had four points in the first 29
minutes and 18 points in the final 11 minutes.
Contact the senior sports reporter
at mindirice@dailyemerald.com.
Rodriguez deal is official;
Yankees part with Soriano
New York acquired the former
Texas and Seattle star Monday
By Anthony McCarron
New York Daily News (KRT)
NEW YORK — When the New York Yankees first
started trade discussions for Alex Rodriguez, GM Bri
an Cashman didn't believe the talks would ever
reach the conclusion they did Monday, with com
missioner Bud Selig approving the money-laden
deal and the Yankees planning a gala press confer
ence for Tuesday to show off their new star.
But there were Cashman and Yankee president
Randy Levine announcing the trade, which sent Al
fonso Soriano and a minor-leaguer to Texas, over a
conference call, proclaiming themselves "ecstatic"
over their coup.
"1 can't believe we're at the point where it's com
plete," Cashman gushed. "This is something that's
nothing short of spectacular."
Cashman described asking A-Rod to switch from
shortstop to third base — the only way the Yankees
would trade for him — a "Mount Everest of a re
quest." But the reigning AL MVP, who many in base
ball believe is the game's best player, accepted the
position change and Cashman called that proof Ro
driguez wanted to win.
The A-Rod Era begins Tuesday when the Yankees
hold a noon EST press conference at the Stadium,
where Rodriguez will put on pinstripes. He is slated
to wear jersey No. 13. Manager Joe Torre, who had
been at the Yankees' complex in Tampa preparing
for the start of spring training, will be there, as will
Derek Jeter, the Yanks' captain and shortstop.
Jeter's job seems safe for now, with Cashman say
ing, 'There is no position issue. We have arguably
the best left side of the infield in baseball history....
Derek is our captain and world championship
shortstop." But no one promised that Jeter would
be shortstop for life, either.
Tuesday ought to be a fun day for the Yanks and
A-Rod, but Rodriguez already has had an introduc
tion of sorts to the Yankee Way. Owner George
Steinbrenner said Monday at the team's complex in
Tampa that he was delighted to have Rodriguez, but
he also released a statement reminding his team
that winning remains, to quote an old Steinbrenner
saw, "second only to breathing."
"In acquiring Alex Rodriguez, we are bringing to
New York one of the premier players in the history
of the game," Steinbrenner's statement read. "The
Yankees are in the toughest division in baseball and
now, with the team we have assembled, we have to
go out and produce on the field."
Cashman echoed Steinbrenner's sentiment, say
ing, "The only thing we've won with this is the back
and front pages and the lead story on some net
works. That's powerful, but the players still have to
go out and prove it on the field. That starts with
pitchers and catchers and building a special season.
We have to stay healthy, injuries, all those things that
baseball will throw at you.
"But there is no question we are a better team
having done this and it gives us a better chance to
compete with everyone else who improved them
selves during the offseason."
One of those teams is the Red Sox, who had their
own chance to get Rodriguez and failed. The fact
that the Yanks succeeded should spice up the best
rivalry in baseball and so should some of the verbal
sparring done between the two clubs over the deal.
Levine bristled when told of comments made by
Red Sox honcho Larry Lucchino, who once de
scribed the Yankees as "the Evil Empire." Lucchino
congratulated the Yankees for "deploying their re
sources, " obviously referring to Yankee dollars.
"I think Larry Lucchino is probably disappoint
ed, but this day is about the New York Yankees,"
Levine said. "We do know what we're doing here."
(c) 2004, New York Daily News. Distributed by Knight
Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
Red Sox will be ready
for Mew York onslauaht
When I heard Alex Rodriguez would join the Yan
kees — the Tiffany player on the Tiffany team — I
felt as I did in October when Jorge Posada's bloop
_ hit shook Yankee Stadi
as* I I C CL “IT* um' matter what the
Ul IEL i Red Sox do, the Yankees
COMMENTARY will trump them.
- The Rodriguez sweep
stakes reprised last year's
American League championship series: After Boston
seemed en route to clinching the pennant the Yan
kees swooped in like a condor and snared the prize
Red Sox fans continue to serve their sentence of life
without a World Series tide. The Yankees again have
the luck. They got Babe Ruth in 1920 because the
Bosox were foolish enough to sell him. They got Ro
driguez because two months ago the Red Sox let their
tentative trade for him disappear into a financial fog.
But the Yankees' luck against the Bosox cuts even
deeper than Ruth and Rodriguez. The Yanks even
get the bloop hits when needed.
In November, I came across this quote from
Ted Williams:
"Oh, God, that cheap hit, that cheap ... hit,"
Williams said. "Forty years later, I can close my eyes
and still see it."
Williams made that comment in David Halber
stam's book "Summer of '49" about the 1949 pen
nant race between the Yankees and Red Sox.
I knew the 1949 American League season ended
as 2003 did: the Yankees and Red Sox pitted in a
winner-take-all game at Yankee Stadium for the
pennant and a spot in the World Series.
1 also knew, as I trust almost every Red Sox fan
does, that the foundation of the Yankees' victories in
both those games came from an eighth-inning rally.
But in the years since I read Halberstam's book, I
had forgotten that the Yankees' key eighth-inning
hit in 1949, as in 2003, was a blooper.
Last fall, Posada dropped his two-run bloop dou
ble into centerfield off the fatigued, over-extended
Pedro Martinez. Posada's hit capped a three-run ral
ly and tied the score. Mariano Rivera blanked the
Red Sox until the Yankees won in the 11th on Aaron
Boone's leadoff homer.
The 1949 blooper came from Yankees rookie in
fielder Jerry Coleman. New York had scored once in
the eighth to increase its lead to 2-0. Coleman then
batted with two out and the bases loaded. He hit his
blooper down the rightfield line. It fell, and three
runs scored for a 5-0 Yankees lead. Boston scored
three in the ninth, but lost 5-3.
Four decades later, Williams lamented Coleman's
hit as if it had just landed.
It's cruel that Williams, who understood the sci
ence of the line drive as well as anyone who ever
gripped a bat should have to stand in the outfield
and watch his team's season vanish on a blooper.
It's cruel that bloop hits in 1949 and 2003 would
enable the Yankees to extend baseball's most fa
mous shutout: Since Ruth joined the Yankees, the
Yankees have won 26 World Series and the Red Sox
haven't won any.
As when they acquired Roger Clemens in 1999,
the Yankees have welcomed spring training by ac
quiring a Hall of Fame talent. They again have
dropped the hammer of competitive imbalance on
the rest of baseball at the very juncture — the open
ing of training camp — when optimism among all
fans should peak.
But the Yankees might yet need another big
bloop hit this fall. Even with Rodriguez's arrival, the
good ship Steinbrenner can't be called anything
close to a lock for the World Series title (as if anyone
ever could be in February).
No matter how many runs Rodriguez helps the
Yankees score in the regular season, they likely will
encounter pitchers in the postseason who can re
strain them. The Yankees will then need strong
games from their starters — their new starters. Only
Mike Mussina remains from last season's rotation
regulars. Clemens, Andy Pettitte and David Wells
are gone. The new starters carry credentials and
questions: Javier Vazquez, exchanging Montreal's
obscurity for the big stage; Kevin Brown, needing to
stay healthy; Jon Lieber, returning from a major arm
injury; and Jose Contreras, carrying all of nine ca
reer starts on his resume
The Red Sox classically have loaded up with hit
ting, while the Yankees countered with superior
pitching. Now look at this off-season. The Red Sox
didn't get Rodriguez, but they added Arizona starter
Curt Schilling and signed Oakland free-agent closer
Keith Fbulke.
John Lowe is a sports columnist for the Detroit Free
Press (c) 2004. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune
Information Services. His opinions do not necessarily
represent those of the Emerald.