Page Nine I Sunday, April 5,100 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Sunday, April 5, 1970 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Nine (Paid Political Advertisement) YOU HAVE A GOOD CITY COUNCILMAN/KEEP HIM Attendance promotion - hit or miss i AS COUNCILMAN, LEN QUENON HAS: -steered through Housinq Code revisions making Ann Arbor a national leader in the field; -introduced the maximum possible air pollution control ordinance for the States of Michigan; -worked to maximize inter-governmental cooper- ation and minmize overlap, waste, and conflict; introduced damage deposit legislation to insure fair settlements between landlords and tenant; F 0 R CONTINUED EFFECTIVE RkPRE- SENTATION OF YOUR INTERESTS...., RE-ELECT ERNEST L. IT A J .T .T F' By RICKEY CORNFELD Second of a two-part series For years Major League Base- ball managed its affairs with an. attitude towards Madison Avenue sinillar to its attitude toward the black ball player. It did not ex- ist, so far as the big leagues werej concerned. Some teams flourished, and some floundered, but club owners knew that baseball was the na- tional pastime and did not need to advertise. The general assum- ption was that a team should of- fer only baseball to get the crowds into the park. Times have certainly changed. In the past few years baseball has instituted give-aways, reduc- ed prices, firework shows a n d special attractions to get people, to watch ball games. Every one of the 24 major lea- gue teams has an advertising agency to help it peddle its pro- duct. And some teams are flourishing, and some floundering. The question arises, then, as to how much all the promotional ef- forts help. Are they so great a f: ltor in a club's attendance to warrant all the work spent on - them?9' T h o s e promotional directors who would respond to that ques- tion of the Daily downgraded the effect of promotions on a club's attendance. "Promotions are good and all clubs definitely need them, how- ever; the biggest factor is n o t r.omitions as much as it is, a win- ning ball club." said Jack Berger, director of promotions for t h e r ;tsburgh Pirates. - -- - -- TO BELIEVE Charles A. Shriv- i Even though the St. Louis Car- er, manager of information for the dinals flopped on the field last Chicago Cubs, his team has the year, their attendance of 1,682,583 best attendance situation in the was near the marks for the prev- maj irs, and it has no promotional1 activities other than Ladies Day and Senior Citizens Day. Dino Lucarelli; publicity direct- or for the Cleveland Indians, said, "Promotions are like seasoning on a good piece of meat. The team has to generate the excitement we're out to create." The California Angels have one of the most elaborate series of promotional activities in baseball, yet their attendance has decreas- ed by almost 600,000 in the past two years. Cleveland also has an extensive slate of promotions. Lucarelli ad- mits that, "We've been accused of over-promoting." Cleveland's at- tendance last year was the second worst in the American League. To believe baseball officials' v'crds a n d not their deeds, it seems that promdtional plans are efforts of trying to do something when they are relatively power- k.s. Looking at Major League at- tendance figures, three factors can be seen. TIIE FIRST is the quality of the team. It is obvious that a good team will generally draw m o r e fans than a poor one. What is not so obvious is that after a team plays a good season, attendance will tend to remain at a high level for the next few years. Although the Boston Red Sox have been disappointing on the field in the two years since their miracle pennant campaign, their attendance has increased. x ious two pennant-winning sea- sons. The story was the same for the Detroit Tigers. Playing perform- ance did not meet the fans' ex- pectations, but enough people c me to see them anyway to give the Tigers an attendance of 1,- 577,481, second in the league. Although Lucarelli emphasized the importance of a winning team, he said, "We'd like to have the situation they have in Detroit and Boston," two t e a m s with dis- c uraging playing performances of late, but excellent attendance. The second factor apparent in a team's attendance is the new- ness of the ball park. The last team to move into a new stadium., St. Louis, increased its attendance almost half a million the year it did so. ! ped a million, are more limited.- has cut deeply into Sox attend- To Baltimore's south is Wash- ance since the Cubs' resurgence, ington, to the east is the Chesa- and last year only 382.762 saw the peake Bay. and to the north are 70 games in Sox Park. Philadelphia and New York. Faced with more important de- terminants of attendance, then, SAN DIEGO'S region of f a n baseball promotional men try to support is also limited. Bounded improve the situation with little by Mexico, the ocean, Los Angeles effect. and the desert, San Diego drew Lucarelli may have been hint- only 609,562 last year. ing at his own failure when he Faced with a similar, but relat- said, "If the team isn't winning on ed problem are the Chicago White the field no promotions will help Sox. Competition from the Cubs completely." A. LEE KIRK The NL East ... ..an ocean of sI torms COUNCILMAN SECOND WARD VOTE DEMOCRATIC VOTE Mon., April 6 (Paid Political Advertisement) Jack Kirscht r 1st Ward Democrat, asks your support to c re a t e the conditions for a livable, humdn environ ment. -Increase the employment opportunity and the upgrading of skills of black citizens G e ~& h C"s, AUSTIN DIA.MON D 1209 S. University 663.7151 Palmer break has dinner wi GREENSBORO, N.C. IP - Arn- old Palmer stormed into sole control of first place in the Great- er Greensboro Open Golf Tourna- ment yesterday, then went wing- ing off to Washington for a White j House dinner with President Nix- on. The fabled Palmer, gdlf's great-, est gate attraction, broke out of a first place tie with T o m m y Aaron by firing a four-under-par 67 for 131, 11 under par and the best 36-hole score of the year on the pro tour. It took him about a half an hour to fight his way through a howling horde of fans - he call- ed the gallery "about as big as I've ever seen"-to the c l u b - house. The first $1 million winner in the game had left almost im- mediately for his home in La- trobe, Pa., to pick up his wife, Wijmnie, before continuing on to Washington. Palmer, who has his own jet, planned to return to Greensboro late last night. A heav rainstorm forced a THIS SEASON three teams, Cincinnati, Philadelphia a n d FLttsburgh, are due to move into new playing quarters. The Pirates are anxiously await- ing the help in attendance that new Three Rivers Stadium will give them. "We are looking for this to give our attendance a tre- mendous boost," said Berger.' T h e third determinant of a team's total attendance is the size of the surrounding geographical area. THE ST. LOUIS Cardinals, Houston Astros a n d Atlanta Braves can draw from a wide ar- ea. The Baltimore Orioles, whose attendance last year barely top- tie for first, ith Nixon1 one-day postponement in the start of the $180,000 tournament and Palmer faces a 36-hole windup on Sunday. "I don't. really mind playing 36," said the 40-year-old Palmer, who dropped off the tour briefly last year because of trouble with an arthritic hip. "My hip gets a little tired, that's all. But I can still make it around." Palmer led lanky R. H. Sikes, a non-winner since 1966, by a single stroke. Sikes had a 67 for 132. Aaron, who matched Palmer's opening 64, fell off the fast pace with a 69 for 133 and was tied at that figure with Miller Barber, 64, and the on-rushing Gary Play- er. Player, a South African who was accompanied by plainclothes po- licemen in his gallery, fired a brilliant 63 and said "it was as close as I've ever come to break- ing 60." Today's pairings for the final two rounds will have Palmer, Player and Aaron in the 1 a s t threesome. '4 -Assure tenants' rights -Prevent creek, river, and drain flooding -Clean out the junk yards from the First Ward -Enact anti-pollution measures -Improve safety through provision of sidewalks, intersection changes, and better control of speeding -Provide more recreational and park use along the Huron River -Achieve a sound, human overall plan for our area ET JK KR H TO PCOUNCIL VOTE MONDAY~, APRIL 6 LAST YEAR was the year of the Mets. Never in the history of sports has one team used up so much ink. Never in the history of sports has one team so com- pletely inundated all others in a plethora of publicity. Now, all of this is in the past. The new season is nearly upon us, and the Mets, playing in what is probably the toughest division in baseball, will have to prove themselves all over again, and there is no way it will be as easy this year, although from a purely aesthetic point, it should be a lot more exciting to all baseball fans except for the expatriates land residents of the fun city at the mouth of the Hudson. Except for the Phillies and the Expos, any of the other three teams in the division are capable of taking the pennant away from the Mets, but there is a certain "iffy" nature to all the challengers. AT THE TOP of the "iffy" list one finds the Chicago Cubs. They wil be forever remembered as the team that blew it to the Mets, and a more dubious distinction is hard to come by. Whether they will be able to vercome the dissession that surfaced in the twilight of last season- and the stigma of a team that "choked" remain to be seen, but these are the two things that appear to be holding the Cubs back from making a strong run for it. Their infield is at least as good any in baseball, and the addition of Johnny Callison should strengthen the outfield. Callison, however, has had injury problems this spring, 'and if he can't play often, the Wrigley outfield will revert to a com- muter stop. The Cub bullpen never draw any raves, but when the- team- folded, it was the front-liners, notably Ken Holtzman, who vanguarded the descent. Injuries have to strike fear into manager Leo Durocher's heart, for the Cubbies have a bench that wouldn't qualify for the "Who's Who of Burbank." If the day to day grind doesn't exhaust the regulars by August and injuries and dissent boil far enough below the surface, the Cubs should be in it until the end. TO PARAPHRASE FERLINGHETTI: "I am waiting for Ike- to act, and I am waiting for the Cardinals to make their move." St. Louis owner Gussie Busch waited all last year for the latter phenomenon, and he waited in vain. The Cardinals, apparently swollen by baseball's biggest payroll and flushed with thee success of two consecutive pennants, stayed lackadaisically poised in the starting blocks all season and finished an astounding fourth. So Gussie decided he would have to act himself. He started trading, and he didn't stop until practically all the old familiar Cardinal names found themselves in new nests. But trade though he might, Gussie still couldn't get all the unhappiness out from under the Gateway Arch. He got the temptestuous Richie Allen, who just might turn into the best hitter in baseball. But that wasn't enough for ' Gussie; he and Allen got embroiled into a salary dispute. Then Gussie got into a money fight with Steve Carlton, the man who struck out 19 Mets (and lost, naturally). If. the Cards can get off to a good start, they could prove the "experts" right and take it all, but if they don't, it'll be a downhill year for old Gussie's beer. PITTSBURGH JUST might surprise everbody. They closed last season with a fairly healthy kick to finish third, and if they can a get a little pitching,'look out. The Pirates can hit (about 15 a game down in Florida) and there is little doubt that they will continue to pound the ball over, under, around and through the Astro-Turf in their new stadium. The Pirat brass is confident that they have enough pitching to make a run for it. The Pirate hurlers are young and they throw hard, but whether they can throw with any accuracy re- mains to be seen. Roberto Clemente has the strongest arm on the team, but he plays the outfield. If Dave Giusti can move into .the starting rotation, -Pirate pitching will cease to be stop- gap, and maybe, just maybe they can make it to the top. The Mets cannot be discounted, even though one can't help but wonder how they did it last year. It will be pitching that keeps the flag in New York. It pitching is 80 per cent of baseball, it is 95 per cent of the Mets, the rest being Ron Swoboda's glove. Third base, the Met's achilles heel since their inception, has seen about five tenants a year, a record that would do the Tenants Union proud. Now Joe Foy has arrived, but how much he will be worth remains to be seen. The Mets rarely hit last year unless someone bluffed his way onto base. Then, they were murder. This sounds like the Tigers in '68, and everyone knows what happened to them in '69. The Mets might just be a little spoiled by the whole thing. 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