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| Sports, November 1997 |
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It’s That Time Again - Kurt's annual baseball awards
By Kurt M.
Every October we honor the highlights of the past year’s baseball season. This year certainly had many bright spots, from the chase of Roger Maris’ home run record to Sandy Alomar Jr.’s 30 game hitting streak. We saw defensive brilliance in Jim Edmonds and pitching wizardry in Randy Johnson and Greg Maddux. There were the usual disappointments, such as the White Sox, and there was the traditional late-season choke of the Angels. The Cubs finished last in their division as usual, opening their season with a slightly less than memorable 14 straight losses. There was also the Baltimore Orioles, earning 99 victories, eliminating the rest of the competition. Hideki Irabu came to America, touted as the next "Nolan Ryan", yet he could barely hold his own in a star studded Yankee rotation. Tony Gwyn and Larry Walker flirted with .400, but today’s advanced state of pitching proved too much to erase Ted Williams’ monumental mark. All in all, the season was a success, except for the fact that baseball did not gain back the fans it needs for support. I agree a strike is one of the best ways to lose fan suppport, but it’s time to forgive and forget. Let’s take a look back and understand the real meaning of our national past time: baseball.
Here are my annual baseball awards for 1997.
National League
Most Valuable Player: Larry Walker
Cy Young Award: Kevin Brown
Rookie of the Year: Livian Hernandez
Manager of the Year: Jim Leyland
Gold Glove Awards:
1. Left Field: Barry Bonds
2. Center Field: Kenny Lofton
3. Right Field: Andruw Jones
4. Third Base: Ken Kaminiti
5. Shortstop: Edgar Renteria
6. Second Base: Craig Biggio
7. First Base: Mark Grace
8. Pitcher: Greg Maddux
9. Catcher: Charles Johnson
American League
Most Valuable Player: Ken Griffey Jr.
Cy Young Award: Roger Clemens
Rookie of the Year: Mike Cameron
Manager of the Year: Mike Hargrove
Gold Glove Awards:
1. Left Field: Marty Cordova
2. Center Field: Jim Edmonds
3. Right Field: Tim Salmon
4. Third Base: Cal Ripken Jr.
5. Shortstop: Omar Vizquel
6. Second Base: Joey Cora
7. First Base: Darin Erstad
8. Pitcher: Andy Pettite
9. Catcher: Ivan Rodriguez
Peacock girls prepare for the new basketball season
By Kristen W.
Mr. Martin is the sixth and seventh grade basketball coach. Basketball practices are held in the gym after school. The days and times are Monday through Friday from 3:30 to 5:30 P.M. Mr. Martin describes a typical practice as "running, running and more running." There are seventeen players on the sixth and seventh grade team, twelve seventh graders and five sixth graders. There are nine scheduled games, but the girls will try to play as many extra games as they can.
Mr. Martin describes a typical game as low scoring. He thinks Peacock's competition is keen, however, he thinks we will have an excellent conference. Mr. Martin played basketball during high school and he insists that he really loves coaching it. He says that he "appreciates all the hard work from each individual athlete and all the people who tried out."
By Eric T.
The Blackhawks are looking to rebound after a disappointing season last year. They struggled to make the playoffs and were eliminated in the first round.
A number of key players are returning like Chris Chelios, Tony Amonte, and Jeff Hackett. The Hawks are expecting Alexai Zhamnov to have a better season than last year. He was brought over from the Phoenix Coyotes in a trade for Jeremy Roenick. A few of the rookies are also expected to step up. Rusty Laroux looked great in the preseason. You can listen for good things about him in the future.
The Hawks look like they could be in good shape this year. The offense has got play-makers in Tony Amonte and Alexai Zhamnov. They are in great shape on defense with the captain, Chris Chelios. Of course in hockey you need big guys like Bob Probert and Cam Russell. The goalie, Jeff Hackett, is one of the best in the league. I am expecting the Hawks to finish in the top four of their conference and go far into the playoffs.
By Brad C.
The Chicago Cubs finished the 1997 season 68-94 with a .420 winning pct. Only two teams, the Oakland A’s and Kansas City Royals, finished worse than the Cubs. Both Oakland and Kansas City are in the American League. Kansas City finished with a .416 winning pct., a little better than the A’s which had a .401 winning pct. Two teams also finished with the an identical record as the Cubs. Those teams were Minnesota for the AL and Philadelphia for the NL. The Cubs, of course, finished in last place, but they were only a lonely 16 games back.
The Cubs five best hitters this season were Mark Grace with a .319 batting average and team high 32 doubles. Second was Hansen with a .311 avg., next was Lance Johnson, whom the Cubs acquired in a trade for Brian McRae, batting .307. Dave Clark was fourth. He is normally a pinch hitter and he batted .301 mainly because of the interleague play where was the Cubs designated hitter (DH). The fifth player was Doug Glanville with an even .300 batting average.
The team’s three best pitchers were Mark Clark 14-8 with a 3.82 ERA, Jason Gonzalez 11-9 with a 4.25 ERA, and Kevin Foster who finished 10-7 with a 4.61 ERA. He pitched 146.1 innings, 118 strikeouts, walked 66, and gave up 27 home runs (HR). Sammy Sosa hit 36 homers this year. He also had 119 RBIs, only 45 walks compared with his WHOPPING 174 STRIKEOUTS. Mark Grace finished with 13 HR, 78 RBIs, 555 AB, and a team high 88 walks. Grace finished 6th in batting avg. in the NL.
Who is the Cubs new centerfielder? __________________________
(HINT: unscramble) AENLC ONHJNSO
Who hit more doubles this year? Mark Grace
Doug Glanville
Kevin Orie
By Brian C.
The Chicago Bears are pathetic with a record of 1-10. The root of their problems can be traced to the coach, Dave Wannstedt. His inability to motivate and inspire the Bears has hurt them. He made two questionable calls in the final quarter of the Bears vs. Packers game, that led to a 24-23 Packers win. Although Dave Wannstedt is a below-average coach the Bears talent is probably the worst in the league.
The Bears offense is ranked 29th in the league and should be last. Both Erik Kramer and Rick Mirer are bad quarterbacks. Erik Kramer has won the battle for quarterback and is now starting. Raymont Harris, the halfback, is a good halfback but can not carry the team. The wide receivers are the worst in the league and never seem to get to the ball. The offensive line is mediocre and cannot dominate any game. The whole Bear's offense is terrible.
The Bears defense is good but not great. Their pass rush defense is getting better every week, but they still have problems with run defense. Their cornerbacks Walt Harris and Marty Carter are sub-par. Although the Bears defense is good, it is not enough to allow the Bears offense into the game.
Even though the Bears are bad they have potential. Curtis Conway, the star receiver has returned from an injury, and will help the offense. Their defense is getting better every week and should keep improving even more. However, the Bears so far can be summed up in one word. Bad.
By Amar P.
Harper, Caffey, Longley, Brown, Jordan, Wennington, Kukoc, Buechler and more are some of the Bulls players. One new player is Scott Burrell. The bulls went to Paris for the McDonald's Tournament during the preseason. In Paris, Michael Jordan said that he could not go out to have some fun without being mobbed by reporters. He also commented that he used to go to Paris for a week without the Bulls to have some fun without the media attention, but not any longer. Michael Jordan's two sons are now old enough to go on the road with their dad to watch some of his games.
The Bulls will have to work hard this season and Michael Jordan will have to shoulder even more of the offensive and defensive burden because all-star forward Scottie Pippen is stuck on the bench after foot surgery. The Bulls are now [record], with the main concern being the number of minutes Jordan is forced to play.