Page 16-Friday, June 15, 1979-The Michigan Daily RODRIGUEZ' E RROR OPENS DOOR: Seattle spoils Sparky's debut, 3-2 By ALAN FANGER specialtoThe Daily DETROIT-A 30 second standing ovation . Reporters and photographers following his every step . . . Sparky Anderson basked in the limelight before making his debut as the new Tiger manager against Seattle last night. Unfortunately, there was also a little matter of a ballgame to follow. And to the dismay of the former Cincinnati Reds skipper, it proved to be a grim awakening from the pregame frivolity. Sparky's new ballclub bungled several chances at bat and in the field, yet the Mariners waited until the ninth inning before capitalizing on the miscues for a 3-2 win. Ironically, it was a rare error by third baseman Aurelio Rodriguez that determined the final outcome. With Seattle pinch hitter Leon Rober- ts on third and two gone in-the ninth, Larry Milbourne hit a slow grounder to third. Rodriguez crouched for the ball but it caromed off his glove into lef- tfield. Roberts raced home with the winning run, spoiling Anderson's opening night act. The Tigers were equally frustrated at the plate, unable to push more than two runs across in the second and third in- nings. They even loaded the bases with none out in the fifth before Mariner Shane Rawley retired Steve Kemp, Rusty Staub and Lance Parrish in or- der. Rawley and Bryan. McLaughlin, in relief of starter Rick Honeycutt, allowed only three Tiger hits over the final five innings. Rodriguez ninth in- ning error saddled John Hiller with the loss, with Rawley notching the win. Hiller took over in the final stanza from starter Jack Billingham. Anderson's managerial tenure got off to a good start in the second inning. Lance Parrish beat out an infield single, went to second on an infield out, and scored when Rodriguez sliced a single down the rightfield line. Seattle responded with a pair in the third, largely due to the efforts of for- mer Tigers Dan Meyer and Willie Hor- ton, Milbourne and Ruppert Jones each singled to lead off the inning. Milbourne then scored from third on Bruce Bochte's double play ball. The ex-Bengals combined for the other Mariner run in the inning. After Parrish dropped a third out foul fly, Horton singled up the middle, and Meyer powered a Billingham pitch to the 415 mark in right center. Ron LeFlore nearly caught the ball, but it fell out of his mitt as he crashed into the wall. Horton scored easily on the play, netting Seattle a one-run lead. But the Bengals kept pace with their west coast opponents in their half of the third. With two down, Jerry Morales doubled, then moved to third on Kemp's infield single. Meyer could have ended INCOMING DETRO the rally by fielding a slow roller off the two exchange smiles bat of Staub, but let the ball slide last night against t through his legs. Morales breezed home Anderson predicted1 to even the score at two apiece. I promise you one thi SPORTS OF THE DAILY IT Tiger skipper Sparky Anderson hugs Lou Whitaker as the s at Tiger Stadium yesterday. Anderson made his Tiger debut he Seattle Mariners. "I don't have lightning in a bottle," boldly, "but if they keep me here and I hope to God they do, ing, I'll have Detroit in the World Series." Holmes defends WR A title tonight NEW YORK - Larry Holmes will IN ONE OF them, Jimmy Young Baby Bengals Leach of Michigan, who already has make his third defense of the World will try to reverse his skidding career come to terms. Boxing Association heavyweight against Wendell Bailey who will be DETROIT - Chris Baker, Detroit's The Tigers also signed their top championship tonight against Mike trying to get into the heavyweight pic- second first round draft choice last choice in the secondary phase of the Weaver, a fighter the champ places ture. Young, of Philadelphia, has lost week, has agreed to terms and will draft, Paul Fox, and signed regular below some of his previous opponents in two straight decisions to Ocasio and report today to the Tiger's minor draftees Jon Driver, Ken Baldwin and ability but one he doesn't consider a soft has a record of 22-8-7, with seven league training base in Lakeland, Fla. Wilson Tucker. touch. knockouts. Bailey, of Baltimore, is 13-1 THE 6-4, 185-pound righthanded hit- Detroit has now signed all but 10 of its "I don't feel Mike Weaver is the with three knockouts. ' ting outfielder from Livonia Franklin 36 draftees. caliber of fighter of Earnie Shavers or The other 10s will match junior was drafted after the Tigers took Rick -UPI Ken Norton," said Holmes from his training camp in the Catskills, "but I feel he's better than Alfredo Evangelista or Ossie Ocasio." HOLMES EARNED a WBA title shot by outpointing Shavers, against whom he is scheduled to defend Sept. 14, and then won the title by outpointing Nor- ton. In his first two defenses, he knocked out Evangelista and Ocasio, each in the seventh round. "Holmes knows what I can do," said the 26-year-old Weaver, whose record is only 20-8, but who has knocked out his -fast five opponents. "I think he takes me seriously." There are three other scheduled 10- rounders on the card. SCOR ES American League caft-ornia 10, Toronto2 cleveland 2, Oakland I Minnesota 4, New York 2 Milwaukee6. Texas, 2 Nati onalLeague Montreal 4, Atlanta 3 welterweights Ruby "The Snake" Ortiz of New York against Willie Rodriguez of Allentown, Pa., and middleweight Mike Baker of Washington against Clarence Gilmore of Memphis, Tenn. Holmes, 29, will fight for a percen- tage, which figures to be much less than the $1 million-plus purse a heavyweight champion usually commands from network television. Weaver is guaran- teed $50,000. -AP Slugger siek DETROIT - Former Detroit Tiger first baseman Norm Cash was reported in serious condition yesterday, after suffering what doctors described as a slight stroke. CASH, 44, played with the Tigers from 1960 through 1974. Doctor Clarence Livingood, the Tigers' team physician, said Cash suf- fered some paralysis on the right side of his face and body, but said the popular left-handed hitting slugger was able to speak, although with a slur. --AP 4 Hazel du toll rises HAZEL PARK, Mich. (AP)-Veterinarians destroyed a third horse yesterday that apparently had been drugged in its stall at Hazel Park Raceway. "We put her down at noon because it seemed the humane thing to do," said James Higginbottom, deputy state racing commissioner stationed at the track. The horse, Kan She Do It, earlier in the morning had appeared to be im- proving, he said. Two other horses, Courgette and Terpsong, were destroyed early yesterday at the veterinary school of Michigan State University in East Lan- sing. Another horse, Miss Ged Hot, was "holding her own" at the school, Higginbottom said. Higginbottom said pathology tests had not been completed, but the first autopsy showed "nothing obvious" and track steward Allen Fairbanks said earlier veterinarians could find no hypodermic needle marks. "It was done for money. I've had horses slow down before but they weren't killed. Whoever did this botched it up so bad it just killed them," said Steve Terpovich, Terpsong's owner. The horse threw itself to the ground, ran into walls, stared unseeingly in- to space, and grew increasingly paralyzed, starting at the hindquarters. Higginbottom said the state's investigation of the incident, the first known in Michigan since 1973 when a race had to be cancelled at Detroit Race Course, was pursuing "a few leads, but nothing hot."