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Sports Ok VetoF. L B| Roley I Sports editor I Murphy’s number retired in Atlanta The Braves had a problem. They had a wonderful catcher, who hit with great power. How ever, this catcher had developed a minor problem. He had a mental block about throwing to second. Now, for a catcher, this can be a real career ender. Base runners, even those with the speed of a catcher, love a backstop who has better luck getting the ball to the centerfielder backing up the play than he has getting the ball to the infielder cov ering the base. I'm here to tell you, it was a good thing for the Braves that this particular catcher had problems throwing to second. After a stint at first in 1978 and 1979, this catcher was moved to outfielder, where he became one of the best players that the Braves had. Of course, I am referring to Dale Murphy. Monday night, the num ber "3" that he wore for the Braves went up on the wall at Atlanta Ful ton County Stadium. Murph becomes the fifth player on the wall, joining Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, Warren Spahn and Phil Niekro. There has been a lot said recently about Murphy not having the stats necessary to get on the wall. After all, Aaron retired with a .305 bat ting average, 3,771 hits, 2,297 RBls—team stats that I believe are more important than the one stat he is remembered for, 755 homers. Eddie Mathews is one of the few players to play in all three cities— Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta. He held down third base with style and substance, clouting 512 homers, driving in 1453 RBIs. My latest copy of The Baseball Encyclopedia ranked him 15th all time in home run percentage. And, when you talk about Braves pitching, two names come to mind—Spahn and Niekro. There was an old refrain with the Braves, "Spahn and Sain, then pray for rain." Spahn led the National League in wins eight seasons, complete games nine years, and E.R.A. three years. He closed his career with 363 wins. Niekro pitched for the Braves during a time when the Braves thought a .500 season was a great year—just to be competitive was something good. Pitching for a succession of absolutely horrible teams, he led the National League in wins twice, winning percentage once and ERA once. He would win 268 games in a Braves uniform, 318 in a Major League uniform. Three of the four previous in ductees on the stadium wall are also in the Major League Hall of Fame. Nuxie should make the HOF this year. And, Murphy might not make the Hall of Fame. While his stats are good, a while he had some great years, his stats are marginal Hall of Fame stats. But, his character, as others have pointed out, more than makes up for any lack of stats. I guess my fa vorite Murphy memory was a cou ple a years ago when he took out a full page ad thinking the city of At lanta for their support of the Braves and him. Of course, on some nights he played in Atlanta before his trade to Philly, there were less than 1,000 fans in the stand. Murphy was always a class act with the Braves. Rarely did he get upset during the game at a call or opponent. He was a great spokesman for Major League base ball. So spotless was his character that some baseball magazines actu ally said he was too bland. And, while his stats might fall short of HOF recognition, they were not bad. And, I might add, most players would love to have Murphy's statistics. Of course, who can forget the magical seasons of the early 80s, when the Braves stopped living for next year, and actually won a few games. In 1982, the Braves beat out the Dodgers and Giants in one of the closest, if not the closest, pennant races in Major League history. The race came down to the final game of the season. When the dust had cleared away, it was the Braves on top with a record of 89-73, a scant one game in front of the demons from L.A., and two in front of the Please see Roley, page 9A Rogers to kick for Fort Valley State By VETO F. ROLEY Sports Editor Dave Rogers has always been good at kicking a football through goalposts. Playing for Father Lopez High School in Florida, Rogers nailed a 53 yard attempt. His kicking earned him notice as one of the best kick ers in the state of Florida. However, Rogers had another love, soccer. He was named all-state in the sport after his senior year in high school. So, instead of putting on pads and kicking a football in college, he went N.A.I.A. Division II Slager College in St. Augustine to pursue soccer, and in the offsea son, tennis. "I felt I was better at (soccer) than I was at football," said Rogers. "I was more into (soccer) at the time." But, Rogers’ soccer career would come to an end in his sophomore year with a knee injury. "I got hurt during a game after being hit by a goalie," he said. "I was taken out of action for the rest of the season.” After taking a year off to rehabil Expos edge Dodgers Expos 14, Dodgers 11 Keyed by a pair of hits in the fifth inning by Earnest Howard and Dustin Funderbunk, the Expos ex ploded for nine runs to come from behind and beat the Dodgers 14-11 in Perry Parks and Recreation Ju nior Boys play. Except for one inning, the sec ond where the Expos pushed five runs across the plate, Dodger pitch ing held the Expos bats silent. Trailing by two in the top of the third, the Dodgers had their own explosion, platting seven runners to take a 10-5 lead. Scott, Regrow and Wilson collected the only three hits the Dodgers would need in the in ning. The Dodgers added a single run in the tap. of the..fif|JUQ take a six run lead before the Expos explosion in the bottom half of the inning. Most of the offense for the Ex pos was provided by the bottom half of the order. Howard paced the team with three hits, while Funder burk and Wil Rundles had a pair of hits each. Leadoff man Matthew Davis had a hit and two walks in four trips to the plate, while David Huntzinger had a single and two walks in three trips to the plate. Vandifriff, Scott, and Regrow had two hits each to pace the Dodgers. Rebels 16 Rockets 10 The Rebels scored seven runs in the second to take an early 8-2 lead over the Rockets in Perry Parks and Recreation Junior Girls play. The Rebels then ended all thoughts of a Rocket comeback, scoring eight runs in the fourth to put the game away. Harrison and Thompson paced the Rebels with three hits each. PUMC surges past Rehoboth PUMC 12, Rehoboth 7 Perry United Methodist Church scored five runs in the final two in nings of play to beat Rehoboth in Perry Parks and Recreation Church League softball play. In the fourth, consecutive hits by J. Hawk, Kinnas, Langston, and T. Hawk brought four runs across the plate as PUMC built a 10-5 lead. Two errors by Rehoboth and P.C.C. holds first tourney on new grass By VETO F. ROLEY Sports Editor Perry Country Club opened the back nine holes with a bang Saturday, hosting a rainbow scramble for its members. Although club members have been playing the back nine since it reopened after being re-sprigged in May, the tournament was the first 18 hole event at the club since the course was fully re-opened. Although the team of Harry Hawkins, Joe Posey, George Richard and Alma Dayton finished the 18 hole circuit in 64 strokes, they had to settle for second behind the team of Floyd Gregory, Sarah Hawkins, Rodney Bridges and David Jahns, who came around with a 65. Gregory's team won after their handicap of 9.13 adjusted their score to 55.87. Hawkins' team had a handicap of 7.88, giving them an adjusted score of 56.12. Third place belonged to the team of Jarad Hancock, Dickey Erwin, Lena Wehunt and Jo Crumpacker, who had an adjusted score of 56.62 after shooting a 65. Fourth fell to Joe Andrews, EJ. Wehunt, Bill Wood and J.D. Brown. They finished the afternoon with an adjusted score nf <:7 5 after coming into the clubhouse itate his knee, Rogers started look ing around for colleges that needed a field goal kicker. Eventually he got in touch with coach Douglas Porter and the Fort Valley Wildcats, sign ing on as a kicker. "I heard it was a good school," said Rogers. "I felt it was a good opportunity for me to play football again." Porter said the Wildcats were looking for a kicker with the gradu ation of their kicker last year. "We needed a person who had experience kicking successfully in high school," he said. The Wildcats started talking to other coaches, who mentioned Rogers as a candidate for the vacant kicking job. At the same time, Rogers was calling Fort Valley. "His name came up," said Porter, "and he had given us a call. "He comes highly recom mended," said Porter. "He is a good kicker, and a pressure kicker. His range should increase as he matures and gets older." Porter said that Rogers' range is currently in the 35-to-45 yard range, Harrison had a triple, while Thompson connected on a double and triple. Heard had a homer for the Rebels in the fourth inning. April Montaque collected three hits to pace the Rockets. Brooke Leisemring, Melisha Alford, Alan isha Whitfield, and Jessica Dickson had two hits each. Sluggers 13, Lakers 5 Sullivan and Coody collected three hits to lead the Sluggers to a 13-5 win over the Lakers in Parks and Rec Mite Girls Softball play. Dee Felder had two hits, includ ing a triple, to pace the Lakers. Oc tavis Taylor also had two hits in the loss. Yankees 4, Giants 4 The Giants jumped off to a four run lead with a big first in Mite Boys play at Huckaby Field. Micheal Wright started the in ning with a single. After a walk to Roderick Scott, John Prather tripled to left to bring the first two runs across the plate. Prather scored on Blake Bohannon's double to right, with Bohannon scoring on Timothy Moss’ double to center. Like the Giants, the Yankees scored all four of their runs in one inning, tying the game in the third. Tony Hudgens led the inning off with a double and Cameron Draughome and Micheal Whitton connected with singles, while the Yankees took advantage of two hits batsmen and three errors to tie the game. Hudgens and Devlin Johnson led the Yankees with two hits each. Timothy Moss led the Giants with a pair of hits. Tigers 10, Cubs 8 The Tigers held off a late rally Please see Tigers, page 9A hits by Kinnas and Langston brought two runs across the plate in the fifth for PUMC. T. Hawk had four hits to pace PUMC, while Langston contributed three hits and Kinnas and Clay came through with two hits. A trio of hitters had two hits each to pace Rehoboth. White, Kratz and Shirly had the pair of hits in the loss. with a 66. Also finishing in the money was the team of Jerry Kimsey, John Boland, Andy Snyder and Don Chandler, who finished with an adjusted score of 60.12 after shooting a 68. Six other teams finished within a stroke of the final paying position, with two teams finishing within .25 strokes. Robert Spainhour, Roy Shaginaw, Jack Ellen and Jill Hardy-Hobbs finished sixth with an adjusted score of 60.25 (actual score, 69). Tommy Jones, Bobby Rowell, Ted Pender and Henry Dawkins finished in a tie for seventh with an adjusted score of 60.37 (actual, 69). Frank Bellamy, Kathy Norris, George Curtis and Bruce Hearn finished one stroke faster than the Jones' team; but, had and adjusted score of 60.37. All told, 52 members, and 14 teams, participated in the tournament Saturday. First place payoff was S2OO, with total payout, first through fifth, being $660. Assistant professional Jeff Evans said the members were pleased with the way the new grass was growing on the back nine. "They were well pleased with how well the grass had come in," he said. Evans said the course hoped to sponsor similar tournaments at least once a month. Houston Times-Journal which he would like to see increase to the 45-to-50 yard range. Rogers is very accurate, said Porter, which takes increased signif icance with the narrowing of the goalposts, which makes the extra point and short field goals more dif ficult "He is a very solid performer in that." Porter said that Rogers should make an immediate impact with the Wildcats. "We are depending on him handling the place kicking and field goals for us," he said. Rogers, who is living in Perry while attending Fort Valley, said that he was glad to be back in foot ball. "I'm very much looking forward to being back in football," said Rogers. ”1 miss the competition." In addition, Rogers said that playing should give him a break from classes. "My main focus is my education," he said. Rogers is a business major at Fort Valley. "I will kick the best I can, and play as team player," said Rogers, who said that he wanted nothing less than a conference champi onship this year. "You can't have a good season if you don't play as a team." At Father Lopez, Rogers was a three sport star, playing tennis in addition to earning soccer and foot ball honors. He occupied the num ber one slot on his high school team, and played in several junior tour events. *> . - ■ I H Thanks Jackie Klein receives a plaque from Jerry Ruport of the Atlanta Epilepsy Foundation office for her efforts with the Epilepsy golf tournament held May 20. Kathleen 13, Houston Lake 3 Kathleen exploded for nine first inning runs before cruising for a 13-3 win over Houston Lake. Bowen paced the Kathleen ex plosion with three hits, while Reese and Fuller had two hits each. Axtell had two hits to pace Houston Lake, while Calhoun, Sheppard, Walton and Rivera had one hit each. Wednesday, June 15,1994 Houston Times -Journal- . ! fiy » ... Michelle Landess holds the Rogers landed the job as the the 1994 season. wt 'vl Wjbu, _/, jtt ■-* t JH Sarah Hawkins watches her putt go towards the hole on the 9th hole at Perry Country Club In a tournament Saturday. Page 7A ball for Dave Rogers. > Wildcats placeklcker for - Pennington, Graffiti post playoff wins By JIMMY SIMPSON Staff Writer Designated scorekeepers found their pens working overtime Monday when four teams entering tournament play pushed a whopping 50 runs across the plate on the afternoon. Graffiti Hair Salon paced the field, scoring 29 runs in their outing en route to a 29-7 win over First Family Finance. Pennington 111 Plumbing dialed in its win over Family Footwear by a final of 8-6. Graffiti and Pennington were scheduled to face each other Tuesday in the double-elimination tourney. First Family and Family Footwear was scheduled to follow at 6:45. Results were not immediately available at press time. Faced with the task of rebounding from an earlier setback from Pennington, Graffiti wasted no time in jumping out front 7-0 after just one frame of play in its latest outing to log the win. It was a defensive battle that developed early on in the day’s opening game. Pennington and Family Footwear were virtually deadlocked after the first three Please see Softball, page 9A