srsday, August 4, 1977
LONE CINCI BRIGHT SPOT
THE MIC HIGAN QA fIY
Pope Eleven
THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Eleven
Foster's power
CINCINNATI (AP - Take.: it
man two all-time Cincinnati
eds sluggers-Ted Kluszewski
nd Johnny Bench-the power-
,l bat of George Foster is flirt-
t with some revered records.
FOSTER'S 35 HOME runs, in-
:uding it in .the last 20 games,
" one behind Hack Wilson's
scord race in 1930, when the
foot-6 bantam belter cracked
while driving in an unbeliev-
ible 190 runs.
The 28-year-old Foster, only
his second full year as a reg-
lar, is threatening to become
,e National League's first play-
to slam 50 home runs in more
pan a decade. Willie Mays had
52 in 1965.
-"If he doesn't press, he
sho',ldn't have any problem
hitting 58." said Kluszewski,
the once-feared sligger who
now serves as bitting instruc-
to'- of the world champions.
Only four players have hit 50
or more home runs in National
League historv. They were Wil-
son, Johnny Mize, Ralph Kiner
and Mays.
The irony is that Foster, who
has blossomed u n d e r Klu's
sirntiny, is bidding to break the
cl b record of 49 set in 1954 by
KlIszewski.
"HE'S DEFINITELY got a
dead bead on 50 homers and 150
RBIs," said Bench, who holds
the club record for a right-
handed hitter with 45 in 1970.
Foster, who also bats right,
could shatter Bench's club rec-
ord of 148 RBIs, set in 1970.
Foster, who went into Wednes-
day night's game against the
Chicago Cubs with 103 RBIs in
104 games, is running ahead of
Bench's 1970 pace. Bench had
99 after 104 games.
"If we were winning," said
Bench, "he'd he a shoo-in for
Most Valuable Player. He's
jest awesome."
Foster led the majors with
121 RBIs last year and finished
fourth in the league home run
keys
derby with 29-nine behind lead-
er Mike Schmidt.
"He's the best pure power
hitter in the game," said Klus-
zewski. "I don't think there is a
pitch he can not hit. His com-
binafion of bat quickness and
strength is as good as any I've
ever seen. Usually a man of
George's size doesn't have that
quickness," added Kluszewski,
referring to Foster's s lightning-
fast wrists.
"I DON'T THINK he's reach-
ed his full potential yet. There
are so many things he can do.
His strike zone is going to get
smaller. He has some super
Reds
years ahead of him," said Klus-
zewski.
A year ago. Foster was in hot
pursuit of the triple crown be-
fore succanmbing to a 4-for-44
swoon in Angost. "He gets his
lapses from thinking too much."
Kluszewski f e e 1 a Foster
benefitted from the collapse.
"He's been through it before.
He started cranking, he got a
sniff of the roses. Sometimes
you don't even realize it. I
know. I had seven or eight
games to hit my 5th homer.
Pitchers don't pitch to you and
you get imnatient.
"He's going to have to fight
that tendency to over-achieve.
His big thing against him down
the stretch is he'll be facing a
lot of high fastballs," said Klu.
Welcome Students
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AP Photo
CHICAGO WHITE SOX outfielder Chet Lemon acknowledges the Comiskey Park fans after they cheered for him to come out of the
dugout last weekend. Lemon had just blasted a home run which helped knock off the Kansas City Royals and keep the Chisox perch-
ed above the Western Division of the American League. Chicago fans are going crazy this summer and if the White Sox play. just
.500 ball the rest of the way, they could be hard to catch.
AL WEST A FRENZY
pan Chicago hold off the pack?
By DON MacLACHLAN
the American League West-
1 Division pennant race
Ald go right down to the last
ek of the season again this
ar. In 1976, the Kansas City
Eals hung on- to nip the Oak-
id A's by 2 games.
Currently, four teams are
I the thick of the champion-
tip race with the Chicago
White Sox pacing the pack by
Vs lengths over the Minne-
tia Twins, and 8 ahead of
Ie Kansas City Royals and
5e surging Texas Rangers.
lhe Chisox lead the Ameri-
I League in hitting and have
torded victories in 31 of their
It 44 outings. There doesn't
m to be a weak link in the
cago batting order and their
ching, led by Francisco Bar-
s (11-4), has been more than
lquate.
the three squads trailing the
ite Sox remained surprised
at the sluggers from the
ady City are still in the race
after all Chicago finished a
d last in the division a year
"I think we will beat Chica-
o Out," said Royal center-
Ilder Amos Otis. "Last
's experience will help,
4 this year is different.
Oakland had it all and the
White Sox don't have it. A lot
of teams play well for a half
a season."
"The pressure will get to the
White Sox," Otis continued.
"They can't hit all year. They
have been injury free over
there. The White Sox feel that
Kansas City is not going to
stop coming after them.''
Another team that continued
to pressure Bob Lemon and his
White Sox are the Twins. Man-
ager Gene Mauch and the
Twins led the division until the
middle of June when the Chisox
took over. JVMinnesota is on a
hot streak of its own winning
13 of their last 17 games.
"We've got to keep going be-
cause Chicago hasn't been los-
ing," said Minnesota catcher
Butch Wynegar. "They've been
going at just an unbelievable
pace and we're probably lucky
to be this close."
"I don't know about the
White Sox," said Kansas City
manager Whitey Herzog. "They
haven't had a hitting slump all
year. I think their pitching is
underrated too, mainly be-
cause the staff is all no-names
outside of Wilbur Wood. But
Lerrin Le Grow and Hamilton
have done a good job in the
pen."
"The White Sox are loosey
goosey," Herzog added.
"They aren't, pressured be-
cause they weren't picked to
win anything. We just gotta
go out and win 95 games and
let everything take care of
itself."
If Chicago splits its remain-
ing 60 games, it would finish
the season with 92 victories and
the Royals copped the crown
last year with only 90 con-
quests.-
"It's not ~ too late," Herzog
said. "If we don't do some-
thing in the next ten to twelve
games I'll start to worry."
"What enthuses me is that
we aren't hitting as well as
we can yet, and we've got
the same pitching staff as last
year when we won it except
for Jim Colborn instead of
Al Fitzmorris." "
Texas, under the leadership
of Billy Hunter, has resurrect-
ed from a mid-season slump
and finds itself chasing a title
for the first time since Billy
Martin ran the show there.
Next week the Rangers can pick
up some valuable ground on
the front runners when the
Royals and White Sox visit the
Arlington Stadium.
The Rangers must be cast as
the darkhorse, but all four
teams are hot and for the sec-
ond successive year the division
championstip could go right
down to the wire.
lots of living
aend
loving ahad s'
It's a spewing smoke-
stack. It's litter in the
streets. It's a river where
fish can't live.
You know what pollu-
tion is.
But not everyone does.
So the next time you see
pollution, don't close your
eyes to it.
Write a letter. Make a
call. Point itouttosomeone
who can do something
about it.
start pollution.
Cut it shrt? can stop it.
iv l ( KeepAmerica Beautiful
A r~rcaL:u I a r Ens e.Newo.k, N 0 8
A PubiccIety A m5e a TisNecna8