Sports 0 Page 16 Tuesday, August 4, 1981 The Michigan Daily CINCINNATI PRACTICES IN ANN ARBOR Reds prepare for 'second' season 4 By RON POLLACK DailySports Writer When the Cincinnati Reds began practice yester- day it almost seemed as though the baseball strike had never taken place (the Reds are in Ann Arbor. because Riverfront Stadium is currently holding a jazz festival). The morning rains forced the Reds into the Michigan Fieldhouse (normally the domain of Bo Schembechler's Wolverine gridders during in- clement weather) and any traces of the strikes bit- terness were replaced by joviality and horse-play. A number of Cincinnati players proceeded to line up in a football formation. The "offensive and defen- sive lines" set, a chatcher's mitt was placed under center asa make-shift football. "WANT TO GET the tackling sleds out," joked pit- cher Mike LaCoss. "Can we play touch football," asked third baseman Ray Knight. "No," said manager John McNamara, trying to maintain some order. "THEN HOW ABOUT tackle," retorted Knight. But when the rain ended, and Cincinnati went to Fisher Stadium to take batting practice it became evident that while the baseball strike may not have dulled the players sense of humors, it had done exac- tly that to their skills. Having particular difficulty were the hitters. "I' haven't seen any real pitching in a while," said in- fielder Junior Kennedy. "Batting practice helps, but you need real pitching. I think the biggest thing is to work on your timing. It's hard to say how long that will take." "THE OFF SPEED pitches are the toughest because when most of the guys have been hitting, they've been hitting hard stuff," explained outfielder Mike Vail. Infielder Ron Oester also noted a difference bet- ween batting practice during the strike and now when the pitchers are firing away. "I was hitting every day off of (Cincinnati) pitchers, but they weren't throwing as well as they are now. They were just trying to keep their arms in shape. Now they're throwing hard. Plus, you start getting into some bad habits without hitting regular pitching every day. But more batting practice should take care of that." And as if it is not difficult enough for most hitters to get their batting stroke back into the groove, Oester has the added work of doing so asa switch hitter. "RIGHT NOW I'm having problems with timing on both sides of the plate," he said. "But I do think it is more difficult getting my timing down since I have to do it on both sides of the plate." George Foster, whose 14 home runs led the Cincin- nati ball club when the strike began, noted some of the detrimental effects that the long layoff has had on him, which aren't as harmful to other players. "I'm a power hitter, so I have to have my timing more than a singles hitter. The most important thing is to get in running, because you need your legs to push off asa power hitter." THE STRIKE came at a particularly bad time for first baseman Dan Driessen. Driessen was having a hard time at the plate early on in the season, but was breaking out of his slump when the walkout took place. "I was hitting .160 for awhile and raised it to .205. So I was feeling good then. With just over a 100 at bats so far, I can close a lot of ground." Those players least effected by the strike for Cin- cinnati seem to be the pitchers, according to Reds' pitching coach Bill Fischer. "THE PITCHERS are ahead of the batters in training," said Fischer. "Everyone is worried about the pitchers, but I feel they'll be ahead of the hitters. All of our pitchers worked hard during the strike, and they worked hard because they're in good shape. I talked to them a couple of times during the strike, and they said they were working out faithfully. They're class guys. They knew they were a half game out and had a chance to win it all." McNamara also praised his team for the condition they are in. "The pitchers are in good shape leg-wise and arm-wise. All we've got to get them acclimated to is hitters. None of the players just laid off during -the strike. That's what this club is all about, there's pride and a winning attitude." When discussing the starting pitchers, Fischer ex- presses worry about only one-Tom Seaver. It's not that Fischer thinks Seaver is washed up, after all the 6-1, 210 pound pitcher was the Reds' ace with a 7-1 record when the strike began, he just thinks that the 36-year old may take more time than the other pit- chers to recover from the layoff. "THE STRIKE WILL hurt him most because of the age factor," said Fischer of Seaver. Among pitchers, the players who need the most conditioning are the relievers, said Doug Bair, a relief pitcher himself. "We have to pitch every day, so-there's more wear and tear.than on a starting pit- cher. We have to tie in top shape since we may have to go in the first three or four games from the word go." Pitchers are not the only athletes who depend on their arms when the Reds are in the field. In the same boat are catchers. "The arm strength is still there," said catcher Joe Nolan. "I just have to get my ac- curacy. It'll take about a weeks worth of games." -4 4 4 Bair catches batting practice for By RON POLLACK Daily Sports Writer Amidst the numerous red and white Cincinnati Reds' uniforms at Fisher Stadium yesterday, were two players who stuck out quite conspiculously. The reason they stood out was that they wore maize and blue jerseys. Wearing these jerseys were Michigan catcher Rich Bair and Kevin Wright, a catcher from Miami University who is in Ann Arbor for a summer league. Cincinnati After catching batting practice for the Reds, Bair did not try to hide his en- thusiasm. "It's a thrill," he said. "I'm from Dayton, Ohio, so I'm right in the middle of Cincinnati Reds' country. They've always been my team. It's an honor. I know that sounds trite, but it's a real thrill." Wright, who warmed up some of the Reds' pitchers in the bullpen in addition to spelling Bair during batting practice, compared professional pitchers to their college counterparts. "They (pro pit- chers) have more control," Wright assessed. "The ball goes where they want. They have control of all their pit- ches. It's a little harder to catch professional pitchers since the ball has more movement on it. Michigan notes - When asked if he thought that the Reds' presence in Fisher Stadium would help recruiting, Michigan baseball mentor Bud Mid- daugh said, "I don't think it will hurt. I just think it makes it more evident what super facilities we have. Don Canham has done a super.job with our facilities and I think that this is shown by a major league team coming in to use them ... Attending practice today will be Ray L. Fisher, the former Michigan manager for whom Fisher Stadium is named. Fisher, who is 93 years old, was a member of the Re ds 1919 world championship team. 4 I I Back to work AP Photo New York Yankee Dave Winfield gets down to business with a little leg work as the first game of the restored season is less than a week away. 4 . .. catches Reds' pitchers