European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 12, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Sunday april 12, 1992 the stars and stripes a Page 21 9? gamers deliver at any Price by Carrie Muskat United press International what kind of player is Worth $7 million a year not these Guys. They done to bust their tails for a Ball or play Hurt or gut it out Day after Day after Day enduring stopovers in Cleveland and late August meetings in Houston. Arentt there any a a gamers a players who leave a Little bit of themselves on the Field after every game in an All out Effort to win a left. A How can you be any More of a gamer than Ryne Sandberg a said Don Zimmer former Chicago cubs manager current Boston red sox coach and expert tobacco spitter. A i remember i sent him Sandberg Home one Day on a play at Home Ana he sprained his ankle. It was Black and Blue. A they taped him up he hobbled a few Days and he played every Day. To me that a a gamer. Back in Zimmers Days a or any Day in baseball before Catfish Hunter signed the games first big contract with the new Stevens York Yankees in 1975 a there were More gamers than not. Players like Jackie Robinson Bob Gibson Pete Rose Carl Yastrzemski Frank Robinson who would do practically anything to win a game. A i Call Mem Grinders. They grind it out Day in and Day out a said White sox coach Eddie Brinkman. But ask anyone remotely connected to baseball today and Joe and Jill fan will find there Are plenty of gamers around. A you hear All the time a gee this Guy makes too much and a that Guy makes too much a a Carlton Fisk said. A what gets lost is that Barry Bonds is a pretty Good player. Bobby Bonilla is a pretty Good player. All these Guys Are pretty Good players. A i think people have to realize this is a huge Industry with huge revenues and the people who make it As huge As it is or As appealing As it is Are the players. That a regardless of whether they made As much As i did when i started �?$11,000 a or whether they re making $7 million. You lose track of the fact that these Are terrific How about George Brett a a he a ready to play every Day a Kansas City manager Hal Mcrae said. A the runs All out to first base every time he hits the Ball even though he has a Brace on his leg. He does no to clog the bases even though he a 39 years old. He a going to score on a single and he a going to play Hurt. A a he la do anything to beat the opposition and he sets a Good example for the Oung players not just on this bal club it in baseball. He a a what about Pittsburgh Sandy Van Slyke a i saw him play Hurt a lot a Chicago White sox manager Gene Lamont said. A a lot of that injuries has to do with the Way he plays. Being on the turf for so Many years Nas taken a St. Louis manager Joe Torre would nominate his entire team. A you look at Ozzie Smith or Jose Oquendo or Pedro Guerrero you look at my Catcher Todd Zeile a Torre said. E Bunch of gamers. A i think with these Guys if you were paying them $100, they a still be How about $7 million a a Here a Sandberg making $7 million and he a not going to play any differently a Zimmer Saith a a he a going to play every Day every inning. The Guy probably never misses a game. He Seldom misses an slow moving Fisk himself a gamer candidate pick just one. A you talk about Guys who like to play and want to play Ana play the game right Guys like George Brett Robin Yount Don Mattingly and Kirby Puckett a Fisk said. A if i went club to club i could name at least one on every club. A those Are the Guys the gamers those Are the kind of players who you pay your Money to go see. I d pay to so see those a i done to think we would be had the Success we did last year if we did no to have a Money hey Carlton what about Cal Ripken jr., who a played in 1,573 consecutive games a a How a i forget him a Fisk said embarrassed. A a he san every game heat Anaheim Calif. A at some Point this season Lee Stevens knows he a going to strike out in a clutch situation. And the California Angels 24-year-old first baseman knows the fans at Anaheim stadium wih attack mourning the departure of Wally Joyner. A if i done to Start off Well this year a Stevens said a the fans Are going to let me have it saying in a not ready and they want Wally Back. I anticipate it. In a taking Over for Wally Joyner a Guy who did nothing wrong on or off the Field. In a going to have to earn my wings. And i know there Are of a lot of Guys Here who might be a Little hesitant about whether i can do it. I think id feel the same Way. I be too Stevens said All he can do is go out and play and try not to put too much pressure on himself. A a that a More important than worrying about replacing Wally Joyner he said. Angels manager Buck Rodgers gave Stevens the first base Job this Spring. But a sprained right wrist has Hurt his chances of keeping the Job. Stevens says he a about 90 percent recovered now the Angels signed free agent Alvin Davis As insurance. Stevens played in the Angels opener tuesday and went 1 for 4. A Lee looks like he a coming along Fine a Rodgers said. A a he a swinging the Bat he looks Good defensively and i think its just a Confidence thing with him Stevens is in much the same situation Joyner found himself in during 1986, when he followed Rod Carew. A i think it was a Little easier for Wally a Stevens said a because Rod Carew had played a lot of years before that and his career was winding Down. But Wally sat his Peak right now. Emotions wounded anew As Palermo misses opener Angel Lee Stevens inherits a a Wally a world its a Little different replacing somebody like that. Either Way it would Nave been Tough. Wally was replacing Rod Carew and he Haa to prove himself. Once he did everything was Fine. Its going to be the same thing with me. A they kind of forgot about Rod after a while. It was Wally world and All that. To erase that in a going to have to do the same thing that Wally did or similar. I just can to fall on my Stevens appears to have the ability to Excel. He hit .314 at class aaa Edmonton last year with 19 Home runs and 96 Rubis. In 58 big league games As a fill in for Joyner late last summer Stevens hit .293. The 6-foot-4, 220-Pound Lethander from Lawrence Kan., believes he can drive in 80-to-90 runs hit 20 or More homers and finish with an average around .280. A those Are my goals and i think they re very reachable a Stevens said. A i also think i can be a Gold Glove first baseman. I really do. As Good As he was i done to think Wally Ever won a Gold Glove but that a something i think i can by Craig Horst Overland Park Kan. Apr opening Day this year found Steve Palermo a whom Many say is baseball a Best Umpire a battling his body and his emotions and watching on television As Best Friend Rich Garcia worked the plate in Detroit. No Green Fields yet for Palermo no can now walk unaided for Short distances As he recovers from the robbers Bullet that paralysed him last july. A Richie Richie Richie a Palermo cries out with the Delight that Only someone who knows what it feels like could when Garcia bends Over in pain from a foul Ball off the foot. Palermo Spain this Day is something different. A i keep telling my body not to Hurt Uke this a Palermo says As he watches the Blue jays and tigers on to from his suburban Kansas City Home. His Normal five hours of rehabilitation had to be cancelled because the pain is too great. A it feels like electric shocks shooting Down into my Knees a the 41-year-old Palermo says. A a it a like somebody attached Battery cables to my legs and is sending shocks. Its kind of like you Are being tortured a esp flashes highlights of the twins Brewers game from Milwaukee county stadium. A a that a where in a supposed to be today a Palermo says softly his dark Brown eyes snowing the Hurt he feels of being taken out of the game in what would have been the Start of his 15th major league season. Palermo is Over being angry at the person who shot him one night in july in Dallas. Palermo just wants to get Back into the game. A in each town you have friends a he says rubbing his legs As he sits Back in a Black leather chair his wheelchair standing nearby. A a that a the hardest part of this whole thing. Its a ritual. If you re in Milwaukee you know you re going to meet Dennis Mike Johnnie. A naturally its the game itself. The fact that you Are asked to do something humanly impossible a get everything right. A a it a the friends. Irreplaceable Quot he says after a Long pause a hint of a tear in his eyes. A those Are the great parts of the game a the people. A the game is very important. But its not life or death. Lying on a sidewalk and contemplating whether or not you re going to Ever see your wife and your family again a that a life and the Story has been told a Hundred tunes. Palermo and friends Are leaving a restaurant frequented by baseball types when they visit Dallas. Two waitresses get mugged in the parking lot. Palermo and his friends run to help. A a it a a human reaction a he says. Three others drive up and a shot is fired. The Bullet enters Palermo in the Side and injures his spinal Cord. A a it a not like you see on to where its Choo Choo Choo and a Little spurt of blood a Palermo says. A it was like scissors cutting the strings on a puppet on a Marionette. Clip. Clip. Clip. It was like an elastic band that suddenly uns napped. All of a sudden there was no semblance of order to muscle a Long stay in a Dallas Hospital followed. The High Point there was the two Little kids who would crawl into bed with him to watch baseball games and listen in rapture As Palermo divulged inside information. The Days now involve trips to nearby Midwest rehabilitation Institute. Sessions begin with 90 minutes in the Pool and continue with arduous stretching exercises. Asked How he a progressing Palermo puts a video into the Var that shows him unable to walk then Able to walk Only haltingly with the help of crutches Ana now Able to walk on his own Puim Steve Palermo. A Inch by Inch for Short distances. Palermo and his wife Debbie were married Only five months when he was wounded. He credits her with keeping him going. A my wife a Palermo says when asked How he faces each Day. A a she la say a lets go Hon. Breakfast is on the table and we need to leave in 20 she knows How much it Means to me. When i met her she knew what my life was. She knew i enjoyed Debbie Palermo had a spinal condition when she was a teenager that forced her to Wear a Brace for four years from the time she was 13. It prompted her grandmother to Coin the phrase she now repeats to her husband a Inch by Inch life a a every Day the couple Heads for the Hospital. A there Are Days that Are horrible a she says. A i have the ability to focus on one Day at a time. I can to let myself look into the future because that is not productive. It would be a waste of Energy. We done to know. We have to focus on today. We done to have a
