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May 15, 1991 as of 11:00 PM

TONIGHT'S STORY ROSTER:

 QUEEN COMES OUT TO THE BALL GAME
 ANGELS POUND YANKS, 10-2
 SASSER THROWING HIS CAREER AWAY?
 PISTONS TOP CELTICS, 116-111
 NORTH STARS EDGE PENGUINS, 5-4
 'PERSONABLE COMPUTER' TO RUN BIG BLUE
 THE BASEBALL FACTS MACHINE
 ODD SPURTS OF SPORTING NEWS
 AROUND THE WORLD OF SPORTS

 QUEEN COMES OUT TO THE BALL GAME
    BALTIMORE (AP) - Queen Elizabeth went out to the ball game
Wednesday night, arriving in Babe Ruth's birthplace to take in
her first major league baseball game with President Bush as her
guide.

    Thousands of fans at Memorial Stadium roared their approval
as Bush and the Queen stepped onto the field prior to the game
between the Baltimore Orioles and the Oakland Athletics.

    Flanked by Mrs. Bush and Prince Phillip, the president and
the queen chatted with players from both teams.

    ``O's Welcome Your Majesty,'' said a sign held up by one fan.

    As Oakland slugger Jose Canseco passed by, Bush patted him on
the back but the queen merely smiled and shook his hand.

    Once Bush and the queen took their seats in Orioles owner Eli
Jacobs' skybox, the president was seen gesturing toward the
diamond and pointing, apparently explaining the game to her. She
nodded in response.

    A reporter who visited the box briefly said the queen removed
her black gloves and placed them in front of her once she got
seated. As the game got under way, Bush said, ``Oh, here we go.''

    Joining them in the box were Defense Secretary Dick Cheney
and Baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent.

    Oakland manager Tony LaRussa was asked if he coached his
players on how to greet the monarch. ``We told them to be
natural,'' LaRussa said.

    ``Everyone's excited,'' Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken said.
``I've been in baseball 10 years but this a lot different.''

    A transparent bulletproof shield was raised beside the dugout
as the queen and the president greeted the players.

    Outside the stadium, about 45 demonstrators chanted slogans
condemning Britain's policy in Northern Ireland. ``Irish Blood on
British Hands,'' said one sign carried in the 15-minute
demonstration.

    Bush, a former Yale first baseman who remains an avid fan,
has taken other international leaders to baseball games. But in
this case, it was the queen's idea, according to White House
spokesman Marlin Fitzwater. ``She had expressed an interest in
this. We are delighted to have her,'' Fitzwater said.

 ANGELS POUND YANKS, 10-2
    NEW YORK (AP) - Wally Joyner's three-run homer highlighted a
six-run third inning, and Mark Langston's complete game led the
California Angels to a 10-2 victory Wednesday night over the New
York Yankees.

    Langston (4-1) allowed eight hits, struck out six and walked
five in his second complete game. Jesse Barfield's two-run third-
inning homer accounted for the Yankee scoring.

    Joyner hit his fourth homer after Luis Polonia's RBI single
gave the Angels a 1-0 lead. Lance Parrish knocked out Chuck Cary
(1-4) later in the inning with a two-run homer.

    After Barfield's fifth homer cut the lead to 6-2, the Angels
scored four times in the fifth off reliever Eric Plunk. Parrish
doubled in a run, Luis Sojo and Dick Schofield had RBI singles
and one run scored on a wild pitch.

    Sojo led off the third with the Angels' first hit off Cary, a
double to left, and Schofield walked before Polonia's single to
right scored Sojo. Then Joyner hit the first pitch over the
center field fence.

    With two outs, Gary Gaetti singled to center and Parrish hit
his sixth homer, a drive over the left field wall.

    Yankees manager Stump Merrill was ejected for the first time
this season after arguing a call by first base umpire Tim Tschida
in the sixth.

    The loss was only the second in seven games for New York,
which had won three straight.


 METS TOP PADRES, 7-1
    SAN DIEGO (AP) - Dwight Gooden pitched a seven-hitter and the
New York Mets used home runs by slumping Dave Magadan and Kevin
McReynolds to beat the San Diego Padres 7-1 Wednesday.

    Gooden, who ended a personal two-game losing streak, struck
out eight to increase his National League lead to 54. He beat the
Padres for the second time this season.

    The Mets, who have won four of their last five, took the last
two of the three-game series. The Padres have lost seven of their
last eight games.

    The Mets broke it open with a five-run seventh featuring
Magadan's two-run homer, his first, and McReynolds' solo shot,
his second. McReynolds' homer chased Ed Whitson (2-4), who gave
up seven earned runs and 10 hits in 6 2-3 innings. He has allowed
nine homers in eight starts.
    Gooden (4-3) threw threw three perfect innings before giving
up a leadoff single to Bip Roberts in the fourth.
    Tom Herr walked with one out in the second, stole second base
and scored on Charlie O'Brien's single. Jefferies hit an infield
single to open the third and appeared to sprain an ankle beating
out the throw. He stayed in, stole second with two outs and
scored on McReynolds' single for a 2-0 lead.

    O'Brien, who had three hits, doubled on Whitson's first pitch
in the seventh, moved to third on Gooden's sacrifice bunt and
scored on Coleman's single. Coleman stole second and scored on
Jefferies' single. Magadan, in a 4-for-39 slump, then hit a 2-2
pitch over the left-field wall.

    O'Brien started in place of catcher Mackey Sasser, who is
having problems throwing the ball back to the mound.

    Whitson struck out Johnson, but McReynolds, hitting .209
entering the game, lifted his next pitch over the left-field
wall.

    The Padres scored an unearned run in the sixth for their only
run off Gooden.


 SASSER THROWING HIS CAREER AWAY?
    SAN DIEGO (AP) - New York Mets catcher Mackey Sasser will
continue to play less until he overcomes his phobia about
throwing the ball back to the pitcher, team officials say.

    Sasser, a left-handed batter, said he expected to be in the
lineup when the Mets faced San Diego Padres right-hander Ed
Whitson Wednesday afternoon. However, Charlie O'Brien, a right-
handed hitter who was batting .171, got the start and went 3-for-
4 in the Mets' 7-1 victory.

    Sasser made his fourth start of the season Monday night but
was removed in the seventh inning after he had trouble returning
the ball to the mound. He would tap the ball in his glove as many
as six times before throwing it back. Pitcher Dave Cone had to
come in toward the plate at times to receive the throw.

    Rick Cerone, a right-handed hitter, started Tuesday's game
against left-hander Eric Nolte.

    ``I was supposed to be in the lineup today but I wasn't,''
Sasser said Wednesday. ``I really don't have anything to say.
I've just got a setback and hopefully I can work on it and
overcome it.''

    ``I don't think he's ready,'' manager Bud Harrelson said.
``In an emergency, I'd put him out there, absolutely. But to
start the game, I'd have to feel more comfortable.''
    For now, Sasser will be used as the third-string catcher and
the No. 1 left-handed pinch-hitter.

    ``Left-handed hitting catchers are tough to come by and
they're a very valuable commodity,'' general manager Frank Cashen
said. ``We certainly would like to have him more productive
defensively, for his own sake as well as for our sake.''

    Cashen said Sasser has spoken with a team psychiatrist, ``but
mostly, the work's been done on the field.

    ``I really don't have any answers. I've seen it before,
probably the most unfortunate thing about it is that the people
who have it very seldom are cured.''

    Cashen said it's too early to consider moving Sasser to
another position. Sasser played both first base and third base in
1984, his first professional season, and was moved to catcher two
seasons later.

    Mets coach Doc Edwards, a former major-league catcher, is
working with Sasser.

    ``I tell him, `With your talent, if we can get you in a
groove, you'll have to go get your paycheck in a wheelbarrow,''
Edwards said.

 PISTONS TOP CELTICS, 116-111
    BOSTON (AP) - Detroit squandered an 18-point lead to the
Boston Celtics, then rallied behind Bill Laimbeer's outside
shooting for a 116-111 victory Wednesday night that put the
Pistons a win away from the Eastern Conference finals.

    Laimbeer hit his last three shots and broke the final tie
with a 20-footer with 39 seconds left, putting the Pistons ahead
108-106.

    The Pistons lead the best-of-7 conference semifinal 3-2 and
can reach their third straight conference final against the
Chicago Bulls with a win at home Friday night. If a seventh game
is needed, it would be Sunday in Boston.

    The Pistons were led by Joe Dumars with 32 points and
Laimbeer and Vinnie Johnson with 24 each. Boston got 30 points
from Reggie Lewis, 19 from Dee Brown and 18 from Kevin McHale.

    Detroit, trying to become the third team to win three
straight titles, led 75-57 with 8:48 left in the third quarter.
But Boston tied the game at 100 on Larry Bird's 18-footer with
3:40 remaining in the game.

    Laimbeer connected from the top of the key, but Brown matched
it with a corner jumper. Laimbeer then hit from the corner with
2:11 to go, but Brown countered from the top of the key.
    Two free throws by Dumars and a short flip by McHale left the
game tied at 106 with 59 seconds to go. Laimbeer then buried his
long go-ahead jumper.

    On the next possession, Bird missed a 3-pointer. Lewis got
the rebound but was called for an offensive foul while driving to
the basket.

    The Celtics were forced to foul, and Mark Aguirre hit two
shots with 16 seconds remaining. Dumars hit two more with 12
seconds to go, and McHale's 3-pointer, making the score 112-109
with 6.4 seconds left, was the closest Boston got.

    Isiah Thomas, who missed the second and fourth games with a
sprained right foot, was scoreless in 15 minutes. Bird, sidelined
for the opener with a bad back, had 16 points and played 41
minutes.


 NORTH STARS EDGE PENGUINS, 5-4
    PITTSBURGH (AP) - Eleven years after he was a golden boy for
the 1980 U.S. Olympic team, Neal Broten is starring in ``Miracle
On Ice: The Sequel.''

    Broten scored twice Wednesday, including the go-ahead goal
with 2:59 left in the second period, as the Minnesota North Stars
took the first game of the Stanley Cup finals with a 5-4 victory
over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

    Minnesota has won Game 1 in each of its four series, all on
the road, while the Penguins have dropped Game 1 four times.
Since neither team has lost a series, obviously one trend will
change.

    Game 2 in the best-of-7 series is Friday night at the Civic
Arena. The North Stars, the NHL's 16th-ranked regular-season
team, played their worst postseason hockey in losing the second
games of their previous three series but still went on to beat
No. 1 Chicago, No. 2 St. Louis and defending champion Edmonton.

    Broten, who in 1985-86 became the first U.S.-born player with
a 100-point season, is playing the best hockey of his fine career
during the playoffs. He plays on both the power-play and the
penalty-killing units as well as taking a regular shift as center
between Gaetan Duchesne and Stewart Gavin.

    On Wednesday, Broten snapped a 3-3 tie through perseverance.
Tom Barrasso stopped Mike Modano's shot and Broten took two
swipes at the rebound before finally sliding the puck past the
fallen goaltender.

    Bobby Smith, another 1981 playoff hero for the North Stars,
added necessary insurance 1:39 into the third period.Pittsburgh's 
Joe Mullen closed out the scoring with 9:25 to play
after a giveaway by Minnesota goaltender Jon Casey.

    The teams got goals from both expected and unexpected sources
in splitting the first six scores.

    Pittsburgh defenseman Ulf Samuelsson, known more for his hard
hits in the corner than for his hard shot from the point, scored
3:45 into the contest.
    Broten was credited with a goal 6:32 into the contest when
his backhanded pass went in off Penguins defenseman Gordie
Roberts. Ulf Dahlen put Minnesota ahead 3:17 later with his first
playoff goal on a rebound of Smith's shot.

    The clubs exchanged shorthanded goals early in the second
period.

    Mario Lemieux got his 12th goal of the playoffs - the first
shorthander scored by Pittsburgh and allowed by Minnesota - when
he blocked Shawn Chambers' shot from the point, took Francis'
breakaway pass and burned Casey on a breakaway.

    Bureau responded by taking Gavin's pass and beating Barrasso
with a 25-foot slap shot from between the circle. Bureau, who
failed to score in his first 29 games after coming to Minnesota
in a March 5 trade with Calgary, has scored in three successive
playoff games - on three straight shots.

    Scott Young's first playoff goal, and Pittsburgh's first on
the power play after failing on its first five attempts, made it
3-3.

'PERSONABLE COMPUTER' TO RUN BIG BLUE
    EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - The personality of the coach of
the New York Giants may have changed 180 degrees when Ray Handley
replaced Bill Parcells on Wednesday, but little else did.

    Handley, 46, is a strong advocate of hard-nose defense and a
grind-it-out style of football, two things that have typified the
Giants under Parcells and two things not likely to change soon.

    ``It's a good situation and I'm excited about the
opportunity,'' Handley said after being named the 13th head coach
in the franchise's history and being given his first head
coaching job above the high school level.

    The appointment - no contract terms were disclosed - was
announced just minutes after Parcells formally resigned, saying
it was time to leave after eight seasons, two Super Bowl
victories and an 85-52-1 mark that made him the second-winningest
coach in team history.

    Into that vacuum comes Handley, the man Parcells always
referred to as his ``computer'' on the sidelines.
    ``There is pressure,'' Handley said. ``There is pressure
because the level of expectation has changed since Bill took the
job and that puts added pressure on the next person. But I feel
good about the people around me and that's going to make it
easier.''

    The former Stanford running back very different from Parcells
outwardly.

    Parcells was outgoing, gruff, terse, moody, manipulative and
loud. He liked to consider himself a players coach. Off the
field, he enjoyed a drink every now and then, loved to fish and
had a group of cronies with whom he socialized.

    Handley is soft-spoken and reserved and admittedly hasn't
spoken at length with several defensive players. He enjoys
sitting home reading Robert Ludlum novels, going to an occasional
movie or scouring the financial pages contemplating a move in the
stock market. He is a card counter and Parcells used that
mathematical ability at the end of games when he had to figure
out when to call a timeout, hence the ``computer'' label.

    ``I think Ray will do a superb job,'' Super Bowl MVP Ottis
Anderson said. ``He's a players coach. He's always related well
with us, the running backs.''


 THE BASEBALL FACTS MACHINE:
    NEW YORK (AP) - Major league baseball wants the six National
League expansion candidates to have colors, logos, caps and
uniforms ready when the two winning cities are announced on June
12. nly Orlando (Sunrays) and Washington (Nationals) have
announced names. Robert Rich of Buffalo Baseball LP said
Buffalo's team would probably be named the Bisons. With less than
a month remaining until the vote, commissioner Fay Vincent said
this week he anticipates having to decide if the NL must share
the $190 million in expansion money with the American League . .
. Henry Aaron, critical of baseball's minority hiring practices,
says he was criticizing, not blasting, commissioner Fay Vincent
in comments made last month. Aaron, who has been promoting his
new book, ``I Had A Hammer,'' described Vincent as a ``big
disappointment'' in a newspaper interview in Houston. Vincent
wanted to discuss Aaron's views. After a eeting in Vincent's
office, the commissioner acknowledged being hurt by Aaron's
assertion that he wasn't trying his best . . . Free agent Andy
Hawkins joined the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday and will make
his first start on Saturday against the Cleveland Indians.
Hawkins, released by the New York Yankees last Thursday, said
several teams had expressed an interest in signing him. `These
guys have been in the World Series the last three years and
looking good this year,'' he said. ``I was flattered that a team
of this quality was interested in me.'' The A's hope the 31-year-
old right-hander can shore up a pitching staff that entered
Wednesday night's game against Baltimore with a 4.71 ERA, worst
in the American League. Six of the pitchers on the roster are
rookies . . . The Pittsburgh Pirates placed third baseman Jeff
King on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday retroactive to May 5
because of a lower back strain. To take King's spot on the
roster, the Pirates purchased the contract of infielder Jeff
Richardson from Triple-A Buffalo of the American Association . .
. ``Let bygones be bygones,'' Bo Jackson said Wednesday in his
first public appearance in Kansas City since he was released by
the Royals. Jackson appeared at the University of Kansas Medical
Center where it was announced he had been named honorary chairman
of the Children's Miracle Network telethon. Jackson also said he
was spending 10 hours a day rehabilitating the hip and that his
doctors told him he was farther along than they expected . . .
Cleveland Indians outfielder Albert Belle has supporters on the
Cincinnati Reds. American League president Bobby Brown suspended
Belle for one week after Belle tired of fan Jeff Pillar's taunts
about his problems with alcoholism and threw a ball which hit
Pillar in the chest. ``I probably have more respect for him than
I did before,'' said Reds pitcher Norm Charlton. ``Some people
say, `You're a professional athlete. You have to be able to put
that aside.' Maybe, maybe not. But I bet that fan doesn't do that
again . . . George Brett of the Kansas City Royals, with a lot of
time on his hands since going on the disabled list, used some of
it to check out one of his investments. Brett, part owner of the
Western Hockey League's Spokane Chiefs, he was in Quebec Tuesday
night to watch the Chiefs clinch a berth in the Memorial Cup
junior hockey final.

 ODD SPURTS OF SPORTING NEWS:
    HOT SPRINGS, Va. (AP) - Canadian Steve Bauer caught teammate
Andy Bishop with a half-mile left, then outsprinted a large pack
of riders on a downhill finish to win the seventh stage of the
Tour Du Pont bicycle race Wednesday. Norway's Atle Kvalsvoll, who
took the overall lead Tuesday by winning the sixth stage,
maintained a 48-second margin over Holland's Erik Breukink and a
1-minute advantage over Alexi Grewal. Three-time Tour de France
winner Greg LeMond finished 27th in the lead pack and moved up
from 29th to 22nd place, 4:31 behind Kvalsvoll, his teammate . .
. The NFL made its strongest commitment yet to expansion
Wednesday when a committee headed by commissioner Paul Tagliabue
recommended adding two new teams for the 1994 season. The
recommendation moved expansion back a year from the original
target date of 1993 but was more precise than any previous
statements. The plan, which would create six five-team divisions,
is expected to be ratified by the league owners when they meet
next Wednesday in Minneapolis . . . Manute Bol of the
Philadelphia 76ers was fined $1,500 by the NBA on Wednesday for
throwing the ball at an official and failing to proceed directly
to the locker room after being ejected from the 76ers' 99-97
victory over the Chicago Bulls in a second-round playoff game on
May 10 . . . The New York Rangers will start their 1991-92 season
at Boston against the Bruins Oct. 3, the fourth consecutive year
they open on the road. In announcing the schedule for nextseason,
vice president and general manager Neil Smith said
Wednesday that the Rangers' home opener will be Oct. 7, also
against Boston . . . UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian blamed NCAA
sanctions Wednesday for junior guard Anderson Hunt's decision to
pass up his final year in college to enter next month's NBA
draft. Hunt confirmed he had submitted his name for the draft, a
decision Tarkanian said stemmed from NCAA penalities that bar the
Runnin' Rebels from postseason play and live television next
season . . . Some people in high stress and high visibility jobs
say that running is their first choice of exercise, according to
a survey by Runner's World magazine. ``I don't believe I could
handle the stress of a university presidency without my daily
run,'' said Dr. A.J. Catanese, president of Florida Atlantic
University. ``My long run ... is a highlight of my week, a time
of contemplation, freedom and renewal'' . . . Michael Carbajal
may have to postpone the defense of his International Boxing
Federation light flyweight title next month because of a hand
injury. Carbajal hurt his left hand Friday night in winning a
unanimous 12-round decision over Argentina's Hector Patri in
Davenport, Iowa.


 AROUND THE WORLD OF SPORTS:
    COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) - The U.S. National Team will
play newly promoted Sheffield Wednesday of the English first
division on Aug. 2 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Sheffield
Wednesday, which won the English League Cup on April 22, features
midfielder John Harkes, a starter on the U.S. team. It has not
been decided which side Harkes will play for in the exhibition
game . . . Manchester United captured England's first European
soccer trophy in six years by beating Barcelona 2-1 Wednesday
night to win the Cup Winners Cup. Mark Hughes, playing against
his former club, gave Manchester the lead with 23 minutes
remaining and scored again seven minutes later. Ronald Koeman
scored with 11 minutes left for Barcelona, which on Sunday won
its first Spanish League title since 1985 . . . Pete Sampras ran
out of patience Wednesday and the Italian Open ran out of top
seeds. Sampras, the U.S. Open champion, lost to Fabrice Santoro
6-2, 4-6, 7-5 in the second round, leaving the tournament without
its top four seeds. No. 2 Andre Agassi and No. 4 Goran Ivanisevic
lost their openers and No. 1 Boris Becker withdrew due to an
injury . . . The French Open is not in Bjorn Borg's comeback
plans, though Wimbledon may be. ``I'm definitely not going to
play the French Open,'' Borg said Wednesday. ``And over the next
month, I'll decide whether or not to enter Wimbledon'' . . .  An
International Olympic Committee delegation arrived Wednesday and
began evaluating South Africa's sports needs as the country tries
to get back into the Olympics. The three-man group is the second
IOC delegation to visit in two months. The first came at the end
of March to decide whether South Africa's political reforms had
advanced far enough for it to be readmitted to the IOC . . . The
Soviet Black Sea resort of Sochi on Wednesday withdrew its
improbable bid to host the 1998 Winter Olympics, blaming the
nation's current deteriorating economy. Vitaly Smirnov, chairman
of the Soviet Olympic Committee, said the city would like to try
again for the 2002 Winter Games, although he cautioned that the
economy also could be a factor then as well.