European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 10, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday july 10, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 25 season by Jim Donaghy a baseball writer i St half of the 1991 season provided any kind of message its that the second half will probably be better. Seasons have a Way of developing a personality. It can be for Home runs great pitching or an individual can steal the show. Last season was the year of the no hitter. It would be lets say forgettable if this is remembered As the year of the fired managers. Six managers have lost their jobs so far two Short of tying the record for a season. So what 1 they will probably hang on but Milwaukee a Tom tre Belhom and san Diego a Greg Riddoch Are not in the running for manager of the year right now. Who is try stump Merrill of the new York Yankees. No one is really having what could be called a spectacular year so far. Good even great yes. Spectacular no. It seems More attention is being Given to what Joe Dimaggio did 50 years ago than what Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Are doing today. Hate to end All the suspense but Joe d. Did no to make it to 57. Roger Marisa record 61 homers in 1961 seems quite Safe. Denny Mclain will remain the last Pitcher to win 30 games and Rickey Henderson is not making a run at his single season stolen base record. All of the division leaders at the Allstar break have had their ups and Downs but nothing to Challenge any of the great teams of the past or even the 1990 Cincinnati reds. The secret for Success starting on thursday is to make sure to have a Good Trainer and a doctor on Call at All times. Nolan Ryan pitched his seventh career no hitter on May 1, and flirted with another one on sunday. But he a Only 5-4 and is starting to act like a 44-year-old a at least on his off Days. It would be Nice if the second half of the season did no to have quite so Many injuries. It seemed the term Fri was used just As often in the first half As Era. And do we really need All these rehab updates Minnesota a Scott Erickson the Best Pitcher in the first half  bring his 12-3 record and 1.83 Era to the All Star game because of a sore Elbow. Ramon Martinez los Angeles 12-game Winner almost made it. But he Hurt his hip on sunday. A a first baseman Mark Mcgwire hitting less than his weight  make the All Star game because of an ear infection. The american league wanted to bring californians Wally Joyner but he has a sore leg. The Oakland pitching staff was wiped out by injuries Early and Tony la Russa ended up with a staff that included Kirk Dressendorfe Joe Slusarski Joe Klink Dana Allison Steve Chitren and Johnny Guzman. The Best that can be said for that group is Dressendorfe tied a major league record for most letters in a last name. The a a were Able to stay close in the Al West despite big winning streaks by Minnesota and Texas. Oakland expects third baseman Carney Lansford Back in a few weeks and the Middle relievers Are getting healthy too. A for us the season still Hasni to started a said Center fielder Dave Henderson who helped keep the a a close with 18 Home runs. Maybe the indians Phillies and giants can use the excuse too. The Toronto Blue jays took control of the Al East by winning 15 of their last 18 games and by acquiring knuckle Baller Tom Candiotti from Cleveland. The Blue jays will be even better if Dave Stieb can overcome a sciatic nerve problem. Speaking of injuries the surprising Yankees think they can make a run at the Blue jays if Pascual Perez is healthy. Into break a plateful of memories from by the associated press some of the moments and players to remember from the first half of the 1991 season. Long Days journey. A on april 10, Philadelphia and new York Combine to walk 24 batters in a 10-inning game that took 4 hours 51 minutes to Complete before the Phillies won 8-7. The Phillies walked 15, including six by starter Jose Dejesus in 1v5  crush the Chicago White sox opened the new Comiskey Park on april 18, and lost 16-0 to the Detroit tigers. The White sox became the fifth team shut out in the opener of their current Ballpark joining Houston Seattle Cleveland and  managers six managers lost jobs in the first half the season Nick Leyva Philadelphia Don Zimmer Chicago cubs Buck Rodgers Montreal expo Frank Robinson balt Morejohn Wathan Kansas Cit John Mcnamara Cleveland. Leyva was fired after 13 games and replaced by Jim Fregosi. It was the third fastest firing in baseball  thing on april 28philadelphia a Jason Grimsley threw a wild pitch in his ninth consecutive appearance to set a major league record. Jaime Cocanower of Mil x Rookie Star Mike rom linger three hit debut Waukee set the previous record in 1986. May Day on the afternoon of May 1, Rickey Henderson stole his 939th career base to break Lou Brocks All time record. A few hours later in Arlington. Nolan Ryan pitched his seventh career no hitter beating Toronto 3-0.tall tale Seattle a Randy Johnson 6-foot-10, and Baltimore a Ben Mcdonald 6-foot-8, opposed each other on May 12th in the tall Eft pitching matchup in baseball  a Jose cans co argued with fan Tif Yankee stadium on May 13. The fan Ken shabby yelled something about Madonna. A Cleveland outfielder Albert Belle who spent 10 weeks in an alcoholism rehabilitation program last summer hit a fan in the Chest with a baseball after the fan Jeff pillar jokingly invited him to a Keg party. A on May 24, Gregg Jefferies of the mets sent an open letter to the fans explaining Why in Wasny to a  easy being Greene in perhaps the most surprising event of the first half Tommy Greene of Philadelphia pitched a no hitter at Montreal on May 23 and beat the expos 2-0.easy As 1-2-3 Philadelphia Rookie Andy Ashby struck out the Side on june 15 against Cincinnati on just nine pitches. It was Only the 12th time in National league history that it had been accomplished and the first time by a Phillies , Steinbrenner on april 13, Dave Winfield hit three homers at the metronome. On june 24 at Kansas City Winfield went 5 for 5 and hit for the Cycle for the first  the one Otis Nixon of Atlanta stole six bases on june 16 at Montreal to set a modern no record and tie the major league record set by Eddie Collins of the Philadelphia a a in 1912.what an Arm san Diego Catcher Benito Santiago threw his batting helmet in anger on july 2, and it hit padres manager Greg Riddoch knocking him . O Pittsburgh outfielder Jose Gonzalez who was the last position player on an opening Day roster without a hit finally broke through on sunday stroking a single against Montreal. Gonzalez traded by the los Angeles dodgers on july 5 to Pittsburgh for outfielder Mitch Webster was 0 for 28 before his first hit and is 1 for 30 at the break an .094  performance by a Batter Chris James drove in nine runs and broke Cleveland a club record for Bis they be Given up on Mike Witt. At least the Yankees thanks to rookies Pat Kelly Wade Taylor Jeff Johnson and Scott Kamieniecki Nave Hope for the second half. The cubs and giants have to spend the rest of the year figuring out where it All went wrong. San Francisco spent $33 million in the free agent Market and came out looking like a two Dollar Bill. Chicago handed out $25.2 million and has three All stars Ryne Sandberg Andre Dawson and George Bell at the top of the order. What the cubs done to have is pitching. They thought Danny Jackson might provide some but he ended up on the disabled list for the ninth time in his career. It Hasni to been a very Good year for the Tribune co. The Best buy for the dodgers Wasny to Darryl Strawberry it turned out to be Brett Butler. Butlers defense in Center has been great and that a important with Kal Daniels and Strawberry on each Side. Following the first half trend the reds pitching staff was hit hard by injun ties As   Scudder and Chris Hammond went Down. Rijo the world series map broke his ankle trying to steal second. Whether Cincinnati can stay close to la depends on the health of the staff. Offensive Star Chris James. Nine Bis against a a in a 20-6 rout of Oakland on May 4. James hit a pair of the acc run homers an rib single and a two run single in five at bats. Earl Averill set the indians record of eight Bis twice in 1930, and the Mark was matched by Pat decry in 1945 and Bill Glynn in 1954. Runner up Kirby Puckett went 6 for 7, getting five singles and a triple on May 23 for Minnesota in 11 innings. The major league record for hits in an extra inning game is nine by John Burnett of Cleveland in an 18-inning game in 1932.worst performance by a Batter Darryl Strawberry struck out five times and dropped a Fly Ball for a three base error in Montreal on May 1.Best performance by a Pitcher in consecutive starts in May san Francisco a Bud Black shut out the new York mets and Dwight  performance by a Pitcher of the 27 pitches Philadelphia spat Combs made in his Start at St. Louis on june 26, 22 were  performance by a Rookie Mike Remlinger pitched a three hit shutout in his major league debut on june 15 As san Francisco beat Pittsburgh 4-0. Remlinger was the first giant to toss a shutout in a big league debut since Juan Marichal pitched a one hitter to boat Philadelphia on july 19, 1960. This is the sixth time since the Start of divisional play that Pittsburgh has been in first place at the All Star break. On the five previous occasions the pirates went on to win the division. The new York mets enter the second half with a seven game winning Streak allowing Only eight runs in that Span. Even though it was against Montreal and Philadelphia the mets showed what pitching and solid defense  new York was hot going into the second half last season and then stalled the rest of the Way. Check How the mets do on an 11-game Home stand starting thursday against the West coast clubs