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Monday, July 1

[JULY 1, 2002]  ^"It was a hot one but the kids did great," said coach Heidi Heidbreder after the Lincoln Gators swam this weekend. She noted that Brennan Elsas, who broke team records in the 100 fly, 50 free and 100 free, competed in the age group for 10 and under, but he set the records for boys 8 and under.

Both Brennan and Sam Wood achieved several JO times. They will compete in the JO state meet in August.

The Gators swim at Quincy next weekend.

Individual results

Girls 10 and under

Ashlyn Schleder — 100 back, 14th, 1:52.66; 50 free, 13th, 39.48

Boys 10 and under

Brennan Elsas — 100 back, third, 1:37.58; 100 fly, third, 1:39.46, JO, team record for boys 8 and under; 50 free, second, 35.28, JO, team record for boys 8 and under; 50 back, fourth, 45.00; 100 free, second, 1:18.98, JO, team record for boys 8 and under; 50 fly, first, 41.89

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Sam Wood — 100 back, fifth, 1:40.02; 200 free, second, 2:52.10, team record; 100 fly, first, 1:33.05, JO; 200 IM, second, 3:21.22, JO; 50 free, third, 35.36, JO; 100 breast, first, 1:55.02; 50 back, fifth, 49.05; 50 breast, second, 52.14; 100 free, first, 1:18.88, JO; 50 fly, second, 42.85

Girls 13 and 14

Gabrielle Ernst — 100 free, third, 1:07.81, team record; 50 free, second, 30.33, team record; 200 free, fifth, 2:31.91, team record

[News release]

[JULY 1, 2002]  DECATUR — The Lincoln Junior Varsity baseball team split a doubleheader with the Decatur Legion Saturday afternoon. Lincoln won the second game 8-5 after dropping the first game 7-6. Lincoln, now 9-13 for the season, plays at Rochester Tuesday and will play in the Affton Fourth of July tourney in St. Louis beginning Thursday.

Lincoln scored three times in the top of the seventh inning to break a 5-5 tie in the second game Saturday. Neil Rohrer started the winning rally with a single to right-center.  Jason Williams sacrificed Rohrer to second, and he came in to score on a double by Kevin Carroll. Chance Berger then singled to score Carroll. After Berger stole second, he came in to score the third run on a double by Paul Phillips.

Lincoln scored three times in the sixth on a double by Carroll, an infield single by Trent Kavelman and a two-base throwing error by the pitcher. Two runs crossed the plate in the second for Lincoln, with Williams starting the rally with a single. Carroll doubled, Berger hit a sacrifice fly scoring Williams, Phillips collected an infield single moving Carroll to third, and Kyle Atteberry grounded out with Carroll scoring the second run.

Phillips picked up the victory for coach Pat Hake with 1 2/3 innings of relief.  Bob Maestas worked the first 5 1/3 innings, striking out eight and walking one.

Decatur won the opener of the doubleheader with a two-out hit in the bottom of the seventh. Berger retired the first two batters in the bottom of the seventh before an infield single and stolen base put a runner in scoring position. Neibuhr then connected for a double to right-center, scoring the winning run.

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Lincoln scored four times in the top of the sixth to tie the game at 6-6. Drew Olson opened the inning with a double, Williams drew a walk, and after the next two batters were retired, Lincoln got consecutive hits from Carroll, Alex Dahm and Maestas to tie the game.

The first two Lincoln runs were scored in the first inning on a single by Maestas, a stolen base, a run-scoring single by Rohrer, a single by Williams and a run-scoring single by Miles Musick.

Lincoln        200 004 0 — 6-10-4

Decatur       102 120 1 — 7-10-2

Kavelman, Berger (5-L) & Olson; Courtney, Neissle (6-W) & Miller.

Lincoln          020 003 3 — 8-11-4

Decatur         001 112 0 — 5- 7-2

Maestas, Phillips (6-W) & Rohrer; Godfrey, Mosley (3-L) & Miller, McShea (3).

[Bill Martinie]

Articles from the past week

[JULY 1, 2002]  When it gets this hot, I don’t even care. I thought the dog days weren’t supposed to start until the end of July. Anybody up for moving Lincoln to northern Minnesota, Michigan or Wisconsin? I’m sure there are sports going on somewhere, but unless it has something to do with ice or water, you’d be pretty crazy to either be involved in it or watching it on days like today! So, I’ll stop stalling and try to dig in, although I must say that when it’s this hot my motivation for anything but a move next door to sponge Bob is hard to muster!

I mentioned last week at the end of my story that that was only the beginning. [See "My Buck tribute."]

As I went off to college, I took Jack Buck and the Cardinals with me. One of my greatest Cardinal moments ever took place in my college dorm room.

We were getting some late-night study in when the Cardinals were playing the hated Astros. The Redbirds had the game in hand and then let the lead slip away. Houston tied it and we went to extra innings. That was just our cue to pop more popcorn. In the top of the 12th the Astros exploded for three runs and it appeared that our doom was sealed. But wait. Our leadoff man walked, and the next man up was plucked by a pitch. Someone else hit a seeing-eye single that loaded the bases.

While all this was going on, more and more people were pouring into our room. If you ever saw my roommate, Gene Adams, you would realize what a sight this was. Consider that a dorm room is no bigger than a broom closet. Now picture me in that room with a 6-foot-5, 220-pound man of steel. Now conjure up a dozen other scruffy characters from down the hall in the room. Soon the guys from upstairs were piling in as well. They said they came for the popcorn, but the drama of the moment was the real attraction. Jack Buck was the pied piper. While many of us had already given up, Jack never did!

Roger Freed stepped to the plate for the Cardinals. Roger was a giant of a man and a player that you always hoped would continue to get better. I don’t think that ever happened. But on that particular night, there was magic in the air. Few times in my life have I seen Cardinal and Cub fans come together like they did in the wee hours of that morning. As the count moved to 3-2, Mike Shannon said, "Ol’ Abner’s done it again!" Then Buck let loose with one my personal favorite all-time calls: "Freed corks one into left … good night, everybody … the Cardinals have just won the game 7-6 on a grand slam by Freed!"

You should have seen the dorm that night. That hit set off one of the most raucous celebrations that I have ever witnessed. Guys jumping up and down on beds, popcorn everywhere, Mountain Dew cans shaken up, shooting foam across hallways. You would’ve thought that the Cardinals had just won the pennant. But no. It was just another magical Buck moment in another lost season. But it wasn’t lost on me. And it wasn’t lost on that dorm full of guys!

They just keep pouring in. There’s the story of Buck and his wife on a flight that was delayed. Oftentimes when that happens, someone will collect everyone’s boarding pass along with their dollar and pull out a winner. The lucky person drawn wins all the money in the bag. Stewardesses don’t usually like this game, because they say that 90 percent of the time someone in first class generally wins; then they have to deal with a plane full of upset people.

It would be a little different on this day. Buck and his wife were sitting in first class when a little girl from the back of the plane who looked like she could use the money panned through first class to collect the rest of the boarding passes and money. Sure enough… someone in first class won. It was Mr. Buck. The fans booed heartily.

The little girl, disappointed that she hadn’t won, sauntered up to Mr. Buck with the cash. "It looks like you won, mister." Jack told the little girl that all he wanted was his boarding pass and his dollar back. She was stunned when he handed her the bag full of money, $238 to be exact. Buck could have never known this, but as it turns out, the girl’s dad had just lost his job and the family really did need the money!

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Cardinal manager Tony LaRussa tells everyone that he always called Jack the Renaissance Man. He said he always called Jack "a man for all seasons." He said that Jack would always quickly respond, "Tony, what I’d rather be… is a man of the postseason!"

If you ever want to hear a great joke, download the broadcast of a Montreal game played 10 or 12 years ago. Jeff Parrot was an Expo reliever that Montreal had warming up during a rain delay. As Shannon pointed that out, Buck said, "Parrot? That reminds me of one of my favorite stories." He proceeded to tell one of the funniest Parrot jokes I have ever heard. I laughed so hard, I fell off the bed!

Or there’s the story of the little boy with MS who visited Buck and Shannon up in the broadcast booth. They put him in between the two-one row behind them for his safety because no ball had ever reached that area.

Beforehand Buck had one of the interns go down into the office and bring up some Cardinal T-shirts for the boy and his parents. As they broadcast that inning someone fouled off a pitch and it was heading toward press row. It hit a window and broke it, struck a couple of counters, and dropped in the box of T-shirts right in front of the boy.

Before the game, Buck — knowing that the visit was scheduled for that day — had mentioned to Shannon how great it would be if the boy could get a foul ball, but he said that wouldn’t happen in a million years because the boy would be unable to catch it. When that ball landed in that box, Shannon said, "I don’t know who was more surprised and elated, Buck or the boy." Shannon went on to say that Buck motioned to him to do the play-by-play by himself, as Buck was quietly sobbing!

There are zillions of these stories floating around, and I’ve just plucked out a few for your enjoyment. Rest assured that Jack Buck was a greater man than he was a broadcaster. And as a broadcaster, he’s in the Hall of Fame. I could never give him a better tribute than that!

For more Buck tributes and Cardinal stuff, click on www.stlcardinals.com.

As far as Darryl Kile goes, I don’t even know what to say. I think it has hit me too close to home to be able to report on it impartially. I do know that I was moved by how many men described how much this guy meant to them.

So, I guess we have to ask ourselves, can we learn anything from these deaths? Maybe, it’s if you have something to say to somebody, go ahead and say it. If you care for somebody, tell them. If you have someplace you want to go, go there. If you have something you want to see, go see it. And most of all, if you need to set all things right, don’t waste another minute. Set things right today!

And let me be the first to practice this… to all our loyal LDN readers. Thanks for reading my crazy and zany stuff. And not only that, but for stopping me on the streets and telling me so. That really means a lot to me and I thank you… in fact, it’s why I do it.

It’s made me realize one of the many great things about where we live. We have great people. I’m glad my son is growing up in a community like this one. I just told a mother last week that if my son grows up to be anything like her two boys, we’ll be pretty proud. Heck, we might be proud even if he doesn’t!

Oh well, have a great week, everybody. Stay out of the heat and we hope to see you soon.

[Jeff Mayfield]

["Greatest Cardinal of them all"’ has fallen"]

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