Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 11, 1991)
Royals strengthen for 1991 despite Bo's loss By Matt Larsen Staff Reporter It's springtime... time for tans, shorts, skipping class and base ball. With Kansas City a mere 31/ 2 hours from Lincoln, the pros pect of watching a live major league game complete with hot dogs, beer and organ music is entertaining. This year, the Royals are look ing to pick up the pieces of their disastrous 1990 season when they finished sixth in the American League West. Although the West looks even tougher, Kansas City is predicted to finish second or third and is the pundits' pick to chal lenge the Oakland A's and the Chicago White Sox for the divi sion title. Steve Fink of the Royals' media department said pitching, speed and defense will be the Royals' strengths this year, and their younger players will make big contributions. "Our young guys will bring a lot of excitement to the team," Fmk said. "Brian MacRae, who is the son of former Royals' star Hal MacRae, came on strong at the end of last season and is now our leadoff hitter. "At second base, rookie Terry Schumpert will be taking over Frank White's position," he added. "He's a lot of Fun to watch, plays good defense and can do a lot with his bat." Backing up the youngsters will be the Royals' solid core of cxperi cnced veterans, he said. George Brett is coming off his third bat ting title, and a big year is ex pected out of DannyTartabull, he said. But most of the excitement is centered on the off-season addi tion of veterans Kirk Gibson and Mike Boddicker. In his first at-bat as a Royal, Gibson tripled, then went on to score a run and dri ve in another to lead Kansas City to a win over Cleveland. Fink said the biggest key to the Royals' success in the pitching ricn AL West will be the effective ness of their pitchers. Bret Saber hagen got his first win of the sea son Monday and hopes to con tinue his winning ways for a full season. Boddicker won 17 games for Boston and contributes another experienced arm, Fink said. With consistent performances from Storm Davis, Mark Gubicza, Kevin Appier and closer Mark Davis, the Royals could reach the domi nant form that eluded them last year. Already the Royals have been part of baseball's biggest story of the year so far: the Bo Jackson saga. The Royals released Bo and his media monster in spring train ing because of uestions about the soundness of his hip. Manager John Wathan replaced Bo with a pla toon of Jim Eisenreich and Gary Thurman, two consistent players who lack Bo's awesome physical ability. But Fink believes the loss of Bo could help the team in other ways. "We have a lot of outstanding players, so hopefully the focus will shift to some of the other guys," Fink explained. Wathan said there is a lot more emotion in the clubhouse and the team is closer this year than in the past. Season ticket sales are down slightly to 15,200, but opening day was sold out. General admission seats at Royals Stad ium are $4 and club box seats are $11. Every Monday and Thursday is Royals' day, and view-level seats are half price at $3.50. - ■RE NL EAST Chicago Cubs Montreal New York Mets Pittsburgh Philadelphia St. Louis AL EAST Boston Toronto Detroit Cleveland New York Yankees Baltimore Milwaukee NL WEST Los Angeles San Diego Cincinnati San Francisco Houston Atlanta AL WEST Chicago White Sox Oakland Kansas City Seattle Texas California Minnesota — I I I V NL EAST Chicago Cubs Pittsburgh New York Montreal Philadelphia St. Louis AL EAST Toronto Boston (Take your pick of the rest.) NL WEST Los Angeles Cincinnati San Diego San Francisco Atlanta Houston AL WEST Oakland Seattle Chicago Kansas City Texas California Minnesota Ami* DeFrain/ Dally Nabraakan Cubs' charisma draws national appeal By Chris Hopfensperger Senior Reporter Something during the mid-1980s made the Chicago Cubs into America's baseball team. Part of it was the Cubs finally winning a pennant in 1984. Some of it was WGN broadcasting Cubs' games nationwide almost every uay. And a lot of it was the nation wide controversy over finally light ing up Wrigley Field. All of that, and more, led to the Cubs' immense national popular ity. rheir reputation, however, has not been without penalties to the fans. Frank Maloney, director of ticket operations at Wrigley Field, said tickets to see the Cuds live have gotten harder to come by. "After we won the pennant in 1984, it changed here, Maloney said. "Since then things have re ally changed." One of the biggest changes are the lights. The front officers deci sion to finally put lights on Wrigley Field spurred a controversy tnat culminated with the first night game on Aug. 9,1988. Tickets for the night games are some of the hardest to get a hold of, Maloney said. "Weekends and nights are pretty much gone," Maloney said. "If you want a ticket, I would suggest any weekday 1:20 p.m. gamer Ticket prices for Cubs' games run from $6-$15, he said. The cheap est seats are located above the famous ivy-covered outfield walls among the bleacher bums. Ter race reserved seats are $8, upper deck box and terrace box seats are $11. The most expensive seats are in the field and club boxes. Maloney said the Cubs' fans have their own brand of fans, making it easier to share the Windy City with the White Sox of the American League. "The team is really, really popu lar so v\e don't have to compete with them," he said. "Chicago's a big city and Cubs' fans are Cubs' fans." The Cubs don't have to be winning to bring the fans in either. Last year, when the Cubs went 77 85 and fell to a fifth place finish, tickets were still hard to come by. 'There's so many Cubs' fans out there that there is always a good crowd," Maloney said. This season, however, the fans may not have not worry about following a slumping team. Ryne Sandberg, Andre Dawson and Mark Grace could lead the team back to reclaim the National League East crown it grabbed in 1989, if they get support from a bullpen that was decimated by injuries last summer. The team's pitchers finished last in the division with a combined 4.34 ERA, and six Cubs' pitchers spent a total of 285 days on the disabled list. During the off-season, the Cubs tried to shore up their pitching staff. Free-agent Danny Jackson signed a deal to add to an unpre dictable bullpen. Greg Maddux, 15-15 with a 3.46 ERA last season, has the ability to win the Cy Young Award if he can pitch an entire season. Last year, ne led the club in wins, complete fames and innings pitched, but etween May 11 and July 14 he was 0-8 with a 6.15 ERA. Rick Sutcliffe, who underwent shoulder surgery last year, is still undergoing reha oil itation and was placed on the 15-day disabled list April 2. Mitch “the pitch" Williams is the real-life version of Charlie Sheen's “Major League" Wild Thing. He led the Cubs last season with 16 saves, but it was nowhere near the National League leading 36-save performance in 1989. When Williams wentout with a knee injury last season, he was replaced by Paul Assenmacher, wno finished with a 7-2 record, a 2.80 ERA and 10 saves. Offense has not been a problem for the Cubs. Dawson came back from knee surgery last year to post the best average of his career. He hit 27 home runs and 100 RBIs on the way to a .310 batting average. Grace, the Cubs first baseman, finished seventh in the league in batting by posting a .309 average. Sandberg, who ended his er rorless streak at 123 games, hit .306 last year, including 40 home runs and 100 RBIs. Once again the Cubs begin the season witn enough talent to make a drive at the elusive World Se ries. Maybe this year the road's name is Waveland Avenue. WIN A MACINTOSH® SE/30 COMPUTER during ^ ^ April 9-12 Big Red Apple Days is the perfect opportunity for you to get familiar with Macintosh AND to register to win one of TWO FREE MACINTOSH SE/30’s. For majors from advertising to zoology, come see why Macintosh is the computer for you. Macintosh's new more affordable line combined with your special educational price, makes Macintosh more affordable than ever. So stop by the Apple Stand at the East Campus Union April 9 and City Union April 10-12. See a UNLock dazzling display of how Macintosh can give you the powxr to the power to be your best. be your best>
