European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 8, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Tuesday september 8, 1994 sports the stars and stripes Page 29 Dave Kindred Why we want what we want is often a mystery created by forces not so much known As Felt. Why would a girl 8 years old walk into Fenway Park and on seeing the Field say to her Mother and father a i want to be a professional baseball player she carried a Glove that Day in 1979. And on a summery Day in 1994, another time she talked about walking to Fenway a right Field bleachers where she sat behind the bullpen maybe 10 rows up. Julie Croteau Isnit sure Why she said what she said. But she remembers the words and remembers this her parents did no to Tell her that girls can to be baseball players and it would be a while before she Learned with some pain that a a a re a a what she wanted was something she have. Throughout her childhood she had played in leagues mat accommodated boys and girls. Then one Day she noticed an Odd thing. A the girls started disappearing a she says. In time Croteau was the Only girl who wanted to play for her High school team in Manassas Eva. A a each Spring she went to tryouts and each Spring when the Cut list was posted she found her name there. A each year i really truly in my heart believed they would see i could play a she says. Her senior year she was a 5-foot-8, lao Pound first baseman who knew the game. That Spring she found it a a unbelievable that she had been Cut again. She then decided she Hadnot been Cut because she Wasny to Good enough shed been Cut because she was a girl. Julie Croteau called her parents that Day and said a i done to want them to get away with so the family filed a discrimination suit a in vain. A the judge said a woman had no constitutional right to play baseball a Julie Croteau says. Well time passes. Things happen. That was 1988, this is 1994. If that judge could Only see Julie Cro commentary teau now. She is a professional baseball player one of 20 women who Are the Colorado Silver Bui lets the first women steam to compete Only against men. A \. A Quot a. A. This summer the Silver bullets played 44 games in 3vir months on a 25,000-mile trip through 27 states and Canada. They played against Low classification Ros and recreational league amateurs. Mostly they Ost. When their record was 1-22, they had been shut out 13 times and outscored 162-24. The Silver bullets won five of their next 20 games but the numbers mean Little. What s important is the teams existence As a Symbol of possibilities. Evermore important the Silver bullets moved beyond symbolism to real athleticism. These women can play the game. They done to have the size and strength to produce the leverage necessary for explosive Power. But the Silver bullets Are Strong enough and Quick enough with Good enough hands and arms to make every infield play that needs to be made. What they feared would be their greatest liability pitching became their greatest asset. As for hitting they still have Miles and Miles to go much As Michael Jordan has Miles to go if he wants to Rise above i Wasny to going to have anything to do with a circus a says Phil Niekro the should be Hall of Fame Pitcher who won 318 major league games in 24 seasons and this Spring became the Silver bullets manager. A everything was going to be professional a and it has been. A few pitchers worked with a greater competitive ferocity than Niekro. With the Silver billets he has been a teacher of surpassing patience and kindness. In the Spring a Pitcher asked a How do you hold a inf a up to his ears a says outfielder Keri Kropke a and he uses a Bat lighter than mine we never knew ours were too heavy. We just thought we weren to Strong the Henderson lesson was one of Many. Only Croteau who went on to play College baseball without controversy and Pitcher Gina Satriano the daughter of a former major league player Tom Satriano came to the team from exclusively baseball backgrounds everyone else came from softball so theyl iad to learn baseball a mechanics on a playing Field 50 percent larger than softballs. Because their frenetic travel left no time for practice the bullets Learned mechanics during games in front of paying customers against players no knew How to hold a baseball from the time their daddies dropped one into the crib. And some players came spiced with resentment one said to Kropke a i can to believe you re getting paid More than. Us. That a barnyard expletive a to which Kropke making $20,000 instead of the double a a $10,000, said a now you know How it feels to be a woman making 65 cents to a Many a after that she says the fellow became a gentleman. A a a a a. A a a a. A a a so much happened that Niekro called it a the most unforgettable summer of my at Oakland fans outside the clubhouse chanted a we want the baseball a she had played softball jamming the Ball against her Palm and wrapping four fingers around it the Little baseball did no to feel right. Niekro said a do whatever a comfortable a and then he moved the Ball from her Palm out onto her fingers. Five weeks into the season Rickey Henderson of the Oakland a a picked up a bullets Bat and declared it too heavy even for him a a Here a a Guy with Muscles urn gave sought out Jordan play right Field a and you re much better than he what More could a baseball player want than to play her game for people who cared a we were treated with respect everywhere we went because we earned it a Croteau says. A we were 20 professional focused on july 21, these baseball players making a Little bit of history walked into a stadium full of history. And when Julie Croteau walked onto the Field at Fenway Park carrying a baseball Glove she took a look at the right Field bleachers where she sat with her Mother and father on another Day in another time. A the sporting Newt by Dennis Georgatos Santa Clara Calif. A Jerry Rice had Little time to savor the record setting Effort that made him the a Fly Sall time touchdown Leader. No sooner had he scored his 127th career touchdown monday night in san Francisco a 44-14 rout of the los Angeles raiders than the 49ers wide receiver was caught up again in the Joe Montana Steve Young rivalry. The 49ers travel to Kansas City sunday for their first confrontation Ever with Montana he led san Francisco to four super bowl wins in the 1980s before losing his Job to Young and joining the chiefs in a 1993 Trade. A a we be got a big game coming up and in a not going to have a lot of time to enjoy it a said Rice who surpassed Hall of Fame fullback Jim Browne a previous Mark by scoring three times. A but it la be Nice to see Joe again. He helped me get this record a Rice said. He a right about that. Montana and Rice connected on 55 touchdown passes. Young and Rice have hooked up for scores 49 times including two against the raiders. The first came on a 69-Yard bomb from Young. Rice then made like a running Back to pull into a tie with Brown scoring on a 23-Yard reverse and set the record with 4 05 to go when he out jumped Albert Lewis for the Ball and tumbled into the end zone. A the made a great play a said Lewis who played with Montana last year in Kansas City. A i could t have covered him any better. I was grabbing at his Arm grabbing at the Ball but somehow he managed to hang onto Young nearly did no to get the pass off. A a in a embarrassed it was a Little Short a said Young who threw under pressure. A i had someone on my Back and that Sall i had. But it is kind of perfect that it came on a Ball that was a Little Short and he went up and took it away for a i 49ers Jerry Rice celebrated monday but now its time to concentrate on Joe Montana and the Kansas City chiefs. Teammates rushed to congratulate Rice and fittingly the Celebration took place in the end zone. Rice was overcome emotion. A the was crying he deserved to cry a running Back Ricky Watters said. A the worked so hard for this. He wanted it. That show he was Able to score on that reverse. That show he was Able to go up for that last Ball and get Rice actually thought he was done for the night after scoring his second to but was called Back to the Field by coaches to go for the record breaker. A Why not a said offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan fired in 1989 As the raiders head coach. A i thought if we can get it now it would be with the record taken care of the attention shifts to the Montana Young Saga. Rice said likes the Way he and Young have developed As a tandem and thinks get even better. But there a also a lot of memories and big plays he shares with i watch Joe play during the season. I watch him throw those balls. I watch him place those balls right in receivers hands a Rice said. A it brings Back a lot of memories to me. But you know. One thing i never told Joe. I never told Joe he was the greatest to Ever play the game. Its weird because you get caught up at times and you done to think about situations like that until something happens. And he was the Best to Ever play the
