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From: clarinews@clarinet.com (United Press International)
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Subject: Baseball Central
Keywords: baseball, men's professional
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Date: 21 Sep 89 01:59:35 GMT
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	CHICAGO (UPI) -- Former Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Tony
Taylor said he'll never forget how 25 years ago the 1964 Phillies team
squandered a 6 1-2 game lead with 12 games left to play.
	``It will take me the rest of my life to get over that,'' said
Taylor, who also played with the Chicago Cubs. ``Everywhere I go, people
still ask me, `What happened to the '64 Phillies'?
	``After we lost six straight, (Manager Gene) Mauch would come into
the clubhouse everyday and tell us, `We only need one more (victory),'''
Taylor said. ``That put pressure on us. The only thing we could have
changed was the pitching. Mauch pitched Jim Bunning and Chris Short on
one or two days' rest. If we had used another pitcher, he would have
given Bunning and Short an extra days' rest, and we would have had a
better chance to win.''
                              ------
	TORONTO (UPI) -- Blue Jays reliever Tom Henke says he's tired of
hearing how the Blue Jays will choke in the final days of the season.
	Toronto fans and media are having a hard time forgetting how the
club squandered a 3-1 lead over Kansas City in the 1985 best-of-seven
divisional playoffs, and a 3 1-2 game lead over Detroit in the AL East
with seven games left in 1987.
	``What's the definition of a choke, anyway?'' said Henke. ``Anytime
you lose they say you choked.
	``People forget we played seven one-run games with Detroit in '87
with two key players (Ernie Whitt and Tony Fernandez) out with injuries.
In '85 we made it to the playoffs, how can you say we choked? It's an
unfair statement. We didn't choke in '85, we didn't choke in '87 and
we're not going to choke now.''
                              ------
	CLEVELAND (UPI) -- Despite the fact that the Cleveland Indians have
dropped out of the pennant race, pitchers Bud Black and Jesse Orosco
have had profitable seasons.
	Orosco, 1-4 with a 2.03 ERA and three saves, will earn $1 million
this year in base salary and bonuses, the Cleveland Plain Dealer
reported. Black, 11-11, with a 3.43 ERA, will earn $675,000 this year,
including bonuses.
	Orosco, who has appeared in 63 games, received a $50,000 signing
bonus and $800,000 in base salary, and earned $150,000 in bonuses for
appearing in at least 62 games. In addition, his performance in 1989 has
guaranteed him a 1990 salary of $850,000.
	Black earned $75,000 in bonuses and is guaranteed a $800,000 next
year.
                              ------
	MINNEAPOLIS (UPI) -- Kirby Puckett is starting to feel like he just
can't do enough.
	Puckett continues to hold a narrow lead in the American League
batting race, yet most of the attention directed at the Twins
centerfielder after the Twins Tuesday night victory was focused on his
declining power figures.
	Puckett's two-run homer in the sixth was just his eighth of the
year and the first since July 25.
	``I don't worry about that,'' said Puckett. ``You can't satisfy
everybody. A lot of people continue to dwell on the negative.
	``I just happen to be in a batting championship race and everybody
talks about home runs,'' continued Puckett. ``I get 200 hits (for the
fourth consecutive year) and catch everything I can reach. I'm doing my
job. I don't think it's too shabby.''
	... Brian Downing isn't satisfied yet. But he doesn't regret his
decision to return to the California Angels.
	Even after 11 often disappointing seasons in Anaheim, Downing
decided to return in 1989 for one more shot at a pennant.
	``I wouldn't have come back if I didn't think we had a chance,''
says Downing, who resigned despite the Angels' fourth-place finish last
year.
	``I've gotten to see all the low moments,'' he said, not including
the AL West championships in 1982 and 1986. ``It'd mean a lot to win a
pennant,'' he said.
                              ------
	ST. LOUIS (UPI) -- After being benched for a game by Manager Davey
Johnson, New York Mets outfielders Darryl Strawberry and Kevin
McReynolds were back in the starting lineup for Wednesday's game against
the Cardinals.
	Johnson benched and fined the two for Tuesday's game in Chicago
because both had left the bench during the ninth inning of the Mets'
10-6 loss to the Cubs on Monday.
	Strawberry had to be called back to the dugout from the clubhouse
to bat in the ninth as the Mets rallied. Batting with the bases loaded
and representing the tying run, Strawberry struck out to end the game.
	Johnson said after Monday's game that he had ``never been so upset
in my life.''
	... Because of his lackluster play, St. Louis Manager Whitey Herzog
kept Vince Coleman out of the starting lineup for the fourth straight
game.
	Herzog has been upset with Coleman's play on offense and defense.
Coleman is hitting .258 with 27 RBI and 62 stolen bases. Herzog says
Coleman has stranded too many baserunners and is not stealing enough
bases.
--
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