
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, July 31, 1990                   TAG: 9007310449
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                 LENGTH: Short

AND THERE WAS MUCH REJOICING

The cheers started behind the third-base box seats and grew louder as the news spread through the stands. Finally, it erupted into a 90-second standing ovation at Yankee Stadium.

George Steinbrenner was out!

"The guy got exactly what he deserved," Trevor Bickford of Westbury, N.Y., said Monday night, summing up the crowd's reaction. "That's what should happen to any owner that constantly makes decisions to hurt the club."

Word of Steinbrenner's penalty came in the fourth inning with Detroit's Cecil Fielder at bat. Seconds later, Fielder hit his major league-leading 33rd homer, accounting for Detroit's only runs in a 6-2 loss to the Yankees before a crowd of 24,037.

"That's a terrible bunch of fans to react that way," Yankees pitcher Dave LaPoint said. "People were actually mean about the situation, and I guess venting their own frustrations. It's a shame that the fans who were out there erupted and made a joke out of it. It upset a lot of us. The man was always generous to the players."

Many fans, however, did not like the way Steinbrenner treated them.

"I've been a Yankee fan since I was a little kid and it really hurt me to see this team turned into a joke," said Frank Fedak of Monroe, Conn. "He's ruined the morale of the team and the morale of the fans. I'm ready for a new owner."

by CNB