European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 3, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 22 " the stars and stripes thursday april 3, 1986 dogfight expected in my West race by John Nelson a baseball writer the pendulum of Power in the National league is swinging Back toward the West and this division could provide baseball with one of its Best Pennant races in 1986. It s really changed says Tom Lasorda manager of the defending division Champi on los Angeles dodgers. I believe each club in the division has improved. I definitely think it s stronger and More  with this added pressure from below the Job of repeating will be made doubly Tough on the dodgers. In fact no team has repeated in the West since the dodgers in 1977 and 78. And it s not Likely to happen this season. Despite having one of the Best pitching staffs in baseball the dodgers will fall to Pete Rose s Cincinnati reds perhaps the most improved team in the division. Last year the reds finished with a Rush 5vt games Back of the dodgers after cutting the Gap to four games late in the season. They were followed in order by Houston san Diego Atlanta and san Francisco. This time the division will look More like this Cincinnati reds i have too much respect for Tom Lasorda. I be got too much respect for Chuck Tanner in Atlanta. I Don t want to go out on a limb Rose says. But i la be very disappointed if we Don t win the  to that end the reds look aim at improving some serious pitching deficiencies during the of season acquiring John Denny from Philadelphia and Bill Gullickson from Montreal to compliment Rookie 20-game Winner from last season Tom Browning and Mario Soto who is coming off a bad season. They la also have buddy Bell at third for a whole season and to Diaz behind the plate from the beginning. The real key to this club will be the performance of Dave Parker. If he can match or even approximate the 34-Homer, 125-Rbi season of 1985, the reds will be off and flying. There s a lot of teams that can win the Western division Rose says. It s just a matter of what team stays the Healthiest and what teams get the most  los Angeles dodgers with Fernando Valenzuela Orel Hershiser Bob Welch Jerry Reuss and perhaps Alejandro Pena in the rotation and Ken Howell Tom Niedenfuer and newcomer de Vande Berg in the bullpen Lasorda May Well have the Best pitching staff in the game. Pena is coming Back from shoulder sur Gery and Lasorda says he is progressing padres Leon Bip Roberts a photo. Seeks second base Job very  and he reminds he is better in other areas. Last year at this time i was worried about Pedro Guerrero playing third base. Now we have Bill Madlock from Day one and Guerrero is in left Field. Last year i was worried about shortstop whether Dave Anderson could do the Job. Now i have Mariano Duncan from Day one he says. We think we re  with this in mind a lot of people have picked the dodgers to finish first in the division again. It could be a close one but not too close to Call. Dodgers to finish second. Atlanta braves another vastly improved team under the new leadership of general manager Bobby Cox and Tanner. If it weren t for the state of flux in which they find their pitching the braves could even make a serious Challenge on the top two spots. Tanner has Only two shoo ins among his starting pitchers opening Day starter Rick Mahler and left hander Zane Smith. The others could come from youngsters Paul Assenmacher Duane Ward Steve Shields Craig Mcmurtry and Joe Johnson. A positive note reliever Bruce Sutler is recovering from shoulder surgery and should be a Force once again. Veterans Pas Cual Perez and Len Barker both coming off bad years were put on waivers tuesday. The braves made two important trades in the of season getting Ozzie Virgil from Philadelphia to catch and Ted Simmons from Milwaukee to strengthen their no. 1 preseason priority the Bench. With Bob Homer healthy and at first base and Dale Murphy the picture of consistency in Center Field the braves Are Good enough to finish third. San Diego padres with Steve Boros now at the Helm after a Messy affair that finally caused Dick Wil Liams to quit during Spring training the padres could suffer a Little. It is not an easy time to step in. With some Good pitching from the likes of Lamarr Hoyt Andy Hawkins Eric show and Dave Dravecky and a bullpen stocked with Goose Gossage and Comer Lance Mccullers the padres real problem on the Field is Speed. Leon Bip Roberts whom the padres drafted out of the Pittsburgh organization last december May help in that area if he can hold Down the second base Job. After a slow Start the padres will have trouble finishing any better than fourth. Houston astros astros first year manager Hal Lanier spent five years As a coach with the St. Louis cardinals before switching uniforms and he Aims to Start retooling for Speed. Playing in the Astrodome Houston always has relied heavily on Speed until last season when the club stole Only 96 bases third worst in the league. Now Lanier will be asking Bill Doran file photo Orel Hershiser. A top dodger hurler Kevin Bass Mickey Hatcher and even vet eran Jose Cruz to Start running. Another problem area is pitching. Mike Scott led the starters last year with 18 Vic tories and Dave Smith had 27 saves. The astros also have starters Nolan Ryan and Bob Knepper but beyond that staff positions Are wide open. No better than fifth. San Francisco giants there does t appear to be any Way out of the cellar this year for the san Francisco giants despite some player moves that could help. They got Candy Maldonado from the dodgers to help Chili Davis Dan Gladden and Jeff Leonard in the Outfield and Juan Berenguer has been added to the pitching staff. The starting pitching probably will give new manager Roger Craig fits but at least he has a Good bullpen with the lefty righty combo of Mark Davis and Scott Garrelts. Catcher Bob Brenly led the giants in the Power department last year with 19 homers and Rookie third baseman Chris Brown led in average at .271. Brenly s playing time however May be reduced by Bob Melvin acquired from Detroit in the same Trade with Berenguer. Alas last again. Toyota with 1 -2-4 finishes wins safari Ray by Jerry Gray Nairobi Kenya a the aggressive Toyota team led by swede Bjorn Wal Degaard raced its celica turbos to first second and fourth place finishes wednes Day in the 2,614-mile safari rally. Only 16 of the 69 cars that started the five Day endurance run Shorter by 621 Miles than last year s finished the safari which is billed As the world s toughest rally. I think it was Tough As Ever Walde Gaard said after his third safari rally Victory in 13 tries. The 43-year-old swede and his co Driver Fred Gallagher of Northern Ireland finished with 306 penalty Points. Lars Eric Torch also of Sweden placed second with 334 Points and Erwin Weber of West Germany finished with 380 Points in fourth place for Toyota which has won the safari three years in a Row. Markku Alen of Finland kept Toyota from sweeping the top three positions when he slipped his Lancia rally 037 into third place Early wednesday morning just 183 Miles from the end of the rally. Alen finished with 372 Points. At fifth was the 1985 Champion Juh Kankkunen of Finland who tallied 432 penalty Points in his Peugeot 205 Turbo. Wal Degaard and Gallagher were greeted with loud cheers Champagne and Victory wreaths after they drove their first place car up the ramp outside Kenyatta International conference Center in downtown Nairobi. Wal Degaard won Here in 1977 in a Ford and in 1984 in a Toyota. Gallagher was co Driver last year when Kankkunen steered a Toyota celica Turbo to Victory. It was the safari debut for both. Kankkunen who celebrated his 27th birth Day wednesday switched to the French built Peugeot this year. The event was marred tuesday by the death of a Spectator. Rally officials said the unidentified Man was killed instantly when a Volkswagen Golf driven by Kenneth Eriksson of Sweden slowed off the Road after a steering Rod broke. It was the first time a Spectator was killed in the 34-year history of the safari rally Harriet Bisley spokeswoman for the rally told the associated press. Eriksson and his co Driver Peter Diek Mann of West Germany escaped unhurt. They withdrew from the rally after the Accident. The vow Golf made its safari debut this year and Eriksson had been one of the Lead ers. He started the final leg Early tuesday morning in eighth position. The last leg was a 1,022-mile circuit through Western Kenya that included a Long rest Stop two thirds of the Way through the run. The final stretch of 316 Miles into Nairobi began wednesday morning. Wal Degaard said that his celica Turbo covered some stretches at 143 Miles per hour