THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 1967 THE MICHIGA S IV AILY aj Ti sr i 1V s ii 1\ fl1L 1 PAGE SEVEN T the kitchen cynic RICK STERN, Matmen Prepare for NCAA When Pitchers Still Hit Homers With spring just around some undefined and apparently fairly distant corner, the old yearning arises in the hearts of millions of American males. Hearts beat fast, faces flush, and homework seems suddenly un- important, as thoughts turn inexplicably to.-.-. Major league baseball? Yes, major league baseball. Every American boy experiences at one time or another the urge to be a big leaguer. 130 years since Doubleday organized a game in upstate New York, $0 years since the first World Series games, 40 years since Ruth hit 60 homers; what is there more ingrained in American culture than this inexplicably powerful sport where nine men spend hours chasing a three inch ball all over captivity? But alas, as with all else, the game is changing! It makes me feel old to admit it, but baseball just isn't the same as it used to be. In Detroit for example they're going to change the rules of the game in a high school league. Two strikes for a strike out and three balls for a walk. The ramifications boggle the mind. And in the majors they're fooling around with making it legal for pinch hitters to bat twice in the same game. The young players of today have lost the All American Boy image. Instead they run bowling alleys and spend off the field hours chasing after Hollywood starlets. The old,"do or die" spirit has died. Oh for the days of the Ernie Oravitzs, the Wayne Terwilligers, the Foster Castlemans and the Dixie Howells! Dixie Howell. There was a ball player like they don't make ball players anymore. Millard Fillmore Howell was his real name and no President ever had a more illustrious relief pitcher named after him. Ole Dixie spent 17 years in the minor leagues before he finally made it at the age of 36 with the Chicago White Sox. And when he made it he made it big. The year was 1956. The place Comiskey Park in Chicago. It was the fifth inning and Kansas City had just bombed the Sox starter off the mound with four runs and Dixie was brought in to pitch. Not only did he retire the side, but he hit a three run homer in the bot- tom of the fifth inning which sailed 410 feet into the bullpen to put the Sox ahead by a run. Apparently Dix was winded by his effort though and he gave up three more runs in the next three innings and the Sox trailed by two in the last of the eighth when Dixie came up to bat again, and again with two men on. The crack . . . the flash ... .disbelief .. . ecstasy! Right into the same spot in the bullpen. They say that aside from Dixie, only Babe Ruth and Hank Greenberg have ever hit back to back bullpen homers in Chicago. Dixie was true to form though-he gave up three more runs in the ninth inning and lost the game. And Dixie wasn't the only Sox pitcher that swung a mean bat. Jack Harshman, a lanky left-hander with a zippy fast ball, used to lead the club in slugging percentage and fellow starters Billy Pierce and Dick Donavon had batting averages hovering around the .270 mark. Early Wynn, pitching for' the Sox in 1959, the year they won their only American League pennant in 50 years, won a 1-0 one hit shutout over Boston with a homer in the eighth inning. But if the Sox pitchers could hit, the hitters sure couldn't. From the first 'hitlesswonders' of 1908, who won the pennant with a .2301 team batting average, down through those teams of the '50's, Chicago never had a hitter hit more than 29 home runs in a single season., The 1959 pennant. winning squad featured 3B-2B-SS trio of Billy Goodman, Nellie Fox, and Luis Aparicio. Strange but true it is that though Fox and Goodman hit just1 four homers between them in the '59 campaign, two of them came back to back to beat Boston in extra innings. I don't rememberi who the Boston pitcher was, but I'd like to get a swing against him myself. Aparicio hit about five homers but two or three wereI inside the park jobs, including one on an 110 foot pop fly. Indeed, in Aparicio, the Sox had the fastest player in the majors. But in catcher Sherman Lollar they also had the slowest. Sox fans1 Used to joke that Lollar ran the hundred in 10 flat: ten minutes. They didn't find it so funny though in the seventh inning of the secondt game of the '59 World Series, when Lollar as a potential tying runt tried to score from second base on a long single to right field and wass thrown out by 40 feet.e There was a loyal core of Chicagoans that followed the Sox in '59, even a few that had followed them since their last pen-a nant in the Black Sox scandal of 1919. But there were a great many that didn't too. On the night the Sox clinched the flag, September 22nd, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley ordered the city's Air Raid sirens set off as part of the celebration. To Daley's chagrin, within five minutes half a million citizens were cowering in makeshift bomb shelters or running down the street in pajamas trying to save themselves from the attack. It was one of Daley's very few "uncool" moves. Nor did Bill Veeck's exploding scoreboard raise property values in the neighborhood of the ball park. The Cubs had their share of the great ones too. Like stalwart pitching ace Russ Meyer who broke his shoulder blade in the bathtub Just before the '55 season started. Even the TV announcer, Harry Creighton, was of a calibre you don't see anymore. Creighton used to do a Hamms beer commercial everyother inning, and during each commercial, he drank a glass of beer. Single games weren't bad but on one Sunday the Cubs played a double header, and the second game went 17 innings, and for TV viewers the last five were really something. But the years have flown by. Baseball isn't the same. The players play with machine-like perfection. Pitchers don't hit homers ,and there is a sordid air of professionalism about the whole sport. Those bungling but exciting stars of the fifties, and every team had its share, are all lost in the shadows of brown box scores and moldy ball gloves. I By BOB LEES Take ten nationally ranked wrestling teams. Add a generous dose of national champs or run- ners-up on each squad, and mix well in the NCAA Finals. What do you get? "You get one hell of a- dog- fight," predicted assistant Michi- gan wrestling coach Rick Bay. The nationals begin today at Kent State University, and, according to Bay, "it's been a long time since there's been such a large crop of potential winners." A glance at some of the dual meets and conference tournaments upholds this outlook. In the east, for example. Lehigh won the East- ern Intercollegiate Wrestling As- sociation crown, followed in order by Penn State and Navy. Yet in dual meet competition, Navy tied Penn State, who in turn beat Lehigh, who in turn beat Navy. Then there's the strong Big Eight, where the University of Oklahoma won the conference compared to three or four for Big Ten schools. When you have around 120 boys down in your wrestling room, all on tender, you're bound to have a lot of talent." But this year's scholarship crop hasn't bloomed for the prairie schools, while this area of the Midwest has taken up the slack. "We may not have such an over- whelming number of champion- ship people here or at State," de- clares Bay, "but we're getting maximum quality from lesser numbers." And the Wolverines will have a leser number to work with when they invade the Ohio campus, car- rying only eight members from this year's Big Ten runner-up squad. With the addition in the finals of the 115- and 191-pound classes to the normal nine weight .divisions, then, the Michigan mat- men must move immediately to keep in the thick of things. All of the eight are familiar to followers of the squad, yet coach Cliff Keen has juggled the lineup to better balance the team. Big Ten champ Bob Fehrs will retain his 123-pound classification, but Gordy Weeks and Geoff Henson, normally at 137 and 130, respec- tively, will reverse roles. Burt Merical, who came in sec- ond at Columbus, will continue in the 145-pound division, but Fred Stehman and Jim Kamman, both of whom won Big Ten crowns, will switch their respective 152- and 160-pound classes. Rounding out the squad will be 177-pounder Pete Cornell, a second-place fin- isher in the conference, and, of course, heavyweight Dave Porter, Big Ten and defending NCAA champ. According to the Amateur Wres- tling News, the favorite for the national crown should be Okla- homa, mainly because of their overall balance. Bay agrees, saying that "those Oklahoma schools are rich in tradition, and have a way of catching fire come tournament time." But both sources also agree that MSU should get prime considera-' tion as the top contender. Not only will State have their 130- pounder Don Behm, 137-pounder Daye Anderson, and 167-pounder George Radman, all Big Ten champs and favorites in their divi- sion, but the Spartans also boast 15-and 191-pound contenders in George Bissell and Jim Zendel. Both of these 'bonus-weighters' won their classifications at the Midlands Tournament last De- cember. Yet every top-flight school boasts its favorite. Joe Caruso, the pride of Lehigh at 123, is back to defend his NCAA crown, while the Engin- ers also tout Joe Peritore, twice runner-up to a since departed 130- pounder, Yojiro Uetake of Okla- homa State. Unbeaten Cowboy The Cowboys, however, have their own returning champ, Gene Davis at 137, while Iowa State's 145-pounder Dale Bahr, undefeat- ed this year, took the Midlands crown, dumping Jim Kamman along the way for the Wolverine grappler's only loss this season. Michigan's chances look exceed- ingly bright this year, especially if the stars from each school GEOFF HENSON vlt eet knock each other off. "We should have two or three finalists of our I own," declares Bay, "and if we get two others in the consolation finals, we should be in good shape. "Unless," he concludes, "some team goes nuts and wins some things it shouldn't." But, one might add, it would be nice if this team wore Maize and Blue. Clay Zeroes In on Zora By The Associated Press NEW YORK-Cassius Clay teas- ed Zora Folley contemptuously for six rounds and then knocked out the game old warrior from Chand- ler, Ariz., with a thunderclap right in 1:48 of the seventh last night for the ninth successful defense of his world heavyweight boxing championship. The 34-year-old Folley, an ugly knot under his left eye and blood spewing from his nose, fell flat on his stomach under the bright lights of the Madison Square Garden ring. He rolled over slowly at the count of seven, wobbled to his feet on shaky, aging legs and then fell back to his knees. Referee Johnny Lo Bianco wav- ed the fight over-the 29th victory without a defeat for the sleek, 25-year-old champion and the eighth defeat and sixth knockout loss for the former. Clay, cheered as Muhammad All by his Black Muslim cohorts, took Folley's heaviest blows with bare- ly a flinch in the opening two rounds-which he appeared to concede as part of a sadistic game -and then in the fourth began opening up his murderous fusil- lade. 'M' 9 Drops Thriller, 6-5 special To The Daily TUCSON - Michigan keeps on inching closer to Arizona, but this time a matter of inches made an- other Wolverine loss. With two outs and a two-strike count in the bottom of the ninth, Arizona's big Eddie Leon bounced a single up the middle, just be- yond the reach of relieverLarry Guidi, to drive in the winning run as the Wildcats defeated the Wol- verines 6-5. It was a frustrating afternoon for the Maize and Blue, who had the initial lead, lost it, came from behind twice, and then lost it for good in the end. Michigan's first run came in the top half of the first inning as, with one out, Rick Sygar singled to cen- ter. Les Tanona followed with a walk, and both moved upon a wild pitch. Spicer then singled home the run. In the eighth inning, trailing 5-1, Sygar again began a rally with a one-out walk, followed by Tanona's hit to deep short. When the Wildcat catcher muffed Keith Spicer's foul fly, the Wol- verine outfielder responded by tripling to left center, scoring Sygar and Tanona. Spicer then scored on Nelson's groundout. With Michigan down 5-4 in the ninth, two pinch singles by Jim Hosler and Bud Forsythe put Wol- verines on first and second. Hosler. was then picked off second, but Kennedy booted Zahn's bunt. Glenn Redmon then singled in the run. In the bottom of the inning, Terry DeWalls hit a one-out triple. Forsythe, now at short, made a great catch of Mike Worley's popup to hold the runner. Guidi then came in to pitch to Leon, who already had a triple and a single; but the slugger's single ended everything. The same two teams meet this afternoon in a single game. MICHIGAN 100 000 031-5 8 2 ARIZONA 002 001 201-6 13 2 Zahn, Guidi (9) and Nelson; Hin- ton, Kennedy and Welton. WP- Kennedy. LP--Zahn. title, followed by Iowa State and Oklahoma State. But when they met head on, Oklahoma beat Ok- lahoma State twice, and both schools beat Iowa State. To make it even better, Michi- gan State beat Oklahoma, tied Ok- lahoma State, and then proceeded to win the Big Ten crown. Yet the Spartans lost to the grapplers of Michigan when the cross-state rivals clashed face to face. And in dual meets, the Wolverines this season sported the only unbeaten,_ untied record among major col- lege powers. Last year's results found Okla- homa State on top with a 79- point total, followed by Iowa State with 70 and Oklahoma with 69. "But this year," says Bay, "the talent is so well distributed among so many squads that 50 points could do it." Which makes Michi- gan's fifth-place score of 48 last year a worthy target for this year's squad. "It's really unusual," continued the Wolverine assistant mentor, "to fnd individual stars on this many squads. The Big Eight, for example, usually leads everybody, mainly because each team gives out 20 or 30 scholarships a year, ON SPRING GRIDIRON: Frosh Vie for Varsity Spots 'M' Golfers 7th in Tourney Special To The Daily MIAMI, Fla.-After the first round of the Miami Invitational Tournament, Michigan's golf team is in seventh place with a score of 301. Florida leads the field of 39 clubs with a score of 283, closely followed by host team Miami at 285. The Hurricanes' Jeff Alpert leads the individual competition with 68, and Michigan's John Schroeder is tied with three others in second place with 70. Wolverine Coach Bert Katzen- meyer said that he "was not ter- ribly disappointed with our per- formance in the first round, al- though John Richart and Rod Sumpter had poor days -with 81 and 85 respectively." The other four Michigan players finished with the following totals: Frank Groves, 75; Harry Engle- hart, Dave Graff, and captain Bob Barclay, 78 each. By PHIL BROWN "It's now or never." These words, spoken by center Pete Sarantos, reflect the attitude of the entire group of freshmen presently going through spring football practice. "The winter program was great, and I know it helped me a lot," says Garvie Craw, a highly-re- garded halfback. "But now it's time to make all the sweat pay off. I've sacrificed - but so has every other guy on this team. What we're doing now is what we've been anticipating since our first day at Michigan." What is it that's so important to these youthful gridders? It's making the varsity team-trying to get one of the 22 jobs left va- cant through graduation. And the Wolverine coaching staff is de- pending heavily on freshmen to fill the numerous voids. Empty Shoes Can these inexperienced boys fill the shoes of stars like Jack Clancy, Carl Ward and Rick Volk? "They have to," says coach Tony Mason. "And I think they can. This is a 'good' freshman team.. That may not sound like unre- served praise, but let me define' good.' Any freshman team that can providefour, five, or even six starters is good. That's a lot of sophomores to start, but this group can do it." Michigan will lose seven of the eight starting offensive and de- fensive backs, and filling these po-t sitions will be one of the morel serious problems f a c i n g the coaches.1 "Sure, we'll have a few menc with some playing =experience re-I turning, but we must depend heav- ily on these freshmen to fill both starting and replacement spots," commented Mason. } Back Foresight This predicament was antici- pated a year ago when Michigan concentrated, heavily on backs in the normal recruiting drive. The result was, in the words of fresh- man coach Bill Dodd, "potentially the finest set of backs we've ever had at Michigan." Craw, a 6-2,, 215-pound power- house, and Tom Barnes, a speed- ster at 5-10 and 185, are both prime contenders for starting halfback slots. Competition for them will be amply provided by John Gabler, a polished backfield performer weighing 190 pounds and standing 5-10. Gabler, from Royal Oak Kimball, is a brother of Wally Gabler, Wolverine quar- terback in 1965. Defensive QBs The fullback job will be sought by Pete Drehmann, 6-1, and Tom Weinman, an inch taller, both playing at 220 pounds. Three candidates are vyingefor a quar- terback job: Brian Healy, Barry Pierson and Tom Curtis. However, all three are working on defensive right now while Dick Vidmer holds down the starting spot. Mason emphasized the point that spring, practice is the time for experimenting: "We want to develop as much depth as possible at each position. Almost all of our backs wills be tried at defensive positions." Two freshmen rated as excel- lent prospects to assume first-team duties are Cecil Pryor, a 6-4, 230- pound linebacker, and Jim Man- dich, a fine pass-catcher at 6-3 and 215. Mason, when asked how many sophomores he expected to start in the fall, said, "Two, in all like- lihood. But almost any spot on the team can be taken by a sophomore who can do the job better than it is presently done." Pryor and 'Mandich rate as the most likely choices to claim start- ing roles. Some frosh linemen will be in contention for first-line replace- ment spots. Sarantos, a 6-0, 200- pound center, and Dick Caldaraz- zo, 5-10 and 220, a guard, might play on either offense or defense. And both Rich Pniewski and Phil Seymour, rangy ends presently playing on defense, might find playing positions by September. After two months of weight- training and conditioning work, all the frosh are happy to get back to playing football. "What we're doing in practice is not technical- ly difficult," commented' halfback Barnes. "But," added Pierson, "everyone is putting out to the limit-everybody wants to play." Do the players mind being shuttled between various positions from day to day? "You play where you can help the team," said Drehmann, then he added with a smile, "And if it's a matter of changing or not playing-well, you change." Alcindor Blue? Lew Alcindor, T1" college bas- ketball All-America, is not happy at UCLA, according to "Sport" MUagazine. Alcindor indicated that he would be happier at Michigan, Stanford, 'or Berkeley. "It's the quality of the people out here that disturbs me," says Alcindor. "They are not for real. They do not seem to know what's going on around them." Alcindor had considered Michi- gan as well as UCLA when he was the most sought-after prep basket- ball player in history. SPORTS NIGHT EDITOR: DAVE WEIR Sa kick tradition Ithe pants I B CVOLYSWAGEN OF AMERICA. INC. U f! i. 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