Stars clinch playoff return

Wednesday, Aug. 28, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Using the darkest chapter in the 14-year history of the franchise as a rallying point, the Las Vegas Stars ended three years of losing by capturing the second-half title in the Southern Division of the Pacific Coast League.

The Stars beat the Vancouver Canadians 1-0 Tuesday night at Nat Bailey Stadium to eliminate Albuquerque and Tucson from the second-half race and gain their first postseason berth since 1992. Before the postgame celebration began, however, the Stars had some business to take care of.

Stars players and coaches paused for moment to pay tribute to the late Mike Sharperson, the Stars' team leader who died in a single-car accident on May 26, just hours after he learned he was being promoted to the parent San Diego Padres.

"This is pretty special," Stars manager Jerry Royster said in a telephone interview shortly after the Stars clinched the title. "What's so special about this is how the guys rallied after some of the most unbelievable circumstances; it's just amazing how they have come back from those.

"The way that they reacted with the Sharperson incident and the way they responded, the way they started getting together ... it sounds a little corny, but that's all they're talking about, too. They're all talking about Mike."

While not ever coming out and saying it, the Stars players dedicated the season to their fallen leader and used Sharperson's memory as a source of inspiration during their run at the second-half title.

"That's what it's all about," an emotional Royster said of Sharperson's influence. "We kept his place in our locker room, we kept his place in our dugout ... for these guys to win, it's special. It would not have been a complete season if we had not won here tonight in Vancouver.

"After the Sharperson incident, it was pretty much a mission for this team. When we didn't win the first half, there were some guys who were pretty angry and they were angry only because of Mike. We knew what we were doing, we knew what our mission was and we accomplished that."

It seemed only fitting that the Stars clinched the title in much the same manner they have won games all season long -- with pitching and defense.

Left-hander Russ Swan, returning to the starting rotation after Mike Oquist was promoted to San Diego, tossed five scoreless innings and allowed only three hits. Al Osuna, who was pitching in the independent Texas-Louisiana League before the Padres signed him earlier this month to bolster the Stars' pitching staff, turned in three perfect innings of relief and Dustin Hermanson, who joined the club earlier in the day after spending the past month with the Padres, shut out the Canadians in the ninth inning to register his 20th save.

The Stars (39-27 in the second half and 70-64 overall) scored the lone run of the game in the sixth inning following a leadoff walk by Rico Rossy against former major-league All-Star Jim Abbott (0-2). Rossy moved to third on successive ground-ball outs by Randy Ready and Jim Tatum, and scored on a single off the left-field wall by Rob Deer.

"Pitching, defense and one clutch hit, that's the way it has been most of the year," Royster said. "That's it, that's how you win pennants right there. The scenario was perfect: Swan goes out and pitches five solid innings, Osuna goes out and just shuts them down after being cast off to the Texas-Louisiana League and pitches three perfect innings and then we end it with our closer, who just got here.

"It was really special and the most special part of it was the tribute to Mike afterwards."

Royster also acknowledged the Stars' front office and the team's fans, who he commended for continuing to support the team after suffering through three consecutive losing seasons.

"For me to sit here and put this whole season ... and give it to Mike -- it's really for everybody," the Stars first-year manager said. "We as a team wanted to win for Mike, but the real winners are the guys in the front office of the Las Vegas Stars because they deserve this. They worked harder for this, I think, than we did.

"And the season ticket holders, they are the ones who have gone through just complete agony (the past three seasons). The people I talked to this year couldn't even believe that we even had a chance to win -- everybody was waiting for us to fold and we weren't about to do that. Now they know that the Padres can win in Las Vegas."

The Stars, who have six games remaining in the regular season, will open the Southern Division playoff series on Wednesday, Sept. 4, in Scottsdale, Ariz., against the Phoenix Firebirds. Phoenix will host the first two games of the best-of-five series and Las Vegas will host Game 3 on Friday, Sept. 6, at Cashman Field. Games 4 and 5, if necessary, also will be played at Cashman.

"We're not done yet -- and these guys are talking a lot about that, too," Royster said of the divisional playoff series. "Our next goal is to do something with Phoenix and see if we can win that. We have a chance to win that in front of our home fans, and that's all we asked. We want to win that one and we're going to battle for it."