Page 12-Tuesday, July 8 1980-The Michigan Daily . ............Siports s................. I Cjurtain call San Francisco Giants great Willie McCovey, who last week announced his retirement, catches flight of ball after he belted a pinch-hit, sacrifice fly to centerfield during the eighth inning of a game Sunday against Los Angeles. McCovey's swipe drove in Giants' Jack Clark to give McCovey his final major, league RBI. J.R. VS. STONE: Stars set to perform The Sporting Views By BUDDY MOOREHOUSE Aftermath of fight ... ... Cowens should be arrested On May 8, 1979, pitcher Ed Farmer of the Texas Rangers hit outfielder Al Cowens of the Kansas City Royals with a pitch that broke Cowens' jaw. On June 20, 1980, the two men faced each other again. This time Cowens was a Detroit Tiger and Farmer was the bullpen ace for the Chicago White Sox. In the 11th inning of a game that was deadlocked at 3-3, Cowens hit a routine ground ball to Sox shortstop Todd Cruz. While Farmer was turned to follow the play, Cowens, instead of trying to beat out the grounder, decided to beat out Farmer. The Tiger rightfielder made a bee-line for the pitcher's mound and took a blind-sided swipe at Farmer's head. The Sox infield immediately converged on Cowens and both benches emptied on to the playing field. The Tigers went on to win the game 5-3, but Cowens was slapped with a fine and a seven day suspension for his actions by league president Lee' MacPjail. In addition, White Sox owner Bill Veeck has filed a criminal suit against Cowens, so the newest member of the Tigers faces arrest the next time the Detroiters go to Chicago, which is scheduled for late August. Despite the uproar from the Tiger partisans at this act of legal recourse, the fact is that Cowens should be arrested and made to pay the consequence for his immature action. That opinion might not sit well with the fans who have enjoyed the Tigers' surge to second place in the AL East with the arrival of Cowens, but the fact remains that he must be punished for his hot-headed act of revenge. If a drunk rowdie in the bleachers at Tiger Stadium attacked another fan, he would be in the slammer before he knew what hit him. But if one athlete does the same thing to a fellow athlete, it is excused by many sports enthusiasts as being "part of the game." How can you expect the fans to control themselves and not fight in the seats if the same actions are condoned on the playing field? There can't be such a ridiculous double standard. Sparkv shrugs off mel(e Detroit manager Sparky Anderson defended his rightfielder's actions. "I don't think it was that big a deal," said Anderson. "It was just a case of something that was on his mind for a long time. Now, it's off his mind." The Tiger mentor also insisted that there is only one measure available that would reduce the frequency of incidents such as this. "Eliminate the DH (designated hitter) and get back to honesty. Make the pitcher stroll to the plate," said Anderson. "He thinks different then and don't think otherwise. I always had a rule that ifa pitcher gets one of us, then we get him. That's an eye for an eye. That's justice." That's stupid. What will become of baseball if everyone were to follow Sparky's brilliant philosophy? You get one of us, so we get one of you. Where will it end? The whole idea of getting revenge on the playing field is childish. It is doubtful that an athlete with class, a truly mature athlete, would have done such an immature thing. Athletes such as Al Kaline or Willie Strgell would not have lost their temper like Cowens did. They have too much class. But fans will continue to revel in watching their favorite athletes slug it out every time one of them feels that someone took a cheap shot at him. Hockey-the most violent sport of all-attracts many fans who just want to see a good fight. Well, if you want to see a good fight, then stick to boxing. But leave it out of everything else. Some will say that fighting is an inherent part of sports such as hockey. Fighting belongs in sports. It shows who the real men are. Nonsense. Not wanting to wound trite, but that's setting a terrific example for all the children who idolize sports figures. "But mommy, if Al Cowens can punch a guy, how come I can't?" Take them to(ourt So we seem to be left with only one alternative to stop this violent, childish mess. Prosecute the offenders. There can't be one set of laws for athletes and one set for everyone else. We all live under the same system. If one hockey player beats up on another, treat it Jike a common bar- room brawl. If a baseball player slugs another, arrest him. If a football player hits another, take him to court. The force of the law might act as the best deterrent to this unnecessary activity. It's time to stop treating our athletes like they are better than everyone else. They might be able to run faster, jump higher or throw farther than us, but that in no way gives them the legal right to beat each other up. LOS ANGELES (AP) - It will be the controlled curveball artistry of Steve Stone for the American League against the sheer fastball power of J. R. Richard for the National League at the start of tonight's 51st All-Star baseball game. Stone of the Baltimore Orioles and Richard of the Houston Astros were named to open the game by managers Earl Weaver for the American League and Chuck Tanner for the National. It will be the ultimate contrast of styles. Stone is a finesse pitcher. Richard relies on speed. Tanner, always helpful to the op- position, offered some insight into Richard's style for Weaver. Planting his tongue firmly in his cheek, the manager of the world champion Pit- tsburgh Pirates began this way: "Well, Earl, you have to watch for his screwball first," the Pirate manager began. "And his palmball, boy he really gets good rotation and movement on that one. You know, he really spots the ball, in and out." Sure he does. What Tanner neglected to mention but what Weaver already knew about is Richard's fastball, a burner that could be awesome in the twilight of Dodger Stadium. Weaver inserted New York Yankee teammates Willie Randolph and Graig Nettles and Milwaukee slugger Ben Oglivie in his starting lineup replacing three injured players. who had been elected in the fan balloting. Randolph, playing second base in place of Milwaukee's Paul Molitor, will lead off. Nettles, replacing George Brett of Kan- sas City at third base, bats seventh. Oglivie, the major leagues' home run leader with 21, will bat fifth and play left field. Tanner had one lineup change of his own, substituting Ken Reitz of St. Louis at third base for injured Mike Schmidt of Philadelphia. Reitz will bat seventh in the NL batting order. Tanner said his selection of Richard for the start did not involve the twilight starting time. "I felt Steve Carlton and J.R. were 1-2 for the honor," he said. "Carlton pit- ched Sunday, so that left Richard." The Astro ace last pitched Thursday so he comes into the game with a full four days of rest. He is 10-4 for the season with an earned run average of 1.96. Stone was chosen by Weaver because the Baltimore manager thinks his veteran curveballer could have an ad- vantage against a National League lineup which has seven right-handed hitters. Here are the starting lineups for tonight's 51st All-Star Baseball Game: American League Willie Randolph, 2b, New York Rod Carew, Sb, California Fred Lynn, cf, Boston Reggie Jackson, rf, New York Ben Oglivie, If, Milwaukee Carlton Fisk, c, Boston Graig Nettles, 3b, New York Bucky Dent, ss, New York Steve Stone, p, Baltimore National League Davey Lopes, 2b, Los Angeles Reggie Smith, rf, Los Angeles Dave Parker, cf, Pittsburgh Steve Garvey, lb, Los Angeles Johnny Bench, c, Cincinnati Dave Kingman, If, Chicago Ken Reitz, 3b, St. Louis Bill Russell, ss, Los Angeles J.R. Richard, p, Houston.