SPORTS
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Page 10
Thursday, September 14, 1981
The Michigan Daily 1
FORMER 'M' STAR RIDES THE PINE
f
Tigers I
By JIM DWORMAN
"Leach drops back... He throws
over the middle to Clayton- -
TOUCHDO WN!
"Here's the pitch to Leach... He
swings, and its a liner to right ...
Fair ball . . . Leach rounds first.
He's going to try for two ... Here
comes the throw. He slides. SAFE.
Another double for Leach."
Whether on the gridiron or the
baseball diamond, Rick Leach has
always been where the action is. In high
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OPEN HtEARING
Revewof the Curriculum
R i in Physical Therapy
Thursday, Sept. 24 1981
Regents' Room -First Floor,'
Fleming Administration Bldg.
2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Those wishing to make a public statement should
call Edward Dougherty at 764-9254.
Vice President Frye is also available for private
meetings on physical therapy on Wednesday, Sep-
tember 23, from 3-5 p.m.
keep Lea
cing frustration as a Major League
baseball player. The adjustment to sit-
ting on the Detroit Tigers' bench has
been a difficult one.
"BEING ABLE TO sit and come in as
a pinch hitter and as a defensive
replacement has been tough," says
Leach, the former Wolverine All-
American. "All throughout my career
I've started and played every game.
Now I've had to get used to being on the
bench."
The infrequent trips to the plate have
caused Leach's batting average to'
plummet. He is currently hitting only
.183 in 60 at bats, well below the .272 he
hit last season at Evansville, the
Tigers' AAA affiliate, and even further
below the .348 mark Leach achieved in
four years at Michigan.
One person who feels that Leach will
hit better, is ex-Wolverine baseball
coach Moby Benedict. "Just leave
Ricky Leach alone and he'll get his hits.
Don't look at his average this year
because one of the toughest things to do
is swing the bat well after sitting on the
bench for a week.
"BASEBALL IS A game that' you
have to play every day," adds
Benedict. 'The only way you're going to
get a hot bat is by playing every day.
Look at Kirk Gibson now."
Gibson, former All-American football
player from Michigan State, struggled
while playing only part-time during his
first two seasons with the Tigers. This
year he is batting a team leading .323.
Tiger manager Sparky Anderson also
cl unde
realizes that it is unfair to evaluate
Leach's performance on such a small
amount of appearances. "He just hasn't
had a chance to play," commments the
Tiger skipper.
WITH THE TIGERS hanging on by a
thread to first place in the American
League East Division, Leach will
probably not play in too many more
games during the season's final two
weeks.
"I think Sparky wants to go with the
guys who've been around a little longer
than me right now," says Leach, who's
father, Richard Sr., also played
baseball at Michigan. "But he knows
that I'll be working hard and keeping a
good attitude."
Leach's attitiude is one reason why
Anderson says "I really like Ricky
Leach."
ANOTHER REASON is the former
quarterback's versatility. A center-
fielder at Michigan, Leach has been
used as both a rightfielder and a first
baseman by the Tigers. Leach feels
that this has worked to his advantage.
"It gets me into more games than
playing just one position would."
He has not committed an error at
Leach
..now a Tiger
school, at Michigan, in Lakeland and in
Evansville, Leach was always in the
lineup. He has always been a real com-
petitor.
That is why Rick Leach is experien-
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Homer drops Tigers
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either position. For now, Leach wilicon-
tinue to play both positions, but
Benedict feels it would be to the Tigers'
advantage to use him as an outfielder.
"Leach has got a great nose for the
ball," said Benedict. "If he were in the
Tiger outfield, he'd have the best arm
of any of them."
BUT WHILE LEACH is now secure
with the Tigers, his future was not
always so certain.
After his senior year at Michigan,
Leach had his choice of two
professional sports. In 1979 he was draf-
ted not only by the Tigers in the first
round of the Major League baseball
draft, but also by the Denver Broncos
as their fifth-round selection in the
Naitonal Football League draft. Much
to the Broncos regret, Leach chose to
stay close to home.
"If it had not been the Tigers that
drafted me, then I definitely would
have played pro football," reflects
Leach. "It would've been a good
situation for me in Denver. They
needed a quarterback. Craig Morton
was about thirty-seven years old and on
the way out. Football is really big up
there, too."
"ONCE I MADE my decision (to play
baseball), I was going to.stick it out. A
few times afterward I thought about
football, but )now that I'm with the
Tigers-in the majbrs-I'm really
satisfied with baseball," he adds.
With football in his past, there is little
doubt that Leach will succeed in
baseball.
"I parallel Ricky Leach with Pete
Rose," says Benedict. "Rose can't run.
He can't throw. He can't field. The only
thing he can do is beat you."
While his former coach's opinion may
be a great compliment to him, it is cer-
tain that Leach is more interested in
another opinion, that of manager An-
derson, who says, "He's going to spend
a lot of years in Detroit."
GRIDDE PICKS
The year was 1967. Members of the
U.S. Navy were on their way to deliver
the week's Gridde picks when suddenly
the ship, The U:S.S. Pueblo, was taken
hostage by a group of North Koreans.
The reason-the Koreans wanted to
change their last pick in favor of the
Daily Libels.
If you want to compete with the Mid-
shipmen for the free one-item pizza
from Pizza Bob's, just drop your picks
at the Daily (420 Maynard) before mid-
night Friday.
1. Navy at MICHIGAN (pick score)
2. Indiana at Syracuse
3. Bowling Green at Michigan State
4.UCLA at Iowa
5. Ohio State at Stanford
6. Notre Dame at Purdue
7. Utah at Northwestern
8. Miami (Fla.) at Texas
9. Penn State at Nebraska
10. Florida at Mississippi State
11. Oklahoma at USC
12. Maryland at North Carolina State
13. South Carolina at Georgia
14. Auburn at Tennessee
15. Kentucky at Kansas
16. Idaho at Hawaii
17. Holy Cross at Harvard
18. California State at Slippery Rock
19. Humboldt State at Occidental
20. DAILY LIBELS at Edmund Fitzgerald
Appointments
with us at
can be made
764-9290
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BALTIMORE (AP) - Jim Dwyer hit
a leadoff homer in the ninth inning to
give the Baltimore Orioles a 1-0 victory
over the Detroit Tigers last night as
Dennis Martinez hurled a three-hitter
and became the first 14-game winner in
the major leagues.
Dwyer connected on a 1-2 delivery
from Dan Petry, 9-8, and stopped
Detroit's winning streak at four games.
Petry had allowed four previous hits
and stranded two Baltimore runners in
four different innings.
MARTINEZ, 14-4, won his sixth
straight while walking seven and
striking out six. He has won nine, in a
row at Memorial Stadium since losing
on Aug. 16, 1980.
Detroit's Alan Tammell was thrown
out at the plate on a dis.puted call in the
sixth. He tried to score from third after
catcher Dan Graham made a bad
throw. as Kirk Gibson stole second.
Trammell, who had walked and
reached third on Gibson's check-swing
DETROIT ......
Boston .........
Milwaukee.....
Baltimore ...
New York....
Toronto......
Cleveland ......
26
25
25
22Y
22
19
20
17 -
17 %/
19 1%
19 3
20 31/2
20 5
23 6
single, broke for the plate as the ball
went past shortstop Lenn Sakata.
Second baseman Rich Dauer backed up
the play, and his return throw
to Graham nailed Trammell,
AL East
Yesterday's results
Baltimore 1, DETROIT 0
Boston 11, Milwaukee 5
Oakland 6, Toronto 0
New York 6, Cleveland 1
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