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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 25, 1989)
Send Someone You Love A ^ Special Graduation Bear To Hug!! Wo deliver delightful hoartwarniing Teddy Bears of all types and si/.es Send one to any \!P in your life *Any Occasion "l ive Balloon Bouquet with local delivery Call 466-6256 Teddy Bear Express V hit *1111 a Vn/iToiiPW 475-636? 475-6363 Special Special Offer Offer Icfel Apel predicts Oakland A’s will make second consecutive Series appearance OAKLAND From Page 9 seven this year. Three other reasons why Oakland will improve arc first baseman Mark McGwire, outfielder Dave Parker and pitcher Mike Moore. McGwire and Parker hit only .238 while batting in the clean up spot last season. Look for those numbers to improve. Moore improved an already deep pitching staff when Oakland acquired him from Seattle. The A’s now have an awesome rotation that includes the likes ol Dave Stewart, Bob Welch, Storm Davis and Curt Young, as well as bullpen ace Dennis Fckcrslcy. With all ol these weapons, plus a few others like outfielders Jose Canseco and Dave Henderson and third baseman Carney Lansford, Oakland will be unbeatable in the AL West. That’s bad news for Minnesota, which will again finish in this year’s runner-up spot. The Twins tried to bolster their attack by adding pitcher Shane Rawlcy, but even a journeyman left hander will not help Minnesota. Minnesota’s problems lie in its pitching, where no one has stepped forward to help Frank Viola and Jeff Reardon. Besides Viola, the rest of the Twins’ starting rotation includes Allan Anderson, Rawlcy and Fred Tolliver - those arc not good names to hear from a team that hopes to challenge one of baseball’s best squads for a pennant. Minnesota’s strengths lie in center fielder Kirby Puckett and pitchers Viola and Reardon. Puckett earned All-Star honors last season while hit ting .356, while Viola won the Cy Young Award with a 24-7 record. Reardon has been an effective, but not overwhelming stopper. Lack of a solid stopper will pre vent Kansas City from finishing any better than third. The Royals have a solid starting rotation in Mark Gubicza, Charlie Lcibrandt, Bret Saberhagen and Floyd Bannister, but lack a stopper and a consistent center fielder. Kansas City’s strengths lie in out fielder Bo Jackson, first baseman George Brett and catcher Bob Boone. Jackson is a great project who is des tined to step into his potential, while Brett is a proven veteran. Boone, who was acquired during the off season, will make the Royals’ pitching staff stronger. The surprise teams in this year’s race will be Texas and Seattle, which took different paths cn route to earn ing top predicted finishes. Texas, which added the likes of designated hitter Buddy Bell, pitch ers Jamie Moyer and Nolan Ryan, first baseman Rafael Palmeiro and second baseman Julio Franco, now poses enough of an offensive threat to finish third. The Rangers, if they’re smart, will use a pitching rotation that begins with Ryan, and follow his 90-plus mile per hour fastballs with the soft knucklcballs thrown by Charlie Hough. The rest of Texas’ pitching rotation - particularly the bullpen - is shaky at best, as are the catcher, shortstop, third base and right field positions. Seattle also lacks proven players at certain positions, but should be able to overcome those weaknesses enough to finish 5lh. That would be quite an accomplishment for the Mariners, who have never had a win ning season. Seattle will rely on outfielders Darnell Coles, Jeff Leonard and Ken Griffey Jr., first baseman Alvin Davis and second baseman Harold Rey nolds to carry the majority of its of fensive load. Reynolds is a proven fielder who is All-Star caliber, while Coles and Leonard arc proven heavy hitters. Griffey, the son of the Cincinnati Reds outfielder by the same name, will be named the AL rookie of the year. The cellar dwellers in the AL West will be California and Chicago. Cali fornia has proven players in first baseman Wally Joyner and catcher Lance Parrish, but lacks a supporting cast. Chicago has designated hitter Harold Baines, but the rest of the White Sox roster is filled with A AA calibcr players. The predicted finish: Wins Losses Games Back Oakland no 52 Minnesota 87 75 23 Kansas C. 82 80 28 Texas 79 83 31 Seattle 75 87 35 California 69 93 41 Chicago 64 98 46 Apcl is a senior news-editorial major from Lincoln and is the Daily Nebraskan sports editor. in brief Rugby team wins A second-half spurt carried the Nebraska rugby team past South Dakota during the University of Nebraska-Lincoln invitational on Saturday. With the score tied 6-6 at halftime, Nebraska used tries by loose-head prop Jim Hudson, win ger Matt Greukc and team captain Mark Palmer to take a 10-point lead. The Comhuskcrs, 10-10, then held off a determined Coyote rally to post a 16-6 victory. Nebraska opened its first an nual tournament by dropping a 16 3 decision to Wyoming. Wyoming won the four-team competition by defeating Kansas State 15-12. Palmer said Nebraska’s prob lems against Wyoming stemmed from an unproductive first half. The Huskcrs trailed Wyoming 16 0 at halftime. “We’ve been winning the sec ond half,’’ Palmer said, “but we always seem to get our act together too late.” Nebraska s next match is Satur day, when the Huskers close out their season by traveling to Denver to face Denver Metro College. The match will be the final col legiate competition for breakaway Erik Klanderud, who is graduat ing. Teams finish 6th The Nebraska men’s and women’s bowling teams earned 6lh-place finishes at the National Collegiate bowling champion ships Saturday at the Gold Coast Bowling Center in Las Vegas. The Nebraska men earned their 6th-place finish in the 12-team competition by edging San Diego Slate, Ohio State, Erie Community College, Vincennes University, Illinois State and North Carolina State. In the women’s competition, Nebraska earned its 6lh-placc fin ish by edging Vincennes Univer sity, Buffalo Stale University, Eric Community College, Cal State Fullerton, Indiana State and Wis consin-Whitewater. ;_ I Kim Cohen • University of Wisconsin • Class of 1990|| wWNo matter how bad they are, Grandma loves to hear the latest jokes.55 You miss her sparkling sense of humor. She misses you and your jokes. Even the bad ones That’s one good reason to call longdistance. AT&T Long Distance Service is another good reason. Be cause it costs less than you think to hear your grand m< >ther start to giggle be lore you even get to the punch line. 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