Page Twelve THE MICHIGAN DAIL'Y Wednesdoy, August 3, 1977 Page Twelve THE MICHIGAN DAILY Wednesday August 3, 977 HOMERS EXCITE FANS Pro spftball a 'smashing' success By GARY KICINSKI Special To The natty EAST DETROIT--What do the Goofy's, the Bourbons, the Suds and the Caesars have in common? They're not the names of Disney char- acters or of local intramural teams. But they are members of the new American Professional Slo-Pitch League, which is enjoying a measurable amount of success in its inaugural season-especially here at Memorial Field, the home of the De- troit Caesars. YOU MAY HAVE heard all the cliches about slo-pitch softball. You may have heard a 28-21 victory described as "win- ning by a touchdown" or a 12-11 game reported as a "pitcher's duel."' But the pun-makers who call the con- tests "fHome Run Derbys" because of the proliferation of long ball blasts can- not ignore the fact that pro softball is drawing and is drawing well. Thanks to some excellent signings by Caesar's owner Mike Ilitch, the fans be- gan pouring into Memorial Field in ca- pacity droves. The early-season demand for tickets prompted the building of addi- tional bleacher seats around the outfield to up the seating capacity from 3,500 to nearly 9,000. They have been averaging about 5,500 fans per night, about 1,000 more than they figured they needed to break even. titch's master plan called for the sign- ing of mostly local amateur stars whom he felt would be more likely to attract fans. He also signed ex-Detroit Tigers Norm Cash and Jim Northrup, whose names themselves were good for pub- licity. THE itFFORT to promote pro softball as "the people's game" is obvious. In a welcoming statement to the fans, litch wrote, "Slo-pitch is a people's game. Action is close to the fans who will quick- ly form close ties with the players." Ilitch's plan seems to have worked. The relaxed, informal atmosphere at the sta- dium seems to have made it easier for thd fans to relate to the players. "You look at some of these guys with their guts drooping over their belts, and it's not too hard to imagine yourself out there on the field too," said one fan. Game Info The Detroit Caesars play their home games at East Detroit's Me- morial Field, located at 10 Mile and Flowers. They have two home series left this season-this Friday and Saturday with the Chicago Storm, and on August 26 and 27 against the Cincinnati Suds. Double- headers are scheduled each night. Tickets are $2 and game time is 7:30 on Friday and 7:00 on Satur- day. The availability of the players in con- trast to security precautions taken at major league games may be another ap- pealing aspect. The players often stroll around the stands before a game, signing autographs and fraternizing with the fans. They occasionally toss a ball over the fence for the spectators. Opposing outfielders have been known to carry on conversations with the bleacher fans dur- ing a ballgame. The Caesars even take a leak in the same john the fans use. How's that for forming close ties? IN- FACT, the aura of professionalism seems to be totally lacking, save for the playing of the Star-Spangled Banner. But it is probably this very informality, this "Sunday picnic" atmosphere, that the fans come out to enjoy. The crowd seems to encompass people of all ages and from all areas. The truly 'bona fide fans sit along the. first base side behind the Caesars dugout. Most of these fans are season ticket holders who followed one or more of the Caesars dur- ing their amateur careers in Detroit. Along the third base side sit the re- maining fans who are interested in seeing a good ball game from a good seat.. And then there are the ball-hungry fans who reside in the outfield bleachers. Many of them come equipped with gloves in the fervent hope that a souvenir soft- ball will wing its way toward them. THE BATTLE for the privilege of own- ing a Caesars softball is another exciting aspect to the game. A group of ,young- sters ranging in number from 20 to 50 and in age from 7 to about 27 congregate beyond the outfield bleachers, waiting for one of the fairly frequent tape-measure blasts. At the crack of the bat, they jockey for position and eye the sky for -the spherical objeyt. Once the ball has been spotted, the crowd races en masse after it, and a pileup usually results like you haven't seen snee a fumble at the Super Bowl. In at least one instance, the youngster on the bottom has required medical attention. The people come from all over to see the Caesars play. Many of the ballhawks in the outfield are neighborhood kids, but some fans come from as far away as Livonia, Westland and Southgate to see pro softball. Beer and pizza sales con- tribute to the good-time atmosphere, and a lot of teenagers say it's not a bad way to spend a Friday or Saturday night. Opinions vary among the fans as to whether the abundance of home runs might hurt the sport. On one night back in June when the wind was blowing out, the Caesars smacked six consecutive cir- cuit clouts on their way to a 44-12 victory over the Minnesota Goofy's. When the next hitter drilled a pitch into left and was held to only a single, the crowd sarcastically booed him. "IT DOES TEND to get a little boring when there are a lot of homers," said a 28 year-old man from Roseville. "Maybe if they moved the fences back about 30 feet it would put more defense in the game." But many of .the fans enjoy the power display. Especially the kids in the out- field stands. The Caesars make sure that the fans who like home runs get to see enough of them. They lead the league in team home runs by a wide margin, and sport the league's biggest belter in Ronnie Ford, who has over 65 home runs and 140 RBI's in lit'le more than 170 at-bats. His .631 average is second only to fan- favorite Mike Nye's .647 on the team. Nye is a 5-9 180-pound outfielder from Jacksonville, Fta. who would make Cin- cinnati fans forget all about Pete Rose if he played there. The left-handed speed- ster draws the loudest cheers of all the Caesars (including Cash and Northrup). Nye can pick a wallop when he wants to (he has 25 homers), but the fans get more of a thrill watching him turn a routine single into a routine double or make a spectacular, fence-scaling catch than seeing even the most mamwmIth home run blast. THIS MAY BE an idication that the future of pro softball lies it the signing of players like Nye as opposed to the big brutes who crunch a ball out of sight and waddle around the bases. But for the present, nobody can argue with the suc- cess enjoyed by pro softball it terms of attendance. No indication has been given yet tht the league may undergo, the financial woes of the ABA or WFI,. But the league is by no means trying to compete tvith major league baseball. And the final yardstick as a measuiie of success lies in the fact that a Detroit television station plans to televise some future Caesars' road games back to the Detroit area. It's not exactly a pilot for "Mutunday Night Softball" but it's a step in the right direction .. . Cubs pop Reds; Phils fall to SD By The Associated Press CINCINNATI-George Mitter- wald drilled a pinch-hit, two-run single to cap a five-run eighth- inning rally and give the Chi- cago Cubs a 5-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds last night. Rookie Mario Soto, 1-1, a 21- year-old right-hander making his second major league start, fired 72/3 innings of shutout ball be- fore the Cubs' outburst. Willie Hernandez, 5-3, picked up the victory in relief of starter Bill Bonham. Phils felled PHILADELPHIA-Dave King- man slammed a two-run homer and rookie Bob Owchinko and reliever Rollie Fingers checked who had tripled, for a 2-0 the Philadelphia Phillies on six Padres lead in the third off hits last night as the San Diego loser Jim Kaat, 4-7. Padres beat the Phillies 4-2. San Diego made it 3-0 in the Kingman's 15th home run of fourth on a leadoff double by the season scored Bill Almon, Mike Ivie and Tucker Ashford's two-out s i n g I e. The Phiies reached Owchinko for a run in the fourth on a double by Jerry Martin, Mike Schmidt's single and Greg Luzinski's sacritice fly. Major Leagie Standiigs AMERICAN LEAGUE NATIONAL I EAGUE East East W L Pet. GB W L Pet. GB Baltimore 60 44 .577 - Chicago 61 42 .592 - Boston 58 43 .574 '.4 Philadelphia 59 44 .573 2 Newt Yort 58 46 .558 2 Pittsburgh 60 45 .571 2 Detroit 46 55 .455 1it. St. Lotis 58 48 .547 4'- Cleveland 45 56 .445 131.. Montreal 49 55 .471 1t's Milwaukee 46 59 .437 141., New York 44 59 .427 17 Toronto 36 66 .353 3 West West Los Angeles 67 39 .632 - Chicano 6? 39 .614 - Cincinnati 52 52 .500 14 Minnesota 60 46 .566 4.. louston 49 58 .458 18' Kansas City 56 44 .560 5'1 San Francisco 48 59 .449 19', Texas 55 45 .550 61, San Diego 46 62 .46 1T California 48 53 .475 14 Atlanta 37 67 .356 29 Seattle 46 61 .430 19 Yesterday's Results Oakland 42 61 .408 21 Montreal 10, San Francisco 2 San Diego 4. Philadelphia 2 Yesterday's Results St. Louis 6, Atlanta 4 Cleveland 9, Miwatkeet? Los Angeles7, New York 2 Today's Games Chicago 5, Cincinnatig Toronto (G4rvin, 7-10) at Kansas Pittsburgh 6, Houston 3 City (Splittorff, 8-5), n Today's Games Texas (Ellis, 5-8) at Chicago (Bar- Los Angeles (Ran, 12-2) at New rios, 11-4), n. York (Matlack, 6-12). Cleveland (nibby, 9-7) at Milwau- San Francisco (Barr, 10-7) at kee (Haas, 7-7), n. Montreal (J. Brown, 7-8), n. Detroit (Arroyo, 6-9) at Minne- San Diego (Shirley, 6-1) at Phila- sota (Schueler, 4-5), n. delphia (Carlton, 14-6), n, Boston (Paxton, 3-2) at Seattle St. Louis (Rasmussen, 8-10) at (Wheelock, 5-6), n. Atlanta (Ruthven, 3-7), n. Baltimore (Flanagan, 8-8) at Oak- Chicagg (R. -Reuschel, 15-3) at land (Langford, 7-12), n. Cincinnati (Moskau, 2-Z), n New York (Guidry, 8-5) at Cali- Pittsburgh (Kison, 6-4) at Hous- fornia (Ityan, 14-10), n. ton (J .Niekro, 6-3), n. Bell ringer Houston Astros' Enos Cabell almost gets his block knocked off while being tagged hard by Pitts burgh catcher Ed Ott during their game last night at Houston.