Page Six
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Saturday, April 4, 1970
PageS~xTHE ICHGAN AIL
t " -
Baseball goes
Madison Avenue
By RICKEY CORNFELD
First of a two-part series
The California Angels are
promoting themselves this year
by giving away diamonds. The
Kansas City Royals are doing
it with a "Goodwill Caravan."
The Chicago Cubs have no pro-
motional gimmicks at all.
In the old days, most baseball
teams-would have an occasional
Ladies' Day, a few double-head-
ers, and maybe a Knothole Gang
to draw extra fans into the
park.-0
Now it seems that there is al-
most nothing that a club won't
do to increase its attendance.
Each of the 24 teams employs
an advertising agency to peddle
its product.
Give-aways like Ball Day, Cap
Day, Helmet Day, T-shirt Day,
and Jacket Day have become
standard. The number of proud
owners of\ Little League bats
given away during Major League
Bat Days-the perennial power-
house of give-aways-probably
runs into the millions.
Some clubs .even have a spe-
cial date where they give away
prizes to all the fans. The Pitts-
burgh Pirates aptly call this
Prize Day, and they give away
hundreds of gifts topped by two
new cars.
OTHER TEAMS, including
the Cleveland Indians and the
New York Yankees, call it Fan
Appreciation Day.
Whether the .name means
that on this day the team shows
its appreciation to its fans for.
suffering through the long sea-
son with them or that the fans
'
This Weekend in Sports
TODAY
TRACK-Kentucky Relays, Lexington, Ky.
LACROSSE-At Michigan State.
RUGBY-At Miami, Ohio.
should show their appreciation
to the team for giving them the
prizes, neither club will say.
Of course, not all promotions
are give-aways. Camera Day,
widespread and very popular,
lets fans on the field before a
game to take pictures of the
home players. Along the same
line are, promotions like Auto-
graph Day.
One of the better promotions
in the area of fan-player con-
tact is Cleveland's series of
"Meet the Players Days." In-
stead of having the players
roped off, as they are in Camera
Day, fans are allowed to go up
and meet the players.
"Meet the Players Day proved
to be very popular the one time
it was held last year, and this
year we are trying to arrange to
have it four or five times," Dino
Lucarelli, Cleveland's director
of publicity, said.
Thanks to the beautiful Ann
Arbor weather, the University
of Michigan - University of De-
troit baseball games scheduled
for this afternoon at 1 p.m. at
Ferry Field have been post-
poned indefinitely.
SINCE MUCH of the attrac-
tion of the game of baseball is
in its tradition, some of the best
promotions would seem to lie in
the area of reunions and old-
timers' games.
Several teams, including two
New York clubs, Los Angeles and
California, h a v e old-timers'
games as attractions.
But other teams on occasion
have had similar attractions,
whether they have been a re-
unions of old teams from par-
ticular years or Hall of Fame
Days, where many of the living
Hall of Fame members are in-
troduced.
When it comes to lavish pro-
motions, the extreme is prob-
ably reached by the California
Angels, who have thirteen major
promotions.
The most ambitious event in
what the Angels call their "am-
bitious schedule" is Diamond
Night, where "some two dozen
valuable diamonds will be given
away in surprise packages."
ONE OF THE more effective
promotions is Teen Night held
four times a year by the St.
Louis Cardinals. Featuring a
local rock band and -reduced
admission prices for teenagers,
the event normally sells out
weeks ahead of time.
With all the emphasis on
give-aways and promotions, is
there a chance that the real
product - baseball games - is
be'ing lost sight of?
Walter R. Freeman, promo-
tional director of the Baltimore
Orioles, says, "Generally our
promotions are to help people
have a better time at the ball
park and are geared to still em-
phasize the game on the. field
as the primary reason to attend,
our games. On our promotional
days we promote, our promo-
tions but here again the em-
phasis is still on baseball.
THUS THE purpose of pro-
motions are to get the fans to
come to have a good time at the
park so they will want to come
back.
The question is whether there
is toomuch of an emphasis on
promotions and do they cause
the fans to lose sight of base-
ball.
How necessary are proma-
tions?
For the Chicago Cubs they are
so unnecessary that they are
non-existtent. "Our ticket sales
are at an all time high for the
coming season, and our biggest
problem will not be putting peo-
ple in the park but apologies to
people who cannot get in," said
Charles A. Shriver, manager of
information and services.
Thus, "We are holding our
promotions in limbo."
-Associated Press
Right on, Red Wings
Wayne Coneley falls down after taking a shot on goal in Thurs-
day night's Red Wing 4-2 victory over Toronto. The Wings
last two games are a home and home series against the New York
Rangers today and tomorrow. Detroit needs only a tie in either
game to clinch a playoff spot.
4
NATIONAL STARS
Local thincla ds benefit from club
4
I
e
kI
iI
!Ce
What career at RCA fits your talents?.
By SANDI GENIS
To the most casual track en-
thusiast out for a brisk stay-in-
shape jaunt at Yost Field House
or any of the other track facili-
ties on campus, the sight of other
sweatshirt-clad runners burning
up the track might not seem out
of the ordinary. The natural as-
sumption would be that they must
be members of the Wolverine
track team.
If he happens to venture close
enough to one of these athletes
to get a good look, and possesses
more than a little knowledge of
contemporary track personalities,
he might be slightly astounded to
find himself face to f a c e with
such world famous trackmen as
Mike Bowers, Paul Lightfoot, or
Kent Bernard.
These three are among the six-
teen active members of the little
known, little publicized Ann Ar-
bor Track Club, which, under the
benevolent eyes of Michigan ath-
letic director Don Canham, train
at Yost.
THE CLUB was first formed in
January, 1963, under the auspices
of the Ann Arbor Department of
Recreation to supply quality
coaching for the city's promising
high school trackmen, a n d ar-
range meets for them during the
summer.
However, in 1965, the club
switched to arranging competition
and training opportunities for ar-
ea athletes, who had used up their
collegiate eligibility but still wish-
ed to compete in quality competi-
tion, and became a nationally rec-
ognized club, AAU and U.S. Track
and Field Association sanctione.
Besides catering to former out-
standing athletes, the club also
wished to provide a place and op-
portunity for those who wished to
The Fabulous
HARLEM
TROTTERI.*
BA$KFTBA Li
. .
i
jog, stay in shape, or wished to
become actively involved in track,
but didn't feel they were good
enough to compete in top flight
competition, to work out and have
fun doing it.
TIE MAIN PROBLEM the club
encountered, like most club sports,
was, lack of publicity and, more
importantly, adequate , financial
support. Since the club is not sub-
sidized by wealthy track enthus-
iasts, as are big clubs on the east
and west coasts, most of the funds
come from five dollar dues and
contributions f r o m supporters.
Most of the expenses of traveling
to meets are paid out of the ath-
letes' own pockets, a n d conse-
quently their range of competi-
tion is limited.
ANOTHER MAJOR difficulty
related to finances was the secur-
ing of meets for the club's mem-
bers, especially at first when the
club had few big names. Do n
McEuen, a highschool counselor
at Ann Arbor Pioneer High, who
was involved in the founding of
the club and was a former presi-
dent, played an important role in
this phase of the club's develop-
ment until 1966 when the job fell
to coach Brian Westfield.
Westfield, a former Cornell Uni-
versity star in the 440 hurdles, has
used his contacts on the coasts,
especially the east, to obtain qual-
ity meets for the thinclads, a task
he considers more important than
the actual coaching he performs.
As far as coaching is concerned,
he must rely on t h e members'
knowledge of their own ability in
arranging a training schedule,
since he is unable to attend work-
outs, working two teaching jobs.
Despite these problems, the club
has rapidly become one of the best
in the nation, with seven of its 1
members ranked among t h e
world's best. In the high, jump,
Mike Bowers has leaped 7-11/ this
season for second place in the in-
ternational rankings, while team-
mate Bill Barrett has vaulted 16-6
for fifteenth place in the pole
vault.
,.,.
T
IN THE WORDS of Westfield,
"these guys are amazing; even
when they compete against bigger,
more established clubs, they win."
He attributes their great success
to "their great amount of internal
pride and dedication," an opinion
reinforced by the members' voiced
intentions to stay with the club
until they're "too old."
As for the future, opinions vary
among the different members.
Some, like McEuen would like to
see the club opened up while oth-
ers, like John Gregg, another
Michigan alumnus fears super-
organization required for expan-
sion, might hurt the club.
Canham believes things are go-
ing quite well as they are, but that
growth could attract more quality
athletes, leading to better meet
contracts. However, all empha-
size the crying need for continued
and increased financial and pub-
lic support.
Lacey signed by Royals;
Unseld to undergo surgery
By The Associated Press
* LAS CRUSES, N.M. - Sam Lacey, 6-1 center who starred for
three years at New Mexico State, signed yesterday a five-year contract
worth a reported $1.1 million with the Cincinnati Royals of the Na-
tional Basketball Association.
Lacey was the first round draft pick of both Cincinnati and New
Orleans of the American Basketball Association.
Cincinnati coach Bob Cousy said it was the largest contract ever
given a Cincinnati player. He said Lacey would be used at center,
primarily because of his defensive ability.
* * *
0 NEW YORK - Center Wes Unseld of the Baltimore Bullets
will undergo surgery for a torn cartilage in his left knee after the
season.
Unseld, the National Basketball Association's most valuable player
as a rookie last season, said Thursday night, he almost had the surgery
done during the season, but decided to finish the year. He had the
knee drained of fluid more than five times during the year.
Daily Classifieds Get Results
SUB-LET
SERVICE
WE RENT YOUR PLACE FOR YOU...
al
4p
A
9,
A