League

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre manager Marc Bombard pulled Carlton Loewer aside Tuesday in Charlotte, N.C., and told the 24-year-old pitcher he was about to realize a lifelong dream - he was going to the big leagues. "I was so excited that I went out and ran sprints, and I don't think I ever touched the ground," Loewer said yesterday, shortly after pulling on uniform No. 46 in the Phillies' clubhouse. Loewer was called up to take the spot of struggling Mike Grace, who was optioned to triple A after failing to shine in 12 starts.

Women's professional soccer is coming to Philadelphia. The new Women's United Soccer Association announced yesterday that Philadelphia will be home to one of its initial eight teams. The league, bolstered by letters of intent from all 20 members of the Women's World Cup champion U.S. team, is scheduled to begin play next April. League officials said Comcast Corp. put up the $5 million needed to secure the Philadelphia team's operating rights and put up $2.5 million for the team in Washington.

From 1992 to '96, Fleer attempted to impact the minor league baseball card market after picking up the licenses and trade name from John Metzger's ProCards operation, based in Pottstown, in early 1993. After three years of publishing team sets (1992 to '94) and four years of producing a quality set of potential big leaguers called Excel, Fleer left the minor league card business. Why? Basically because minor league cards are a niche product and the company didn't sell enough product to continue the line.

The Phillies' quest for low-risk, high-reward players continued Wednesday when the team announced the signing of three veteran pitchers to minor-league contracts, including righthanders Aaron Cook and Juan Cruz. They also made the signing of Rodrigo Lopez official, a move that was reported last week. All three pitchers have been invited to spring training as nonroster players. Cook, 33, spent most of last season with the Boston Red Sox and went 4-11 with a 5.65 ERA in 18 starts.

Minnesota Vikings receiver Randy Moss was fined $10,000 by the NFL yesterday for taunting. Moss drew a 15-yard penalty when he twirled on his way into the end zone on a 25-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter of Minnesota's 28-16 victory over the New York Giants on Monday night. Moss probably will appeal the fine, his agent, Dante DiTrapano, said. "A $10,000 fine is excessive, and Randy's celebration is a lot less demonstrative than other players in the league when they score," DiTrapano said.

The Inter-Academic League starts at a later date than any other league on the Main Line. But this season, the last just might be best. While two-time defending champion Chestnut Hill is still considered the favorite, the area's three Inter-Ac teams all look ready to challenge for the top spot. Episcopal Academy (7-1-1), Haverford School (8-3) and Malvern Prep (9-1) are coming off impressive pre-league seasons. And all have high hopes. "Chestnut Hill's the team to beat," Episcopal coach Mark Luff said.

The Atlantic Ten's potential expansion to an 18-game league schedule was the hot topic in Monday's weekly coaches' teleconference. League officials are still talking about the benefits and the drawbacks of moving from 16 games to 18. The decision will be made in May. La Salle's John Giannini was one of many coaches against the move. He said it would hurt the teams' Rating Percentage Index (RPI), which is used to rank squads based on wins and losses and strength of schedule.

In most ways, Norm Charlton's locker looks exactly like the 200 other lockers in the Phillies' vast minor-league clubhouse at the Carpenter Complex. But it's missing one little item: Norm Charlton. Charlton did, in fact, report to the Phillies' spring-training camp yesterday. But he never got farther than the clubhouse door. As soon as he learned that the Phillies were allowing replacement players to dress and work out with non-replacement players, Charlton declared himself the baseball strike's equivalent of a conscientious objector.

The showdown for the top of the Suburban High School Hockey League standings resulted in a decisive victory for defending league champion Germantown Academy last week. The Patriots (4-0 league) gunned down their top contender, Council Rock I (5-2), in a pair of critical games. Germantown Academy edged the Indians, 2-1, in a game played Tuesday, and followed with a 4-1 victory over Rock on Thursday. Both games were played at the Face-Off Circle in Warminster. "I don't really know how we couldn't be mentally ready to play against Germantown Academy, but we weren't," said Council Rock I coach Paul Gilligan.

BALTIMORE - The 15th day of September will always have special meaning for Kyle Drabek. A year ago Wednesday, Drabek was standing near home plate at Citizens Bank Park accepting the Paul Owens Award as the top pitching prospect in the Phillies' minor-league system. Fast forward to last night, and there stood the 22-year-old Drabek on the mound at Camden Yards making his big-league debut. "The only thing I told him was don't change anything and that it's still the same game," said Doug Drabek, Kyle's father and the 1990 National League Cy Young Award winner with the Pittsburgh Pirates.