European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 24, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                May 1985 the stars and stripes commentary padres were Sharp in preview the playoffs of october wont be much the padres the Lamarr Hoyt Dwight Shea stadium not exactly Rockin like Jack Murphy stadium in last years world nothing is that but this would do for a monday night in it would definitely do for san which won 2 0 and continued to Lead the National league and for who pitched a and for Kevin who yanked a Homer into the Loftfield bullpen to stretch his hitting Streak to 14 it would definitely not do for new which knows its stay atop the no East wont last if it keeps flailing at the especially for Gary who stepped up with the bases loaded and no outs in the first built the count to 30 and tapped into a double replace that double play with a the mets ship Hoyt to the showers and give Gooden his fifth straight such is the narrow margin Between the two Best teams in the National the my preseason dodger pick in the West was a mis take after Fernando and Guerrero there everybody else cub pick in the East wont work Jim Frey will be canned by what i saw on a hot monday night in Queens were a couple of baseball teams warming toward Long pen Nant despite their the padres miss Alan from a second baseman with 70 steals in 84 to drug rehab in they dont show much but Steve Garvey is hitting like Days of my Reynolds keeps forming into one of the finest Young Power hitters in the san Diego starting pitching wont be embarrassed like last not with Hoyt and Andy Hawkins As for give me Dick Williams Over any Sparky Anderson this was the first time i saw Mcreynolds since the world those were Bleak october Days for the Center fielder after a 20homer Rookie year he sat in the dugout wearing a cast on his broken he promised then that he would return to the 85 series As a healthy As the press swarmed Williams for pos game i approached Mcreynolds and asked about his its Fine he said Between bites of i suggested that he had to be Happy with his hitting in hitting just Over in these 14 so its not a Bona fide hitting he in just getting one hit every end of personal inter the press pack joined us and fired questions about hitting what kind of pitch did he hit for the Homer a Mcreynolds then i didst hit another the rest of the is Gooden the fastest he has faced who faster Lee Nolan Ryan and Goose next to Mcreynolds sat Tony munching on a no one was talking with last years no batting so i Knelt Down and asked your patented   last year our team was a close Bunch of Gwynn after getting to the world series and losing the Way we it makes us hungry to get we went through a rough time last year with the John Birch but the Brawl in Atlanta really unified the now weve gone through wiggy being that but Well Bounce Gwynn looked thinner than his 84 plump so did Hoyt As he held court in a Corner of the club he described How frustrated he was loading the bases in the first then How vindicated he Felt when Carter swung at a bad i figure in due a few Hoyt in the mets no one interviewed Gooden because he showered and booked Keith fresh out of the Hoyt went from a possible first inning Shower to a four hit trying to head for the hit Ting in the fourth position and after the year i had last year 106 runs batted i might be putting too much pressure on we have been struggling As a were 11th in the league in just ahead of the and yet were were not but it would be Nice to dont worry about the mets1 the Hernan Descart Efoster Power will come Darryl Straw wearing a cast and squeezing a sponge for his Hurt will come besides worry about the mets Bruce Berenyi is Sid Fernandez is Calvin Schiraldi is Jesse Orosco has a tender the mets Are so they brought Doug Sisk Back from Tidewater despite his Era the fans booed when that move was revealed on the Diamond vision they Felt even worse after the 20 but look at the Bright mets fans and in these Are the worst of and the amazing Are still in these Are two goo looking now that the padres have joined the wearing ones from the ones from the in october the Twain shall the stars and stripes in defense of the designated hitter those opposed to the designated hitter picture themselves As guardians of baseballs Cornerstones of the grand old treasurers of the games there More like 5yearolds at the dinner i dont like says the pointing to something on his plate Hes never seen How do you know you dont like it if youve never tried it asks the Childs i know i dont like says the which ends that before commissioner Peter Ueberroth was Side tracked by baseballs drug problems and labor Nego he pledged to make a decision about the designated hitter either use it or lose the commissioner had outlined a program of surveys to determine fan reaction to the Rule be fore making a no ctr preempted him by conducting a poll april 20 during a baseball the results showed that 58 percent of those polled preferred to ditch the 1973 league about the Only surprising aspect about the 58 per cent figure was that it was so considering that an no game was on the air and that abcs to Crews Are graduates and proponents of the pred Era of i would have thought the figure would be what most fans and commentators cant under stand is that baseball rules Arent written in the do was designed to do one thing put More offence in the and it accomplished some might argue that and 32 games Are purists will Tell that the Way baseball is supposed to be is it and More is the no a better league because the do is Persona non grata since baseball insists on separate but unequal limited data exits with which to compare the two circuits and in the do the no continues to win Allstar hut the american league holds the Edge in world series super such As Dave Winfield and Rich Gossage Excel in either such As Sid Monge and Kurt cant hold a steady Job in either without a rough Equality exists Between the two except in one regard a look at the major league averages will show the top hitting team in the no is with a composite the 11 other no clubs quickly taper until we reach the pits with the hitting a robust in the the twins Are hitting and the As own a again theres a drop after those but even the worst hitting team Kansas City at has a better team average than the cubs and but hitting barometer int its runs and again the Al comes out the cardinals again top the National this time with again theres a Sharp until we get to the giants again at the Bottom with Al teams look like scoring juggernauts compared to their no Minnesota has scored 197 Oakland 188 and Baltimore the royals again bring up the rear with but that More than the cubs and giants can and just one fewer than the Phillies and Why the difference put it this who would you rather have in the Andre Thornton or Andy Hawkins Mike easier or Steve Bedrosian Larry Parrish or Charlie Hudson purists will argue that pitchers Are supposed to take their spot in the batting they would also argue that employing a designated hitter takes away some of the games these folks Are dinosaurs in a thoroughbred where most sports have adopted increasing special no baseball Sticks to its Brand of Trench War convinced that what was Good in 1914 is still valid More than 70 years hitting a baseball remains one of the toughest of human in what other sports category would a 30 percent Success rate among the elite yet the no handicaps its offences by insisting that people like Dwight Good Steve Nolan Ryan and John Stuper repeat the same lessons of batting futility season after sea the strategy argument rings the Days of starting pitchers completing 275 innings season after season Are unless a manager enjoys watching his finest hurlers languish on the disabled it took a but the Earl Weaver influence has finally taken most of a teams 25man roster is put to at least in the simply because its a sounder Way to run a the same trend wont be found in the because of this strategy set lineups Are More in with reserves often relegated to occasional Pinch hitting duties in ail too often lost this is Progress the purists will probably at least in the Short baseball traditionalists waited years before allowing Blacks into the big batting night games and nationally televised thirteen years of do use in the Al is a Short Span in the minds of these the Antish lobby is steeped in tradition and Adverse to it May Force Ueberroth to disdain 1985 for the ways of the convinced that those were baseballs Good old but if Ueberroth wants to make his Mark on the he need Only look those tradition bound people straight in the Eye and but what was so Good about the stars stripes