Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Gamecock Sports Strawberry, Griffey Jr., Doc K * and the rest regroup for spring by Mark Piras Staff. Writer l Griffey takes less money to go home, Strawberry fails another drug test, and Doctor K (Dwight Gooden) tries to make a comeback with the Astros. As the temperature outside heats up, so does the news around America’s fa vorite summer sport-baseball. The sporting world’s most pampered and spoiled players had just begun to shake the cobwebs out of their gloves and dust off their bats when the horrifying, earth-shattering news hit them: Ken Grif fey, Jr., perhaps the game’s best player, not only got the trade he wanted to the Cincinnati Reds, but agreed to a nine-year deal worth only $116 million. And most [ of that money is deferred until after the contract is over! Who does he think he is, most of these players want to know. Here they are, hav ing spent years diligently raising the bar on their salaries (after all, who can raise on family on just $4 million a year!?) when along comes one of the game’s elite, agreeing to a salary that doesn’t make him the highest paid player in baseball! It’s almost like he cares about allow ing his team to save money to sign other players, so they can compete with other teams for a championship. Juan Gonzales, who gets paid half the net income of the city of Detroit, must be patting himself on the back for sign ing his contract before Griffey did. gi Just as the fans start shaking their heads and mumbling to themselves “Hey, maybe these guys do just love to play the game, maybe they aren’t just about money, maybe we have a baseball player we can consider a role model...,” former super star DarTyl Strawberry arrives in the nick of time. For baseball, spring training without a Strawberry story is like Jerry Lewis get ting an invitation to join NOW—it just ain’t gonna happen. Every year it would seem, Strawberry is making a comeback from something or having a setback with something else, whether it be spousal abuse charges, income tax evasion, colon cancer or the inevitable failed drug test. Strawberry, who went from being known as “The Straw that Stirs the Mets” to “The Coke Straw,” has supposedly turned his life around so many times that most observers have become dizzy and nauseous. Baseball, in its infinite wisdom, is pon dering a one-year suspension, knowing that Strawberry certainly can’t make it an entire year without giving them a bet ter reason to suspend him for longer. One has to wonder if Pete Rose hasn’t already put a seat warmer into the empty seat next to him in the “Permanently Banned” section. And, speaking of cocaine problems and yearly comeback stories, thank the heavens for the Houston Astros, who have agreed to allow former Cy Young winner Doc Gooden into their camp. Gooden, who has already made enough failed comeback attempts to pre clude me from being able to list them all here, is actually slated as the leading contender for the one open spot in the Astros’ pitching rotation. In all honesty, though, I think former Gamecock shortstop Adam Everett (whom the Astros traded one of their better out fielders to get in December) has a better chance of starting; Gooden’s once-famous blazing fastball now looks like a Yugo try ing to go up the hill on Pickens Street. With all these off-field distractions, it’s a wonder anyone is focusing on the actual sport of baseball at all, but, amaz ingly, some have survived. Being that base ball is the focus of this column ... what the hell, let’s talk a Little about it: The big shift of focus this year will be from the AL East and NL West to the NL Central, where Griffey now joins Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Jeff Bagwell as the game’s best home run hitters. Of course, only Cincinnati and Houston will have a chance at the playoffs, but base ball has gone from a team sport to a game obsessed with personal achievements, so the attention on those other teams will last all year. In the American League, no one can beat the Yankees-not now, not ever. Steinbrenner’s pockets are too deep, and his core players are not only signed un til perpetuity, they also play together really damn well. Baltimore, Boston or Cleveland may give them a run for a lit tle while, but when the dust settles, ex pect another championship in New York. In the National League, Atlanta is still the favorite, but expect a big challenge from the inter-division rival New York Mets, as well as the resuigent Los An geles Dodgers and the Griffey-enhanced Reds. One of these four teams will make it to the World Series, and lose to the Yankees. And yes, the trend will continue this year, and next year, and forever until a real salary cap is implemented. With the exception of maybe Cincinnati, don’t ex- - pect a team that isn’t in the top 10 in pay roll to be around for the playoffs. And don’t expect Strawberry, now 37 years old and unable to remember the last time he played a full season, to be back. Ever. Unless, of course, you happen to be his coke dealer. Track & Field USC’s track and field teams trav el to Fayetteville, Ark., Saturday and Sunday for the SEC Indoor Cham pionships at the brand new Randal Tyson Center. The No. 2 women’s team and the No. 13 men’s team hope to add a few more conference championships to their already large collection. Women’s tennis The 14th-ranked South Carolina women’s tennis team got back on the winning track Tuesday with a decisive 7-2 pounding of visiting North Caroli na at the Indoor Tennis Center. The Gamecocks (6-3,1-0 SEC) took two of « three doubles matches and won five of six singles matches. Singles winners for USC were: No. 35 Katarina Markovski (6-4, 6-4 over Marlene Mejia), No. 53 Jennifer Rad man (6-2,6-3 over Jessica Zdganczyk), Leigh Eichelbeiger (3*6, 6-4,7-5 over No. 99 Kendrick Bunn), Lynn-Yin Tan (6-2,3-6, 6-2 over Caroline Hill) and Kathy Boyanovich (6-4,6-3 over Court ney Zalinski). Next up, the Gamecocks will.trav el to Kentucky for a Saturday matchup. Swimming Six USC swimmers are ranked in the Top 25 in their respective events, which was announced Thurs day by Taper and Shave magazine. Leading the way is Zsolt Gaspar. The Budapest, Hungary native is ranked No. 1 in th§ nation in the 100 yard butterfly with a time of0:46.58, his SEC Championship time.,He is al so ranked No. 12 in the 100 freestyle, third in the 200 freestyle and second in the 200 butterfly. Gaspar has an ex cellent chance of being on the Hun garian Olympic Team in Sydney next summer. Joining Gaspar on the men’s side is freshman Joey Faltraco and senior Andrew Cho. Faltraco, from Union Mills, N.C., is ranked seventh in the 200 backstroke, an event which he won the Junior National Championship meet in a year ago. Cho is ranked No. 15 in the 400 yard individual medley with a time of 3:51.73. ‘Along with these individual ac complishments. four men’s relay teams are also ranked nationally. The 200 freestyle relay team is ranked No. 17, the400-free relay and 800-free relay teams are both ranked No. 18 and the 400 medley relay team is No. 21. For the women, sophomore Sarah Doyle is No. 7 in the mile, clocking a time of 16:19.44 in the SEC Cham pionships last week, which also qual ifies her for the NCAA Championships in Indianapolis in March. Come by and support The Dancers!!! Russell House _ Ballroom 6pm Fri. - 10pm Sat. Donations are Welcome callb7bo i ^ »••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••»•< )Safe Spring Break Week 200Q * Happy Hour at the Blatt presents: <2 Learn how to... , was itiesday, February 29 in the Aerobic Stud ) 5:30-7:00pm ^£The workshop will be open to all students, fa and staff with a USC-Columbia ID. 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