Page Six THE MICHIGAN DAILY Friday, May 9, 1969 Against 7Yteil Hoosier netters to try to bust Wolverines'' racquet' The Mets' fall and ruse End of an error By PHIL HERTZ Once upon a time, there was a baseball team that lost an inordinately large number of games and, in so doing, became the butt of a national joke. Not only did the New York Mets lose the great majority of the games they played, but the team found the most unique ways to lose games and, on those rare occasions, win games., I suffered and savored every one of the Mets games-and did I suffer! I had the rare pleasure (you might call it displeasure) to be in attendance at the Mets' first home game, played on, would you believe Friday, April 13. The Mets came through that day in a style to which I would become accustomed, losing to the Pitsburgh Pirates, 4-3, on a walk, an error and two wild pitches by a 29-year old rookie pitcher named Ray Daviault. After the game my father muttered, "It's going to be a long season." Naively I asked, "Why?" He just looked at me as if I were crazy. Looking back at it, I probably-no I definitely-was crazy. After all, things went bad for the Mets from the first. Tie Mets' manager, Casey Stengel, began the team's first practice ever by picking up a baseball and saying, "This is a basebll." He was then interrupted by one of the Mets' now legendary figures, Choo-Choo Coleman, a bad field-bad hit catcher, who said, "Don't you think you're pushing us just a bit." FROM THEN ON, things got progressively worse. The Mets lost not just their first game, or their first two, but they lost their first nine-a .najor league record. Next year the Amazings, as the Mets often came to be called, improved considerably, losing only their first eight encounters. The Mets image was further enhanced in May of their first season (1962) in the National League when they acqiured Marvin Edward Throneberry (not his initials), a first baseman, from the Baltimore Orioles. At the time he joined the Mets I was extremely enthusiastic about his possibilities. I remember telling one of my friends, "He played with the Yankees, and he usually did pretty good. He should really help us (by this time, my identification with the Mets had become complete)." I should have had my mouth washed for this comment. If anyone could make Charlie Brown appear like a winner, it was Marvelous Marv. MARV'S FINEST performance probably came against the Chicago Cubs in the first game of a Sunday doubleheader. In the top of the first inning, the Cubs scored five runs with the key play being an interference call against, you guessed it, Marvelous Mary.v The Mets came storming back in their half of the first. The Amazings had two runes in and one runner on the base paths when Marvelous Marv strode to the plate. Mary came through like a champ. He hit a resounding drive to the far reaches of the Polo Grounds, and pulled into third standing up. The fans greeted him like a great hero, and Mary gladly tipped his hat to the fans; however, while this was going on, the Cub first baseman, Ernie Banks, was conferring with the first base umpire. Banks called for the ball, and Mary was declared out for failing to touch first. Stengel ran out to protest the call, but the Mets' manager crept back to the dugout when he was informed that Marv had also missed second base on his journey to third. Charley Neal was behind Throneberry in the Mets batting order that day. Neal, who was the hero of the Dodgers' 1959 World Series triumph, slugged a home run. As soon as the ball was hit, Stengel ran out of the dugout again. He called to Neal, and then pointed at first base. He did the same at second, third and home, and then nodded his head in satisfaction that Neal had touched all the bases and proceeded back to the dugout. It is almost needless to add that the Mets lost that contest by one run. AS THE YEARS went on, the Mets refined their techniques a trifle. They wasted everyone's time by refusing to give in until the game had reached unreasonable lengths. Once losing to the Giants, 8-6, in 23 innings, and once dropping a 24-inning deci- sion to the Houston Astros. Those two games have placed the Mets in innumerable places in the record book. Even when the Mets did something good, it was tarnished. I once viewed a Mets' doubleheader in which they swept both games from the Milwaukee Braves on the strength of ninth ining homers; however, neither homer traveled 260 feet. You see the right field fence at the Polo Grounds was 254 feet away from home plate Sick com'ments, which would- probably, eventually turn out to be true, often .detracted frorm Met wins. This occurred fol- lowing a 19-1 Met thumping of the Cubs. Someone called a telephone service which gave baseball results and asked, "How many runs did the Mets get today." Told 19, he responded, "Did they win?" This comment, amusing at the time, rang true about a year later when the Mets dropped an exhibition game to the Boston Red Sox, 23-18. The humor, however, started going out of the Mets last summer when people looked up and realized the Mets had one of the best pitching staff in the majors. This development coupled with the naturity of several young batters brought the Mets to at least a level of mediocrity. THIS CHANGE in the caliber of play did not create a new attitude on my part towards the Mets-I still enjoyed following the team and probably always will. It was, therefore, with great joy that I traveled to Shea Stadium last month to partake of a Mets-Cubs doubleheader. The first game was thoroughly enjoyable until the ninth inning of the first game. Then the Mets proceded to blow a 6-4 lead and go on to lose 8-6. The key play was an error by a young second baseman, Kenny Boswell. Up until his error, the Shea Stadium fans had been unusually quiet, but immediately fol- lowing the play booing broke out out from all corners of the ball park. The booing was to follow Boswell wherever he went the rest of the afternoon. I was shocked. I could not remember any Met ever being booed other than immediately following a giant blunder, but even that booing was short lived. It suddenly dawned on me that the Mets had reached Medio- crity, but so too had the fans. For me, part of the Met image had been lost. By JOHN GLAUSER Michigan's undefeated and near- perfect tennis team meets its stif- fest competition of the Big Ten season today at Ferry Field when Indiana tries to stop the red hot Wolverines. Michigan has dropped only two sets-one each to Illinois and to Iowa-on its way to seven straighta dual meet romps. Indiana, though undefeated, has not been as im- pressive and will be the clear un- derdog in this crucial match. Seven of the Wolverines' cham- pionship team of '68 are back: Re- turning are Pete Fisher and Brian Marcus, Big Ten doubles cham- pions of last year, and Dick Dell, Pete Fishback, Joe Hainline, and Bruce DeBoer have also returned to lead the Wolverines. Mark Conti, Ramon Almonte, and Dan McLaughlin, new additions to the team, complete the impressive Michigan lineup. Thus far, the Hoosiers have' whitewashed three teams in league competition, 9-0, on their way to six Big Ten wins an~d an 11-6 overal record. Michigan has played many of the same teams, however, and won by more comfortable margins: Indiana defeated Min- nesota 7-2, and Iowa 6-3, while the Wolverines whitewashed the Gophers 9-0 and easily handled Iowa 8-1, for example. Hoosier coach Bill Landin was wary of the meet. "Michigan, the defending champion, has beaten' many of the same teams, and has doen it much easier than we have says Landin. Landin added, "They (Michigan) have a fine team, and, in fact, the last three players in their singles lineup are almost as good as their top three." The Indiana coach hoped for at best a 5-4 win. He predicted that if the Hoosiers could split' their singles matches, they would have a good chance to win. He Miios, Goss * * daily I sports NIGHT EDITOR; PHIL HERTZ said," All of the matches should be tough. There isn't one pairup which we couldn't possibly win." Landin added that the winner of this match will in all probabili- ty win the conference champion- ship, even though Indiana rates somewhat below the "M" team in total points, and will undoubtedly trail the Wolverines entering the Big Ten meet. Michigan coach Bill Murphy was unwilling to make any definite predictions concerning the match. Murphy said ;that "I am worried about Indiana, though, and, frank- ly, I would be happy to win at all." He rated the Michigan singles and doubles teams about even, and stated that he was not relying on either one alone to pull the Wol- verines through. The Michigan tennis meet with Notre Dame yesterday was can- celled, so the team should be well- rested for the Indiana match to- day at 2 p.m., and Tor Ohio State Saturday at 1 p.m. The Wolverines will be heavily " favored in both matches. WRITER TELLS A -r r ' College hires Black grid coach; 20,000 greet triumphant Celts - LOS ANGELES-Los Angeles State College announced yesterday the appointment of Walt Thurmond, a Negro, as its head coach. Aside from predominately black Grambling Collsge in Louisiana, Thurmond, 28, may be the first Negro head grid coach of a four-year college in the country. A graduate with a bachelor of art degree at Los Angeles State in 1966, Thurmond theoretically is still a student since he is working on a thesis for his masters. Thurmond became a full-time assistant coach in 1966 under Jim Williams, whom he succeeds. Williams resigned to take another coaching position. A defsnsive end. Thurmond starred on the school's No. 1, unbeaten team of 1964 and was named on The Associated Press Little All-Cdast team. 0 BOSTON-More than 20,000 persons turned out in overcast weather yesterday to pay tribute to the Boston Csltics for winning the National Basketball Association championship for the 11th time in 13 years. "This is utterly fantastic," General Manager Red Auerbach said as the Celtics were ,cheered during a motorcade through downtown streets and then welcomed at the new City Hall. "Ws've finally arrived as a symbol to the city," Celtics Capt. John Havlicek said happily. "We all appreciate the glory the Celtics have brought to our city," Mayor Kevin White said in greeting the champions. * BOSTON-Bob Cousy, former Holy Cross and Boston Celtics great who recently resigned after six years as coach at Boston College, is considering "fantastic" offers to coach in the National Basketball Association. "I have talked with three clubs and have reached the point where I've got to fish or cut bait," Cousy said yesterday on a visit to Boston. "It is a hard decision," Cousy said. "I promised myself a long time ago, before I retired from the Celtics, that I'd nsver make a decision on the basis of expediency." * 10 #i 'fi -Daily-Peter Dreyfuss Brian Marcus .Lb* 1tread ounht at the abolrts IDesk By LEE KIRK On a damp, dreary, dull Feb-' ruary weekend, I joined The Daily in what can be best described as a mood of aroused apathy. I wan- dered in with a friend of mine from Residential College, Phil Hertz, and we laid ourselves at the 4 mercy of the editors. si contrcts At first, the work was limited to proofing and writing a headline The Minnesota Vikings an- 30 or 40 times before it counted nounced yesterday that they had right, but I don't really think I signed two of the linemen from had ftime to be bothered by the the 1968 Wolverine football'squad. seemingly trivial nature of the Inked to 1969 National Football work because I was getting to League contractswere Jerry Mik- know the many ginks who literally los and Tom Goss. inhabit the Student Publications Miklos and Goss were signed as Building. Before long, I was free agents by Bob Holloway, a hooked. Viking assistant coach and a fa- Cigarettes carry notice that they mer assistant to Bump E d fo - may be harmful to your health, m ianElliott at but no one told me that The Daily M could be far more habit-forming. Miklos, 6-3, 225, started out as Headlines ceased to be a drag and a linebacker with Michigan, but become a passion. Worse than finished as a middle guard and that, I found out that there were defensive tackle. Miklos entered bridge players at The Daily, and Michigan from Chicago's Calumet that really sealed my fate. I'll High. never forget the thrill I got when Goss anchored the Michigan line I played in my first Daily bridge last season at defensive end, but game with the senior editors and he also played middle guard and brought in an exciting two spade tackle while he was at Michigan. contract with a daring finesse. Goss, who hails from Knoxville, Tenn., was an All-Big Ten selec- tioni this past season. ~ The Vikings also announced DO r yesterday that Charlie West, a de- fensive back, who returned a punt ..... 99 yards for a touchdown in the Th AdioyBad nI- 168 Ntional Football Lague sea The Advisory Board on In- 196 Naionl Fotbll eage sa-tramurals and Club Sports will. son, had undergone surgery for am eetng next onday, removal of torn cartilage in his hold a meeting next Monday, right knee. dent Government Council cham- May 12 at 2:00 P.M. in the After that I went quickly down- leased. Before long, The Daily hill. I got my own genuine cer- ceases to be a newspaper and be-' tified beat with lots of stories and comes a home. opportunities to freelance a lot. I Daily staffers live here, sleep was around the building all the here, and all too frequently go to time making phone calls and classes here, even though it may searching for fourths for bridge. really be in Angell Hall. Cottagej In moments of utter despera-Inn is considering moving inl tion, we would forget about bridgedownstairs just so their pizza man3 and play hearts. Not ordinaryjdoesn't have a heart attack from! hearts, but super-deluxe seven or Irunning over here 100 or so times eight ian elimination hearts to a night. At least the delivery man 100. A five hour game was a short doesn't have to bring Cokes, be-, one and on more than one occa- cause The Daily is the only placeG sion I pulled all-nighters just sit- for hundreds of miles where you ting around playing cards. can still get a nickel Coke. The Daily is the only place in town It may sound that the only where 'The Agony and the Ecstacy' reason to join The Daily is to play is performed ten times during the cards. Admittedly, such fringe football season. The Daily is! benefits cannot be ignored, but When they say "join The DailyI there is more, much more, to The and live," they aren't kidding. Daily than 52 pieces of paper i Your academic career may die, es- -- Every time you write a story, it pecially if you join the swingers is all yours. All those grandstand at the sports desk or the bridge coaching urges you get can be re- table, but what a way to go. JUNE ENGINEERING GRADUATES: HAVE YOU DEFERRED YOUR CAREER PLANS UNTIL NOW?' Earlier in the recruiting season, a recruiter from the Naval Ordnance Station in Forest Park, Illinois visited your campus to look for young, eager, and imaginative June graduates for our engineering training program. He'Nwas hoping to reap a golden harvest of engineering students lookirg for a challenging, stimu- lating program with good starting salaries and rapid advancement. But he came back a grim reaper. So if you're still lookino, you may be gad to know that we are too. We offer the engineering graduate who meets our high standards a chance to serve his country doing what he. has trained himself for. We offer many other benefits too and we'd like to tell you about them. Why not drop us a line or phone Jim Powers at AC312 378-3800? Employment Division, College Relations Dept. NAVAL ORDNANCE STATIO. 7500 West Roosevelt, Forest Park, Illinois 60130 We are an equal opportunity employer 0*TryDaliClas*sifieds t t West sustained the injury play- ing basketball this winter. Dr. Donald Lannin, team phy- sician, said West was doing well in a St. Paul hospital and should be ready for the opening of sum- mer drills July 21., Student Government Council chambers on the third floor of the SAB. The Board will draw up recommendations to the Board of Regents concerning the proposed intramural build- ings. Major League Stanudiings assnammssaaiiamgemsaamtemsaumsas AMERICAN LEAGUE Eastern Division W L Pet. Baltimore 20 10 .667 Boston 16 10 .615 Washington 16 13 .552 Detroit 12 14 .467 New York 12 16 .429 Cleveland 4 19 .174 Western Division Minnesota 17 8 .680 Oakland 16 10 .615 Kansas City 14 12 .538 Chicago 10 11 .471 California 9 14 .391 Seattle 8 17 .320 OB 3',; 12 6> 12' .,1 5 7 Western Division Atlanta 18 9 .66i Los Angeles 16 It .593 San Francisco 16 11 .593 Cincinnati 12 15 .444 San Diego 13 17 .433 Houston 10 21 .323. 2 6 10 *1 Yesterday's Games No games scheduled Today's Games Minnesota at Detroit, night New York at Oakland, night Boston at California, night Washington at Seattle, night Chicago at Cleveland, night Kansas City at Baltimore, night Yesterday's Games Iibuston 9, Philadelphia 7 Today's Games San Francisco at Chicago Houston at New York, night Cincinnati at Montreal, night Los Angeles at Pittsburgh, night SanDiego at St. Louis, night Atlanta at Philadelphia, night r r i STUDENT/FACULTY SCHOLARSHIPS aI . AVAILABLE* I i You don't have to 'speak Russian for a CEC 3 week THINK-IN in the USSR u CEC FIELD INSTITUTE: American and Soviet faculty. m ' Frank, open debate, discussion, , i lectures; field trips, COUNTER- PART MEETINGS, and free time r to meet Soviets. r I r $1,024 less awards i DY EXCHANGE VISITS LEAVE NYC:JUNE 7, JULY 5, AUG. 2 and 23 or rMEET CEC in Moscow. rI Chicago Pittsbur Philade New Yo St. Lour NATIONAL LEAGUE Eastern Division W L Pct. 019 10 .655 rgh 16 11 .593 iphia 12 13 .480 irk 12 15 .444 is 11 16 .407 GB 2 5 6 7 4_ Montreal 10 16 .383 7 - - a - - a a a a a a a a a a M TV RENTALS ! l E ENE r uR u m U f W fa !M F" i ':: fj