Softball vs. Detroit April10, 3:3; p.m. 'M' Varsity Diamond SPORTS Baseball vs. Indiana Sat. & Sun., 1:00 p.m. Ray Fischer Stadium The Michigan Daily Friday, April 5, 1985 Page 9 . . . ..... . ...... Cubs will repeat; Bucs to follow Blue Jays cut Leach By DAVE ARETHA Assuming there will be no major drug busts in the Wrigley Field clubhouse any time soon, here's how the National League East will stack up in 1985: 1. Chicago Cubs. Look for the Cuba to become the first N.L. East team since* the 1977-1978 Philadelphia Phillies to win back-to-back division titles. Chicago's lineup is the most explosive in the league and its pitching is rock-solid. Six Cubs knocked in 80 or more runs last year and another, Bob Dernier, scored 94. Chicago has so many quality pitchers that the starting rotation and the bullpen overlap each other. From Ryne Sandberg to Rick Sutcliffe to Lee Smith, the Cubs are the class of the East. One thing manager Jim Frey should watch out for, however, is that he retains control of his troops. In his first year at Kansas City in 1980, the laissez-faire manager let his team play carefree baseball and the Royals responded by storming to the World Series. But the reigns were too loose the next year. The Royals were a chaotic mess in 1981 and Frey was fired. 2. Pittsburgh Pirates. Sure; Pittsburgh finished in the cellar last year. And granted the Pirates lost Lee Lacy, a .321 hitter and John Tudor, a 12-game winner. But the Pirates were far from dismal in 1984 (75-87), and they have so many new additions that they should jump several positions in this mediocre division. New outfielders George Hen- drick, Steve Kemp, and Sixto Lezcano, plus the return of previously injured Bill Madlock, will suf- ficiently, bolster an offense that was tenth in runs scored last year. Even Pittsburgh's pitching, which led the league in ERA in 1984, should improve. Mike Bielecki, 19-3 at Hawaii, can capably replace Tudor, and fireballing reliever Don Robinson (110 strikeouts in 122 innings) is now healthy enough to pitch a full season. 3. New York Mets. There is a line for playoff tickets stretching from Queens to Schenectady. Seemingly everyone in New York thinks the Mets have the East locked up now that they've landed catcher Gary Carter. However, the Mets better realize that a cocky attitude can prove deadly in basebalk They also need to see that they're not as almighty as they think. The core of a baseball team is wits starting pitching, and the Mets' rotation, although talented, appears far from reliable. New York seems to be putting too much faith in a rotation that features the erratic Bruce Berenyi and four guys born in the 1960s. 4. Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies are pretty talented but they're missing a spiritual leader now that Pete Rose and Joe Morgan are gone. The Phillies are so worried about their own job security that they have no time to concern them- selves with team goals. Pitchers like Steve Carton , Jerry Koosman, and Bill Campbell are fighting to hang on for another year or two. Veter- ans Ivan DeJesus, Bo Diaz and Garry Maddox are, struggling to regain the starting jobs they've lost. And youngsters Jeff Stone, Glenn Wilson and Steve Jeltz are trying to prove they're everyday players. Stone, though, should be fun to watch. The out- fielder hit .362 in 51 games for Philadelphia last year and is said to be one of the fastest players in baseball. 5. Montreal Expos. The Phillies may be low on team spirit, but they look like pom pom girls on amphetamines when compared to the Excpos. Montreal has about the enthusiasm of a dead cor- pse. The Expos do their individual jobs efficiently (batters will hit .280 and pitchers will keep their ERAs down around 3.00), but they just don't play together as a team. It often takes them three hits to score one run. Montreal is filling the Keystone Combination with third basemen Hubie Brooks and Vance Law, but this wilt only make an inflexible team more rigid. And Bob Rodgers, their new generic manager, isn't like to give them the spark they need. 6. St. Louis Cardinals. St. Louis has been oddly streaky the last two years. They would win six straight games and then drop four, win four in a row and then drop six. By the end of each season they ended up at about .500 (79-83 and 84-78). But now that Bruce Sutter and his 45 saves have departed to Atlanta, the Cardinals are doomed. Look for them to tumble to the basement in 1985. Tomorrow: The American League West From staff and wire reports DUNEDIN, Fla. - The Toronto Blue Jays cut their roster to 26 players yesterday when former U-M football and baseball standout Rick Leach was returned to Syracuse of the Inter- national League and infielder Fred Manrique designated for reassignment. Leach, a left-handed hitting non- roster player at spring training had been competing for a backup job in the outfield. The 25-year-old Leach, quar- terback and centerfielder at Michigan from 1975-78, appeared in 88 games for ,Toronto last season and batted .261 with no home runs and seven runs batted in. He was assigned outright to Syracuse during the offseason. WHILE AT Michigan, the Ann Arbor native set several gridiron records, in- cluding a Michigan ca'reer mark with 1,024 points, a Big Ten record of 6460 total yards and set an NCAA record with 82 touchdowns. In baseball, Leach averaged .349 over four seasons, in- cluding a career high of .404. In 1979, Leach spurned offers from the Denver Broncos and Montreal Allouettes to become the number one draft choice of the Detroit Tigers. He joined the team in 1981. * - " itpepsi. Ge* PEPSI $1.99 8-pack 1/2 liter bottle CAMPUS CORNER 818 S. State Good thru 4/18/85 665-4431 Blue Jay bats rattle Petry as *Detroit falls, 6-2 DUNEDIN, Fla (AP)-Lloyd Moseby drove in two runs with a first inning triple and Jessie Barfield contributed a two-run homer to Toronto's 10-hit attack as the Blue Jays defeated the Detroit Tigers 6-2 yesterday in exhibition baseball action. The victory boosted the Blue Jays spring record to 18-7. TORONTO STARTER Dennis Lamp, touched for a two-run home by Mike Laga in the first inning, was the winner. He gave up six hits in seven innings. A solo shot in the eighth by Nelson Sim- mons off reliever Tom Filer accounted for Detroit's other run. After delivering two runs with his triple in the first, Moseby scored on a groundout by Willie Upshaw. Toronto went ahead 4-2 in the fourth with an unearned run off Dan Petry, the Tiger starter and loser. Tony Fernan- dez struck out, but the ball eluded Detroit catcher Marty Castillo, whose subsequent throw to first attempting to retire the Toronto shortstop was wild. Len Matusek, who had doubled, scored from second base on the play. Bucks 130, Pistons 121 MILWAUKEE (AP) - Terry Cum-I - mings scored 29 points and Paul Pressey added 20 to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 130-121 National Basketball Association victory over the Detroit Pistons last night. The Bucks took control of the game at the beginning of the fourth quarter, as they outscored the Pistons 8-2 to take a 98-89 lead with 9:52 remaining. CUMMINGS LATER took over, as he scored 10 of the Bucks next 12 points to give them a 116-111 lead with 3:32 remaining. Kelly Tripucka hit a jumper with 2:55 left to keep Detroit within 118-113. But Pressey then hit a lean-in jump shot to make it 120-113 with 2:34 to play, and the Bucks held off a late Pistons' rally to win. SIDNEY MONCRIEF and Craig Hodges added 17 points apiece for Milwaukee. Tripucka led Detroit with 32 points, while John Long added 23. Good friends will give you a break when you're broke. SPEND THIS SUMMER IN MAINE! Be a counselor at Kippewa for girls. Located on scenic Twelve Mile Lake in Winthrop, Maine. OPENINGS IN THE FOLLOWING The dinner was sensational. So was the check. The problem is, the theater tickets that you insisted on buying broke your whole budget. Enough to declare bankruptcy by the time the coffee arrived. 9; A nudge under the table and a certain destitute look in the eye were enough to produce the spontaneous loan only a good friend is ~W T ~U - I