
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 16, 1994                    TAG: 9406160664 
SECTION: SPORTS                     PAGE: C3    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: BY TOM ROBINSON, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: 940616                                 LENGTH: Medium

DASCENZO IS JUST GLAD TO BE BACK ON THE FIELD AGAIN

{LEAD} Outfielder Doug Dascenzo played his first game for the Tides on Wednesday and went 2-for-5 and scored a pair of runs.

``It's fun to be back playing. I've had a lot of time to think about it,'' said Dascenzo, whose spring training with the Mets was cut short by elbow surgery to remove bone spurs. ``There were days that I couldn't pick my arm up. You never know when the end's coming. You just hope it comes when it's supposed to come and not anytime sooner.''

{REST} Dascenzo, 29, has four years, 60 days of big league time, mostly with the Chicago Cubs. Last season, he played in 76 games for the Texas Rangers and batted .199 and also spent six weeks with Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Shopping for a team over the winter, Dascenzo said the Mets showed the most early interest and he jumped at their offer. Getting back to the National League, Dascenzo said, was also a factor because of the greater opportunity for him to pinch-hit and enter games as a reserve. He pinch-hit only 11 times for the Rangers last season, but it was fourth-most on the club.

TIC-TAC-TOE: As Wednesday's game dragged on for more than three hours, Tides third baseman Butch Huskey and Rochester third baseman Jeff Manto entertained themselves with a game of tic-tac-toe in the dirt at their position.

Each would scratch an ``X'' or ``O'' into the grid with their spikes as they took the field each inning. Huskey said he got the best of his former teammate.

``Just a friendly game,'' said Huskey, who initiated the challenge. ``That's the first time I've done it this year. It gets boring sometimes.''

REMLINGER REDUX: After landing in Double-A the past two seasons in Seattle's organization, Mike Remlinger is appreciative, to say the least, of his latest crack at the major leagues.

A former No. 1 draft choice of the San Francisco Giants out of Dartmouth, Remlinger discovered new life after a rough start with the Tides and will pitch for the Mets tonight against the Florida Marlins.

``It's more of an achievement for me than the first time,'' said Remlinger, who was roughed up early, then briefly removed from the Tides' rotation. ``It means more to me now than it did in '91. I'm pitching better now than I ever have. That's a tribute to the people I've been working with here.''

Remlinger was only 2-4 but had a 3.14 earned-run average. Three years ago Wednesday he made his big-league debut for the Giants with a 4-0, four-hitter over the Pittsburgh Pirates. At the time, he was the 37th pitcher in major league history to throw a shutout in his debut.

GREER GETTING CLOSE: Ken Greer will go to the Mets' complex in Port St. Lucie, Fla. today to begin rehabilitation work with the Mets' rookie league team. Greer, on the mend from elbow surgery, is expected to stay about 10 days and rejoin the Tides possibly during their next homestand.

ON THE AIR: Tonight's game from Ottawa will be televised on WTKR. Game time is 7:05.

by CNB