Friday, September 14, 1973 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Nine Friday, September 14, 1973 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Nine SEAVER SAVED p !. - Bucs By The Associated Press CHICAGO - "We're jelling at last," said Willie Stargell. "We're making the big plays and getting the key hits." Stargell got the key hit yes- terday as the Pittsburgh Pirates, finally having struggled into first place in the National League East, slapped down the Chicago Cubs 6-1. Stargell, the National League's leading run producer, doubled home two runs in the first in- h ning and then scored on a single by Rich Hebner. That was all Bob Moose and reliever Ramon Hernadez needed , to get the march Z-54 on rl SPORTS NIGHT EDITORS JEFF ROGER and CHOWN ROSSITER Pirates their third triumph in the vital four game series. "Coming here and taking three of four was something we had to do," said Stargell. "And we were able to do it. That's what's im- portant. Seecb &6"Stemn. TV blackouts.. . . . won't wash both ways Dan Borus In a recent issue of The Detroit Free Press, Sports Editor Joe Falls, with whom I have disagreed on a number of subjects, not the least of which was the sacking of Billy Martin, inveighed mightily against Congressional action to end blackouts of Foot- ball games. Among other telling points Falls scores are these: that Con- gress has no right to regulate the business affairs of the NFL owners, that William Ford, owngr of the Lions, owes nothing to' the public except that which any business man owes a con- sumer, and that football telecasts of home games will hurt at- tendance which will mean the biggest menace of.them all, PAY- TV. Mr. Falls' longing for the good old days of rampant laissez- fairasm may be met with joy in Lion offices and may scare a few fans, but his thinking is riddled with holes. What Mr. Falls either forgets or chooses not to mention is that-Mr. Ford and others of his like survive by the grace of the American public. After all, wasn't it Congress, the elected representatives of the American people, who gave the sport immunity from anti-trust laws? The Congress approved the 1966 professional league merger, an anti-trust violation only slightly less odious than the famed Hartford Insurance Group ITT brouhaha. Mr. Ford presides over a football club which holds a monop- oly in this town and which has a hold over its players. Despite the "liberal" reserve clause football brags about, a player is stuck with a club because of Commissioner- Rozelle's policy to more than liberally reward the club which the player has left. This all exists by the grace of Congress. What the NFL and its apologists, in this case Falls, want is both sides of the street. They want to avoid acting in the public interest like any other corporation when it runs against their ability to increase profits, but they want public support to avoid the law. It won't wash both ways. Either the NFL is run in the public interest and hence accept television for games sold out or it is run as a private business and subject to anti-trust prosecution. Let's explore Falls' contention that attendance will fall in Detroit if television comes to home games. Maybe so, but the Chicago Cub experience suggests otherwise. The Cubs televise every one of their home games and they continually draw over a million. If Falls and the Lions believe that people will prefer the simulated performance on a tube to the real thing, they are underselling their product. Maybe inclement weather will keep down some of the crowd, but it is my guess that for every season ticket holder there are five who want to take his place. There may be a slight hitch in ticket sales, a momentary lag, but without a doubt there will be a pick up in attendance later on. All this loss of revenue propaganda sounds scary, but it won't wash. Just though you'd like to know what your friendly neighborhood sports monopoly was up to. Mets miraculous PHILADELPHIA - Pinch- hitter Wayne Garrett blooped. a 12-inning single, driving in the tie-breaking run, and the New York Mets topped Philadephia 4-2 last night. The Mets had loaded the bases with one out in the 12th when Garrett batted for pitcher Tom Seaver, 17-9, and looped an RBI- single toshort left field. Moments later, New York added another run on a wild pitch by reliever George Culver. The Phillies gained a 1-0 lead in the third inning of the base- I ball game when Denny Doyle singled with one out and Tommy Hutton ripped an RBI double. New York went ahead 2-1 in the fourth with the help of an unearned run. Brewers blow , BALTIMORE - Rookie Doug Decinces ripped a 10th-inning sin- gle, driving home pinch-runner IEnos Cabell and lifting the Bal- timore Orioles to a 7-6 victory over Milwaukee last night. The victory, combined with Boston's loss at New York, re- duced the Orioles' magic num- bed for clinching baseball's American League East title to 10 Any combination of Oriole victories or Red Sox losses to- taling 10 clinches the title for Baltimore. Brooks Robinson opened the 10th with a single and Cabell, running for him, advanced to third on two infield outs. After an intentional walk to Merv Rettenmund, Decinces delivered the deciding hit. I GENUINE LEE RIDERS When you wear 'em, :you'llknow they're right. AP Photo PITTSBURGH'S MANNY SANGUILLEN (35) gives Pirate teammate Willie Stargell (8) the standup sign as Stargell crosses the plate behind Chicago catcher Randy Hundley in the Pirates 6-1 win yester- day. The victory kept the Pirates atop the National League's East Division as well as giving Pitts- burgh the distinction of being the only team in the division above .500. ROZELLE YIELDS TO CONGRESS Blackouts finally, put to.death Corduroy and Denim Look for this branded Lee label. NEW YORK - National Foot- ball League Commissioner Pete Rozelle informed major television networks yesterday to lift the ban on televising sold-out home games in the wake of Congres- sional approval of a measure banning blackouts of games sold out 72 hours in advance. Both the House and the Senate approved the anti-blackout bill yesterday and sent it to Presi- dent Nixon, who is said to favor such a measure. Rozelle saia earlier in the day he would tell the networks "that we no longer consider them bound by contractual provision with the NFL prohibiting local telecasts of games, providing all seats are sold 72 hours before kickoff." Rozelle said the NFL intends to adhere "to both the letter and the spirit of this experimental law despite our belief there will be extremely negative results to this legislation." He also said: "We feel that during the period of this experi- ment, it will be shown that a great number of people who pur- chase tickets will not go to the stadium." "Our new contract starts next year with the networks and if this law becomes permanent and it has the effect we expect it to have, I feel the NFL will do whatever is necessary to protect at t e n d a n c e. at stadiums," Schramm said. Rozelle said "the Game of the Week concept presently used by the other major sports-baseball, basketball and hockey-is a pos- sibility if damage to football is evident." BIVOUAC ARMY-NAVY SURPLUS 518 East William 10-5:30 761-6207 Major Leoque Stndins Join The Daily Ad Staff Phone 764-0558 AMERICAN LEAGUE East NATIONAL LEAGUE East Baltimore sBoston Detroit New York Milwaukee f Cleveland Oakland Kansas City Chicago Minnesota California Texas W., 86 80 77 73 70 64 84 79 72 70 67 51 L 59 67 69 74 77 84 61 66 74 74 65 93 Pet. .598 .545 .527 .496 .476 .432 .579 .545 .493 .486 .472 .354 GB 7 14 17 23!;, 5 12% 32 West Pit Itsl~vgh St. L.ouis M*ontreal1 New York Chicago, Philladelphi a Los Anlgeles Sani Franciscvo Atlanta San IDiego W 7? 72 71 71 69 65 89 85 80 74I 7? 53 1, 71 73 73 75 76 81 57 62 64 74 76 91 Pet. .503 .497 .493 .486 .476 .445 .610 .575 .556 .503 .486 .368 GB - 214 4 8g 41; 8 16 28 3:5 West Yesterday's Results Baltimore 7, Milwaukee 6 New York 2, Boston 1 Kansas City at California, inc. Today's Games New York at Baltimore, 7:30 p.m. Cleveland at Boston, 7:30 p.m. Milwaukee at Detroit, 8 p.m. Minnesota at Chicago, 9 p.m. Texas at Oakland, 11 p.m. Kansas City at California, 11 p.m. Yesterday's Results Pittsburgh 6,Chicago 1 New Y ork4, Philaidelphia 2, 12 inn. Los Angeles 8, Houston 6 San Francisco at San Diego, inc. T oday's Games Pliaaephi at Montreal, 8:05 p.m. Chicago at New York, 8:05 p.m. Atlanta at Cincinnati, 8:05 p.m. Pittsburgh at St. Louis, 8:30 p.m. Los Angeles at Houston, 8:30 p.m. San Francisco at San Diego, 10:30 p.m. ..-.y NATIURAL rQOL)S Natural Foods Store . Supplements " Groceries Dairy * Specialty Items One of the largest, most complete selections in town longevity Cookery * Natural Foods Restaurant " Banquets and Catering * Call in for carry-out Comfortable Atmosphere Service Prices Hr 4P _1* -- __-----j