European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 9, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday june 9,1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 25 commentary baseball is no big hit these Days its june already and baseball followers Are Piuck Lenny Dykstra hitting .400. Like Cecil fielder or Jose Canseco breaking Roger mans single season Home run record. Like Dykstra snapping Joe Dimaggio a 56-game hitting Streak. No Chance. Why simple. Pitchers Are More stubborn now. The development of the split fingered fastball marked the beginning of the end for baseball Stop sluggers developed accidentally by san Francisco manager Roger Craig the split Finger is used by nearly 60 percent of major league pitchers. The pitch is characterized by a a bottoming out pitch when the Ball goes Over the plate. The Ball makes a sudden drop As it crosses the plate leaving batters with nothing to show but divots in the Sand. Former Relief Ace Bruce Sutter used it As his signature Nitch and led the cardinals to a 1982 world series title. Mike Scott no hit the giants with it clinching the 1986 no West title. St. Louis Todd Worrell when he a not on the disabled list uses a muted form of the pitch to leave batters grimacing. Since Craig took Over As the giants dugout chief san Francisco a pitching staff has mixed the split Finger though not one Pitcher is overpowering with it. The split Finger has been getting help. The institution of the Middle Relief Pitcher did no to help batters chances. Armed with Only a decent starter and a late inning Man managers gobbled up aspirin and hoped for the Best. Now the set up Man gives the pitching staff fresh blood and a fresh Arm. Batters Are at a disadvantage. Rather than facing two pitchers a game they Are faced with a multitude of arms a each with signature pitches like the submarine Ball the split Finger and blistering fastballs. Managers done to think twice about going to a set up Man to throw 1-10 pitches to a Tough hitter then pulling him for another set up Man. Check the Box scores. The la and innings pitched Are becoming More and More prevalent. Batters May face a Greg Maddux for a pitch or two then have Mitch Williams throwing heat at them. Tough to adjust. The role of the reliever has gained an added importance to the Way the game is played. Complete games Are at an All time Low. Rick Langford went the distance 28 times in 1980. No Pitcher has completed More than 27 games since. Juan Marichal Fergie Jenkins Steve Carlton and Catfish Hunter Are tied with 30 Complete games to Lead the Modem Era category. The number of saves has increased sharply in that time. The top 10 Relief seasons All came in the 1980s. Dave Righetti leads the pack with his Stellar 46 saves in 1986. In the top 100 single season save leaders Only nine 1960-Era pitchers Are listed in the record  Staggenborg the number Rose to 19 in the 1970s, with John Hillerts 38-save season in 1973 ranked 11th. From 10 on up its the Francos the Quisenberry and the sutters. In 1961, Maris smacked 61 a a record that will remain intact for a while. The complexity of pitches that Are being thrown the deep rotations on major league clubs and other psychological barriers will prevent any hitter from hitting no. 62. Dykstra has been wowing fans All season but to predict a .400 season for this Guy is ludicrous. The last two eras 1942-60, 1961-89 yielded George Brett a .390 of 1980, but none higher. Rod Carew came close with .388 in 1977, and Wade Boggs has threatened then tapered a few times his highest average being a .368 Mark in 1985. Some May recall the final Days of Brett a March to .400, which ended with pitchers throwing him absolutely nothing to hit bringing his average Down into the .390s. Williams last made the Cut in 1941 with his .406. Once again the Rise of the Pitcher in the Modem Era can be attributed to this hitting downfall. Its no secret that the Quantity of pitchers is not there but the Quality of the top hurlers we have is at its Apex. Pitchers Are making it to the Mound Well into their 40s a and succeeding. Batters on the other hand Are falling like Long pop outs. Considering this Dimaggio a Mark is unreachable. His 56-game Streak has been within sight of both Pete Rose and Paul Molitor but both fell Short. No one has threatened in the past two seasons. Done to expect anyone to threaten it this  a a Randy Johnson tossed Seattle a first no hitter saturday against the Detroit tigers. The lanky lefty not Only became the first Mariner to toss nine innings of Goose eggs but he was also the first hurler of the season to throw a Complete game no hitter. Californians Mark Langston the Multi million Dollar Man and Mike Witt combined to no hit the mariners april 11. Johnson credited a new drum set and the Rock group Rush for his feat. A i just bought a drum set a Johnson told the associated press sunday less than 24 hours after his no hitter. A i played it an hour and a half before the game. I was listening to Rush. But i done to think the drummer for Rush has anything to worry  then again Johnson  worry about Neil Peart who plays the Drums for the Canadian Trio. A self professed baseball nut. Peart is no Challenge to Johnson and vice versa. Johnson can to keep a beat and Peart can to pitch. Even  a a Davey Johnson a firing last week marked the Start of the Guillotine season. Bucky dents exit followed wednesday leaving Dent with bad memories and a bad record. You can to blame him. Look at his hitting. What hitting whatever happened to the Days when the pinstripes meant Power they re Long gone my friends. Stump Merrill the new Yankee Boss will be gone before you know it. Apparently owner Georgc Stcin Brenner prides himself on letting the a fall instead of maintaining the Pride of the Yankees. Texas Bobby Valentine has fallen out of love with Ranger fans and May be looking for a place to hang his Cap soon. Add John Wathan in Kansas City. Despite filling out a loaded lineup card his royals Are 13 games out. Others trying to avoid the chopping Block Russ Nixon in Atlanta  Howe in Houston and get this Whitey Herzog in St. Louis. Best bet Whitey will move into the cards front office  a a its Nice to see the Chicago White sox up in the standings but who a foolish enough to think  Edge Oakland for the Al West Crown like the Cleveland indians of 1988, the rangers last season and Montreal every season the Chison Are the proverbial flashes in the pan.  Hurt some teams Down the stretch. Except Oakland. The Only thing that will Stop the athletics is injury. If they keep their big guns Canseco Mcgwire Rickey Henderson loaded the Al West Duel will be a  a a Cowa Bunga the teen age mutant ninja pirates Are atop the no East thanks to pizza Power and Home run Power. Catcher Mike Lavalliere a portly fellow with a likeness to that Turtle dude Donatello was Given a poster of these mutated men by his teammates and the pirates have taken off under the auspices of their ninja masters. Barry Bonillas ninja Bat has found life. Bonilla s 12 homers rank in the top five in the league. Andy Van Slyke is living up to the potential he never fulfilled while a promising Young Arm in the cardinals farm system hitting .331 through sundays games. But can they win will they be shredded by the Phillies or the expos. Stay tuned. Process of elimination will win this division. The stars and stripes Turcotte a crowning moment when Ron Turcotte turned on secretariat it was Over. Up by John Nelson new York apr Ron Turcotte a past is filled with memories of secretariat. He has no idea what his future holds. Now in a wheelchair partially paralysed from a racing Accident at Belmont in 19/8, Turcotte will forever be remembered As the jockey who Rode secretariat to the 1973 triple Crown. A i hate to make plans now a said Turcotte who recently received his High school diploma. A yesterday i woke up with 102 fever and in be been on antibiotics. When i left Home i was of but that a Why i hate to make  Turcotte was at Belmont Park on thursday for the first time since 1979. Along with secretariats former owner Penny Chenery and Trainer Lucien Luann Turcotte will take part in a secretariat memorial on Belmont stakes Day saturday. Secretariat died last fall at age 19. A the people loved secretariat a Turcotte said. A the was definitely a show and he had the disposition of a cow Pony. He would do anything you asked him. A the was the Peoples horse. It Wasny to a matter of Money anymore of whether you cashed a bet on him. People just wanted to see him  secretariat won the 1973 Kentucky Derby by vhf lengths Over Sham coming from fifth place with three quarters of a mile to go. In the Preakness he broke slowly then made one of the most devastating moves of his career going from last to first on the outside on the first turn beating Sham by 2 v2 lengths again. A it was a judgement Call a Turcotte recalled. A the i going easy. There was no sense choking ind All those horses on the first turn. I Belmont stakes on an to a 11 20 . Saturday. Radio a 11 06 . Saturday. Was a a behind him Down just eased him out there and that was  then 17 years ago in the Belmont secretariat turned in perhaps the most impressive performance in horse racing. He led the 1 v2 Miles from Start to finish. With a mile to go he was a head in front of Sham. He was seven lengths in front with a half mile left and Sham decimated by the Pace began to fade. In the final turn Turcotte looked Over his shoulder and in disbelief turned almost All the Way around in the Saddle before discovering that the Field had disappeared. Secretariat wound up beating twice a Prince by a remarkable record of 31 lengths As Sham faded to last. A if i could have believed what i was seeing i  have turned around that far a Turcotte said. A someone said i almost fell off. My curiosity almost got the Best of  secretariat finished in a stakes record 2 24 a 2 2-5 seconds better than the second fastest time of risen Star in 1988. A i never went by the fractions a Turcotte said. A i always went by How the horse was doing. If he Wasny to relaxed i  expect him to keep going. But every indication was that he would keep  since secretariats death Turcotte has received a lot of mail at his Home in grand Falls new Brunswick just North of the Maine Border. He regrets that he did not get a Chance to visit secretariat before he died at Claiborne farm in Paris by. A i still dream in a Riding him in a race he said