Wednesday, July ;19, 1972 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Eleven " WensaJl 9,17 H IHGN AL aeEee Mus Sports o The Daily I Fischer, Spassky draw Russian risks position trying Better baseball. ..forotrip the Senior Circuit By DAN BORUS MONDAY NIGHT before anational television audience, Robert Lee Gibson, a lanky aging righthander for the St. Louis Car- dinals mustered all the speed and excellence in his power, and stymied a determined and youthful bunch of Houston Astros. Accompanied by the dulcid tones of Curt Gowdy, the strike- out leader of the National League who some earlier branded as aged and over the hill, gave a vivid demonstration of a well- known baseball fact.'The National League brand of baseball is more exciting. Traditional rebuttal from advocates for the cause of the junior circuit holds that the American League is a pitcher's league. There are just more good pitchers in the American League than in the National League. After all Lolich and Perry have won 15 or more 'games and no onqin the National even comes close. However the argument is not complete. Whether this speaks for the superiority of National League bats or the American League hurling can not really be determined. But what is shown is that the hitting is much more intense in the senior circuit. More hits, higher scores, and more home runs are the mark of the National League. I can hear you die hard Tiger fans crying, "Well, if you can say that National League pitching is even and their hiting is better, you could also argue that American League pitching is better and that is why there is lower hit pro- duction in the Anerican League." Not so fast prospective Joe Falls'. Three of the leading pitchers in the American League this year are ex-national Leaguers. Gaylord Perry, who was no slouch in the National League, Ken Holtzman and Nolan Ryun, the latter two not especially prominent in their former homes, have been the talk of the American League. Meanwhile Sam McDowell, the Pride of Cuyahoga County, has been his erratic self. But most of the proof is on the television screen. Regard- less of the tale of the figures, which can be endlessly tossed back and forth in hot stove league contests, the National League has the speed and excitement that make baseball an attraction. Whereas in he American League each pitch seems boringly tedious, in the National League suspense rides on every offer- ing. Baseball excitement is predicated on a game breaker, on one player that can start things moving when he is involved in key plays. The Pirates and the Red are stock-filled with them and Lou Brock and Bobby Bonds contribute in this role. The Amer- ican League with Amos Otis and Dick Allen, a National League discard, is a bit behind in this regard. Part of the reason for the dominance of the National Leajue can be traced to the predominance of artificial sur- faces Hits which scoot right through in the National League are sometimes stopped in the American. It is a bit different game when played on a carpet. But there are still some really ecologically sound parks in the National League, so the difference would be of ability, not conditions. Two more major reasons can be cited for the rise of the National League over the last decade: the drift of black players and the lack of a real dynasty. Although organized baseball can never be termed a haven for blacks, the National League, primarily because it was the pioneer league and primarily because the league was fortunate in attracting skilled players, got more than a goodly share of black stars. Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Ernie Banks, Roberto Clemente, Frank Robinson head the National League greats. The American League has not been as fortunate in attracting blacks, as a result, the quality of play has suffered. While not drawn strictly along racial lines, blacks have been more daring in their play, more likely to take an extra base or attempt to steal. White players, on the other hand, have been less fluid in their style of play. Black sluggers could also stretch singles into doubles and batter the fences even when the ball did not clear the wall. Black players also had a more fluid movement in the field. and black outfielders flourished in the National League. With baseball being the way for upward mobility, the aggregation of blacks is a reason for the advance of the National League. The second reason has to do with the lack of dynasties in the senior circuit. While the Yankees and the Orioles were consistently coming up with championships and the good players, the rest of the league seemed psychologically beaten in terms of getting new life blood. Year after year of losing had a down effect on the American League teams, some of which have been mired for a long time in mediocrity. The National League, on the other hand, featured a pen- nant race almost every year, and was always marked with a bit of particularly tough infighting; the pennant race of 1964 being the prime example of excitement galore. Hence the teams sparked by this competition, tried a little harder to sign those good ball players and the strategy paid off. But with the decline of the Orioles and the rise of young clubs like Oakland and Kansas City, especially the hard hittings Royals, the American League can look forward to years of parity with its presently superior counterpart. REYKJAVIK, Iceland WP) - Bobby Fischer and Boris Spass- ky struggled for five hours yes- terday in the fourth game of their world championship chess match, then settled for a draw. The score in the 24-game ser- ies now stands at 2/ for the Soviet champion and 112 for the American challtnger. They called it quits at the 45th move. The fight had been hard, with a string of startling turnabouts. Each contestant got a half- point for the draw. Spassky, 35, won the first game and got the second by forfeit when Fischer failed to show. The 29-year-old American won the third. Spassky was stone-faced as he left the auditorium, hardly acknowledging the applause of the crowd. Fischer smiled and waved as he walked out. Tugoslavia grandmaster Sve- tozar Gligoric said Spassky had made a bad error on the 29th move, throwing away the chance of a win. U. S. grandmaster Robert Byrne said Spasky, playing at a slight disadvantage with the black pieces, could have pocket- ed a draw at the 18th move by forcing an exchange of queens. But the Russian chose to go for a win. The game was pack- ed with surprises, with first white and then black setting the pace. For the first time in the ser- ies, Spassky was late in arriv- ing - but not so late as Fisch- er. The Soviet champion walk- ed onstage four minutes after the clock started. The Ameri- can chess whiz from Brooklyn was 10 minutes overdue in the 2,500-seat auditorium. Fischer looked confident and relaxed, buoyed by his win Mon- day. It was the first time in his career Fischer had beaten Spas- sky. He lost to the Russian three times playing black and drew twice playing white in their five meetings before the world championship round began a week ago. Fischer, playing the white pieces, opened the game wih his favorite Sozin attack, at which he is generally acknowl- edged to be the world's best. Spassky went into the Sicilian defense and countered agres- sively. The Brooklyn draw. Fischer-white Spassky-black 1. P-K4, P-QB4 2. Kt-KB3, P-Q3 a 3 P-Q, PP 4. KtsP, K-Ki3 5. Kt-QB3, Kt-B3 6. KB-n4, P-K3 7. R-Kil, B-K2 . B-K3, O- 9. 0-0, 1'-QR3 10. P-84, KtxKt 11. B-Kt, P-QKt4 12. P-QR3, B-K2l 13. Q-Q3, P-QR4 14. P-K5, PP 5. PaP, Kt-Q2 16. KtxP, Kt-B4 17. BxKt, BxBh 18. K-RK, Q-Kt4 Elapsed time: Fischer 44 minutes, Spassky 26 minutes. 19. Q-K, QR-Qs 20. QR-Ql, RxRt 21. RxR, P-R4 22. Kt-Q6, -as Elapsed time Fischer 62 minutes, Spassky 78 minutes 23. B-4, P-KR5 24. P-R3, B-K Elapsed time Fischer 511 minutes, Spassky 100 minutes 25. Q-Kt4, QxP 26. QRP, P-Kt4 17. Q-Kt4, -in 28. Kt-Kt5, K-Kt 29. Kt-Q4, R-R1 30. Kt-B3, BxKt 31. QxaB, B-Q3 32. Q-Q3, QxQ 33. PQ, B-K4 34. R-Q7, K-i3 35. K-M, naP 36. a-K, B-K4 37. K-Bi, R-QB1 38. B-5, R-a2 39. RxR, BxR 40. P-4, K-K2 41. K-K2, P-i4 42. K-Q3, R-K4 43. P-i4, K-Q3 44. n-n7, B-Kt6 45. P-inCh, draw Final time Fischer 148 minutes, Spassky 155 minutes MINNESOTA backstop, Phil Roof, vainly stretches for a pop foul off the bat of Yankee shortstop, Gene Michael, as a most loyal fan of the Pinstripes makes sure it stays a strike. The Yankees went on to homer their way to a 6-0 victory behind the pitching of Steve Kline. Ti gers win in eleven Stanley plates winner; magic number now 72 DETROIT (A)- Eddie Brink- man hit a one-out sacrifice fly in the 11th inning to score Mickey Stanley, who had trip- led, giving the Detroit Tigers a 4-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox in an American League baseball game last night. The winning run was set up when Stanley hit a shot off the right - field fence. Brinkman thei blasted a fly to Chicago's Walt Williams in right field and Stanley beat the throw home. Chicago's Dick Allen snapped Joe Coleman's no-hitter with a lead-off triple in the seventh innning which Stanley mis- played. Detroit had taken an early 3-0 lead off Stan Bahnsen. But Chicago sent Coleman to the showers with three hits and two runs ih the eighth to tie the score. NL Star pitchers SAN FRANCISCO (') - Gary Nolan, the National League's leading winner, strike- out leader Steve Carlton, and streaking Bob Gibson lead the nine man pitching staff chosen by manager Danny Murtagh yesterday for his NL All Star squad. Joining those three are five righthanders, C lay -Carroll, Steve Blass, Don Sutton, Bill Stoneman, and Tom Seaver and one lefty, Tug McGraw. Garr, ignites Brave rally, edge Bucs, 4-2 By The Associated Press PITTSBURGH -Ralph Garr cracked a double to spark a three-run fifth inning rally that lifted the Atlanta Braves to a 4-2 National League base- ball victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates last night. Steve Blass, 10-4, was nurs- ing a 1-0 lead into the Atlant fifth when Gil Garrido and pitcher Ron Reed opened with singles. Garr followed with a double to left center that drove in the tying run. An intentional walk to Henry Aaron then loaded the bases before the Braves added two more runs on an error by third baseman Jose Pagan and an Infield out. Earl Williams provided an in- surance run in the Braves' sev- enth when he tagged reliever Bob Johnson for his 14th home run of the season, a solo shot over the wall in right center. CHICAGO - A home run by Billy Williams in the bottom of the 10th inning broke a 1-1 tie and gave the Chicago Cubs a 2-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds yesterday. Ferguson Jenkins allowed four hits in pitching his 12th National League victory of the year against eight defeats. Jenkins was in trouble in both the ninth and 10th inn- ings. In the ninth, he hit Bobby Tolan with a pitch and Tolan stole second and third before Jenkins got Denis Menke to ground out to end the inning. Professional League Standings American League National League East East W L Pet. OR W L Pet. GO Detroit 48 35 .580 - Pittsburgh 53 31 .630 G Baltimore 47 36 .568 1 New York 47 34 .580 4% Oo0a40 39 .507 6 St, Souls 43 39 .524 8 New York 38 41 .482 8 Chicago 45 41 .523 9 Cleveland 34 48 .410 i31,E Montreal 36 45 .444 15% Milwaukee 2 48 .40 14 Philadelphia 29 55 .34224 west Oakland - 53 30 .640 -- Cincinnati West 52 32 .61 Chicago 45 40 .530 9 Houston 48 39 .552 5Y/- Minnesota 42 39 20 Angeles 4 Kansas City 43 41 o517 10% Aaa s 3 40 .45414 California 38 48 .440 16% SanFrancisco 38 50 .452 16 Texas 35 50 .410'19 San Diego 32 52 .38039 Yesterday's Resu.ts Baltimore 2, Texas 1, 15 innings Yesterday's Results Detroit 4, Chicago 3, 11 innings Chicago 2, Cincinnati 1, 10 innings New York 4, Minnesota 0 Atlanta 4, Pittsburgh 2 Boston 4, Californiaa St. Louis at Houston, Inc. Oakland 4, Milwaukee 0, Second New York at Los Angeles, inc. game, inc. San Diego 5, Philadelphia 1 Kansas City 6-11, Cleveland 5-8 Montreal at San Francisco, inc. Today's Games Today's (lames Cleveland (Perry, 15-7) at Kansas City Atlanta (Hardin, 2-0) at Pittsburgh (Drago, 7-9), night (riles, 8-3), night Baltimore (Cuear, 8-7) at Texas Cincinnati (Griosley, 7-3) at Chicago (Paul, 3-2), night (Pappas, 6-5) Chicago (Wood, 13-10) at Detroit St. Louis (Wise, 9-9) at Houston (Timmerman, 7-7), night (Dierker, 8-5), night Oakland (Odom, 8-2) at Milwaukee New York (Seaver, 12-5) at Los An- (Reynolds, 0-0), night geles (Osteen, 9-7), night Minnesota (Perry, 7-8) at New York Philadelphia (Carlton, 12-6) at San (Kekich, 8-8) Diego (Kirby, 6-9), night California (Wright, 10-4) at Boston Montreal (Torrez, 9-5) at San Fran- (Siebert, 7-5) rlseo (McDowell, 8-7)