Sports

Phil Niekro, Manager, and Lisa Martinez, pitcher for the new all female professional baseball team, the Colorado Silver Bullets. This is the team's inaugural season. The Silver Bullets are the first all-female team to be recognized by the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues and the first to compete only against men. Manager Niekro says, "Every time they make an error, they say 'I'm sorry.'"

Teresa "Terry" Phelps. Author, law professor and wife of Digger Phelps, former head basketball coach at Notre Dame. Terry Phelps has written a memoir called "The Coach's Wife" (Norton). In 1991, Digger Phelps left Notre Dame and not one Notre Dame official attended his farewell address. Terry Phelps says her husband was the victim of the clashing demands placed on college coaches--be an educator, but be a money maker and entertainer too. She writes about her role as the "lovely wife," as coach's wives are often called in the world of college sports.

TV critic David Bianculli will review the television coverage of the Olympic skating showdown.

Former Major Leaguer Keith Hernandez. Called by some baseball purists the finest First Baseman in the game, Hernandez played with the St. Louis Cardinals, the New York Mets, and the Cleveland Indians. He is the winner of eleven consecutive Golden Glove Awards for fielding, and played in two World Championships. Hernandez's new book is "Pure Baseball: Pitch by Pitch for the Advanced Fan" (Harper): analysis of two 1993 match-ups, with play by play commentary, based on his seventeen years in the game.

Morning Edition host Bob Edwards. He's written a new book about his weekly conversations with the former sportscaster Red Barber. Edwards talked with Barber each Friday for 12 years. Barber died a year ago. Terry talks with Edwards about Red Barber and Morning Edition. Edwards' book is "Fridays with Red: A Radio Friendship" (Simon & Schuster). (THIS INTERVIEW CONTINUES INTO THE SECOND HALF)

Morning Edition host Bob Edwards. He's written a new book about his weekly conversations with the former sportscaster Red Barber. Edwards talked with Barber each Friday for 12 years. Barber died a year ago. Terry talks with Edwards about Red Barber and Morning Edition. Edwards' book is "Fridays with Red: A Radio Friendship" (Simon & Schuster).

Bill Littlefield. He's a writer and regular sports commentator on NPR's "Morning Edition." Littlefield has a new book about baseball, "Baseball Days: From the Sandlots to the Show" (Bulfinch Press). Littlefield has been in love with the game since he was a kid, "Baseball Days" is a sentimental look at America's favorite past-time.

Defensive lineman for the Atlanta Falcons, Tim Green. Green's written a novel, "Ruffians" (Turner), about a football star who's NFL experience is dominated by money and steroids. During football season, Green writes a weekly column for the "Syracuse Herald-Journal". Off season, Green attends law school. His sports commentaries can be heard occasionally on NPR.

There are fewer second basemen in the Baseball Hall of Fame than players in any of the other positions. Joe Morgan is one of the few. Today we rebroadcast an interview with the former Houston Astro and Cincinnati Red. Morgan was with the Reds in the 70's, along with Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, and Tony Perez, when the team was so successful it was known as the Big Red Machine. In 1975 and 76 Morgan was named most valuable player, leading the Reds to the world series championships both times. Altogether, Morgan spent 22 years in the major leagues. (REBROADCAST FROM 4/21/93)

Writer Thom Jones was a boxer in the Marines in the mid-1960s. He was supposed to ship out to Vietnam, but he suffered an epileptic seizure, which he believes was caused by too many punches to the head. So instead of shipping out, he was thrown out. The rest of his unit did go to Vietnam, where they were ambushed and killed. Jones turned to writing, but couldn't get anything published, so he became a high school janitor. He is finally experiencing literary success this year with the publication of his collection of short stories "The Pugilist At Rest" (Little, Brown).

Correspondent for CBS's Sunday Morning and the Sunday edition of CBS Evening News, Bill (William) Geist. He's been a Little League coach for over 10 years and has written a funny book about it, "Little League Confidential: One Coach's Completely Unauthorized Tale of Survival."

Arnold Rampersad, professor of Literature at Princeton, biographer of Langston Hughes, is coauthor of tennis star Arthur Ashe's memoir, "Days of Grace." Ashe died this year at age 49 from AIDS he contracted during open heart surgery. He was the first African American tennis champion, winning the United States Open in 1968, and going on to capture three Grand Slam titles. He has remained a vital presence in the sport, and his autobiography features portraits of the great celebrities of tennis.

Levine is an Emmy Award-winning screenwriter and has been head writer for two of television's greatest shows: MASH and Cheers. He trained himself to be a baseball announcer out of a childhood love for the game, and has written a new book about his season as a broadcaster for the Baltimore Orioles: "It's Gone!...No, Wait a Minute." He's now an announcer for the Seattle Mariners.

The athlete is proud of his career as a second baseman, as well as a well-rounded player. He has a new memoir called "Joe Morgan: A Life in Baseball."

We remember the boundary-breaking African American athlete with an excerpt from a 1989 interview. Ashe died over the weekend from complications related to the AIDS virus.

Gardenia passed away today. We re-broadcast excerpts from our interview with him three years ago.

Salas is the author of three critically-acclaimed novels. His new book, "Buffalo Nickel," is a novelistic autobiography. Salas's mother died when he was 11 and he was left in the primary care of his two older brothers, Al, a Golden Gloves champion, and Eddy, a college student. Al became involved with drugs and crime; Eddy committed suicide.

For the past 15 years, Arendsen has played with the amateur women's softball team, the Raybestos Brakettes. They've just won their third national championship in a row.

Commentator David Gurevitz shares his thoughts about the different perspectives athletes must cultivate while traveling the world to compete in the Olympics.

Pro Golfer Charlie Sifford. He was the first black admitted to the PGA in 1961. Even so, he's found that blacks are still not welcome in the game of golf. His new book is "Just Let Me Play," written by Sifford with James Gullo (by British American Publishing, 19 British American Boulevard, Latham, New York, 12110).