Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (July 6, 2017)
SPORTS THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2017 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS PENDLETON ‘I thought I was in heaven’ Though stay was short, football legend Bob Lilly reveres Pendleton ties By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian Bob Lilly remembers the day he moved to Eastern Oregon quite vividly. After moving up from a small town in Texas, Lilly and his family made the drive in the summer of 1956, coming into Pendleton just after Independence Day that year. Once reaching the Oregon border, the family drove through Baker City, La Grande and up through the Blue Mountains before fi nally coming through the clearing on the Old Emigrant Highway and giving the Lilly’s their fi rst sight of the area. “You come through the moun- tains, through the trees,” Lilly recalled in a recent sit-down inter- view with the East Oregonian, “and then all the sudden you drop down and see all the golden levels upon — Bob Lilly, levels of wheat NFL legend on his fi rst sight of fi elds and it was the area surrounding Pendleton. just breathtaking. I thought I was in heaven.” The family was forced to move away from their home in Throckmorton, Texas, located approximately 160 miles northwest of Dallas, because of a decade-long drought that had severely hurt the state’s economy. After calling around to various extended family members, Lilly’s mother’s cousin was working as an electrician on the McNary Dam outside of Hermiston and was able to help Lilly’s father land a job on the Dam. “So we packed everything up and left,” Lilly said. Their original destination in Eastern Oregon, though, was actually in Hermiston so they could live close to the Dam. But after only two weeks there, Lilly’s father had a minor heart episode and could no longer work on the Dam. Not long after, though, his father got a job as a “You come through the mountains, through the trees, and then all the sudden you drop down and see all the golden levels upon levels of wheat fi elds and it was just breathtaking.” Pendleton football legend Bob Lilly stands in front of the Don Requa statue in Brown- fi eld Park in Pendleton. Lilly played football under Requa at Pendleton High School before going to college and then having a fourteen-year career with the Dallas Cowboys. Staff photo by E.J. Harris See LILLY/3B PENDLETON MLS Blanco helps Timbers draw Bandits hold off Hodgen Chicago runs unbeaten streak to 11 games Russell hits home run in loss By ANNE M. PETERSON Associated Press East Oregonian CENTRALIA, Wash. — Four runs in the bottom of the fi fth inning were more than enough to allow the Black Hills Bandits to hold off Hodgen Distributing 8-3 on Wednesday. Hodgen (9-12) had pulled within 4-3 in the top of the fourth when Chris Large hit a two-out single with bases loaded, then Cam Sandford drew a walk to bring in another runner. Black Hills starter Jake Perry got a strikeout to end the threat, however, and Hodgen stranded See HODGEN/3B Sean Meagher/The Oregonian via AP Portland Timbers’ Darien Asprilla (27) heads a ball next to Chicago Fire’s Brandon Vincent during an MLS soc- cer match Wednesday, July 5, 2017, in Portland, Ore. PORTLAND — Sebastian Blanco scored in the 70th minute and the Portland Timbers salvaged a 2-2 draw against the surging Chicago Fire on Wednesday night. The Fire (11-3-4) are undefeated in 11 games, winning nine times. The tie ended Chicago’s four-match winning streak and dropped the Fire a point behind Toronto FC for the Eastern Conference lead. Last season, Chicago had seven total victories and an MLS-worst 31 points. Fanendo Adi opened the scoring for the Timbers (7-7-5) on a penalty kick in the 24th minute, and Arturo Alvarez tied it 10 minutes later. Defender Brandon Vincent got his fi rst goal of the season early in the second half to Chicago Portland 2 2 give the Fire the lead before Blanco took a pass from Diego Valeri and slotted the tying goal past goalkeeper Matt Lampson. It was the third straight draw for the Timbers, who are winless in fi ve straight games. But Portland has never lost to Chicago, with four wins and four draws since joining the league in 2011. The Fire were without midfi elder Bastian Schweinsteiger. He left a 4-0 victory over Vancouver this weekend with what was described as right hip pain. Chicago was also missing midfi elder Dax McCarty, who was with the U.S. national team for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Portland was missing three players See TIMBERS/3B Sports shorts Judge hits 29th homer, tying DiMaggio’s Yankees rookie mark NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge has tied Joe DiMaggio’s New York Yankees record for home runs by a rookie. Judge hit a two-run drive into the Yankees’ bullpen in right-center in the fourth inning of Wednesday’s game against Toronto. It was his major league-leading 29th home run of the season. Connecting on a 92 mph fastball, Judge drove it 398 feet, Judge according to MLB’s Statcast. New York trailed 5-0 before the homer. DiMaggio set the Yankees rookie mark in 1936. Judge reached it in New York’s 83rd game of the season. The only other rookies to hit 29 homers before the All-Star break were Mark McGwire in 1987 (33) and Jose Abreu in 2014 (29). “Maybe he gets me a little bit more relaxed and takes a little bit of pressure off me and maybe I’ll play my best that way.“ — Phil Mickelson Professional golfer on choosing his brother Tim Mickelson to be his caddie for the rest of the year, starting at this week’s Greenbrier Classic. It is his fi rst tournament since parting ways with his caddie of 25 years, Jim “Bones” Mackay. Guard Nick Young agrees to 1-year deal with Warriors OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Veteran guard Nick Young is getting a new start with Golden State, agreeing to a $5.2 million, one-year contract Wednesday with the champion Warriors. Young’s agent, Mark Bartel- stein, confi rmed the deal in a message to The Associated Press. The 32-year-old Young last month declined the player option in his contract for next season with the Los Angeles Lakers that would have paid him more than $5.6 million, becoming a free agent. He averaged 13.2 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 60 games for the Lakers. Young will provide the Warriors with depth they like on a long bench as coach Steve Kerr regularly rotates in his reserves to spell the stars. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1887 — Lottie Dod of Britain, 15, becomes the youngest woman to win the women’s singles champion- ship at Wimbledon, defeating Blanch Bingley 6-2, 6-0. 1933 — The fi rst major league All-Star game is played at Comiskey Park, Chicago. The American League beats the National League 4-2 on Babe Ruth’s two-run homer. 1996 — Steffi Graf beats Spain’s Arantxa Sanchez Vicario 6-3, 7-5 in the Wimbledon fi nal for the German star’s 20th Grand Slam title and 100th tourna- ment victory. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com
