Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current, April 28, 2004, Page 8, Image 8

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    Page B2
(Elje |JnrtIanh (ßbaeruer
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(AP) — Hall o f Fam er O rlando
C epeda told everyone alm ost a
decade ago that h e 'd never seen
som eone swing a bat as well as
Barry Bonds.
“ A nd p eo p le lo o k e d at m e
funny,” Cepeda recalled.
N o b o d y ’s arg u in g now , not
w ith B onds batting .500 - yep,
.500! - and co n n ectin g for nine
hom e runs am ong his first 19 hits.
He even hom ered in seven straight
gam es, one shy o f the m ajor league
record.
“W hat h e ’s doing is pretty sp e­
cial,” first basem an J .T. Snow said.
Bonds, a six-time NL M VP, got a
m uch-needed day o ff Thursday
when the G iants concluded a four-
gam e series against the San Diego
Padres. He is expected to play all
three w eekend gam es in Los A nge­
les against the Dodgers.
“He is really tired,” manager
Felipe Alou said. “You can see it in
the outfield. H e’s been busy.”
T h at’s for sure.
B o n d s’ hom er streak end ed
W ednesday, ju st short o f tying the
mark shared by Dale Long ( 1956),
Don M attingly (1987) and Ken
Griffey Jr. ( 1993). With the game out
I
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I 1 CLEANING AREA
(A P) — Portland Trail Blazers
forward Zach Randolph was disap­
pointed when he d id n ’t m ake the
A ll-Starteam . W inning the N B A ’s
Most Improved Playeraw ard Thurs­
day took som e o f that sting away.
R andolph, who becam e a starter
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o f reach - the G iants lost 11-0 -
Bonds asked to be taken out in the
eighth inning.
Bonds, w ho turns 40 in July, has
667 hom ers, behind only Hank
Aaron (755 ) and Babe Ruth ( 7 14). If
he stays healthy and keeps up his
pace, Bonds could reach 700 this
seaso n .
He set the sin g le-seaso n hom e
run record o f 73 in 2001. T his
seaso n , h e’s p erfo rm ed fa n ta sti­
ca lly at the p late w hile d ealin g
w ith q u estio n s about his p erso n al
tra in e r’s drug d istrib u tio n case
and w h eth er B onds has used ste ­
ro id s.
“ H is w eap o n is h is m in d ,” said
C epeda, w ho hit 379 hom ers in 17
m ajo r league seaso n s. “H e ’s b ril­
liant. He am azes m e the w ay he
p lay s the gam e o f b aseb all. In all
his years, I ’ve seen him look bad
at the plate tw o tim es. G uys look
bad at the p la te five tim es a day.
“He has the best sight. It’s in­
credible. People should com e to the
ballpark ju st to say, ‘I saw Barry
B onds.’ I played with Hank Aaron,
W illie M ays and Frank Robinson.
T h ere’s nobody better than Barry
Bonds, and h e’s nearly 40 years
'S
/
-
Barry Bonds
old.”
How does he keep his body go­
Rich Donnelly, now a third-base ing a, this late stage in his career?
coach for the Brewers, was a coach
“T alen t,” G iants trainer Stan
for Bonds from 1986-92 when the C onte said. “Talent sums up skiH,
slugger firs, cam e up with the Pitts­ genetics and psychological all in
burgh Pirates.
o n e.”
D onnelly points out that Bonds
His team m ates can appreciate
has m ade his mark as more than what Bonds is doing, even if the
m erely a great hitter.
defending NL W est cham pion G i­
"T he tw o greatest baserunners ants are having a rough April in the
I' ve ever seen are Larry W alker and win column. That seems to be w ear­
Barry B onds,” Donnelly said. “ It’s ing on Bonds, w ho fell six outs
not alw ays about stolen bases. ... short o f w inning the W orld Series
N obody m akes a play dow n the in 2002.
left-field line like Barry Bonds. H e's
“I only take com fort in w ins,”
still the best at it.”
Bonds said.
NBA Names Randolph
Most Improved Player
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April 28. 2004
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Zach Randolph
this season and averaged double
figures in points and rebounds, eas­
ily beat C leveland C avaliers for­
ward C arlos Boozer in voting by
sports w riters and b roadcasters
with 59 first-place votes and 379
points.
“I w anted to be on the All-Star
team bu, it feels good to win this
aw ard," Randolph said with a big
smile. “It feels good.”
Randolph averaged 20.1 points,
10.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists for
the revam ped Blazers, w ho wen,
41-41 to finish 1 Oth in the W estern
Conference, tw o spots out o f the
Oregon Air National Guard
playoffs.
A fter the d isap p o in tm en t o f
m issing the postseason, the honor
gave the Blazers som ething to cel­
ebrate. On Thursday, Randolph
was the star o f an old-fashioned
victory .party, com plete with bal­
loons, hats and a band.
“I'm going to get back here next
year and I’m going to get better,
he said.
The 6-foot-9 forward had 43
double-doubles, tying him for fifth
in the league. He had 20 or more
points in 42 gam es, and 30 or more
points in three gam es.
Last year, his second season in
the NBA, Randolph averaged 8.4
points, 4.5 rebounds and 0.5 as
sists.
“This is all Zach R andolph’s
aw ard,” Blazers coach M aurice
Cheeks said. “ It’s about him. It’s
about him going out and working.
... Years ago they talked about
Larry Bird com ing to the arena
long before anyone else did. And
th a t’s the k ind o f thing Z ach
R andolph did and really w hat
helped him achieve this goal.”
Randolph, the 19th overall pick
in the 2001 draft out o f M ichigan
State, first em erged last season
when Rasheed W allace was serv­
ing a seven-gam e suspension for
threatening an official on the load­
ing dock a, the Rose Garden after
a gam e. Randolph started, and the
Blazers w en, 5-2.
Randolph, know n in Portland
as Z-Bo, is the second Blazer to be
selected as M ost Im proved Player;
K evin D uckw orth received the
award in 1987-88.
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A ir \atlonnl (iuurd
Blazer C. Theo
R atliff blocks a shot
for one o f the many
defensive moves
that eared him NBA
All Defensive
Second Team
^honors.
PHOTO COURTESY
S am F orencich
Ratliff Named to
All-Defensive Team
PortlandTrail BlazerC. Theo Ratliff
has been named to the N BA ’s All-
Defensive Second Team.
R atliff won the league blocked
shots title for the second consecu­
tive season, averaging 3.61 blocked
shots per gam e for a total o f 307
shots, the first tim e an NBA player
has blocked more than 300 shots
since the 1995-96 season.
He averaged 4.41 blocks in 32
gam es with Portland and his 141
blocks were the most in a season by
the Trail Blazers since Clifford
Robinson rejected 163 in 82 gam es
during the 1992-93 campaign.
T h e6 -fo o t-10,235-pound center
blocked five or more shots in a
gam e 30 ,i mes and si x or more shots
in a gam e on 18 occasions.
R atliff tied a Portland franchise-
record when he blocked nine shots
on February 24th at Orlando. Bill
W alton set the club record with
nine blocks on O ctober 22, 1974
and tied it on January 26, 1977.
M ychal Thom pson also tied the
record on February 20,1981.
Breaking Barriers in Golf
Sifford first black chosen for Golf Hall
(AP)— Charlie Sifford broke
a n o th e r b a rrie r. S iffo rd , w ho
cracked the PGA T o u r’s C auca­
sian-only clause in 1961 and was
the first black m em ber to win on
tour, is the first black chosen for the
W o rld G o lf Hall of Fame.
Sifford will be inducted Nov. 15,
along with 1992 U.S. O pen cham ­
pion T om Kite, Japanese star Isao
Aoki and Canadian amateur Marlene
Stew art Streit.
“T his is very wonderful,” Sifford
said from the cerem ony in Savan­
nah, G a. “I thank all these w onder­
ful players for accepting me. I know
I had som e bad days and tough
days. Bu, it looks like everything
worked out fine."
Streit is the first C anadian in the
Hall o f Fame. She won the U.S.
Senior W om en's A m ateur title las,
year at 69. her sixth decade o f w in­
ning an elite am ateur title.
Kite, a 19-,ime winner and seven­
tim e Ryder Cup player, was elected
through the PGA Tour ballot. Aoki
was elected through the Interna­
tional ballot.
T hat brings m em bership in the
W orld G olf Hall o f Fam e to 104. No
one from the LPG A Tour will be
inducted unless Laura Davies w ins
tw o tournam ents or a m ajor this
year.
Sifford was a true pioneer, along
with Teddy Rhodes, Pete Brown,
Lee Elder, Bill Spiller and otherblacks
who kept playing with hopes o f get­
ting a chance on the PGA Tour.
Tiger W oods paid tribute to them
when he won the ‘97 M asters for
his first major, and he spoke in
O ctober about the absence o f blacks
in g o lf s Hall o f Fame.
"They never had a chance to
play," W oods said. “W hether it’s
pioneers like Teddy Rhodes or Bill
Spiller or C harlie, they fought all
those years ju st to ge, on the tour.
It’s going to be very difficult for
them to gain acceptance because
o f the fact they had no playing
record on tour. O ne person who
should ge, in, w ithout a doubt, is
Charlie.”
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