The Michigan Doily-Thursday, August 10, 1978-Page 11 CAUTHI sports of the By The Associated Press NEW YORK-Billy Martin said yesterday that controversial slugger Reggie Jackson was the main reason he resigned as manager of the New York Yankees and refused to retract his statement that Jackson is a "born liar." At the same time, Martin disclosed that he was contacted about managing "two or three" other teams and said his health "is good enough that I could manager tomorrow, if I wanted to." In a hastily arranged luncheon meeting with a group of eight writers, Martin said he didn't remember saying the infamous line at a Chicago airport that Jackson and owner George Stein- brenner "deserve each other. One's a born liar, the other's convicted." But he conceded that he couldn't deny saying it, either. He also said that he bears "no dislike" for Jackson and would not object to his being a Yankee when Martin returns as manager in 1980. Martin's rehiring was announced during Old Timers' Day ceremonies July 29 in one of the most bizarre turnarounds in baseball history. Martin said his anger at Jackson boiled over when the outfielder returned from a five-day suspension for bunting when ordered to swing away and denied that the bunts constituted an act of defiance. "I probably made the comment about George," Martin said. "I don't know why. I was probably mad at someone else. Maybe I said it to be witty, like I sometimes try to be." Martin seldom mentioned Jackson by name, usually referring to him as "the other guy." "I was mad at the other guy," he said. "The club was winning and relaxed and he comes back and won't admit he made a mistake." "He was fined by the manger, it was okayed by the owner and he denied it," Martin said. "Bet- )AILY ween Reggie's coming back and not even coming out to the ballpark early to take batting practice and his sitting around and saying he didn't think he did anything wrong . . . well, I thought the situation was getting to the point where a guy comes back and sits over there and won't admit to the fact that he did something wrong, but he's gonna be part of the team ... that wasn't a good working condition, as far as I was concerned." Martin decided to resign after the Yankees flew from Chicago to Kansas City that Sunday evening. "I couldn't sleep that night at all," he said. "I got up early and paced the floor, but my mind was made up." Asked if the Jackson situation was at the root of his resignation, Martin replied:' "Basically that's true-that and a slip of the ' tongue, saying something I didn't want to say and didn't think would be printed. I didn't mean it about George and I probably said it in jest, but I did mean it about the other guy. There's no question about it. Any man who makes a mistake and won't admit it is a weak man." Can Martin and Jackson ever survive in the same uniform? Martin paused before answering. "Yeah," he said thoughtfuly, "knowing exactly how he is .. yeah. Wherever he played he's always had problems with the manager. And when Reggie got his money and first came to the Yankees, I read his comment that 'George and I see eye-to-eye on everything.' But he forgot to mention one guy-the manager." No Cauthen-ousness SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.-Steve Cauthen, the sensational 18-year-old jockey, suffered a EN TAKES SPILL Billy quit? slight shoulder separation yesterday after falling off his mount in the third race at Saratoga Race Course. X-rays were taken at Saratoga Hospital, where Cauthen was to remain overnight for observation. Dr. William Newey, chief radiologist at the hospital, said the X-rays revealed no definite frac- tures. Cauthen rolled off his mount, Cute As A Button, when the 3-year-old filly suddenly went down at the quarter-mile pole while dueling with Frank's Ego for the lead. The filly, who suffered a com- pound cannon bone fracture, was destroyed. Cauthen, who rode Affirmed to each of his Triple Crown victories this year, is scheduled to ride the colt in the Travers here Aug. 19 for another meeting with Alydar, runnerup in all the Triple Crown events. Another jockey, Alan Patterson, also was ad- mitted to the hospital after being thrown in the fif- th race. His mount, Shumaker, staggered coming out of the gate and fell. Patterson suffered a possible concusion and was undergoing X-rays. Leaer AMERICAN LEAGUE G AR R H Pet. Carew Min............105 395 60 130 .329 AOliver Tex ........... 83 331 36 107 .323 GBrettKC............. 82 332 52 105 .316 LynnBan..............101 366 51 114 .311 Rice Bun .............. 110 456 82 142 .310 Roberts Sea ........... 88 299 50 92 .308 Piniella NY ............ 82 296 40 91 .307 MunsonNY............ 104 428 45 130 .304 BBell Cle ............. 92 358 48 108 .302 Ystrzmski Bn .........101 366 48 110 .301 Home Runs Rice; Boston, 27; Hisle, Milwaukee, 25; GThomas, Milwaukee, 25; Baylor, California, 24; EMurray, Baltimore, 22; JThompson, Detroit, 22. Runs BattedIn Rice, Boston, 90; Staub, Detroit, 90; JThompson, Detroit, 0; Hisle, Milwaukee, 79; Thornton, Cleve- land, 70. Pitching (10Decisions) Guidry, New York, 15-2, .882; Gur, Kansas City, 9.2, .818; Gale, Kansas City, 13-3, .813; Lyle, New York, 8.-2, .800; sosa, Oakland, 8-2, .800; Eckersley, Boston, 13-4, .765; Caldwell, Milwaukee, 14.6, .700; Rome, Seattle, 9.4, .692. NATIONAL LEAGUE G AB R H Pet. Burroughs At ......... 105 339 52 109 .319 Rose Cina.............. 111 461 76 145 .313 Whitfield SF .......... 107 354 57 110 .311 Madlock SF .. 0....... 85 320 52 90 .309 Conpcion Cin ......... 10 398 53 121 .304 Clark SF ..............10 407 04 123 .302 Bowa Phi.............. 107 449 50 135 .301 ParkerPgh............ 0095 376 54 113 .301 JCruz Htn ............. 105 394 49 118 .299 Evaleatine Mtl ........ 110 428 58 12 .299 Home Runs Luzinski, Philadelphia, 26; Foster, Cincinnati, 26; Rmith, Los Angeles, I; Dawson, Montreal, 20; Evalentine, Montreal, 19, Runs BattedaIn Foster, Cincinnati, 83; Clark, San Francisco, 78; Garvey, Los Angeles, 73; Winfield, San Dieg, 72; AP Photo Montanez, New York, 71. Pitching (lDecisions) Benham, Cincinnati, 9-2, .818; Blue, San Fran- Innati. Here eisco, 16-4, .800; McGraw, Phadelphia, 8.3, .727; it third while Perry, San Diego, 12.5, .70; DMoore, Chicago, 7.3, ver, but also ....700; Stter, 'ag ", 73.70; Mtefusco, SanFran. .. eo,9M, .612; Rger, Montreal,13.7,90 Take two, they're small Things didn't go too well yesterday afternoon for the Atlanta Braves when they visited Riverfront Stadium in Cinc they are shown being the victims of a successful double-steal, with the Reds' Dan Driessen easily beatingthe throw a teammate Cesar Geronimo does the same at second. Not only were the Braves caught with this third inning manue suffered a humiliating 10-0 loss. Well, at least Ted Turner's sailboat can win most of the time.