The Michigan Daily-Friday, September 22, 1978-Page 13 t '_ . >: . LES MOSS TO TAKE OVER Hotuk to retire at end of season 1- By APand UPI DETROIT - Ralph Houk, manager of the best and worst teams in baseball over a career that spanned two teams and 16 years, stunned the Detroit Tigers when he announced yesterday he was retiring and thus would not be returning as their manager next season. :Les Moss, manager of Detroit's Triple-A affiliate, Evansville of the American Association, was im-, mediately named his replacement, starting next season to take over a team that has gone from being baseball's' worst in 1975 into a possible contender . ii 1979. "IT'S TIME for me to go fishing," Houk said. "It's time for me to spend some time with my wife. I've been in baseball for over 40 years. "It's not easy to do this," he said, "yet I feel it's the thing to do. "The Tigers have been nice enough to give me a job as a consultant - although I don't know what that would be." Campbell said: "I never worked with a manager as close as Ralph. I don't think we've had one argument. We've had some disagreements., but we've always managed to settle them amicably. I've never seen a manager who could handle players like Ralph. I asked him to do a real tough job around here. He's done a tremendous job. We'll still be real close." HOUK SAID he, club president and general manager Jim Campbell and vice president Bill Lajoie discussed a successor and "were 100 per cent unanimous" in favor of Moss. "He's had 18 of our players that have come up here," Houk said. Campbell said Moss, given a one-year contract, had "been programmed into this thing for over a year." Like Houk, Moss is a former major league catcher who spent the bulk of his career as a substitute. MOSS SPENT 11 full seasons and parts of two more as a catcher with the St. Louis Browns, Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles and Chicago White Sox. He had a .247 lifetime batting average. Moss was a coach with the White Sox in 1960 and 1967-70. He was interim manager of the White Sox for five weeks in1968. In 11 seasons as a minor league manager he had four pennant winners and none of his teams finished below third place. He won consecutive pen- nants at Montgomery, Detroit's AA farm club of the Southern League, in 1975 and 1976. AT EVANSVILLE the past two seasons, the Triplets finished third and second - despite many of their top players being promoted to the Tigers. Houk had been hinting at retirement the past season or two - citing his age, the aggravation of traveling and fan abuse - but said he wanted to stay until he felt the job of rebuilding Detroit into a respected team again was accom- plished. He became manager of a Tiger team that was already lengthy in the fang before he took over and it crumbled in less than a season. His second year featured a near-record 19-game losing streak before a step-by-step return to respectability began with an infusion of youngsters in 1976. MARK FIDRYCH and Jason Thom- pson joined Ron LeFlore as regulars that seasop, Steve Kemp and Dave Rozema followed last season while the sparkling double play combination of Lou Whitaker at second and Alan Trammell at short have provided the club with an excellent foundation for a return to power in the near future. "These kids will give the people a ballclub they'll remember a long time," Houk said. Houk was a non-playing member of the New York championship teams of the early 1950s. The most times he ever batted in a season was 92 in his rookie year of 1947. He never had a home run in 158 at-bats and his major league playing career- ended with an unsuc- cessful pinch-hit in 1954. But like a lot of players whose talent never matched their love for the game, Houk spent his time on the bench listening, learning and asking questions. THE TIGERS struggled -under Houk's first four seasons, changing over from aging veterans - who brought Detroit a World Series title in 1968 - to youngsters brought up from the minors. Detroit, although fifth in the American League East, has a much better record, 81-70, going into Thur- sday's game than last season when it finished fourth, and the club is loaded with players of three years or less ex- perience. 3T1nw 0 pj~ub 7-ft. TV screen for all sports events: Michigan football on Saturdays! Good food, domestic & Imported beers at great prices: 1/2 lb. Sirloin & 12 oz. shell: $2.55 Open 9 a.m.-2 a.m. Monday-Saturday 2045 Packard 668-9588 Ralph Houkl Tigers tamed *Bosox keep pace with N. Y. By BRIAN MILLER Special to The Daily DETROIT-Milt Wilcox, once labeled a six-inning pitcher, went the distance for a team-leading 16th time in 26 starts but his efforts were wasted as the Boston Red Sox stopped the Tigers, 5-1, at Tiger Stadium last night. . Wilcox, who has been known to have trouble in the early innings, struggled through the first inning as the Red Sox scored three quick runs. Shortstop Rick Burleson began his 4 for 5 performance with a leadoff single to right. Second baseman Jerry Remy then fouled out to Tiger third baseman Phil Mankowski in front of the Tiger dugout. But Burleson tagged and went to second when Mankowski slipped on the dugout steps. Burleson trotted it to third when Jim Rice grounded out to Lou Whitaker. Then, after Carl Yastrzemski walked, Carleton Fisk singled in the game's fir- st run. Freddie Lynn followed with a walk and, after both runners moved up on a wild pitch, they scored on Butch Hobson's line single to left. Wilcox, now 13-11, was also shaky the second inning when Dwight Evans walked and Burleson singled him to third. However, the Tiger righthander settled down and retired the Red Sox without another run scoring. Boston starting pitcher Dennis Eckersley (18-8) had few problems quieting Detroit's loud bats. Eckersley gave up only six hits all night long and survived the only real Tiger threat of the night in the second inning when Steve Kemp and Tim Corcoran both singled. They were left stranded, though, when Eckersley bore down and got Mankowski to strike out. Boston upped its lead to 4-0 in the fif- th when the 39-year-old Yastrzemski walked and then stole second while Fisk was striking out. Lynn promptly scored Yastrzemski with a sharp single to cen- ter. Eckersley did the wet, cold fans in the ballpark a favor, mowing the Tigers down on just three hits though six in- nings. Jason Thomson warmed up the fans a little himself in the seventh frame, however, when he parked his 25th home. run of the year in the right field upper deck.. Boston scored a meaningless run in the eighth inning. And, after-Eckersley got Kemp to ground into an inning- ending double play, the Red Sox kept pace with the Yankees, who defeated Toronto, 7-1. While Boston remains two games behind New York, the Tigers were mathematically eliminated from this year's pennant race. New York's magic number has been reduced to eight while Detroit must wait until next year to earn division honors. SCORES American League Boston 5, Detroit 1 New York 7, Toronto I Texas 6, Minnesota 3 National League Pittsburgh 3, Chicago 2 (14 innings) Philadelphia at Montreal, ppd, rain Houston 2, Atlanta o - St. Louis 6, New York 2 CHICAGO (AP)-Wilbur Wood of the Chicago White Sox says the name of his favorite pitch, the knuckleball, is a misnomer. "A knuckler is actually thrown with the tips of the index and middle fingers," the veteran southpaw pointed out. 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