Page Eight THE MICHIGAN DAILY Tuesday, August 5, 1975
CHUCK BLOOM'S COLUMN:
Wrigley Flei Baseba bastion
By CHUCK BLOOM Not so with Wrigley Field. It is unique, There is nothing worse, or better his beloved Cubs. Attired in Cubs'
CHICAGO-If you weren't looking for
It you wouldn't know it was there. It is
situated on Clark and Addison Streets on
the north side of Chicago-just a cooling
breeze away from Lake Michigan-en-
circled by Lake Shore Drive and its
high-rise, high-priced condominiums that
vault toward the blue Illinois sky like
a child's probing fingers.
It is Wrigley Field, known to all as
the place every Hollywood created team
plays the "big" game in the flicks. It
is where Dan Dailey (alk.a. Dizzy Dean)
made his big 'comeback; where Ray
Milland helped lead the St. Louis Cardi-
nals to victory in "It Happens Every
Spring;" and where Joe E. Brown made
Elmer Kane immortal through Damon
Runyon's eyes in "Elmer the Great."
Wrigley Field. Last sanctuary of the
grand old game we know as baseball.
Just your everyday ordinary neighbor-
hood ballyard.
National sportscasters all too often
elude to the olden times as one would in
a eulogy. They sing the virtues of new
stadia, complete with artificial surfaces,
and artificial atmosphere. Older arenas
of combat such as Tiger Stadium, Fen-
way Park, and the pre-renovated Yankee
Stadium are referred to with fondness
reserved for antique automobiles; nice
to look at, but how can they run like the
new ones?
a classic that cannot be copied, like a
fine wine from that very special vine-
yard. Cincinnati and Pittsburgh have
stadiums. Wrigley Field is a ballpark.
Its outside walls are covered with a
thick ivy which makes it look more like
an Eastern school than the left-center
field power alleys. The outfield grass it-
self is immaculate and greener than any-
thing an artist can duplicate.
It is the only ballpark in the major
leagues without lights, hence, there is
only day baseball in Wrigley Field.
This makes for great crowds in the
summer and some awfully painful sun-
burns during Sunday doubleheaders.
Fans of all shapes and sizes come to
Wrigley Field to cheer for a colorless,
non-descript team, the Cubs, who have
no present and little future.
And they come in droves. The die-
hards pay a buck and two bits to sit in
the bleacher sections where the fan is
literally on top of the action. A leather
throated critc sits so close to the play-
ing surface that he can trade barbs with
his favorite non-favorite.
The Cubs' Jose Cardenas, a well-travel-
led outfielder is a popular target. The
self-proclaimed "King of the Hot Dogs"
takes the ribbing with good humor.
Cardenal will exchange banter with fans
who seem to accept the Cubs' losses
like April 15th.
depending on your outlook, than a
bleacher bum with a loud voice, And
sharp tongue, watching a perennial
loser.
"Hey Jose, how many clubs you've
been with? Six? Make it siete, Jose!
"Hey, numero uno! Take a hike-o!
"Hey Monday! These are the dog days,
and you're a real dog.
"Hey Crosby! We haven't seen you and
you're already a bum.
"Hey you guys in the bullpen! Why
don't you get a job?
"Hey ump! If you had one more eye
you'd be a cyclops.
"Hey ragarm! Keep on running all the
way to Wichita.
"You guys play like a bunch of stiffs.
I've seen better hitters in a graveyard.
"Hey, Cardenal, you remind me of
my favorite sandwich, the hot dog, you
both make me sick.
"Hey Jose! We'll lay off of you.
You're too easy to kid. Es facile."
There is something wildly American
about watching Biff Pocoroba and Champ
Summers play baseball. Maybe because
if they can do it, anybody can, which is
the essence of the American Dream.
America is as strong as its youth,
it has been said, in which case, base-
ball is doing very well. The interest
is exemplified by a youngster who
comes halfway across Illinois to see
cap, Cub pants, Cub t-shirt and even
a Cub bandage to cover up some
stitches suffered in the cause of Cub-
dom, this kid was living and dying on
every pitch.
He ranged in emotions from despair
in seeing Bake McBride race around the
bases as the Cub defense futilely tried
to stop him, to uproarious glee, when
Rick Monday blasted a three-run homer
to tie the game.
But alas, he was not to go home with
that feeling of fullness as he sadly
watched ageless Lou Brock double with
the bases loaded to ice the win for the
Cardinals and aging Bob Gibson.
"Doesn't matter," said his father.
"He'll come back. He always does."
Experts keep saying that baseball is
dying, yet' the sport thrives year after
year, drawing more and more people.
Perhaps it is due to the very nature of
the game. Football and basketball capi-
talize on the times we live in-fast and
brutal. But the game Abner Doubleday
created over 100 years ago, appeals to
the American nature-slow and easy.
New stadiums, o r a n g e baseballs,
aliminum bats, designated hitters are
all extraneous frills. Wrigley Field epi-
tomizes the uncomplicated stream of
things.
That is -vhy a group of high schoolers
ring out these wards during the national
anthem ... "and the home of the Cubs"
By
CLEV
drove in
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Tribe spikes Tigers
The Associated Press After getting men on base in Tate exposed But after Jose Morales fanned
ELAND-Charlie Spikes each of the first five innings, for the first out, Jim Lyttle bat-
four runs with a home the Brewers tied it in the sixth. NEW YORK - The Montreal ted for winner Don DeMola,
a single and Manager Charlie Moore opened with a Expos, held hitless by rookie 4-5, and stroked a 2-2 pitch into
Robinson drove in the triple and, after the next two Randy Tate for 7/3 innings, left field for a clean single, end-
run of his baseball ca- batters had, struck out, Robin exploded for four runs in the ing Tate's no-hit bid.
st night, carrying the Yount scored him with a single. eighth-three on Mike Jorgen- Pepe Mangual worked out a
d Indians to a 6-4 vic- Milwaukee filled the bases in sen's homer-and beat the New walk, then Tate fanned Jim
r the Detroit Tigers. the second inning on singles by York Mets 4-3 last night. Dywer for No. 13. But Gary
gave the Indians a 2-0 Charley Moore and Gorman Tate, 4-10, had struck out 13 Carter followed with a single to
the second inning, pow- Thomas and a walk to Kurt batters, t y i n g the National left that scored Lyttle and Jor-
S seventh home run of Bevacqua. But Yankee left-
on over the left field hander Rudy May, 11-6, ended League high for the season, and gensen crashed his 11th homer
h Rico Carty on base the threat by getting Don Money took a 3-0 lead into the eighth of the season into the Mets' bull-
eadoff walk. to fly out. inning. pen in left field.
THE TIGERS took a 3-2 lead
in the fifth inning off Dennis
Eckersley, 9-3. Art James drove
in one run with a single and Ben
Oglivie came through with a
two-run single, driving in Gene
Michael and James from first.
After a one-out walk to Rick
Manning and a hit by Oscar
Gamble in the Indians' fifth,
Robinson hit his run-scoring dou-
ble over third base.
Carty was intentionally walk-
ed by Mickey Lolich, 10-11, and
Spikes looped a single to left,
scoring Gamble and Carty for
a 5-3 lead.
Cleveland added a run in the
eighth on Frank Duffy's single,
and the Tigers scored in the
bottom of the ninth on Willie
Horton's single.
Foam yanked
MILWAUKEE - Thurman
Munson's eighth - inning single
scored Fred Stanley from sec-
ond base, giving the New York
Yankees a 2-1 victory over the
Milwaukee Brewers and handing
Bill Travers his sixth consecu-
tive loss.
Stanley had walked on four
pitches to .lead off the inning
against Travers, 4-6. Two outs
later Roy White moved Stanley
to second with a single to set
up Munson's game-winning hit.
NEW YORK nicked Travers
for a run in the third on a dou-
ble by Sandy Alomar, a bunt
single by Stanley and a sacri-
fice fly by -Bobby Bonds.
Ma jor League'
Standings
AMERICAN LEAGUE
East
W L Pet. Ga
Bston 6 16 43 .606 -
aiiimore 56 30 .5233.:5
New York 56 52 .519 91
Milwaukee 53 57 .482 31
Cleveland 48 58 .453 16>
Detroit 46 63 .422 20
West
Oakland 67 41 .620 -
Kansas City 59 49 .5468
Chicago 52 56 .481115
Texas 515851.468 1 6
Minnesota 49 62 .441 191/>
Calinornaa 45 62 .436 20
Last Night's Results
Cleveland 6, Detroit 4
Balimare 12, Baston 8
Kansas City 6, Minnesota 5, 10 Inn.
New York 2, Milwaukee 1
Chicato 4, California 2
Texas 12, Oakland 0
Today's Games
Calitornia (F'igueroa 8-8 and floss-
ier 3-10) at Chicago (Jefterson 2-6
and Hamilton 3-4), 2, 6:30 p.m.
Oakland (Bosman 6-3 and Siebert
2-1) at Texas (Perry 10-15 and
Wright 2-4), 2, 7 p.m. -
Baltimore (Palmer 14-7) at Bos-
ton (Tiant 13-10), 7:30 p.m. .
Detroit (Lolich 10-10) at Cleve-
land (Raich 5-6), 7:30)p.m.
Minnesota (Goltz 8-9) at Kansas
City (Fitzmorris 10-9), 8:30 p.m.
New York (Hunter 14-10) at M1-
waukee (Hausmann 3-3), 8:30 p.m.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
East
w L Pct. GB
Pittsburgh 65 44 .596 -
Philadelphia Si 48 .560 4
New York ' 56 51 .523 8
St. Louis 56 53 .514 9
Chicago 50 60 .455 15%4
Montreal 45 60 .42 91
west
Cincinnati 71 38 .651 -
Los Angeles 56 54 .509 15%
San Francisco 55 54 .505 16
San Diego 51 51 .468 20
Atlanta 48 60 .444 22,
Houston 39 73 .34i 331
Last Night's Results
Montreal 4, New York 3
St. Louis 5, Pittsburgh 4
Houston 5, San Diego 3
Chicago at Philadelphia, inc.
Atlanta at Los Angeles, inc.
Cincinnati at San Francisco, inc.
Today's Games
Montreal (Slair 6-12 and Carrith-
era 0-0) at New York (Koosman 10-
8 and Hll 4-2), 2, 5:35 p.
Chicago (Bonham 10-7) at Phila-
delphia (Christenson 6-7), 7:35 p.m.
Pittsburgh (Rooker 7-7) at St.
Louis (Rasmussen 1-1), 5:15 p.m.
Houston (Richard 7-7) at San
Diego (Johnson 1-0), 10 p..
Atlanta (Niekro 11-8) at Los AR-
geles (suttoa 14-9), 1:35 PM.
Cilncnnati (Dtillinghamfl11-5) At
'saeancisco (Ilalickt 5-), 1105
p.m.
Ar Pooo
CLEVELAND INDIAN PITCHER Dennis Eckersley tags Gene Michael after a rundown, between
third base and home plate in last night's game. Eckersley leads the American League in winning
percentage, for starting pitchtrs with a 94 slate.