It’s a Lock: Hoops Take Over Spring

R eading between the datelines . . .

NEW YORK--Four months after the Berlin Wall, baseball’s locked gates come down.

Just in the nick of time?

Or does anyone even care anymore?

Last time we checked, everybody was watching Bo Kimble and Ball State.

Great timing, this lockout. While the owners and the players haggled 32 days over the arbitration rights of 14 players, the rest of the country got hooked on hoops.

Let’s see what’s on the tube tonight: Donald Fehr with sweat stains under his armpits or Loyola running up 149 points on Michigan. No baseball in Mesa? How about that Arizona-Alabama game?

Baseball may be back, but it’s going to have to play catch-up. There’s a new national pastime in town and this one doesn’t spit tobacco juice.

FULLERTON--Augie Garrido returns to Cal State Fullerton, bringing his nationally ranked University of Illinois team with him for a Thursday game at Titan Field.

After much mulling, Fullerton officials have decided not to mark the occasion by retiring Garrido’s jersey. But then, what did Augie ever do for Fullerton?

Two College World Series championships. Tim Wallach, Greg Mathews, Mike Schooler, Mike Harkey and nine other Titans in the major leagues. A baseball stadium and a baseball program, both built from the ground up, both built on a shoestring.

But these are sensitive times for Fullerton baseball and, somehow, an honor for Garrido is viewed as a slam at the current Titan program. How, I’m not quite sure. If the majors conducted their business the same way, the Atlanta Braves never would have retired Hank Aaron’s number. And Bob Feller would still be waiting in Cleveland.

Ed Carroll, the opportunity is yours. Do the right thing.

OAKLAND--Mater Dei and Servite high schools win the State Division I and III basketball championships.

So what happened to Bishop Montgomery?

During the regular season, the Knights tied Servite for second place in the Angelus League, four games behind Mater Dei. That Angelus must be a heck of a league--one league, two state titles--but, hey, Bishop Montgomery has to get with the program.

INDIANAPOLIS--Eric Dickerson, 29, says he’s planning to quit pro football because running behind the Indianapolis Colts’ offensive line is “like taking a revolver and putting a bullet in it and spinning it around and sticking it to my head and sooner or later, a bullet is gonna come out and kill me.”

Dickerson used to have the best line in football in Anaheim, but he wanted more money. Now, he has the money but wants the line.

Clearly, more thought should have gone into “Let him run 47-Gap.” If you have your health, Dick, you have everything.

OAKLAND--After the Brea-Olinda High School girls’ team lost the State Division III basketball championship, a Brea-Olinda parent says there will be no postseason celebration because “we don’t celebrate second place.”

Apparently, and hopefully, this was said in the heat of the moment. No doubt, the defeat had to be disappointing, but if a 55-game winning streak, a return trip to the state title game and a final record of 33-1 isn’t worth celebrating, some priorities ought to be rethought.

With a little reflection, the Lady Cats should be proud of the reflection in the mirror.

NEW YORK--Because of an abbreviated spring training, baseball will play the first two weeks of the regular season under different rules, allowing starting pitchers to receive credit for a victory after completing three innings.

And Commissioner Fay Vincent wants a regular season with no asterisks attached?

We can see it now:

Bret Saberhagen becomes the first pitcher since Denny McLain to win 30 games in a single season.*

(* Saberhagen pitched a total of nine innings for his first three victories.)

KNOXVILLE, Tenn.--UC Santa Barbara shoots 33% from the field and commits 14 turnovers in a 62-58 loss to Michigan State in the second round of the NCAA Southeast Regional.

Could Cal State Long Beach have done better?

Some thoughts:

--Long Beach beat Purdue, which placed second to Michigan State in the Big Ten.

--Long Beach beat Texas, which beat Purdue in the second round of the Midwest Regional.

--Long Beach has more sources of point production than Santa Barbara. When Michigan State clamped down on center Eric McArthur, the Gaucho offense was down to Carrick DeHart and nothing but. Long Beach’s better balance, and better athletes, might have been better equipped to handle the Spartans’ aggressive, oppressive defense.

And that might have landed two Big West teams in the round of 16.

Which would be two more than the Big Eight.