The Times Herald from Port Huron, Michigan • Page 15

1 THE TIMES HERALD PORT HURON, MICH. Thursday, May 16, 1974 Urn fltamnibs mi 1 the plate, you're gone, and he said, 'I l1 NEW YORK (AP) Ralph Houk is a tough act to follow. But Bill Virdon, who followed him as manager of the New York Yankees after a cameo appearance by Dick Williams followed him again right out of Wednesday's game. The end result was a 6-5 triumph for Houk's Detroit Tigers over Virdon's Yankees in a ragged contest, but it was a day well spent for students of the contrasting schools of managerial theatrics. The victory put Detroit only one-half game behind second-place Cleveland.

The Indians host the Tigers for three games beginning Friday. Co-starring with Houk and Virdon was his cap, kicked dirt over Odom's shoes and trousers several times and finally stormed off to the wings. "We all have bad days," Houk said. "I know I've had a few and I guess he had one. Maybe he's been umpiring so good he was due for a bad one.

AH I said was, 'Sir, you'ra missing some Maybe he doesn't like to be called 'Sir Virdon lasted until the eighth inning of the Yankees' fifth loss in a row. A bases-loaded walk to Al Kaline which forced in the winning run got his dander up. His jawing session with Odom started at the mound and ended at home plate' but there was no cap throwing and no dirt kicking, just a red flush which crept up the back of Virdon's neck. "I thought it would be repetitious if I kicked dirt, too," the manager said. Obviously, Virdon's sense of the dramatic needs work.

"He just kept getting on me," Odom said. "I said, 'If you follow me back to home plate umpire Jim Odom, who tied an unbreakable major league record by throwing two managers out of one baseball game. The feature performance began with the Yankees leading 32 in the fourth inning. Houk, pitcher Joe Coleman and catcher Jerry Moses all got on Odom when he called a 2-2 pitch to Roy White a ball. White eventually walked, and Lou Piniella's run-scoring single did nothing for the Tigers' ruffled tempers.

Houk went to the mound and lingered awhile, waiting for Odom to arrive and break up the summit conference. Instead, the task was performed by third-base umpire Lou DiMuro. "Houk told me I didn't have guts enough to go out to the mound," Odom related. "I told Tve.got guts enough to throw you Before leaving, Houk put on a show which ended an 11-ycar run in New York when he resigned as manager of the Yankees after the 1973 season. He threw Iff 1 1 'M Dick Jf Young There are no close pitches to those guys.

Everything is right down the gut." The Yankees agree. "The last two pitches to Kaline should have been strikes," Virdon said. "The fourth ball, which he said was low and inside, wasn't low and it was right down the middle." Reliever Sparky Lyle said the fourth ball was "right down the pipe. If he can't call 'em any better than that, he oughta hang 'em up." In what was almost a sidelight to the managerial stunts, Joe Coleman picked up his sixth win with some help from John Hiller, who recorded his fifth save of the year. The Tigers took a 2-0 load in the third inning on an Eddie Brickman double, followed by singles from Mickey Stanley, Jim Northrup, and Willie Hor-ton.

New York, however, went ahead 3-2 in the bottom of the inning and added two more runs in the fourth. Horton brought the Tigers within one run in the fifth when he belted his eighth home run of the season. He singled to score Northrup in the seventh, knotting the game. In the Mickey was pushed to third by a walk and an error, which preceded the controversial free pass to Kaline. DETROIT NEW.

YORK ab bi ab bi MStanlev Suthrland Northrup Koline WHorton NCauh moses GBrown Lamont ARodrgez EBrnkmn Coleman Hiller ct 5 2 2 0 White 2b 4 0 1 1 Plnlella rf 4 12 1 Murcer dh 4 11) Blomberg tf 5 13 3 Sudakis lb 5 0 10 GNeltles 3 0 0 0 Chmbliss 3 2 1 rf 5 13 cf 4 0 2 dh 2 0 1 dh 3b lb 1 0 4 0 4 0 5 0 3 1 1 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ph 0 0 0 Dempsey 1 0 0 0 Mason ss 3b 5 0 2 0 Hart ss 4 1 2 0 Gonzales 0 0 0 0 Tidrow 0 0 0 0 Upshow Lyle Ph 2b Total Detroit New York Moses. LOB Detroit 41 14 Total 34 5 9 4 002 020 110 .6 003 200 000 5 Mason. DP New York 1. 11, New York 12. 2B Mur- cer, (8).

E.Brinkman, SB Murcer Pinlella HR W.Horton Gonzales. SF Blomberg. IP 7 1-3 8 1 2-3 1 6 13 12 1 13 2 1 1-3 0 BB SO Coleman Hiller Tidrow Upshaw Lyle (L.0-2) Detroit manager Ralph Houk Is restrained from arguing with home plate umpire Jim Odom (right) by umpire Dave Phillips. i Miller wins 1974 heart YORK (AP)-John Hiller calls his 1971 heart attack "in many ways one of the most fortunate things that could have happened to me." Hiller, the ace relief pitcher of the Detroit Tigers, was honored at a luncheon Wednesday by the American Heart Association, which presented him with its 1974 Heart of the Year Award "for his courage in meeting the personal challenge of heart attack and forhis inspiring example to other heart attack victims' President Nixon won the award last vear. Hiller is the first athlete to receive it.

Hiller suffered his attack in January, 1971. "while I was just sitting around eating breakfast, doing nothing much at all," he recalled. He was only 27 years old at the time. Despite the disabling attack, he did not give up on his athletic career. He missed all of 1971 and most of 1972, but had the best year of his baseball career in 1973, winning 10 games and setting a major league record with 38 saves.

He is off to another good year in 1974 with a 5-2 record, and just hours after receiving the Heart Association award he pitched the final 1 2-3 innings against the New York Yankees, preserving a 6-5 Detroit victory and earning his fifth save of the season. He has accounted for 10 of the Tigers' 16 triumphs so far this year. "Before my attack, I did just about, everything wrong," the 6-foot-l lefthander said. "I weighed 220 pounds, I was smoking three packs of cigarettes a dav I was not a very well-conditioned athlete. And what's more, I was putting extra pressure on myself every time I went into a ball game, because I didn't have enough confidence in myself.

"Now I'm on a low-fat diet and I weigh 180 pounds. I've quit smoking. I make sure I get regular exercise all year 'round. And I've learned to keep the been 2nd on Derby day "If any of these three take it, I wouldn't thrown away my racing form. But Silver Florin is the 'value' of the race, at the price.

He should be third or fourth early, in behind Jolly John and Hudson County, unless they try to slow it up. Then he could go right to the lead." to be short yet he showed natural speed before flattening out at the top of the stretch. "All Game was second to Heir to the Line in Preakness Prep. Heir to the Line could be the real goods a little later on but he's got to be short Saturday. Howe's Aeros after sweep in WHA final Ali 'announces' his major award John Hiller pressure off if I don't pitch well, I just forget about it, because I know I'll do better the next time.

"I'm a much better pitcher now and a much healthier person." Hiller said he doesn't think about his heart attack when he's on the 1 "You can't do that and be effective," he said. just have to eliminate it from your mind. The problem with most people is that they think once you've had a heart attack, you're in trouble. But it's like a broken leg once it's healed, it's healed." Did he ever think of quitting? "No. not at all.

Baseball is all I know. On the day I was sick, I decided I had to get back up and into baseball. It's my whole life." Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, who attended the luncheon, called Hiller "an inspiration to all young people, because he was able to recover so beautifully in baseball and because he can exhibit such a wonderful attitude." Foreman Sept. '25 in Kinshasha, Zaire. That's 10 p.m.

Sept. 24, EDT. Each fighter is guaranteed $5 million, the biggest payoff in boxing history. Ali's slogan, "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee," could be modified to include "and talk like a parrot" after Wednesday's one-man show. will win and bring punctuality back to boxing," said Ali, referring to the absence of Foreman.

Officials said the champion's failure to appear was due to a mixup in communication. "Foreman plays a cat-and-mouse game like a little added the. former champion. "We will have no more duckin' and dodgin'. That kills boxing." What can enliven boxing is this latest fight of the century, boasting Foreman, a bruising, awesome slugger, who has knocked out his last three opponents in less than five total rounds, and Ali a fighter, whose main asset is speed, both of hand and foot.

At 32, Ali has slowed a little, but only from the neck down. Ali called the champ a "dirty fighter" whose slugging power has been overrated. "He hit Joe Frazier deliberately foul blows," Ali said. "He hit (Joe) King Roman in Tokyo when Roman was down. At Caracas, he hit Ken Norton when Norton was on the ropes.

"We're not going to have dirt in Zaire. They will all be my brothers in the audience. There will be no George Foremans in Zaire, only people yelling 'Ali, Ali, and they're not going to stand for no dirt." After of Foreman's ethics, Ali questioned the champ's punching 1 power. "George hits very hard," Ali said sarcastically. "He hits so hard he had to knock Frazier down six times, Roman twice and Norton three times.

Remember when a man would swing once pow and then there would be a call for smelling salts." Norton and Frazier remained standing throughout pair, of bouts each fought with Ali. The ringside fans will see Ali's "ghetto whopper," a punch he claimed to borrow from old friend Kid Gavilan, who labeled it the "bolo punch." "At 3 a.m. is the time the bars are 'letting out in the ghettos," Ali said. "That's when the brothers start arguing about their women and who shot the dice lastThat's when they start throwing thenghetto punches," Jfy- wjf 'jj- Mets seemingly plagued by umps ST. LOUIS There was this peculiar play in Chicago the other day, and when the game was over, New York Met outfielder Cleon Jones was saying: "I just can't understand it." The call had gone against the Mels, costing them the ball-game.

Before that, a call in New York, and a call in Los Angeles, and a call in San Francisco had cost them games. "I could understand it if it was back in 1964," Jones was saying. "When you're lousy, it's natural for the umps to give you a screwing, but not now." Many of the Mets, the National League champion Mets, feel that way. They feel thev are not getting their share of the close ones, and they'd like to know why. One Met has a theory.

He shall remain nameless, as shall one or two others during the course of this report, because there is no desire here to lay them open to recrimination. You will be able to understand that as you go along. "I think they're getting even with us for the baseballs," he said. And he told the story: Before each game the home club supplies the new baseballs, six dozen I believe it is, to the umpiring crew. After the game, the umpires return the baseballs, minus the number hit into the stands or over the fences.

For a time, the Mets front office felt an inordinate number of baseballs were not coming back. They assigned someone to put a count on the' balls during the course of a series. It was found that 96 baseballs could not be accounted for after the four games. Two dozen a game were missing. The Mets registered a complaint with the league office.

The pilferage stopped, grudgingly. A Met official tells me of this converation between himself and an umpire. "When we take a few baseballs and pass them out at dinners and clubs, and autograph them, aren't we helping baseball? Aren't we helping you?" argued the ump. "If vou say they are courtesy of the New York Mets, maybe, but if you do it while speaking for the company you represent on the side, no. Besides, it's not just a few baseballs." The incident happened a couple of ears ago, but the scars remain.

The Mets are convinced of that. They have had a terrible time with umpires the last couple of years. Normally, when a ballclub is losing, I'm inclined to subtract 10 and divide by 2 the gripes about the umpires. Losing ballplayers look for somebody else to blame. But on recent swings with the Mets, I seem to notice an inordinate number of calls going against them, costing them games, culminating in the peculiar play in Chicago.

Rick Monday, diving through the air, had the ball bang off his glove, land on his back as he slid along the ground, roll down his body and under his arm, and suddenly, in some mvsterious way, there was the Cub cen-tcffielder rolling over and holding aloft the ball in his bare hand, trimphantly. Ump Nick Colosi called the batter out. What's more, Tom Seaver was doubled off. Instead' of th ets having men on second and third, none out, they had nobody on, two out. The call cost them a sweep of the Cub set.

Bud Harrelson, who hit the ball, says Jose Cardenal, right fielder standing near Monday at the time, told Bud, in a whisper later: "The ball was on the ground." Monday, asked if he caught the ball, smiled an engaging smile, and said: "Are you kidding? Is today Mothers Pay?" which it was. Monday, bouncing along the ground as he was at the time, could have no more idea where the ball was between the time it left his glove and the time he held it up, than the umpire who was standing painfully near second base. Colosi is a good ump. He had a sore back. This discouraged him from running to the outfield for a good look.

Later in the game, he switched with the third base umpire. "There is no way you don't go out and argue over that play," said a Met player. Yogi Berra hadn't budged from the bench. Yogi is a nice guy; too nice, as "has been noted many times. It is the unshaken belief of many Mets that they would get more calls if Yogi would go out and blast the umps more often.

In the'eourse of the discussion, there were some nice things said. Doug Harvey is the best in the league, by far. Bruce Froemming: "excellent." A wave of good young ones coming up Paul Runge, Terry Tata, Frank Pulli. Keep your hands out of the ballbag, boys, and please, just because Yogi is a hice guy, don't spit all over the Mets. (For another view of umpiring and refereelng see stories on page 5C.) The underdog Cougars, who had to make a whirlwind finish to earn a fourlh-place playoff berth in the Eastern Division, went on miracle binges to eliminate New England's defending champions and then the Toronto Toros in seven-game sets.

"It's 0-0 going into Game 3," said Cougar Player-coach Pat Stapleton. "The bell won't ring until the fourth defeat of the series. Tonight I thought we stopped skating after their first goal. We couldn't stop their power play but their penalty killers stopped us." Two of Houston's first three goals came on power plays while the Aeros successfully killed three penalties during that span to crush Chicago hopes. The series now goes to Houston for games Friday and Sunday nights.

If the Aeros fail to sweep in four, they'll play at home again Monday night. If the Cougars are still alive, Game No. 6 will be played on Chicago ice next Wednesday night with the seventh game scheduled for Houston Friday, May 24. CHICAGO (AP) The Houston Aeros are aiming for a four-game knockout in the finals of the World Hockey Association playoffs while the Chicago Cougars find themselves looking for still another miracle to remain alive. "We can wrap this up in four staight," said Houston goalie Don McLeod Wednesday night after the Aeros swamped the Cougars 6-1 to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

As it stands, the Cougars will have to win two of the next three games at Houston where they have not won in two years if they hope to return home and prolong the series. The Aeros took charge Wednesday night on first-period goals by Murray Hall and Gordon Labossiere. They added another goal by Andre Hinse in the second period and then wrapped it up on goals by Jim Sherrit and Hinse in the first 24 minutes of the third period. Ted Taylor picked up another goal before the Cougars finally averted a shutout on a shot by Frankie Rochon with 16 seconds to play. America's Premier Radial Tire Maker By GERALD STRINE GNS Special BALTIMORE There is a nagging suspicion in some quarters that Cannonade's Kentucky Derby effort was the second best performance turned in May 4 at Churchill Downs.

Silver Florin won by six lengths the $50,000 Twin Spires purse, the mile and a sixteenth race which preceded the mile and a quarter of the $326,500 Derby. His time was 1:43 2-5, after completing six furlongs in 1:12 and the mile in 1:37 1-5. Triple Crown posted 1:11 4-5 in the Derby before Cannonade took command with 1:38 3-5 en route to an agonizing slow stretch run that resulted in a final 2:04. So Silver Florin is being supplemented to Saturday's Preakness stakes at Pimlico at a cost of $10,000 to owner Herman Udouj of Little Rock, Ark. Trainer Oran Battles is not one to see money spent foolishly.

Silver Florin, a gray colt bred for high speed and shorter distances than the weekend's 1 3-16 miles, will be 10 to 1 or so in the wagering- Steve Davidowitz of Turf and Sport Digest thinks he should be favored. "They were walking through the stretch of the derby," he says. "Hudson County, which figured to stop after three-quarters, did. He ran a 53-second final half-mile and still finished second although the three-quarter time this year was the same as when Secretariat won, but it was a dismal race. He was tiring through the stretch after bearing out slightly." Silver Florin's victory in the Twin Spires was, by comparison, an overpowering achievement.

"His fractions come out to be 24-second-type quarters all the way through. Given reasonably clear sailing, had he run one race later, he had to win the Derby by 10. Then he'd be coming to Pimlico a 2-to-5 favorite. His owner and trainer made a mistake by not having nominated him to the Derby. They recognize that now.

Which is why they're willing to gamble 10 grand." The victory on Derby day marked the best achievement of Silber Florin's career, but the son of Ingrained and A Windy City II mare also turned in outstanding race in his previous try over a distance, in the Arkansas Derby. "The footnotes of that chart are unbelievable," Davidowita says. "He drew post 15, carried 120 pounds, ran without blinkers and goes to the lead outside six horses in the charge to the first turn. He settles, two lengths in front but bears out, then bears in, after turning for home and still just gets beat a head by J.R.'s Pet. "They put blinders on him for the Twin Spires after he showed speed in losing the Stepping Stone Purse at Churchill and he destroys that field with the jock laying on him at the finish.

The jock swung him to the outside for his stretch run, so they're certainly not worried about his running straight any more." Davidowitz accords only Cannondade, Destroyer, and All Game a reasonable chance of defeating Silver Florin. "Cannonade," he says "figures to improve a length or two off the Derby. He was somewhat fresh going in. He's worked well since, and he's in the hands of a good man (Woody Stephens). But he still figures six lengths or so behind Silver Florin.

"Destroyer is eligible to improve the most. His Derby' training was by muddy tracks. He had B.F. Goodrich 1974 SILVERTOWN SPESDAIL mm Double Belted Whitewalls fight with NEW YORK (AP) World heavyweight champion George Foreman didn't show up at a scheduled news conference, so Muhammad Ali had to do all the talking. Some people get all the breaks.

The news conference was called to announce that Foreman and Ali would fight for the heavyweight title at 3 a.m. Flyers can end it tonight BOSTON (AP) The upstart Philadelphia Flyers, on the brink of winning the coveted Stanley Cup in just their seventh season, seek to drive the final nail into Boston's coffin tonight (TV channel 9, 10 7:30 p.m.) in the fifth game of the championship showdown with the Bruins. After winning three games in a row, after a 3-2 defeat in the opener, the Flyers can wrap up the National Hockey League's best-of-seven series at Boston Garden. "I've never seen a team work like this one in my 30 years of hockey," Philadelphia Coach Fred Shero said. "Am I surprised we have a 3-1 lead? I'm surprised we finished first, (in the Western Division) I'm surprised we beat Atlanta.

I'm surprised we beat the New York Rangers. So I guess I'm surprised now." Although faced with winning three straight to regain the championship they won in 1970 and '72, the Bruins were confident. They were outplayed in losing the second and third games, but looked more like their old selves in a 42 loss in Philadelphia Tuesday night. The Flyers, who hadn't won a game in Boston since their first visit as an expansion club in 1967, jolted the mighty Bruins by taking the second game of the series at the Garden. Then they went home and took two games at the Spectrum.

In the fourth game, they jumped to a 2-0 lead. Boston bounced back to tie the score, but Bill Barber broke' the deadlock with his first goal in nine games at 14:25 of the third period. 'i 4 SIZES: F78-14 4 4 PrkM Pht Tfrti (H Ymt Cr kti f.l.T. Si for B78-14 G78-14 C78-14 F78-15 E78-14 G78-15 MOS90 HIS90 H78-14 H78-15 J78-15 17815 for for till to U.J1 tm Tk 985-6638 Tom Lan, Mgr. M0 2 IIS fh aw ME B.F.

Goodrich 7C TIRES A APPLIANCES iVJ PARKING REAR OF STORE 726 Huron Ave. OPEN FRI. 'TIL 9.