Oregon Daily Emerald
Wednesday, October 6, 2004
“You can’t knock the hustle. I mean, you see a brother
getting broke off, you gotta like that. All I’m sayin ’ is
don’t stop breakin’ the bread now. ’’
Edcerrin James on Peyton Manning’s new contract
JON ROETMAN
ROUGHING THE PASSER
Sosa's home
runs may
have gone
to his head
I never thought I’d say this, but I’m ashamed
to be a Sammy Sosa fan.
Sosa’s 2004 season was one of struggle. The
35-year-old missed 36 games with various in
juries, including back spasms caused by a vio
lent sneeze. He posted his lowest batting average
(.253) in seven years and lowest home run (35)
and RBI (80) totals since 1994.
A lack of production from the aging superstar
is forgivable. There are plenty of major leaguers
who would love to hit 35 dingers in a season.
What Sosa did last Sunday, however, is anything
but excusable.
With Chicago already eliminated from play
off contention after losing seven of its last
eight games, the Cubs still had to play a
meaningless home game against Atlanta to
finish the season.
Slammin’ Sammy showed up late to Wrigley
Field, claimed to be ill, and instead of riding the
season’s final game out with his teammates on
the bench, left the park early without permis
sion from Cubs general manager Jim Hendry or
manager Dusty Baker.
To make things worse, Sosa, who claimed to
have left the park during the seventh inning,
was caught by parking lot security cameras
leaving 15 minutes after the first pitch.
Sosa has always claimed to be a “gladiator.”
A team leader who is capable of carrying the
city of Chicago on his back.
What kind of a leader bails out on his
troops? And what kind of a self-respecting ball
player skips out on a day of work when he is
paid roughly $105,000 per game?
Yes, $105,000 per game. That’s roughly
$26,250 per at-bat and nearly $17 million for
the season.
This could be the straw that breaks the camel’s
back. Sosa has worn out his welcome in Chica
go. The once-lovable character who, along with
Mark McGwire, “saved” baseball during the 1998
season with his pursuit of Roger Maris’ home-run
record, has become a clubhouse nuisance.
Sosa carries with him a sensitive ego that was
tested on several occasions this season. A god
like figure for many years in Chicago, the Cubbie
boo-birds ripped into the future hall-of-famer for
his repeated failures to hit with runners in scor
ing position. Sosa quickly took on a “me against
the world” attitude that seemed to be embraced
by the rest of the Cub players as well.
Sosa went so far as to lash out at Baker, who
pointed out that the broken-down slugger needs
to work harder during the offseason and come
back in top form for 2005.
“I’m tired of being blamed by Dusty Baker for
all the failures of this club,” Sosa said. “I resent
the inference that I’m not prepared. I live my life
every minute every day to prepare for combat.”
First of all, Baker did nothing but stick up
for Sosa’s shortcomings all season. Second, a
player who spends that much time preparing
himself for the season shouldn’t miss 36
games with nagging injuries. And third, where
was Sgt. Sosa when the Cubs were wrapping
up their season?
With Sosa due $17 million next season, it’s
likely the Cubs will try to trade the once-untouch
able superstar in an attempt to move forward
ROETMAN, page 10
■ Duck volleyball
Ducks seek two Pac-10 wins in a row
Pac-10 Teams continue to
occupy the No. 1 position in
the Coaches' poll
BY STEPHEN MILLER
SPORTS REPORTER
Can lightning strike twice? Oregon has not
achieved back-to-back Pacific-10 Conference
wins since 1991, when the Ducks defeated
California and Oregon State.
After defeating Washington State in three
straight games last Saturday, the Ducks will be
looking for their second consecutive league
victory when they face Arizona State on Fri
day at McArthur Court.
Oregon (9-4 overall, 1-2 Pac-10) is 2-55
against Pac-10 teams in the last three years
and has not had two conference wins in a
season since 2000.
Oregon’s Heather Madison had nine kills
in 11 attempts against the Cougars last week
end. The sophomore setter had a total of 13
kills in 2003, yet she already has 31 in 45
"'’mes this season.
Madison has 526 assists this year, but only
accumulated 61 in two matches last weekend.
Her career-high is 57. She is sixth in the
league with 11.69 assists per game.
Sophomore outside hitter Sarah Mason had
a team-high 48 kills in the first three confer
ence matches this season. Erin Little, also a
sophomore, had 29 kills, and junior Kelly Rus
sell pitched 23 into the attack.
The Sun Devils (5-7,0-4 Pac-10) are winless
in their last four matches — 12-straight games
— and are looking for their first league win of
the season.
Taking attendance
The Oregon Athletic Department verified
that the match against Oregon State on Sept.
24, which drew 1,902 fans, was the second
highest attendance of any Pac-10 volleyball
contest this year. Conflicting information in
the Pac-10 weekly press release excluded the
Ducks’ conference-opener, which attracted
the fifth-largest audience at Mac Court in pro
gram history.
USC helped fill 1,917 seats in Tlicson, Ariz.,
when it played at Arizona on Saturday. Wash
ington’s home-opener against the Ducks at
tracted the third-largest crowd of the year with
1,744 spectators on the same night. Oregon
lost in that match.
Pac-10 justified
The most recent USA Today/CSTV Top 25
poll ranked Washington as the best team in the
nation, with USC a distant second. The
Huskies, who have gone 4-0 in Pac-10 play for
the first time in school history, received 61 of
the coaches’ 65 first-place votes. The Women
Erik R. Bishoff | Photographer
Sophomore Heather Madison, seen here playing against Oregon State, is sixth in the Pac-10 Conference in
assists, averaging 11.69 per game.
of TVoy received one vote. Both programs were
ranked in the Top 10 at the start of the season.
USC was No. 1 as the defending national cham
pion. UCLA sits idle at No. 11; Stanford, Cali
fornia and Arizona all fell. Through the last 41
ranking periods, a Pac-10 school has occupied
the No. 1 spot 37 times. Outside the Pac-10 re
gion, Hawaii, Ohio State and Texas have per
fect records.
Deceiving Arizona
Arizona (8-6,0-4 Pac-10) is somehow hang
ing on at No. 21 in the coaches poll. The Wild
cats have the most losses (6) of any ranked
team in Division I volleyball.
Junior outside hitter Kim Glass is second
among Pac-10 active career leaders in kills
(1,269) and service aces (90). She leads the
team in three categories, averaging 4.20 kills,
2.80 digs and 1.00 blocks per game.
Jennifer Abernathy earned Pac-10 Player of
the Week honors in the second week of the
season. She leads the team this year with 189
kills, landing 4.11 per game.
The Wildcats are fifth in the league in
blocks, hitting percentage and opponent hit
ting percentage. Abernathy has six double
doubles this season (T-4 in Pac-10), followed
by Stephanie Butkus with five and Meghan
Cumpston with four.
stephenmiller@ dailyemerald, com
Boston Red Sox scour Angels 8-3
Anaheim won the National Championship in '02
after losing the first game in each playoff
BY JOHN NADEL
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Curt Schilling and the Boston
Red Sox got the jump on Anaheim
in the AL playoffs. Perhaps that's
how the Angels prefer it.
Schilling pitched 6 2/3 effective
innings, Manny Ramirez and
Kevin Millar homered during a
seven-run burst, and the Red Sox
beat the Angels 8-3 Tbesday in
Game 1.
Pedro Martinez will pitch
against Anaheim’s Bartolo Colon
in Game 2 on tonight before the
best-of-five series moves to Boston.
Two years ago, the Angels lost
the openers to the Yankees, TVvins
and Giants before bouncing back
to win all three series en route to
the championship.
Just like the 2002 postseason,
most of the fans at Angel Stadium
wore red and made it noisy by
banging ThunderStix. The volume
level decreased significantly after
the Red Sox's big fourth inning
gave them an 8-0 lead, and not
even stuffed Rally Monkeys could
spur the Angels.
The seven runs were the most
ever scored by the Red Sox in an
inning in the postseason and the
most ever allowed by the Angels.
Five of the runs were unearned be
cause of a throwing error by third
baseman Chone Figgins.
An eight-run lead was more
than enough for Schilling, who en
tered with a 5-1 record and a 1.66
ERA in 11 previous postseason ap
pearances.
He wasn’t at his best, allowing
nine hits and three runs, two
earned, while walking two and
striking out four. But that was good
enough.
Schilling, who allowed at least
one baserunner in every inning,
was relieved by Alan Embree with
a runner at second, two outs in the
seventh and the Red Sox leading 8
3. Embree retired pinch hitter
Adam Riggs on foul popup to end
the inning.
Boston went ahead for good off
Jarrod Washburn in the first on a
two-out double by Ramirez and a
broken-bat single by David Ortiz.
Ortiz walked to begin the fourth
and Millar hit an 0-1 offspeed pitch
into the left-field bullpen, making
it 3-0. The Red Sox then loaded
the bases with one out, and two
runs scored when Figgins fielded
Johnny Damon’s grounder but
was far off target with his throw ^
home as he went for the force.
Scot Shields relieved and
struck out Mark Bellhorn, but
Ramirez capped the inning with
RED SOX, page 10