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Janesville Daily Gazette from Janesville, Wisconsin • Page 12

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Janesville, Wisconsin
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12
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Doily Gazette Tuesday, June 25,1968 Sportlight BY DAVE KALVELAGE Gazette Sports Editor Here's a quick quiz for all the old Milwaukee Braves fans lingering in this area. Identify the following players: Marty Martinez, Rob Tillman. Bob Johnson, Ted Davidson, Mike Lum, Skip (liiimi, Ron Reed, Jim Britton. Unless you've stuck with the Braves, you've probably never heard of most of these players. They're all Braves variety of Braves.

While on vacation. stopped in Atlanta and took in a Braves game with Cincinnati. I found things much different from the good old days in Milwaukee. The Braves have gone to the gimmick. Oh, there were hints of this idea just before the move to Dixie when they brought, in the dancing Indian.

But now, the gimmick is everywhere. The dancing Indian still is around. He's called Noe-A-IIoma and sits in his tepee in left field, lie leads the Braves onto the field and when an Atlanta player hits a home run, fires a muzzle-loading rifle and smoke pours from the tepee. Another attraction is Big Victor, a 22-foot styro- foam Indian in right field. When a Brave hits a home run, Victor turns his head, flashes his eyes and waves his tomahawk.

It's not. really very exciting. And there's more. There's an autograph booth in left field where fans can go before the game and get players' signatures. Fans who catch foul balls can take them to a booth and receive an honorary Braves' contract.

The ushers are girls wearing red mini-skirt outfits and have a feather in their hair. If that's not enough, the night I was there, the team declared a Family Night and admitted women and children at reduced rates. In addition, there was a fireworks display following the game. Take all these attractions, add a beautiful, new stadium, a second-place team, and a cloudless night with 75-degree temperature and you'd expect an excellent crowd. It's not so in Atlanta.

There was a crowd of 12,204 the night I attended. Now that figure is misleading. The people of Atlanta and the Southeast like the Braves. You hear the games on radios in cars, stores and even homes with open windows. There are Braves decals and bumper stickers on cars and some pennants are spotted, too.

But fans just don't come out to the ball game. The amazing thing is that much of the crowd seems to be from out of town. The Braves designate each game as a Community Night and recognition is paid to a city. Large groups attend trom all over the Southeast, which is the way the Braves intended. They have ticket outlets in five states.

Atlanta fans know baseball. They can spot a strategy and know what to expect. They'll applaud a good fielding if it's by the opposing team. When Milt JPappas left the mound in the seventh inning of his second game with the Braves, he got a standing ovation. Aaron and Torre haven't much company from the old Milwaukee gang.

There are Felipe Alou, Ken Johnson, Claude Raymond, Phil Niekro and Tommie Aaron. Most of the rest have been acquired in trades. Atlanta's stadium is a beauty. It's located downtown in an area which was once a slum. An expressway runs past the stadium, allowing easy entrance and exit.

The stadium is circular in design and thoughtfully furnished. Seats are painted various shades of blue. There are three message boards which flash coming events, records, other scores and even tell how to score each Bill Bartholomay, the chairman of the Braves' board, was regarded as a villain in Milwaukee. In Atlanta, the club seems to'be trying to build him up as a.hero. One full page of the program is devoted to Bartholomay and includes pictures of him at work and play.

NOTES FROM A SOUTHERN group of New Orleans businessmen already has formed a committee to try to bring the 1970 Super Bowl to their city. racing is going over big in Memphis. Since Tennessee does not permit pari- lnutuel sports, the track is located in West Memphis, across 1he Atlanta Chiefs' soccer team drew 48,000 for two games with Manchester, the English baseball teams in North Carolina play nearly every Gricse is the biggest name in Miami since George Mira. Pafko manages the West Palm Beach club of the Florida State ran into Ohio State University basketball Coach Fred Taylor in a Marion, Ohio, motel. Taylor, still congratulations for his third-place finish in the NCAA, was in Marion for Ohio's high school all-star game.

The voices of While Sox announcers Bob Elson and Red Rush travel through the South all the way to Miami. In Fort Pierce, I was listening to a White Sox doubleheader and heard Rush say "you still have plenty of time to get out I tried it and got as far as Valdosta, before the second game racing fans can go wild in North Carolina, with races somewhere almost every The NCAA is privately investigating Florida State for possible basketball recruiting Colt Hanker Jimmy Orr has a popular downtown Atlanta than 15 inches of rain in June closed several southern Florida golf courses. The red, white and blue-striped basketballs used by the new American Basketball Association are sold in New Orleans sporting goods fishing in Florida is amazingly Braves played in Savannah, last night against the Southern League league baseball is active in North Carolina, with three ieagues having franchises in that state. fans-already are talking up the Old Miss football University of Florida has started pushing running back Larry Smith ys an All-America player and Miami is working on Ted Hendricks for the Heis- nvan park in New Orleans has 27 baseball diamonds, 40 tennis courts, a golf, course and a 27.000-seat football stadium. The Atlanta (formerly St.

Louis) Hawks of the NBA will have 40 home games next season. Only Los Angeles has that Miami high school has 14 players receiving football scholarships. A total of 81 in that county received Tennessee has found Vanclerbilt and Memphis State tough competition in football recruiters. The three schools have signed a combined total of 50 freshmen from Tennessee and have gone to Florida for 20 Orleans school officials are considering segregating the girls from the boys after making the schools co-ed about 10 years Miami area may have summer horse racing next year golf courses around Pinehurst, N.C., must bo the most beautiful in the country. Twins Use Stolen Base for Milwaukee Victory Minnesota's Bob Allison scores only run of the game (AP VVIrrphoto) Stanky and Reporters: An Odd Relationship By TOM KLEIBER Gazette Sports Writer MILWAUKEE-Contrary to the belief of many sports writers, Eddie Stanky cf the Chicago White Sox does not consider himself to be a manager who had a bad relationship with the working press.

And he does not personally have any animosity towards them. "I actually get along great with about 98 per cent of the writers, but it's that other 2 per cent that have caused all the Stanky said as he sat in his locker room waiting for the skies to clear prior to his White Sox game with the Minnesota Twins last night at County Stadium. Stanky, in his third year as the manager of the White Sox. told of an encounter he had with nationally syndicated sports columnist Jim Murray of the Los Angeles Times. "Last year on our last trip into Anaheim in the thick of the American League pennant race, Murray came into our clubhouse just before we were ready to take the field for batting practice.

He requested 45 minutes for a story he wanted to do. I told him politely that I had an appointment with one of my players for some special help. "Instead, I offered to get up and have breakfast with him in the morning and I would be willing to sit down with him for three hours if he wanted. This did not meet with his schedule because of an appointment he had the next day in Northern California," Stanky continued. The fiery little manager remembered that was all that was said on the issue until the next day or so when he picked up a paper and read Murray's column." He criticized me thoroughly as being uncooperative," Stanky said.

"He never did mention that I was willing to give him three hours of my time in the morning." Stanky was in a talkative mood last night as he was pleased with the progress of his White Sox over that past week. They had just split a doubleheader with Boston Sunday. Scoring 10 runs in the second game, a season high. Soon after the White Sox had snapped their 10 game losing streak at the start of the season, Stankv said he received a call in Chicago from UPI sports writer Milt Richman in New York. "Milt is one of the few national writers that I will sit down and talk to anytime.

He called and asked me if I would talk to one of the other UPI. writers. I agreed under the conditions that I would hang up on this writer just as soon as he asked a question I considered un appropriate. "Well, the interview went, all right for about three or four questions. Then he asked 'What is wrong with you and the 1 hung up without saying another word." A 12-year major league veteran with the old Boston Braves and New York Giants, Stanky recalled the next day Richmond had in his national column reierence to the telephone hanging-up incident.

"This was another case of the writer not telling the whole story," said Stanky, who added that despite the incident with Richman he still would talk to him again. Stanky considers himself the target of all young writers. "I am like the top gun in a west- EDDIE STANKY ern town. All the young gun- slingcrs are out to get me." "Two young writers came into our Yankee Stadium clubhouse a couple of weeks ago and started to fire questions at me. I just sat there and stared at them.

I waited awhile and then asked them to identify themselves. One was from Philadelphia and the other from one of the New York papers. After the introductions, I told them I consider my clubhouse like my Because Stanky considers his clubhouse like his home he doesn't tolerate any unethical behavior. "After the formalites with those two young writers and my putting them in their place everything was OK," Stanky commented. Sometime during the career of prominent sport figures there comes a time when he chooses to tell his life story or philosophies in a book and Eddie Stanky is no exception.

Four publishers have sought the services of Stanky for such a venture. "I have on file at home enough material for a book, but all these publishers want the story on their terms and until they are willing to meet me on my terms I will not have the story told," Stanky said. He added that they want to publish a 90-10 split and with the fees for the secretaries and the stenographers coming out of my slice. It should be a 50-50 split, with costs coming out of the publishers' Part." Al Hirschbcrg, who collaborated with 1967 American League triple crown winner Carl Yastrzemski for his biography after the Boston star led Red Sox to an unexpected flag last year has been con- Time Out sidercd by Stanky for the writing of the book. "If and when I ever get this book published, I won't send a courtesy copy to the big name writers around the country," he said.

"The Jim Murrays and the Dick Youngs can go out and buy a copy if they want. Sooner than give them a copy and let them put a short blurb in their column, I would rather give the books to the young writers who will probably get more future use out of it." Milwaukee always has been a favorite spot for Stanky, as he considers it his "stepping stone to the majors." On coming to Milwaukee for nine games, Stanky said he was hired to manage 162 games a year and it didn't matter whether they were played in Alaska. "Oh. I know it's an inconvenience for some of the players with their families, but I also have a family in Chicago and it is part of the business," he remarked. With the recent decline of batting averages in the major leagues Stanky was asked what he felt was the reason for the scarcity of .300 hitters and the prominence of potential 20- game winners in both leagues.

"Pitching is here to stay," he answered. "Pitchers are way ahead of the batters and I only hope they don't do anything to even out the hitters' chances." MILWAUKEE (AP) The stolen base could be a key part of Minnesota's strategy in its effort to move up in the American League standings. The Twins, who finished second in last year's close race, entered Monday night's game with the Chicago White Sox in a third place tie with Baltimore, eight games behind the front- running Tigers. And Bob Allison's successful theft of second in the fourth inning opened the door for a 1-0 Twins victory in a game called after five ininngs because cf rain. Allison, stealing his second base in as many games, scored on John Roscboro's single to right after Frank Quilici drew a walk from losing pitcher Bob Priddy.

Minnesota Manager Cal Er- mcr, elated with his team's eighth victory in the last 10 games, pointed out that the Twins have already stolen 41 bases this year, compared to 55 for the entire 1967 season. "All our running and base stealing has improved," said Ermer, who was quick to give credit for the increase to Coach George Case. Case led the American League in stolen bases from 1939 through 1943, and again in 1946, while with the old Washington Senators. Case said that building up confidence has meant as much as anything in improving the Twins' theft record. "That was a big one tonight," said Case of Allison's steal.

"Bob made an excellent slide. The ball beat him there, but he slid under it. His (stealing, percentage has been good, and he's no 34. "His base stealing percentage is as good as any big man in the league," added Ermer. Allison, who singled with two out in the fourth, broke for second with a 2-2 count on Quilici.

The big right fielder, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 220, made it under catcher Duane Josephson's throw to shortstop Luis Aparicio. "I just kind of faded away from the base and caught it with my hand as I went by," said Allison. "The ball was there ahead of me, but he (Aparicio) missed me with the tag. It was actually a good call by the umpire. He was right on top of the play." Some of the White Sox felt differently about umpire Jerry Neudecker's judgment, but thev weren't saying much about it after the game.

However, Manager Eddie Stanky agreed that Allison was safe. Roseboro, whose hit won the game, said Allison "nulled what I call a Gil Hodges slide." Roseboro and the present New York Mets manager were once teammates on the Los Angeles Dodgers. The win was the 101st career victory for Minnesota's Dean Chance, who, like Priddy, hurled three-hit ball. Chanca raised his season mark to 7-8, while Priddy sustained his fourth loss without a victory. Earlier this month Chance lost a 1-0 decision to the Sox after pitching no-hit ball for 8 innings.

Both teams moved runners to third base in the first and third innings, but failed to score them. The Twins loaded the bases with one out in the fifth on two walks and an error. Minnesota stranded eight runners, Chicago five. Chicago threatened in the tom of the rainy fifth when Buddy Bradford led off with a single and moved to second on a passed ball. Chance fanned pinch hitter Sandy Alomar, Aparicio lined out to right field, and Wayne Causey dribbled a grounder to first on what turned out to be the last play of the damp ball game.

The defeat was the third for the White Sox In four regular season games at Milwaukee this year. They will play five more "home" contests in the former home of the National League Braves, who moved to Atlanta after the 1965 season. A crowd of 25,263 saw the rain-shortened game, some 3,000 less than turned out when the White Sox beat Cleveland a week ago. More than 50,000 fans saw the Twins defeat the White Sox. 2-1 in an exhibition game at Milwaukee last summer.

The White Sox and wind up their brief series in a game at Chicago's Comiskey Park tonight. Chicago returns to Wisconsin Thursday for an exhibition game against its Appleton farm club. Frazier Wants Ellis After Beating Ramos Bench Jockey Turns Slugger "Sometimes I think you care more for the silly old shot put than you do for me!" By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Detroit's Jim Northrup has swapped his needle for a cannon and turned the Indian reservation into a private artillery range. Northrup, an unsuccessful bench jockey during Sunday's doubleheader split with Cleveland, exploded from a long slump and tied a major league record Monday night by hitting two grand slam homers as the American League leading Tigers shelled the second place Indians 14-3. Elsewhere, Reggie Jackson's three-run homer and Ed, Sprague's brilliant relief pitching carried Oakland past California 3-2 and Minnesota nipped Chicago i-0 behind Dean Chance in a rain-curtailed game.

Northrup spent the first game of Sunday's twin bill needling Luis Tiant from the dugout and drawing an 0-for-4 blank as the Cleveland right-hander tamed the Tigers 3-0. "I haven't been hitting a lick, and I have to do something," he explained after another futile at-bat in the nightcap sent his batting average sagging to .225. The Detroit outfielder came up in the first inning Monday night with the bases jammed and rookie Mike Paul struck him out. Northrup fanned again In the third before getting another bases-loaded chance with knuckleballcr Eddie Fisher pitching for the Indians. He drilled Fisher's first offering over the right field fence, then unloaded another first- pitch grand slam off southpaw Bill Rohr in the sixth, tying the two-in-one-game mark previously shared by six others.

Of the six, only Baltimore's Jim Gentile, in 1961, had hit a pair in successive innings. Two of the runners who scored on Northrup's sixth-inning homer were hit by the Cleveland pitcher. Bill Freehan took his base, but Don Wert was carried from the field on a stretcher after being hit on th batting helmet. Wert was taken to the hospital. When Northrup came up again in the eighth, reliever Willie Smith walked him on four pitches.

"That's a heckuva way to come out of a slump, isn't it," cracked Northrup, who has three bases-loaded blasts among his 10 homers this year and six career grand slams. "I haven't been hitting for two weeks." Northrup said he was just trying to get a fly ball when he hit his first grand slam in six- run fifth inning off one of Eddie Fisher's knuckleballs. "The second time, I was thinking more of myself," he continued. "I said to myself, 'Here's your chance to tie the Northrup's eight RBI and Jim Price's first major league homer helped Denny McLain breeze to his 13th victory in 15 decisions and sent the Tigers games ahead of the AL pack. Jackson's sixth inning homer erased a 2-0 California lead and John "Blue Moon" Odom took a four-hitter into the ninth before two walks forced his exit.

Sprague, a side-wheeling rookie, took over and walked Rod- riqnez- on four pitches, filling the bases with nobodv out. Sprague then got Bubba Morton to tap into a force at the plate, before Rob Roclgers grounded into a game-ending double play. California's Rick Clark held the A's hillcss until the sixth, when Rick Monday walked, Sal Bando singled and Jackson smashed his eighth homer over the center field fence. The loss was Clark's eighth without victory. NEW YORK (AP) Joe Frazier, looking more and more like another Rocky Marciano, next may take on Jimmy Ellis in a fight-off for the heavyweight title after his explosive, second round conquest of Mexico's fiery Manuel Ramos.

Frazier retained his five-state version of the heavyweight title after six minutes of thrilling action at Madison Square Garden Monday night. Even in losing, the hard-hitting, aggressive Mexican champion may be a of some more big pay days. He could wind up against either king-sized Buster Mathis or former two-time heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson in the Garden. Frazier, winner of all 21 of his pro fights, 19 of them by knockouts, was staggered by a right hand to the head in the first round before he rallied to wobble his foe late in the round and then drop him twice in the second round. Referee Art Mercante stopped the fight after the bell had ended the second round.

The 6-foot- 2 Mexican had absorbed a savage, relentlesss body and head pounding and had been down for counts of nine and seven. The second count went on after the round had ended, according to the rules. Under New York rules it was scored as a second-round technical knockout. Ramos, the 4-1 underdog, said later in his dressing room that he had taken enough. "I knew Frazier could punch but 1 didn't know he could punch so fast," said Ramos, whose eyes were puffed and discolored.

"I thought it was impossible for me to go down." "I knew my only chance was to punch with him. I know I hurt him in the first round." That he did. He thrilled the crowd of 10,785, which paid $121,302 for the televised fight, by gamely trading punches with the ever-pressing Frazier and then by wobbling him with a solid right to the head. "That's the first time I've ever been hit that hard," said Frazier, who has been floored three times in his career. "He can punch, I'll tell you that.

"I was really shook, but when you're in condition you can shake it off. the best defense for the shot I took." "I won't fight for a full year unless I can get Cassius Clay or Jimmy Ellis," said Frazier, recognized as world champion in New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Massachusetts and Maine. Ellis, of Louisville, is recognized as world champion by the World Boxing Association. Clay, still appealing his conviction for avoiding military induction, is considered champion in some parts of the world. Ramos, 208 to Frazier's 203, had his winning streak snapped at 15.

His record is 20-7-2. Frazier matched the retired Marciano's pace of 19 kayos in his first 21 fights. Little Dropped From UW Team MADISON (AP) Sophomore James Little of Northport, a reserve fullback on the 1967 Wisconsin football team, has been dropped from school because of low grades, the university reported yesterday. Littie was one of five athletes dropped for scholastic deficiencies, athletic director Ivan Williamson announced. The list included two other football players.

David O'Brien of Chicago and J. Meredith Taylor nf New Rochclle, N.Y. Little won a major letter last season while O'Brien and Taylor were junior award winners as reserve tackle and end, respectively. Also dropped for academic reasons wore sophomore James Halpin, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a swimming team member; and Alvin Dismiike, Dallas, Texas, a member of the freshman football team. Frazier knocks Ramos into ropes (AP Wiiepfj In the LAND OF BLACKHAWK Ceorgs S.Bachiy The second report of the season from Ducks Unlimited, Canada, shows a major shift of ducks to more northerly breeding areas because of dry conditions.

Surveys by Ducks Unlimited field personnel reveal that while breeding conditions in the Parklands of western Canada vary from marginal to good, an unsatisfactory and hazardous situation exists on the prairies. As a result, the waterfowl breeding population using the smaller prairie wetlands has been much reduced and there is evidence of a substantial shift to the larger marshes and lakes in the north. Ducks Unlimited projects generally are in good condition for the production season, though there are some which did not completely fill this year. These reliable brood areas will be of particular value to nesting waterfowl in this critical year. Some of the grassland, particularly southern Alberta, is almost completely dry and, except for DU projects and other man-made impoundments, will play no further part in the current year's waterfowl regardless of rainfall.

Sizeable shifts in breeding population from the small prairie wetlands to the larger marshes and more northerly areas beyond the scope of DU surveys apparently have occurred as a result of poor prairie conditions. Abnormal concentrations of pintails in spring migration which have now moved on wore reported by biologists. These wore no doubt birds displaced by the drought in the southern part of the province where surveys found a major reduction in breeding pairs of this species. Mallards showed an Increase in Ducks moving farther the most northerly the Alberta parklantls, vincially, the number of ing mallards is only last year and the average. Aerial coverage of a sampta of larger marshes and lakes-Qi Saskatchewan found unusually high duck populations involving all species.

Those at partially compensate for gcneraltil- ductions in breeding population! in the prairie potholes. Intensive aerial and airboat survegs in the Saskatchewan River Delta, centered at The Pas, In northern Manitoba DU has almost a million acres under lease and already mora than 200,000 acres of wetlands under control, showed a significant increase in breeding waterfowl. Flocks of paired mallards and ninlails have been observed in Alberta and Saskatchewan long after they would normnlly be dispersed for nesting. This phenomenon was observed in other drought years, notahly 1959 and 1961, and indicates that at least a segment of the pooulj- tion mav not. breed th's yeir.

In addition, we can not he enthusiastic about the ncstlM success of birds displaced to Ua- familiar far north habitat.

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About Janesville Daily Gazette Archive

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261,548
Years Available:
1845-1970