Sports The Prince George Citizen — Wednesday, January 13, 1988 — 9 MARK ALLAN Sports editor PIRATE SLUGGER JOINS BASEBALL GREATS Stargell makes Hall on first ballot NEW YORK (AP) — After spending 21 seasons hitting towering drives into the summer sky, Willie Stargell got his reward. Stargell, who guided the Pittsburgh Pirates to two World Series titles with his bat and leadership, on Tuesday became the 17th player to be elected to the baseball Hall of Fame in the first year of eligibility- Stargell was named on 352 of 427 ballots (82.4 per cent) returned to the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. In order to be elected, a player must be named on 75 per cent of the ballots. STARGELL When he learned of his induction, Stargell’s eyes filled with tears. “I don’t know where I’m at, I’ve lost that big ol’ composure,” he said. “To be in the same room as Babe, Hank and Ernie —.what a feeling.” Stargell, now an Atlanta Braves’ coach, hit 475 homers with 1,540 runs batted in and a .282 batting average, all with the Pirates. He was equally regarded for his qualities as a leader on the field and in the clubhouse. “I still try to keep both feet on the ground because my mama once told me to,” said the 47-year-old Stargell. For the other favorite on this year’s ballot, Congressman Jim Bunning of Kentucky, the returns were not as favorable. Bunning won 224 games, pitched a perfect game in 1964 and had 40 shutouts. In 17 seasons with Detroit, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles, he struck out 2,855 batters. He was the second pitcher ever to win 100 games in both leagues and have a no-hitter in each. Cy Young was the only other man to achieve both. After missing by 21 votes last year, Bunning fell four votes short with 317 (74.2 percent) in his 12th year of eligibility. “I thought I had a shot,” said Bunning, who was in Hawaii on Tuesday. He is still eligible for three more years. After that, he must wait three years before he can be considered by the veterans committee. Bunning’s near miss wasn’t the closest in voting history. Nellie Fox. a former Chicago White Sox second baseman, missed by one vote in 1985, his last season of eligibility. After Bunning, Tony Oliva was third in the voting with 202, followed by Orlando Cepeda with 199 and the late Roger Maris with 184. It was Maris’ 15th and last year of eligibility. The list of players who have made it the first time is impressive — JrcVe Robinson, Bob Feller, Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Sandy Koufax, Warren Spahn, Mickey Mantle, Ernie Banks, Willie Mays, Al Kalne, Bob Gibson, Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson, Brooks Robinson, Lou Brock, Willie McCovey and Stargell. Induction ceremonies are scheduled for July 31 in Cooperstown, N.Y. PENGUINS TOP ALL-STARS MONTREAL (CP) — Centre Mario Lemieux and defenceman Paul Coffey have given the struggling Pittsburgh Penguins two of the six starters on the Wales Conference all-star team, the National Hockey League announced Tuesday. Fan voting for the 39th all-star game, to be played Feb. 9 in St. Louis, began Nov. 1 and concluded Dec. 31. Lemieux, with 315,699 votes, was the leading vote-getter in the conference and outdistanced his nearest rival, Peter Stastny of the Quebec Nordiques, by nearly 200,000 votes. Coffey, who picked up 238,716 votes, will join Ray Bourque of the Boston Bruins on the blueline. Bourque led voting among defencemen with 275,806 votes. Other starters selected by the fans were Quebec’s Michel Goulet at left wing, Kevin Dineen of the Hartford Whalers at right wing and Ron Hextall of the Philadelphia Flyers in goal. The remainder of the squads will be chosen by the coaches — Mike Keenan for the Wales and Glen Sather for the Campbell Conference. ANNOUNCEMENT STEVE RESER Doug Neal, General Sales Manager, is pleased to announce the appointment of Steve Reser to the New and Used Vehicle Department of Fred Walls and Son. Steve brings with him over 14 years in automobile sales. Steve thanks all his customers for their previous vehicle purchases and looks forward to being of continued service. See Steve today for your new or used vehicle purchase or lease. Lemieux takes in NHL scoring lead race Garth Butcher of the Canucks tries to impede the progress of Winnipeg’s Doug Smail during first period. PCJHL ALL-STAR GAME King added to roster by MARK ALLAN Sports editor John King of the Prince George Spruce Kings is on the Cariboo team for the Peace Cariboo Junior Hockey League all-star game Jan. 23 in Fort St. John. The participation of the Kings’ captain was confirmed Tuesday by Bill Fowler, the general manager of the Quesnel Millionaires. The coaches of the PCJHL’s three Cariboo teams selected a starting lineup, then added players to complete the roster for the team that Quesnel coach Brad Gassoff will lead against coach Ken Head of the Grande Prairie North Stars and the Peace team. However, King’s name was not on the list of Cariboo all-stars released during the weekend by PCJHL commissioner Garry Rogers of Prince George. That was surprising, considering the hardworking right winger is seventh in league .scoring with 41 points. The third-place Spruce Kings now have seven players who have been picked for the game. Rignt winger Logan Lampert, the league-leading goal-scorer, and defenceman Stewart Maigunas are Prince George players in the starting lineup. Centre Gibby Chasse, left winger Chris. Lewis, defence-man-right winger Mike Legg, goalie Rob Bruni and King are the ofher Kings on the team. Meanwhile, right winger Greg Schulte won’t be playing the game even though he was selected. John King earned a reprieve. Schulte has been traded by the Millionaires to the Salmon Arm Tigers for left winger. Forrest Browatzke. Fowler said Schutle, who’s from Salmon Arm, was dealt to relieve a surplus of right wingers in Quesnel and to bolster the team's left side. Fowler added that the Millionaires, who play host to Prince George tonight, have some good news and bad news regarding their defence. The bad news for them is that Swedish blueliner Matt Holm will not be coming back to Quesnel after returning to his homeland for Christmas. The good news is that Todd Springman, Quesnel’s best defender and a PCJHL all-star last season, is playing again after missing a month and a half with a shoulder separation. The Spruce Kings (18-13-1) have won nine of their past 11 games, but trail second-place Quesnel (24-8) by a full 11 points. Prince George is 5-4 against the Millionaires overall, but has won all four games in Quesnel. “Wd’re going to have to beat them sometime,” Fowler said hopefully. “We have to play a lot more aggressive against Prince George (at the Quesnel Civic Arena).” Coach Grant Williams and manager Mike Meehan have the Kings right where they should be at this time of the season with 12 forwards, seven defencemen and two goalies. Prince George retains two B.C. Amateur Hockey Association cards which they can use to sign players until the final Feb. 10 deadline. Left winger Joe Life has quit the team and right winger Rob Hew-stan hasn’t been signed. Hewstan, a lG-year-old who’s been out with an injury for more than a month, is still with the team. SOCCER OFFICIAL Auld was pioneer This city lost one of its soccer pioneers Monday when Alwyne (Al) Auld passed away at Prince George Regional Hospital. He was 57. Auld, president jMik of the Prince George Youth ¥' Ja Soccer Assocja- J $4® tion in its -early \ years and later president of the 1 North Cariboo Senior Soccer Association, was t admitted to hospital Sunday and died at noon Monday of a heart ailment. Auld served as president of the PGYSA for five years and was later elected president of NCSSL, a position he held from 1978 to 1983. AULI) He and wife Brenda, who served as secretary of the North Cariboo league for several years, were a major force in Prince George soccer in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Auld hadn’t been active on the local scene in recent years due to failing health. NCSSL spokesman Gaetano Mau-ro, often a rival of Auld's on the field and on the league executive, described Auld as a hard worker and a credit to the league. “He never gave up,” Mauro said Tuesday. “He was always working on something. “He was an organizer and he had a team going all the time.” Auld’s sons Rod and Graham still play in the league. He also leaves three daugthers — Jacquie, Julie and Jane. by Canadian Press Hockey’s equivalent of an accountant put Mario Lemieux into the NHL scoring lead, but No. 66 then made it official with his hockey stick. Lemieux fired his league-leading 41st and 42nd goals’of the season Tuesday night to give the Pittsburgh Penguins a comeback 5-5 tie with the visiting New York Islanders. Lemieux began the day tied with Edmonton Oilers star Wayne Gretzky with 86 points, but the league announced Tuesday it had changed the official scoring on a goal by Dave Hunter in a Jan. 1 game against Washington to award an assist to Lemieux. That made him the first player to be leading seven-time scoring champion Gretzky in January since 1981. Gretzky has missed Edmonton’s past six games with a sprained right knee and is expected to be sidelined another two weeks. “It’s always a challenge,” Lemieux said. “Points are points. I want the team to win. If we win, the scoring race will take care of itself.” The draw with the Islanders lifted the Penguins one point ahead of the New York Rangers and out of the Patrick Division basement. However, Pittsburgh is still winless in its past nine games as the Penguins struggle without injured defenceman Paul Coffey. Elsewhere in the NHL on Tuesday, it was: the Winnipeg Jets 5, Vancouver Canucks 3; and Buffalo Sabres 4, St. Louis Blues 2. Lemieux scored his second goal with seven seconds left in the third period to earn the draw. Lemieux’s first goal came at 12:15 of the final period to get Pittsburgh within one. Jets 5 Canucks 3 In Vancouver, Dale Hawerchuk scored two of Winnipeg’s four unanswered third-period goals to defeat the Canucks. The Jets play a second game in Vancouver tonight and meet the Canucks again Sunday in Winnipeg. The Canucks took a 3-1 lead through John LeBlanc, Jim Sand-lak and Barry Pederson but Hawerchuk’s goals, one by Steve Rooney and Paul MacLean’s second of the night put Winnipeg seven points ahead of fourth-place Vancouver in the Smythe Division. Sabres I Blues 2 In St. Louis, Christian Ruuttu’s two first-period goals helped Buffalo to its sixth straight victory. The Calgary Flames visit the Edmonton Oilers at 6:30 today on ITV (cable 2). Spruce Kings UPCOMING HOME GAMES • Friday, January 15 vs Williams Lake • Tuesday, January 26th vs Quesnel • CARNEY HUSKY, • CENTRAL HUSKY, 999 Central • HART HUSKY, 4450 Hart Hwy. • HUSKY BULK PLANT, Pulp Mill Rd TICKETS AVAILABLE AT Carney St. • HUSKY CAR/TRUCK STOP, BCR Industrial Site • QUEENSWAY HUSKY FOOD STORE, 1709 Queensway VOTE FOR THE MOST EXCITING . SPRUCE KING AND WIN *♦ 2000 litres of Gas Details at the above locations Husky We compete. Condition better for ailing MIAMI (CP) - Harold Ballard, the colorful and often cantankerous owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, has shown he can create controversy even while recovering from a heart attack. Ballard, 84, was listed in good condition Tuesday after suffering a heart attack 10 days ago in Florida but word of his ailment didn’t reach Toronto until late Monday night. Even staff at Maple Leaf Gardens said they didn’t know about Ballard being in a Miami hospital until they read it in a Toronto newspaper. While Ballard was unavailable for comment, spokesmen at both the Gardens and the Miami Heart Institute said Tuesday he was in good condition. Ballard’s condition had stabilized and he was transferred from the hospital’s intensive care unit to a regular room Tuesday afternoon, said nursing supervisor Susan Pin-nas. “He’s sitting up and seems to be progressing nicely,. He’s in gopd spirits.” Ballard The hospital has been swamped by telephone calls and telegrams from friends, associates and reporters inquiring about Ballard’s condition. Gardens spokesman Bob Stellick said Ballard is expected to remain in hospital for as long as a month. Even though he has improved, Stellick said the heart attack — Ballard’s first — has made it too risky for Ballard to travel back to Toronto. Ballard, a diabetic, complained of chest pains on Jan. 3 while vacationing at the Palm Beach, Fla., home of Toronto supermarket owner Steve Stavro. He was admitted to the Hospital of the Good Samar-atin in Palm Beach and then transferred to the Miami Heart Institute last Sunday. Stavro told the Toronto Star that Ballard was at first reluctant to check into the Palm Beach hospital after complaining about chest pains. Ballard has had breathing problems in the past, said Stavro.