European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 27, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 26 the stars and stripes saturday. June 27,1987 hurlers key to twins turnaround Lead m Al West All boils Down to pitching by Mike Nadel Minneapolis a their earned Nin average has been above 4.50 much of the season. Cyl ask any member or the Minnesota twins the key to i hair Suc Cess and they won t answer with offence or defense. Ask Why a club that finished 71-91 with a 4.77 Era last season built a healthy Lead in the american league West in june and the twins almost always answer  i honestly Don t think we re Hilling or Field any belter this year so it All boils Down to pitching Sec Ond baseman Steve Lombardozzi said. Last year we jumped out to big leads but we still Kepi getting beat i was like bearing our Heads against the Wall. We May not win the Era title this year but our starters Are holding teams close our Middle relievers Are keeping us in games and Jeff Reardon is doing his  the Early Success of he learn in general and the pitching staff in particular has vindicated two Mem Ben of the twins organization executive vice presi Dent Andy Macphail and pitching coach Dick such. Macphail at 34 the youngest Man running a big league club was criticized when the twins did t Sig free agent Pitcher Jack Morris in the of season. Morris a St. Paul native who said he wanted to pitch in Minnesota finally returned to the Detroit tigers. The Morris thing was not a difficult decision Macphail said. It was a Case of an agent Dick Moss creating a circus atmosphere to whip the fans into frenzy and pressure us to sign his Man for $4 million for two years. No one disputes the fact hat Jack mor Ris is a Good Pitcher. But there Are More ways to run a successful organization than throwing Money at  Macphail proved that by trading for Short relieve Reardon and pitchers Juan Berenguer and Joe Niekro. Cardon is among the Al leaders in saves and gives the entire team Confidence thai leads won t be wasted. Berenguer has been n valuable setup Man for Reardon and a spot starter. And Niekro has added his baffling Knuck Leball to a rotation that already featured the talents of Bert Blyleven Frank Viola and Mike Smiths it. Macphail also acquired outfielder Dan Gladden an infielder Al Newman greatly improving the team s depth offence and quickness. Despite the negative publicity he received because he did t sign Morris Macphail has emerged As 3 lop candidate for executive of the year. I Don t think you can Trade your Way from 20 games under .500 to first place in a matter  Macphail said. I think most of us fell there was More Talent Here last year than the record indicated. We be been Able to get More out of that Talent. Tom Kelly deserves  the 3frycar-old Kelly youngest manager in the majors also is being mentioned for postseason honors. He Ripken or. Still optimistic by cordon Beard Baltimore a on the base Ball held Cal Ripken or. Is All Busi Ness. Nothing not even 22 losses in 26 games can deter the manager of the Baltimore orioles from patiently at tacking his Job. Night after night in the face of adversity Ripken insists thai hard work and dedication will get the orioles turned around. He occasionally barks at the players for Bonehead plays. But the Only Lime he obviously lost patience was when a newsman asked if he play of the Ori Oles had caused him to lose patience. Straight laced and a quiet Guy who talked Only when talked 10, Ripken was never known for Public displays of humor during his 11 Yean As a coach with the orioles. But with his team foundering for a month and faced with questioners be fore and after every game the Rookie manager has Snow a Side Seldom seen in the past. He jokes about his profuse us of cliches and his self deprecating Gal lows humor helps ease some of the pain. If walking is Good for you Ripken said recently in obvious reference to his Many trips to the Mound then m healthy As  i even cured my Dandruff problem by doing this when 1 go to the Mound he said illustrating by lifting his Cap and scratching his Iead. Of course i might wind up  but one thing he probably won t file Pho cd Ripken or. Don t lose your Cool wind up with is ulcers with or without humor i m not a comedian he said thursday from his Home in Aberdeen my. I Don t have to stay Loose. I m concerned but there s no Point in get Ling upset. If you be got trouble i de Lieve in attacking the problem until you cure h. You Don t lose your  or As Ripken has been known today on frequent occasions you Don t make a Mountain out of a  despite the orioles1 problems there is not even a hint from the club tha Tripken s Job is in jeopardy. Outside of Baltimore there has been speculation that Ripken might be dropped in Favoron coach Frank Robinson giving base Ball a Chance to make Good on com missioner paler Ueberroth s pledge to Blacks into higher Echelon jobs. Robin son is one of three Blacks to have Man aged in inc  Ripken is concerned about losing his Job he never says  thinks about the orioles almost constantly. But not because of heir losing Streak. Simply because he always thinks baseball. When i m cutting the grass i think about baseball,1 he said. I Don t know anything else. And some people Aren t too sure i know  the Way things ate going Ripken said continuing his Gallows humor if we loaded up Trie Ball used a spitball the other team would probably hit Iton the dry  but Ripken insists the Good old fashioned work ethic will prevail i be never been through a stretch like this before said the Man who managed More than 13 seasons in the minor leagues. Well just have to work harder dig deeper and see if Pecan work out of this  Ripken or. Still top vote getter new York a shortstop Cal Ripken or. Of the Baltimore orioles remained the leading vote getter in balloting far the american league a Star team in result announced thurs Day. Ripken had 853,593 votes to hold his no. I position. New York Yankee s outfielder Rickey Henderson was Sec Ond in hit total vote with 698,976. Yankees second baseman Willie Randolph made the biggest Advance since the last results were announced moving to within i,i9i Voles of Leader Lou Whitaker of the Del roil tigers. Randolph who was elected by fans to Start the 1977 and 19si games had trailed by almost 20,000 Voles. Wade Boggs of the Boston red son continued to Lead at third base Over Kansas City s George Brett who has started ii consecutive Gam a for tic Al. Don Mallin Gly of the Yankees who came off the disabled list wednesday remained the leading vote getter at Iret base and Terry Kennedy of the orioles led among catchers Dave Winfield of the Yankees and Kirby Puckett of the Minnesota twins were second and third behind Hender son in inc Vole for starting outfielders. Royals Rookie to Jackson was fourth. The fans Voles will determine the starting teams for the july h All Star game to be played in Oakland Calif. Has plenty of supporters in the team including such who had a title but no real authority under Kelly predecessor Ray Miller. Unlike bal year s manager . Has kept everybody in games instead of pulling them off to the Side such said. He s made the final decisions but he lets me do my Job. The pitching has improved through the efforts of Andy Macphail and through our efforts on the Field. It s made for a real Good feeling around  with a new Altitude about the pitching staff in Confidence is building. The pitching staff is twice As Good said baiting coach Tony Oliva who helped the twins reach the 1965 world series As a slugging outfielder. We be got a lot of Confidence now. Mentally the ballplayers  the final question then is Are the twins for real sure Macphail said. No question about  player for player we match up with any team Oliva said. Kirby Puckett who teams with Kent Hrbcek Gary Gaetti and Tom Brunansky to Lead Minnesota s of sense said everyone will know if the twins Are for real in just a few months. It s still Early Man it s still Early Puckett said. Maybe late september or Early october it la be for real then. And you won t have to ask me that  Indiana governor vows to oppose Knight extradition Indianapolis up nov. Rob Ert Orr thursday said he will fight an attempts by puerto rican officials to extradite Indiana University basketball coach Bob Knight to serve a six month jail term for assault. I m Strong for Bobby Knight Orr Sard in Tokyo where he is on a 19-