Banner Graphic, Volume 10, Number 195, Greencastle, Putnam County, 21 April 1980 — Page 10

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The Putnam County Banner Graphic, April 21,1980

Bird keeps Celtics out of corner with 31-point day

BOSTON (AP) - Billy Cunningham sat and frowned as he studied the statistics sheet, a piece of paper the Philadelphia qpach hardly needed to identify \ the flying object that had done such damage to his team. "It was Larry Bird, plain and s|mple." said Cunningham. ‘Tie hit shots that were just incredible He was out at the threepoint line, coming off screens and burying everything he shot " Bird, Boston’s brilliant rookie, connected on 15 of 30 field goal attempts, scored 31 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Celtics to a %-90 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers Sunday, tying their National Basketball Association playoff series at one victory apiece. The next two games of the best-

Reds beat Braves without trying

By HERSCHEL NISSENSON AP Sports Writer It may be time to break up the Cincinnati Reds and shake up the Atlanta Braves. Even another so-so pitching performance by Cincinnati ace Tom Seaver and the benching of Atlanta sluggers Bob Horner and Gary Matthews couldn’t derail the Big Red Machine or get the Bumbling Brave Brigade untracked Sunday. The result, thanks to George Foster’s tie-breaking two-run homer in the eighth inning, was a 5-3 Cincinnati triumph, the 10th in 11 games for the faststarting Reds including seven of eight from Atlanta and the ninth setback in 10 games for the slump-ridden Braves. “I thought we could have won the game easily today,” said Atlanta Manager Bobby Cox. “Seaver really didn’t have his real good stuff .” Cubs 6, Mets 3 Ivan Dejesus’ tie-breaking single keyed a three-run seventh inning. Mike Tyson started it by reaching on third baseman Elliott Maddox’s error and Mick Kelleher sacrificed before Dejesus singled. Steve Onti-

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of-seven Eastern Conference finals will be played in Philadelphia Wednesday and Friday nights. "We had to win today,” said Bird, who was still beseiged by newsmen in the Boston lockerroom an hour after the final buzzer sounded. "Our backs were to the wall. If we had lost and gone to Philadelphia two down, it would have been very tough to come back. " So. faced with what at least approached a must-win situation, Celtics Coach Bill Fitch changed his strategy a bit He kept his reserves anchored to the bench and went with his starters for as long as possible. Bird and center Dave Cowens played 46 minutes apiece, Nate Archibald 42, Chris Ford 40, Cedric Maxwell 38.

veros, who tied the game in the fifth with a solo homer, drew a walk and Bill Buckner singled to score Dejesus. Dodgers 4, Astros 2 Rookie Rudy Law singled to score relief pitcher Jerry Reuss in the bottom of the eighth inning, breaking a 2-2 tie. Reuss reached when Jose Cruz dropped his fly to short left to open the inning. After Davey Lopes’ sacrifice, Law followed with his game-winning hit. Law eventually scored on Ron Cey’s sacrifice fly after stealing both second and third. Pirates 6, Cardinals 3 Dave Parker rapped a threerun homer off Pete Vuckovich to cap a five-run second inning. Bill Madlock opened the inning with a single and Ed Ott walked. Phil Garner singled Madlock home and, after a pair of forceouts, Tim Foli delivered an RBI single and Parker followed with his second homer of the season. Expos 7, Phillies 6 Andre Dawson led off the ninth inning with a walk off Tug McGraw, raced to third on a bloop single by Larry Parrish and scored the winning run on Gary Carter’s sacrifice fly. The Expos had tied the game in the eighth when Warren Cromartie scored on a single by Ron LeFlore. Dawson and Ellis Valentine hit consecutive home runs in the first inning. Giants 5, Padres John Montefusco scattered eight hits in posting his first victory since last July and Larry Herndon supplied the punch with a double and triple.

"It’s the playoffs," Fitch explained. “There’s going to be a time for our bench when I’m behind. I don't like to throw subs in when everything is cooking. If I’m ahead and things are going good, I don't like to break momentum.” The Celtics didn’t build much momentum Sunday, but they did do enough to win They dominated the first half, taking a 53-38 lead with 2:37 left in the second period behind 21 points by Bird A 12-1 Philadelphia spurt made the halftime score 54-50, and three baskets by Sixers center Darryl Dawkins tied it at 62-62 with 6:21 to go in the third period But Philadelphia couldn’t get a basket for the rest of the quarter, was outscored by Boston 122 and could come no closer than N

Sonics have no time to rest; Lakers next SEATTLE (AP) After escaping burial over the weekend, the defending National Basketball Association champion Seattle Super Sonics don’t have much time to pat themselves on the back. The Sonics, who won the Western Conference semifinals Sunday with a 98-94 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, face the Pacific Division champion Los Angeles Lakers in a best-of-seven playoff series which opens Tuesday night in Los Angeles. “Every sportswriter in the country and CBS-TV was in Milwaukee Friday night to bury us,” said veteran Seattle forward John Johnson, “but we had a few tricks for the Bucks. “Don’t be surprised if we have a few more for the ‘Big Fella.’ Johnson was talking about the Lakers’ 7-foot-2 center, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who led Los Angeles to four triumphs in six regular-season meetings with the Sonics. Down 3-2 in a best-of-seven series, Seattle came back to beat the Bucks 86-85 at Milwaukee Friday night to set up Sunday’s meeting. “I have an idea who will win the Los Angeles-Seattle series,” volunteered Milwaukee Coach Don Nelson, “but I’m keeping it to myself.” Gus Williams, who becomes a free agent at the end of the season, sank four free throws in the final 16 seconds to sink Milwaukee’s playoff hopes Sunday.

Going to third for lead runner costly error for Castro

By WILLIAM R. BARNARD AP Sports Writer Bill Castro was determined to go to third base, at all costs. All it cost was the ballgame. With New York Yankees on first and second and no outs in a 5-5 game Sunday Castro relieved Jerry Augustine for the Milwaukee Brewers. When Bob Watson bunted, Castro pounced on the ball, whirled and fired to third. The throw was perfect and in time to retire Willie Randolph, but there was a hitch no one was near third base to take the throw. The ball rolled into left field, resulting in two runs for the Yankees, and when Reggie Jackson followed with a home run, they were on their way to a 9-5 victory. “I made up my mind to try for the man at third no matter what. I think I got the ball there in time,” said Castro In other American League games, the Kansas City Royals outscored the Detroit Tigers 9-6, the Boston Red Sox edged the Texas Rangers 6-5 in 11 innings, the Toronto Blue Jays stopped the Cleveland Indians 5-3, the Chicago White Sox tripped the Baltimore Orioles 9-6, the Minnesota Twins nipped the Seattle Mariners 4-3 and the Oakland A’s took a doubleheader from the California Angels 6-1 and 82. White Sox 9, Orioles 6 Harold Baines, who broke a 1-for-25 slump with two hits Saturday, got four more Sunday. His third double of the game with one out in the ninth preceded singles by Marv Foley, Mike Squires and Harry Chappas as Chicago scored three times. Doug DeCinces of the Orioles was thrown out of the game in the sixth inning for charging the mound after being hit by a pitch from MikeProly. A’s 6-8, Angels 1-2 Matt Keough’s five-hitter helped Oakland beat California in the first game of their doubleheader, while Rickey Hen-

the final six-point margin. Julius Erving led the Sixers with 24 points, while Maxwell contributed 17 points and 15 rebounds for the Celtics. * “Getting even was important,” said Fitch. “We played a lot better defensively than in the first game (won by Philadelphia 96-93). And offensively we went to Larry, as long as it was working for him. They put everyone on him except Billy (Cunningham) himself.” Cunningham started with Erving against Bird, then t ied Bobby Jones, then 7 loot-1 Caldwell Jones. None was able to do the job Bird always seemed to have the ball shooting, rebounding, passing. "I can’t do anything if I don’t have the ball,” Bird explained.

DOUG DeCINCES Ejected after charge derson’s three hits and steal of home paced the A’s secondgame triumph. With a 3-0 record, Keough has already surpassed his victory total of last season when his record was 2-17. The A’s took a 6-0 lead in the first three innings against Chris Knapp and coasted home. In the nightcap, Henderson stole home in the first inning and broke a 1-1 tie with a tworun triple in the third. Red Sox 6, Rangers 5 Carl Yastrzemski’s third single of the game drove in the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning for Boston, breaking Texas’ five-game winning streak. Royals 9, Tigers 6 George Brett and U.L. Washington slammed home runs and Pete LaCock drove in three runs as Kansas City handed Detroit its eighth loss in nine games since an opening-day victory. Blue Jays 5, Indians 3 Dave Lemanczyk gained his first victory since last July 28 and Otto Velez slugged a threerun homer to lead Toronto over Cleveland. Twins 4, Mariners 3 Roy Smalley drove in two runs with a homer and a double and Mike Cubbage had a tworun homer for Minnesota.

Sports scoreboard

Major League Baseball At A Glance By The Associated Press AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST W I Pet. GB Boston 5 4 .556 Baltimore 5 5 .500 >/*. Milwaukee 4 4 . 500 Toronto 4 4 .500 '(> New York 4 6 . 400 m Cleveland 2 6 .250 2M> Detroit 2 8 .200 3M> WEST Oakland 8 3 .727 Chicago 7 3 .700 Texas 7 3 .700 Seattle 7 5 .583 IM> Kansas City 5 5 500 2'i Minnesota 5 7 417 3*4 California 4 6 400 3*4 Saturday's Games Texas 8, Boston 0 Milwaukee 5, New York 1 Cleveland 8. Toronto 1 Detroit 8, Kansas City 6 Oakland 3. California 1 Chicago 5, Baltimore 4.12 innings Minnesota 8, Seattle 3 Sunday’s Games Kansas City 9. Detroit 6 Chicago 9, Baltimore 6 New York 9, Milwaukee 5 Boston 6, Texas 5, 11 innings Toronto 5, Cleveland 3 Oakland 6-8, California 1-2 Minnesota 4, .Seattle 3 Monday's Games Chicago (Kravec 1-1) at Boston (Hurst 0-0) Cleveland (Owchinkoo-1) at Milwaukee (Sorensen 1-1), (n) Baltimore (Stone 1-1) at New York (John 1-0), (n) Detroit (Wilcox 0-0) at Texas (Matlack 1- (n) Toronto (Stieb 1-0) at Kansas City (Gale 0-1), (n) Oakland (Hamilton 0-0) at Seattle (Beattieo-1), (n) Only games scheduled Tuesday’s Games Chicago at Boston California at Minnesota Cleveland at Milwaukee, (n) Baltimore at New York, (n) Detroit at Texas, <n> Toronto at Kansas City, (n) Oakland at Seattle (n) NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST W I Pet.. .GB. Pittsburgh 6 3 .667 Chicago 5 3 .625 *4 Montreal 4 4 .500 I*4 Philadelphia 4 4 .500 I*4 St. Louis 4 6 .400 2*4 New York 3 6 .333 3 WEST Cincinnati 10 1 .909 Houston 7 3 .700 2'4 San Diego 6 5 .545 4 Los Angeles 4 7 . 364 6 San Francisco 4 7 . 364 6 Atlanta 1 9 100 B*4 Saturday's Games ... ... Philadelphia 13. Montreal 4 St. Louis 2, Pittsburgh 1 Chicago 12, New York 9 San Diego 3, San Francisco 0 Cincinnati 6, Atlanta 1 Houston 2, Los Angeles 0 Sunday's Games Montreal 7, Philadelphia 6 Pittsburgh 6, St Louis 3 Chicago 6. New York 3 Cincinnati 5. Atlanta 3 Los Angeles 4, Houston 2 San Francisco 5, San Diego 1 Monday's Games Pittsburgh (Candelaria 0-1) at Montreal (Grimsley 0-0) New York (Burris 1-1) at Philadelphia (Carlton 2-0), (n) Cincinnati (LaCoss 2-0) at Houston (Ryan 04)), (n) San Francisco (Blue 2-0) at Los Angeles (Hooton 1-1), (n) Only games scheduled Tuesday’s Games Pittsburgh at Montreal St. Louis at Chicago New York at Philadelphia, (n) San Diego at Atlanta, (n) Cincinnati at Houston, (n) San Francisco at Los Angeles. (n) Tuesday's Games Pittsburgh at Montreal St. Louis at Chicago New York at Philadelphia, (n) San Diego at Atlanta, (n) Cincinnati at Houston, (n) .San Francisco at Los Angeles. <n> TODAY'S MAJOR LEAGUE LEADERS Bv The Associated Press AMERICAN LEAGUE BATTING (25 at bats): Bochte. Seattle. 463; Gross, Oakland, 400; Molitor, Milwaukee, 375; Revering. Oakland. 375; Meyer, Seattle, 372; Rivers, Texas. .372 RUNS: Bochte, Seattle, 10; Kemp. Detroit. 9: Henderson. Oakland. 9: Murphy. Oakland. 9; Craig. Seattle. 9; B Bell. Texas. 9; Oliver. Texas. 9 RBI: Gamble. New York. 12; L Johnson, Chicago. 12; Smalley. Minnesota. 11; Murray. Baltimore. 10; Ijncano. Milwaukee. 10 HITS: Bochte. Seattle. 19; Meyer. Seattle. 16; Rivers. Texas. 16; Watson. New York. 14; I,ansford, California. 14; L Johnson. Chicago. 14: Landreaux. Minnesota. 14 DOUBLES: Oliver, Texas. 5; Bumbry. Baltimore, 4; Baines, Chicago. 4 Molinaro, Chicago. 4; Mcßae. Kansas City. 4. Landreaux. Minnesota. 4; Revering. Oakland, 4; B.Bell, Texas, 4. TRIPLES: Powell, Minnesota. 3; Wilson, Kansas City, 2; Castino, Minnesota. 2; Henderson, Oakland. 2; 28 tied With 1. HOME RUNS: Singleton. Baltimore, 4; Smalley. Minnesota, 4; Lezcano, Milwaukee. 3: Mayberry, Toronto, 3; Rudi, California, 3; L Johnson, Chicago, 3. STOLEN BASES: Wilson, Kansas City, 4; Henderson, Oakland, 4, J.Cruz, Seattle, 4; seven tied with 3. PITCHING (2 Decisions): Keough, Oakland. 3-0, 1.000. 0.67; Palmer, Baltimore. 2- 1 000 . 2.57: Frost, California, 2-0, I. 1.47; Wortham, Chicago, 2-0, 1.000, 0.00; Corbett, Minnesota. 2-0, 1.000, 0.00; Norris, Oakland, 2-0, 1.000, 0.52; Bannister, Seattle, 2-0, 1.000, 1.00; Honeycutt. Seattle, 2-0, 1.000. 2.37. NATIONAL LEAGUE BATTING (25 at bats): Cromartie, Montreal, .484; Buckner. Chicago, .471; R.Smith, Los Angeles, .452; Reitz. St. Louis. ,441; Kingman. Chicago. .387. RUNS: Concepcion, Cincinnati. 11; J. Houston, 10; Law, Los Angeles. 10; Foli, Pittsburgh, 9; Bonds. St. Louis. 9; Collins, Cincinnati, 9; Baker, Los Angeles. 9; O.Smith, San Diego. 9. RBI: Kingman, Chicago, 13; Winfield, San Diego, 12; Hendrick, St. Louis, 10; Concepcion, Cincinnati, 10; five tied With 9 HITS: R.Smith, Los Angeles. 19; Buckner. Chicago. 16; Cromartie. Montreal. 15; Reitz, St. Louis, 15; Baker. Los Angeles, 15. DOUBLES: Steams, New York, 6; Mcßride, Philadelphia. 5; Baker, Los Angeles, 5; Parrish, Montreal, 4: Templeton, St. Louis, 4; Concepcion, Cincinnati, 4; Knight. Cincinnati, 4 TRIPLES: Mcßride, Philadelphia. 2: K. Hernandez, St. Louis. 2; Bonds, St. Louis. 2; Griffey, Cincinnati, 2; Law. Los Angeles, 2; May. San Francisco, 2. HOME RUNS: Kingman. Chicago. 5; Martin, Chicago, 3; Cromartie, Montreal, 3; Luzinski. Philadelphia, 3; Foster, Cincinnati, 3. STOLEN BASES: Moreno, Pittsburgh. 6; Law, Los Angeles, 5; LeFlore. Montreal, 4; Morgan, Houston, 4; Cedeno. Houston, 4; O.Smith, San Diego. 4; North, San Francisco. 4. PITCHING (2 Decisions): Lamp. Chicago. 2-0, 1 000. 2 57; Sosa. Montreal, 24), 1 000, 0.00: Carlton, Philadelphia. 2-0. 1 000, 3 12; Jackson. Pittssburgh. 2-0, 1 000. 2.45; Rooker, Pittsburgh. 2-0. 1.000, 079; LaCoss, Cincinnati, 2-0, 1.000. 1.80. Pastore. Cincinnati, 2-0, 1 000. 0.50; Tomlin. Cincinnati, 2-0, 1 000,10 80. STRIKEOUTS: Richard, Houston. 32; Blyleven. Pittsburgh. 19; Montefsco, San Francisco, 17

NBA Playoffs At A Glance By The Associated Press Second Round Best-of-Seven Western Conference Semifinals Sunday’s Gamel Seattle 98, Milwaukee 94, Seattle wins series 4-3 Eastern Conference Final Best-of-Seven Sunday’s Game Boston 96, Philadelphia 90. series tied 1Wednesday’s Game Boston at Philadelphia, (n) Western Conference Final Best-of-Seven Game One Tuesday’s Game Seattle at Los Angeles, (n) National Hockey League Playoffs At A Glance Bv The Associated Press All Times EST Quarterfinal Round Best of Seven Sunday’s Games New York Rangers 4, Philadelphia 2, Philadelphia leads series 3-1 Buffalo 3. Chicago 2, Buffalo wins series 4-0 Montreal 5. Minnesota 1, series tied 2-2 Monday's Game Boston at New York Islanders Tuesday's Games New York Islanders at Boston, if necessary Minnesota at Montreal, New York Rangers at Philadelphia Thursday’s Games Philadelphia at New York Rangers, if necessary Boston at New York Islanders, if necessary Montreal at Minnesota Saturday. April 26 Minnesota at Montreal, if necessary Sunday, April 27 New York Rangers at Philadelphia, if necessary New York Islanders at Boston, if necessary Weekend Sports Transactions Bv The Associated Press BASEBALL National League ATLANTA BRAVES—PIaced Biff Pocoroba, catcher, on the 15-day disabled list. Recalled Bruce Benedict, catcher, from Richmond of the International League. FOOTBAI.I National Football League PHILADELPHIA EAGLES-Signe-d Rayfield Wright, offensive tackle. Indiana College Baseball By The Associated Press Sunday's Games Butler 8-9, Franklin 1-1 Purdue 4-9, Northwestern 0-7 Valparaiso 3-2, Notre Dame 1-9 Saturday's Games DePauw 7-2, Rose-Hulman 0-5 Hanover 2-3, Manchester 1-7 Indiana Central 3-8, Butler 0-5 lowa 4-10, Purdue 3-2 Miami, Ohio 3-0, Ball State 0-3 St. Joseph’s 9-10, Evansville 3-4 Big Ten Baseball Standings Bv The Associated Press W L Pet. Ohio State 2 0 1 000 Michigan 5 1 .833 Illinois 3 1 .750 Minnesota 3 1 .750 lowa 2 2 . 500 Purdue 2 2 .500 Wisconsin 2 2 500 Northwestern 1 3 .250 Indiana 0 2 000 Michigan State 0 6 .000 Sunday’s Results Minnesota 6-5, Michigan State 2-1 Purdue 4-9, Northwestern 0-7 Michigan 5-4, Wisconsin 2-1 Illinois 10-9, lowa 3-2 INDIANAPOLIS (AP) How the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Top 10 teams fared last week: 1. LaPorte (8-2) lost to Por s age 2-1: beat Chesterton 9-6: beat Valparaiso 11-0. 2. Jeffersonville (7-2) beat New Albany 9-5: lost to Oldham Co.. Kv , 9-3. 3. Elkhart Central (8-0-1 > beatt S.Bend Adams 5-3; beat Mishawaka 5-0: tied Concord 13-13. 4. Logansport (6-1) beat Tippecanoe Valley 7-1: beat Winamac3-2; beat Benton Central 11-1, 14-4. 5. Columbus East (1-6-1 including four forfeits for using ineligible player) lost to Shelbyville 5-1; beat Scottsburg 12-4; lost to Indpls Ben Davis 4-2; tied Indpls Perry Meridian 5-5. 6. Blackford (6-0) beat Marion 9-7; beat Pendleton Hts 6-1, 11-8 7. Ijfavette Jeff (8-1) beat Indpls N.Central 8-1: beat Lafayette Catholic 6-2, 6-4 8 Muncie North (1-0) beat New Castle 4-2 9 Plymouth (4-0) beata Columbia City 9-2, 8-0. 10 Chesterton (64) lost too Merrillville 6-0; lost to LaPorte 9-6; beat Griffith 2-1, 160. INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Indiana high school boys' outdoor track bests reported to the Associated Press so far this season, with official records in parentheses (All distances in meters, and all times converted for metric distances, the standards used this year by the Indiana High School Athletic Association): 106—Sortero Burnett, Gary West, 10.6 (New Event: Clyde Peach. Indpls Brebeuf, 1966. 9.5 for lo6yard dash, or 10.4 when converted to 100 meters) 200—Terrence Duckett, Gary West. 21.5. (New Event; Pat Gullett. Gary Mann. 1971. and Cornell Garrett. Evansville North. 1976, both 21.3 for 220 yards, or 21 2 for 200 meters) 400—Lamont Williams. Indpls Washington. 48.02 (New Event, Leon Tubbs, Ft Wayne South, 1978, 47.4 for 440 yards, or 47.1 for 400 meters) 800—Norman Smith. Gary Roosevelt, 1:51.0. (New Event; Tom Martin. Evansville Memorial, 1977, 1:50.9 for 880 yards, or 1:50.2 for 800 meters) 1606—8i1l Shuey, Carmel, 4:13.85. (New Event. Rudy Chapa. Hammond. 1976. 4:05.8 for Mile, or 4:04.2 for 1600 meters) 3200 —Greg Lambert. Crown Point, 9:20.9. (New Event; Rudy Chapa. Hammond, 1975, 8:58.5 for Two Miles, or 8:55.1 for 3200 meters) 1 10-high hurdles—Tom Bonds. Indpls Washington. 14.21. (New Event; Jerry Hill, Indpls Tech, 1976, 13.4 for 126 yard high hurdles, same for 110 meters) 30610 w hurdles—Duane Gunn, Indps N.Central, 37.73. (New Event; Robert Johnson. Indpls Northwest. 1978. 37.0 for 330-yard low hurdles, or 36 8 for 300 meters) 400-relay—Gary West (Terrence Duckett. Victor Greer, Sortero Burnett, Walter Monagon), 41.6. (New event, replacing 880-yard relay) 1600-relay—Gary West (Antoine Davis. Sortero Burnett. Walter Monagon. Craig Peterson). 3:179 (New Event: Garv West. 1976. 3:14.8 for Mile Relav. or 3:13.7 for 1600 meters) High jump—Ron Jones. Mt. Vernon (Posey). 7-I*4. (Jeff Woodard, New Albany 1977. 7-I*4) Long jump-Duane Gunn, Indpls N.Central. 23-4*5. (Jim Zickmund. Westville, 1976. 24-4) Pole vault—Dave Volz, Bloomington South, 16-3*4 (Brian Kimball. Ft Wayne Northrop, 1975, 16-1) Discus-Randy Heisler. Warsaw, 173 * : (Kevin King, Bloomington South, 1979. 189-11) Shot put—Rick Fulton. Chesterton, 58-1 (Don Phillips, Indpls Washington. 1969. 64-3'-J > The Indiana High School Track Coaches Association Top 16 teams: l.Gary West; 2.lndianapolis N.Central; 3.Fort Wayne South; 4.lndianapolis Wash ington; s.Gary Roosevelt; 6.Jefferson ville; 7,Fort Wayne Snider; R.Miehigan City Elston; 9,Fort Wayne Northrop, lO.Richmond

B.J. Becker

Famous hand of ruffing convention

East dealer. Both sides vulnerable. NORTH ♦ Q 10 7 3 OJ 5 4 ♦ K 9 8 6 2 WEST EAST ♦B2 4765 0 10 8732 0 A 9 ♦ SOUTH ♦AKJ 9 4 3 <7 9 0K Q 6 4a 5 4 The bidding: East South West North 14 Dble IPass Pass 2 4 Pass 3 4 Pass 4 4 Opening lead two of hearts. Not long ago, I came across this deal which was played in the national pair championship at Skytop, Pa., back in 1935. The hand received wide publicity at the time, because it was one of the first published examples of the ruffing convention which I introduced into tournament play at this event. The convention is now widely accepted, and is also known as the suit-direction or Becker Convention, as well as by other names. The idea was a simple one. By making judicious use of

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DAILY CRYPTOQUOTE - Here’s how to work it: AXYDLBAAXR is LONGFELLOW One letter simply stands for another. In this sample A is used for the three L’s, X for the two O’s, etc. Single letters, apostrophes, the length and formation of the words are ali hints. Each day the code letters are different. CRYPTOQUOTES CNDFMUK: VZQ DUQXDVCENQ HMULQIYQUHQ MP CHGDFMUK DU FCVGDFMUK. - VZMFCL LZQQZCU Saturday's Cryptoquote: IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED, YOU ARE RUNNING ABOUT AVERAGE.—ALDERSON •> 1980 King Features Syndicate. Inc

spot cards in a ruffing situation, it became possible for a defender to indicate which suit he wanted returned when his partner ruffed. I held the East hand and my partner, Waldemar von Zedtwitz, led the two of hearts. The actual situation was at once obvious to me. My partner had not led a club, though I had bid that suit, and the reason seemed to be that he did not have one to lead. Furthermore, the deuce of hearts, supposedly his fourthbest heart, could not be on the level because my partner would not have bid one heart with only a four-card suit headed by the jack. So I read his low heart as being irregular and as a call for me to return the low suit, clubs. Accordingly,! won the heart with the king and returned a club the three. This low club return asked von Zedtwitz, after ruffing the club, to return the lower-ranking suit (as between hearts and diamonds). Everything turned out as planned. Waldy ruffed the club and, in conformance with the suit-direction signal, returned a diamond. I won with the ace and gave him another club ruff. We got no more tricks, but South was down one. The mechanics of the ruffing convention are very simple. A low card calls for a low suit return; a high card calls for a high suit return.

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