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Copyright 1986 The Da7y Tar Heel
Serving I he students and the Universiiv communitv since 1X93
Thursday, July 31, 1988
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
News Sports' Arts 96? 0245
Business Advertising 962-1 '63
Tommy JoBnini to eoace
Tm Heel tasetoll team
By MIKE BERARD1NO
Staff Writer
Major-league baseball's loss will be
the college game's gain when long
time pitching great Tommy John
becomes full-time pitching coach at
UNC, upon the conclusion of the
1986 season.
John said he is definitely retiring
after this season, his 23rd in the major
leagues. The 43-year-old John, who
has been on the New York Yankees'
disabled list since June 9 with bursitis
of the Achilles tendon, met the local
press for about an hour July 24 at
Boshamer Stadium.
"I really thought I would probably
stay in professional baseball in some
capacity (when 1 retired)," John said.
"I've turned down quite a few offers
this year, but I was really impressed
with UNC's program and facilities."
Those job offers included similar
coaching positions with the Ameri
can League's Texas Rangers and the
University of Southern California.
John also said he passed up possible
front-office jobs with the Oakland
Athletics and the Yankees.
As for his playing status the rest
of this season, John was sent a few
days ago to the Class A Ft. Laud
erdale Yankees for a 20-day rehabil
itation program. John had compiled
a 3-1 record in eight starts before the
injury.
"We're very excited about Tommy
accepting a position as pitching coach
here," UNC head baseball coach
Mike Roberts said. "It's been about
an eight- or nine-month conversa
tion. I think Tommy would be a great
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addition to college baseball, no
matter what program he was in. And
I'm just thankful he's going to be a
Tar Heel."
North Carolina played the past
season without a pitching coach due
to the departure of Howard McCul
lough last December. McCullough
left UNC for a position as a regional
scouting director for the Boston Red
Sox. It was then that Roberts first
mentioned to John the possibility of
his coming to Chapel Hill on a
permanent basis.
What would happen, John was
asked, if he won 10 straight games
after coming off the disabled list and
got a "big, huge offer from (Yankee
owner) George Steinbrenner" to
pitch one more year?
"I would turn it down," John said.
"When I told Mike I was coming,
I told him 'My word is my word.'
IH definitely retire after this year."
John, a three-time 20-game winner
who appeared in three World Series
in the late 1970s and early 'SOs, said
several factors led him to accept
Roberts' offer.
One was the favorable impression
of the Chapel Hill area John received
while playing for the Yankees in
exhibition games at UNC in 1979 and
1981.
Another consideration was his
family; his wife Sally and four
. children, the oldest of whom is 11-year-old
Tammy John.
"Sally and I asked ourselves where
would we Tike to bring up four young
children, and we liked the (Chapel
Hill) area. Now if we could just find
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Tar Heel David Foster
grin. To read why, see story, p. 7.
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a home to move into, everything
would be fine," John said.
Another important factor was
UNC's good academic reputation.
John related a story of an unnamed
pitcher with borderline grades, whom
he called Roberts about a few years
ago. The fact that the pitcher's grades
made a difference to Roberts
impressed John.
"Nowdays in college athletics,
grades aren't that important to a lot
of institutions," John said. "But (at
UNC) it was."
John, who grew up in Terre Haute,
Ind., and now lives in Los Angeles,
said he relished the opportunity to
work with young people. "IVe been
around a lot of coaches and man
agers. I think you gather a little bit
of knowledge with everybody that
you're around," John said. ". . .
(Recently) I started getting the idea
that I wanted to get into teaching
baseball.
"Everybody wants a championship
team. But to me, the big thing is When
you see an 18-year old freshman
come in and you see the development
of the person. And you see the
development of his baseball talents
also. That's probably the biggest
gratifying experience you could have
as a coach."
John outlined his three rules of
pitching thusly pitch quickly,
throw strikes and change speeds. It
is a formula which has. carried John
to a major-league record of 262-208;
138 of those wins coming after his
See JOHN page 10
Heat wave poaches area fish;
fishing good at Uoiversity Lake
By SCOTT GREIG
City Editor
Fish gasping for breath?
That's what it amounts to.
The severity of the warm weather
plus the lack of fresh rainfall has left
many North Carolina lakes with the
serious problem of major gamefish
species dying.
Fortunately, it hasn't yet reached
that point in the Chapel Hill area.
"The weather hasn't hurt the
fishing a great deal," said Robert
Glosson, assistant warden at Univer
sity Lake.
"About the only effect is that the
fish are a bit sluggish and slow," he
said. "If you're persistent, though,
you can pull out a few fish here and
there."
Glosson said the lake, which is also
the major water supply for the
Chapel Hill area, is not affected as
severely as -some- of -the -other lakes.
Limb amputation
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UNC tree surgeon William MuDDara saws apan a iigntning
struck red oak that must be removed from near Alderman Dorm.
in North Carolina, because fresh
water is continually being pumped
into the lake from the Cane Creek
Reservoir and the Old American
Stone Rock Quarry.
"The water entering the lake from
those two facilities is highly oxygen
ated, and it helps replenish what is
lost due to the heat," Glosson said.
"The fishing would be better if
there had been rainfall on a continual
basis, but there's a decent amount of
oxygen in the lake now and the
fishing's been pretty stable."
For Lake Norman, in Huntersville,
N.C., about 30 miles from Charlotte,
the situation is growing worse with
every passing day.
Biologists have determined that
the striped bass that occupy the lake
have little time left before they start
dying of heat stress.
Dave A. Braatz, coordinator of an
. experimental project to save the
Tar HeelJohn deVille
striped bass, told News and Observer
reporter Diana Lynn that the surface
of the lake is too hot for the fish
and the bottom waters are too low
in oxygen content. Braatz said
suitable habitats for the fish are
disappearing at an alarming rate.
The striped bass is a species of
ocean fish that is able to survive in
fresh water. It cannot thrive in water
that has a temperature of over 78.8
degrees.
The most prevalent species of game
fish in University and Jordan lakes
is the largemouth bass; It is a more
adaptable fish than the striped bass
and does not require as much oxygen
to live.
"There's no problem down here
with the fishing," said Robert Farrell,
owner of Farrell & Sons Grocery on
Farrington Road.
See FISH page 12