YEAR IN REVIEW 1997: SPORTS-AND-GAMES: BASEBALL

BASEBALL: Japan. The Orix BlueWave of the Pacific League defeated the Yomiuri Giants of the Central League four games to one in the 1996 Japan Series and thus became the champions of Japanese baseball. This was the first time that the BlueWave, formerly the Hankyu Braves based in Nishinomiya, had won the Japan Series since the club moved to its new franchise in Kobe in 1988. After the BlueWave won the first two games against the Giants at their home field in Tokyo, they took the third and fifth games in Kobe. For BlueWave manager Akira Ogi, it was the first series victory in three attempts. The 1996 Japanese season was marked by a changing of the guard, symbolized by the fact that the most valuable players of both leagues, chosen by votes of sports writers, were 22-year-old batters: Ichiro Suzuki of the BlueWave and Hideki Matsui, a Giant. Suzuki had the league's highest batting average for the third year in a row. Matsui hit 38 home runs and batted in 99 runs for the Central League champions. Another new development during the year was that, apparently because of the two successful seasons of Hideo Nomo as a pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, many players, mostly pitchers, were beginning to consider careers in the United States. For them, postseason exhibition games against the major league all-stars, which began on November 1, were opportunities to test and show off their abilities. (TOSHIHIKO SUZUKI) BASEBALL: Latin America. The 1996 Caribbean Series was held in Santo Domingo, Dom. Rep., February 3-8. Culiacan, representing Mexico, defeated a heavily favoured Dominican team, which included many major league stars. Mexico finished with a record of 5-1, while Puerto Rico (Arecibo) was 4-2, the Dominican Republic (Aguilas) was 2-4, and Venezuela (Magallanes) was 1-5. Culiacan, with no big-name players, was one of the most surprising champions in series history. The 1997 Caribbean Series was scheduled to be held in Hermosillo in the Mexican state of Sonora. Cuba was undefeated at the 1996 Olympic Games, defeating Japan 13-9 for the gold medal. Cuban third baseman Omar Linares hit three home runs in the championship game. Nicaragua lost the game for third place to the United States 10-3. During the summer the Monterrey Sultans finished the regular season with a 82-33 record, the best winning percentage in league history, and defeated the Mexico City Red Devils four games to one to win their second consecutive Mexican League championship. In August the San Diego Padres won two of three games from the New York Mets in Monterrey. The games, played there because of the Republican national convention in San Diego, were the first regular-season major league contests outside the U.S. and Canada. The series was seen as a first step toward the possibility of eventually expanding major league baseball to Mexico. (MILTON JAMAIL) BASKETBALL In professional basketball, the Chicago Bulls soared even higher than superstar Michael Jordan in an astonishing 1995-96 season. They set an all-time league record by winning 72 regular-season games while losing only 10 and then went on to win their fourth National Basketball Association (NBA) championship in six years. The Bulls did fall short of their quest to chalk up another record for play-off dominance, having to settle for an overall 15-3 postseason record. The Seattle SuperSonics staved off the threat of being shut out in the best-of-seven finals by winning twice on their home floor. But even that worked out well, because it enabled the Bulls to win the title on their home court, where an adoring audience watched them put away the Sonics 87-75 in game 6. Their slight fade in the final series also added fuel to the debate over whether these Bulls, rather than the 69-13 Los Angeles Lakers of 1971-72, the 1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers (68-13), or the 1985-86 Boston Celtics (67-15) actually deserved to be recognized as the all-time greatest NBA team. There was little, if any, argument, however, about the greatest player of them all. Jordan, shining even brighter than before in his first full year back from a brief retirement, was the unstoppable force in Chicago's success. At 33, he did not hang in the air en route to one of his crowd-arousing slam dunks quite as long as he used to. But his unmatched skills, instinct for the game, and, above all, his burning desire to win were undimmed by time. Jordan proved it over and over in 1995-96, gaining both the regular-season and play-off Most Valuable Player awards. It was the fourth time he had earned each of those accolades, and he also added his league-record eighth NBA scoring title to break Wilt Chamberlain's record. Nevertheless, Jordan had an outstanding supporting cast, with two more superstars, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman (see BIOGRAPHIES), in the mix. His rebounding prowess, multihued hair, and bizarre off-court antics made Rodman a Chicago favourite in his first year with the Bulls. With contemplative Coach Phil Jackson (see BIOGRAPHIES) using the right bench psychology, the Bulls were virtually unbeatable. They hoped to keep it going, at least for one more year, by signing Jordan for $30 million, Rodman for $7 million, and Jackson for $1.5 million. The Kentucky Wildcats and their charismatic coach, Rick Pitino, dominated college basketball throughout the 1995-96 season. Pitino finally won the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament championship that had eluded him since 1989 at Kentucky and at Providence in a 1987 Final Four appearance. But this was to be Kentucky's--and Pitino's--year. The Wildcats shook off an early-season loss to Massachusetts and took over the number one spot in the weekly Top 25 polls by consistently blowing away Southeastern Conference (SEC) opponents. With just one more regular-season loss, Kentucky stormed into the NCAA tournament as the odds-on favourite. Because Kentucky had not won the tournament since 1978 and had suffered a traumatic last-second loss to Duke in the 1992 NCAA East Regional final, a heavy burden accompanied the Wildcats when they arrived in the New Jersey Meadowlands on March 30 to take on the Minutemen of Massachusetts in the semifinal game. This time the Wildcats were able to avenge their early-season loss, ousting the Minutemen 81-74. It was Kentucky's first victory margin of less than 20 points in the tournament. The final game of the tournament pitted Kentucky against Syracuse, a Cinderella team that had surprised everybody, including its own fans, by last defeating Mississippi State 77-69 in the other semifinal. Along the way, Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim emerged as a hero of sorts, shedding the reputation he had acquired, perhaps unfairly, of being unable to win the big games. In reaching the finals, Syracuse increased its NCAA tourney victory total over the years to 35--the most ever won by a team that did not win the title. In the final Kentucky had more than the sticky Syracuse zone defense to overcome before nailing down an emotional 76-67 victory to end its 18-year drought between NCAA championships. Tense and erratic, as though they were overwhelmed by all the expectations on their shoulders, the Wildcats almost blew a 13-point lead in the second half, allowing Syracuse to cut the gap to 64-62 with just 4 minutes and 46 seconds left. It was then that Kentucky's best player, Tony Delk, rallied his squad with emotional fervour during a time-out. Wildcat fans in the throng of 19,229 nervously pondered the probabilities of another collapse, but their fears were soon dispelled. When Delk missed a three-point shot, Walter McCarty denied Syracuse a chance to go for the tying points by tipping in the rebound, and Derek Anderson, a transfer from Ohio State, nailed a three-pointer for the biggest basket of the game. Kentucky then pulled ahead to win by a final score of 76-67. Overall, it was Delk's marksmanship that made the difference. The sharpshooting guard contributed seven of the winners' dozen three-point baskets, tying the individual record for an NCAA championship game that had been set by Indiana's Steve Alford in 1987 and Oklahoma's David Sieger in 1988. Nebraska, better known as a football power, pulled off a surprise by winning the National Invitation Tournament with a 60-56 decision over St. Joseph's of Philadelphia. It took the Cornhuskers 100 years--spent mostly in obscurity on the court--to emerge, but they rode the clutch free throws of Erick Strickland, named the tourney's Most Valuable Player, to victory in the final. In women's basketball, Tennessee trounced Georgia 83-65 on March 31 in Charlotte, N.C., to capture its fourth NCAA tournament championship. When Kentucky took the men's title a day later, the SEC became the first conference to have won both NCAA basketball tournaments in the same season. (ROBERT G. LOGAN)