Banner Graphic, Volume 9, Number 258, Greencastle, Putnam County, 7 July 1979 — Page 5
Mrs. Harmless wins OLGA tournament The golden 50’s are agreeing with Betty Harmless and especially her golf game. On June 25 Mrs. Harmless won the Old Ladies Golf Association tournament in Goshen on a two-hole sudden death playoff with Mrs. Phil Adler of Lebanon. At the end of 18 holes, Mrs. Harmless and Mrs. Adler were tied at 85. After the first hole of sudden death, or sudden victory, the ladies were still tied. But the wife of Howard Harmless parred the next hole and the Lebanon golfer bogeyed it. CURRENTLY THE vice-president of the Indiana Women's Golf Association, it was the first time OGLA accepted Mrs. Harmless’ entry, despite being eligible for two years The tournament started in 1949, making the 1979 tournament its 30th year. Entry is limited to women 50 years old or older with a limit of 200 golfers per year Tradition is so strong with the limit of golfers and the prestige of playing in OGLA. that for a new entry to be allowed, a past participant must withdraw. The oldest golfer of the tournament w ; as 88 years old and she fired a 99. WHILE MRS. HARMLESS has played in tournaments at Windy Hill Country Club, where she is a member, along with other tournaments around Indiana, this is her first major title.
Cardinals practice home-run trot at Atlanta
Bv FRED ROTHENBERG AP Sports Writer Three Cardinals hit their first homers of the season, and the seven St. Louis batters who homered at Atlanta Stadium Friday night had totaled just 13 homers entering the doubleheader. Mike Phillips, Bernie Carbo and Jerry Mumphrey all hit their first homers of the season and Lou Brock hit his fifth as the Cards won the first game 95, ending the Braves’ winning streak at six games. In the second game, Garry Templeton, belted a solo homer in the 10th inning, his second of the game, to give St. Louis a 5-4 victory. Templeton’s homer came off
Red Sox feel the wrath of Seattle's
By 808 GREENE AP Sports Writer Dick Drago and the Boston Red Sox picked on the wrong guys Willie Horton and the Seattle Mariners. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth inning and the scored tied 3-3 with two out, Horton, Seattle’s designated hitter, was hit on the hand by a pitch from Red Sox reliever Dick Drago. It forced in the tie-breaking run, but sent Horton to the mound. After being hit, Horton raced to the mound where he tackled Drago. The Boston and Seattle benches emptied and about 60
Th© Wet look. Spitter outlawed, but that doesn't keep pitchers from loading up
By MURRAY CHASS c. 1979 N.Y. Times News Service NEW YORK Tommy John, the Yankee pitcher who has been accused of throwing scuffed baseballs, has finally confessed net to throwing scuffed baseballs, though. “I threw a spitter to Mickey Mantle once,” John admitted the other day. “I think it was in 1967.1 was with the White Sox at the time, and we were way ahead. I threw the spitter, and the ball went straight down. Mickey fouled it off. I don’t know how he did it. But he just looked at me and started laughing. I started laughing and had to walk off the mound. After the inning, he said, ‘Man, your sinker really improved on that one pitch.’ ” End of confession. John will admit to nothing more. Nevertheless, if there were a most-wanted list of pitchers suspected of doctoring baseballs without a license, he would hold a featured position, along with Gaylord Perry of the San Diego Padres and Don Sutton of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Perry, Sutton and John. These are the pitchers mentioned most frequently when players and managers are asked to name those they suspect of doing something funny with baseballs, whether it’s applying saliva or some form of grease, or scuffing or cutting them. Seldom do pitchers admit any of these offenses, though a few years ago Perry wrote a whole book chronicling his guilt. Along with his confessions, Perry was quick to report that he didn’t throw the spitter anymore. “But he doesn’t throw it any less, either,” says Gene Mauch, manager of the Minnesota Twins. Baseball outlawed the spitball in 1920. In 1968, the rule makers acknowledged the suspected existence of outlaw pitches by making it illegal for a pitcher to touch his mouth with his pitching hand while on the mound. Presumably, if a pitcher could wet his fingers with saliva or sweat only off the mound, the fingers would dry by the time he returned to the rubber and threw a pitch. According to the rule book, section 8.02, a pitcher also shall not “apply a foreign substance of any kind to the ball; expectorate on the ball, either hand or his glove; rub the ball on his glove, person or clothing; deface the ball in any manner; deliver what is called the ‘shine’ ball, ‘spit’ ball, ‘mud’ ball or ‘emery’ ball.”
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Atlanta’s fourth pitcher, Craig Skok, 1-3. George Frazier, 1-1, took the win as the Cards’ third pitcher. Joe Nolan’s fourth homer and starter Mickey Mahler’s force out gave the Braves a 2-0 lead in the second inning of the nightcap. The Cards cut the lead in the third, and Ken Reitz, Mike Tyson and Templeton all hit solo homers in the fourth to put the Cards ahead 4-3. Also in the National League, Houston beat Chicago 4-2, Montreal defeated Los Angeles 6-4, Philadelphia downed San Francisco 6-1, San Diego beat New York 6-5 in 12 innings and Pittsburgh edged Cincinnati 2-1. Astros 4, Cubs 2 Joe Niekro became the major
players and coaches clustered around the two players. Horton was ejected and taken to a hospital for precautionary X-rays. “With the count 0-2 and the bases loaded, I certainly didn’t want to hit him.” Drago said. “That turned out to be the winning run.” Seattle went on to score another run and beat Boston 5-3. In other AL games Friday night, Detroit swept a pair from Milwaukee 7-4 and 5-4, Cleveland edged Minnesota 6-5, Toronto downed Texas 5-1, the Chicago White Sox stopped Kansas City 4-1, California beat Baltimore 7-3 and the New York Yankees won both ends of their
BETTY HARMLESS
league’s first 13-game winner and the first-place Houston Astros maintained their ninegame lead in the NL West with a victory over the Cubs. Niekro was touched for a solo home run by Dave Kingman, N 0.29, before giving way to Joe Sambito who finished and earned his 10th save. Sambito has not allowed an earned run in 22 straight games. Reds 2, Pirates 1 George Foster, nursing a pulled muscle, came off the bench to deliver a two-out single in the ninth that scored Dan Driessen and gave Cincinnati the victory over Pittsburgh. With runners on first and sec-
double-header with Oakland, 4-3 and 3-0. Yankees 4-3, A’s 3-0 Left-hander Tommy John became the AL’s first 13-game winner as he scattered seven hits in blanking Oakland in the second game of a New York double-header sweep. The Yankees took the opener when Willie Randolph walked with the bases loaded in the eighth inning, forcing in the winning run. John, now 13-3, got his third shutout of the year. Tigers 7-5, Brewers 4-4 Jason Thompson belted a two-
For violating any of these commandments, a player is charged with a ball on the first illegal pitch and warned, then ejected from the game for an additional violation. He also is subject to suspension. Rarely, however, does an umpire call a ball; rarer still is ejection or suspension, though Umpire Doug Harvey threw Sutton out of a game against St. Louis last year for “pitching a defaced baseball.” And in 1948 Nelson Potter of the St. Louis Browns was suspended for 10 days for wetting the ball with his fingers despite warnings from Umpire Cal Hubbard. Perry has suffered only these indignities: Umpires examine and make him change various parts of his uniform. They check his hands, neck, ears and hair. Joe Cronin, when he was the American League president, had a chemist analyze baseballs that Perry threw; no substance was found. No one ever seems to find any evidence. Still, often a batter misses a sudden-breaking pitch for strike three, then returns to the dugout muttering that the pitcher threw another wet one. “It’s such a psychological thing between pitchers and hitters,” said Don Drysdale, the former Los Angeles pitcher, who acquired a reputation for throwing spitters. “Hitters are so psyched by it at times.” Fran Healy, an astute Yankee broadcaster who not long ago was a major league catcher, caught for Perry and batted against him. “I don’t think he threw the spitter as much as everybody thought,” Healy said, “but, even when he doesn’t throw it, it works for him, because of the anxiety it creates.” Bobby Murcer and John Mayberry were two hitters who let themselves be affected by a belief that Perry threw a spitter. Joe Morgan, on the other hand, says he refuses to be intimidated by Perry or any other suspected pitcher. “I don’t concern myself with them,” explained Morgan, Cincinnati second baseman. “It’s a psychological thing with a lot of pitchers. Like Gaylord. He lets people know he throws a spitter, then he does a lot of things that make you think he’s throwing it. “Every pitch that comes to the plate I expect to be able to handle. If I’m worrying about Gaylord throwing a spitter or Sutton throwing a scuffed ball, it gives them an advantage. They’d have me doing something other than thinking about hitting. That’s what Gaylord preys on. He preys more on the psychological thing than he throws a spitter.”
Babe Ruthers win at Plainfield Pettit's no-hitter boosts stars
PLAINFIELD -- Last Sunday in the Greencastle 13-year-old Babe Ruth All-Stars’ last practice Billy Pettit caught a flyball smack dab on the tip of his ring finger. Immediately the finger swelled to the size of one of Havana’s fattest cigars. Coaches Ron Johnson and Eric Bernsee also immediately began to worry. THEY KNEW they had only one other pitcher who has toiled at all in this year’s Babe Ruth play. And Friday night, in their second game of the district tourney at Plainfield, it was time to hope Pettit was ready. Not only was he ready, he was
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ond, Cincinnati Manager John McNamara called on Foster, who is tied for the National League lead in runs batted in. He drove a long single off Kent Tekulve to the left field wall Phillies 6, Giants 1 Mike Schmidt homered and knocked in three runs to back Nino Espinosa, who pitched his first career victory over San Francisco in six decisions, scattering 11 hits. Schmidt homered in the seventh, his 24th, and two outs later, Bob Boone connected for his sixth. The Giants have lost four in a row. Expos 6, Dodgers 4 Dan Schatzeder, who needed
run homer in the nightcap in powering Detroit over Milwaukee as the Tigers swept a double-header from the Brewers. The Tigers won the first game on a two-run single by Lance Parrish that sparked a four-run eighth inning. Thompson drove in four runs with four hits and scored three times in the double-header. Indians 6, Twins 5 Mike Hargrove drove home two runs, including the eventual game-winner, and Sid Monge hurled 21-3 innings of scoreless relief to give Cleveland its victory over Minnesota.
untouchable. The little righthander set down Lowell 133, firing a no-hitter in the process. The Greencastle win eliminated Lowell and thrust the local stars a step ahead in the tourney with a 3:45 p.m. game slated for Saturday at Plainfield’s Franklin Park. GREENCASTLE started fast Friday night. Using six walks, a Lowell error on a dropped flyball and Jeff Bruce’s single, the local stars scored five times in the first inning and were never headed. Greencastle scored a solo run in the second on two more Lowell errors and wrapped the
last-out relief help from Elias Sosa, stroked a two-run single in the seventh that was the difference in Montreal’s victory over Los Angeles. Schatzeder, 4-1, got his gamewinner off reliever Dennis Lewallyn. The hit proved the margin of victory when Davey Lopes slashed a two-run single off Sosa in the ninth. Padres 6, Metss A pop-up and a double play saved San Diego when the Mets had runners at first and third and none out in the 11th inning. Dave Winfield opened the 12th with a line drive homer, his 19th this season, that lifted the Padres over the Mets.
'ancient Mariner'
Hargrove doubled home Gary Alexander and later scored on a single. White Sox 4, Royals 1 Wayne Nordhagen slammed a solo home run and Alan Bannister singled twice to pace Chicago over Kansas City. It was the staggering Royals’ seventh straight loss, the longest losing streak since 1974 for the threetime defending AL West champions. Angels 7, Orioles 3 Don Baylor slammed two home runs and Bobby Grich added a two-run shot to lead
When they’re using something other than psychology alone, when they apply a substance to the ball or make a naughty mark on it, pitchers have aerodynamics and other elements of science working for them. “I’m not an expert on aerodynamics,” Mauch said, “but it makes sense to me that if there’s more resistance to one part of the ball’s surface than another, it’s going to react.” Since a scuffed ball, for example, is no longer smooth, wind resistance to the scuffed area forces the ball into patterns it wouldn’t normally take. The men who throw the funny pitches, or who are believed to, do not have doctorates in physics. They don’t need them. They need only the sleight of hand that enables them to doctor the ball without being spotted. If Perry, Sutton and John are the most widely talked-about doctors, they are not the only ones. Mike Caldwell of Milwaukee and Ross Grimsley of Montreal are a pair of 20-game winners who are accused at times of applying a greasy substance to the ball. Mike Marshall, Minnesota’s inimitable relief pitcher, who throws probably the best screwball in the game, is suspected of scuffing balls. Dave Freisleben is suspected of having acquired a greaseball after moving to Toronto this season, and Jim Barr of California has been mentioned as a fellow culprit. The evidence is all circumstantial, but Caldwell provides a particularly interesting case, because he became one of the American League’s best pitchers last season, after George Bamberger had become the Milwaukee manager. Before moving to Milwaukee, Bamberger, a native of Staten Island, had served as the Baltimore pitching coach for 10 years. “Everybody says his pitchers always threw wet ones,” said Whitey Herzog, the Kansas City manager. Herzog admitted he had no firsthand proof, but Earl Weaver, the Baltimore manager, who was once Bamberger’s boss, said: “You got to watch the Brewers, because you have to watch Bamberger. There were some pitchers who used some stuff here. Grimsley threw some odd ones when he was over here. I’m not saying there was anything illegal, but there were some odd ones. Bamberger is a master at teaching wet ones. I’m mighty suspicious of Caldwell and his Staten Island sinker. ” Weaver, who was the first American League manager to
game up with a six-run fifth. Mark Minnick opened the fifth with a walk and Kurt Aikman, Billy Pettit and Chris Leer followed with base hits. Three more walks and Roy York’s infield bouncer that turned into a two-run fielder’s choice did the damage. THE 10-RUN rule was invoked in the bottom of the sixth after Darren Vogt walked and came home on two infield errors. Lowell managed solo runs in the second, third and fourth innings, each time, of course, without benefit of a hit. The iosers’ last threat was
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GARRY TEMPLETON Homers twice
California over the Baltimore Orioles and into a one-half game lead in the AL West. Grich smacked his 18th home run of the season in the seventh off Steve Stone, 6-7. Baylor added his 21st home run of the season. Blue Jays 5, Rangers 1 A three-run homer by Rick Cerone powered Toronto past Texas. Cerone’s homer followed Roy Howell’s double and John Mayberry’s walk in the fourth. Tom Underwood, 3-11, and Tom Buskey held the Rangers to eight hits.
July 7,1979, The Putnam County Banner Graphic
snuffed out when Greencastle shortstop Aikman ranged far to his left to snag a grounder destined for center field and turned it into a double play by stepping on second and firing to first. PETTIT STRUCK out only two hitters, so the Greencastle defense was challenged and rose to the occasion. Ironically, not a single ball was hit to any of the outfielders. Aikman preserved the nohitter with the game’s outstanding defensive play, leaping high to snare a line drive off the bat of the Lowell leadoff batter, Crone, in the third.
Emotions peak as play ends at Wimbledon
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) Martina Navratilova was unable to clebrate her second consecutive Wimbledon title with as much fervor as she would have wished. Navratilova, who retained her crown with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Chris Evert Lloyd Friday, faced a women’s doubles final today. The doubles today had special significance for Navratilova, who partnered Billie Jean King against Wendy Turnbull and Betty Stove. King needed the triumph for a record 20th Wimbledon crown. A somber note was added by the death of Elizabeth “Bunny” Ryan, who had shared with King the record of 19 Wimbledon championships. Ryan, 88. fell ill after watching the women’s singles final from the members’ stand. She collapsed on the grounds of the All England Club and died before reaching a hospital. Two years ago, Ryan told ten-" nis fashion designer Ted Tinling, “I hope I don’t live to see my record broken, but if someone is to break it, I hope it is Billie Jean. She has so much courage on the court.” Thus King, the heir to Ryan’s Wimbledon legacy, took the court with Navratilova. “I am really excited that I might be able to help Billie Jean to her 20th title,” she said, “but it seems a little unfair that I should be the one to get the chance. She has won so many titles with people like Rosie Casals and Owen Davidson that it seems odd I should be the one.” It was Navratilova, in fact, who persuaded King to play at
question umpires about the behavior of some of John’s pitche this season, suggested that the umpires were sufficient! knowledgeable to determine when a pitch strays from the legs repertory. “If not,” the impish manager added, “let Bamberger hold seminar for them and throw six or eight. He’d be glad to do it. H wanted to do it here when Perry was pitching against us. H wanted to show the umpires what a spitter does, so they woul spot it if Perry threw it.” Bamberger, who developed a string of 20-game winners i Baltimore, laughed when he heard all the nice things that wer being said about him. “I think they give me more credit than I deserve,” he saic denying that he had taught the Oriole pitchers how to develo the spitter. He did, however, admit to having used the spitte himself in his brief major league playing career in the earl 50’s. “I had to use it to get along,” said Bamberger, who neithe won nor lost in his 10 major league games. “I threw it prett good. A lot of times guys said I threw it when I didn’t.” Does Grimsley throw a funny pitch? One shrewd Yankee ot server said he had spotted him going to his hat, where, the ot server said, he kept a tiny vial filled with a greasy substance. “He may and may not,” Bamberger said. “They say he does, don’t know.” All right, what about Caldwell, whose 22 victories last seaso: nearly doubled his output of the previous three seasons? “They say he does. I don’t know. I know he’s getting accuse because he has that good sinker, but I haven’t seen him thro\ it.” Perhaps operating on the theory that it takes one to know om Bamberger instigated this season's most intensive examinatio of John, in a game in Milwaukee last month. “I didn’t find anything out,” Bamberger reported. That didn’t surprise John, who was amused by the whol thing. “The umpires looked at my glove," he said, “felt ii massaged it. I said, ‘Look out, you’re going to cut your finger o that razor blade.’ I told Bamberger he’s like that liben politician from New England who’s trying to clean up the work I told him he should clean up his own house first."
Although Greencastle registered only four hits, the local stars exhibited smart base running and in so doing put pressure on the Lowell defense The result was six opposition miscues. LEER LED the offense, reaching safely all five times on a single, two walks and two errors. He also scored four runs. Greencastle 14 and 15-year-old All-Stars were ousted from the double-elimination tourney by a tough Whiteland team 5-1 Thursday night H II K I.owell (11l 100- .1 0 f, (irremastle 510 061-13 4 3 Dunnavant and Jenkins; H. Pettit and J. Cox.
Wimbledon. The 35-year-old veteran had a foot operation in December and had ruled ruled out playing at Wimbledon this year. “Martina called me up and asked me to partner her in the doubles,” recalled King. “I said she was crazy, but she kept on.” King beat her injury and reached the women’s singles quarterfinals, but her chance of breaking the record always was in the doubles. Navratilova, after a light workout Friday, didn’t have an elaborate celebration planned. • “I guess I’ll go to a restaurant and have a drink with my mother,” said the 22-year-old, Czech-born champion, whose mother, Jana, is in England on a two-week holiday visa grant-' ed by the Czech government. “I am very excited about playing another final. I will be just aS thrilled if I win.” ..... ... * i Her destruction of Lloyd, twice champion here, took just one hour. “I wouldn’t say it was easy, but I did expect a threesetter.” she said afterwards. “When it was over, I felt more relief than joy,” said Martina. “Today was too much, but it was different to last year. You can’t compare joy. I wanted to win more than last year, and at the end I felt happier than last year.” “I never felt like I was in the match,” said Lloyd. “Martina never let up. She never let me into the match. Even when I served at 4-5 (in the first set), I didn’t feel that confident. She was still dictating the match.”
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