Hartford Courant from Hartford, Connecticut • 74

D8 THE HARTFORD COURANT: Sunday, July 25, 1982 It's Crowded Behind the Plate A 1 If egar now, but must gear up for the day he might find Cerone back behind the plate. And the confidence a pitcher places in a catcher is something that's built over a period of And it's a neccessity, John said, for a winning effort. Unlike the veteran John, rookie Mike Morgan, has never had the chance to settle down with one catcher. "At the beginning of the year, I was getting used to Rick, then I started getting used to Butch," Morgan said. "Now Rick's back and he caught me the other day.

I haven't really been able to establish a pattern." Morgan knows he might be teamed with Wynegar his next start, but whatever happens, he said the pitchers are just going to have to get used to it for the rest of the year. The catchers, too. But after that, anything goes. Cerone is a free agent after this season and a lot will hinge on what he does. He laughs off the Yankees' order that he take ground balls at third, saying it is probably just something to keep him busy.

"Sure, they have plans for me at third somewhere down the line," he said, "but that's not my plan. I don't think Graig (third baseman Graig Nettles) has anything to worry about." Though Cerone is closed-mouth about what will happen after 1982, Wynegar thinks the picture may clear up. "It's really a wait-and-see situation, but the way Rick is talking, it's obvious he's not very happy and he might just say 'to heck with it' and leave." Wynegar said his wanting to return next year will not hinge on what Cerone does with his free-agency. "If I don't feel happy or I don't feel comfortable here, then I have no choice but to say that maybe I shouldn't be around here," he said. "All I want is to feel wanted by a ball-club and have them appreciate me for what I am.

But if they say 'Rick Cerone left us and we've got Butch for three more years, so we'll keep him' I don't like that feeling and I don't know what will happen then." What happens to Cerone, only the Yankees veteran knows. What happens to Wynegar will depend on how the Yankees handle the traffic jam behind the plate. But all Wynegar knows is that until something is resolved, he'll put off buying a house in New York. Continued From Page Dl good the first couple days, hitting a home run and just having a real good game, then going back and sitting on the bench for a couple days it's going to be a very tough thing," he said. "Every day, it's come in and check the lineup.

And I'm not used to doing that. It's an adjustment for me and so far it hasn't worked out well." The mental strain is Cerone's main concern. Normally, he said, if a player swings the bat well, he knows he's going to be in the lineup for weeks or months. "Here, it doesn't matter, because you know you're not going to be playing fhe next day if a left-hander's not pitching," he said. "I've hit right-handers better than left-handers my whole career.

My home run, double and RBI were against righthanders the other day, but here, it doesn't matter. "It's frustrating and it's something I'll have to live with for the rest of the year." While Cerone is having trouble getting untracked, Wynegar finds that the sharpness he honed playing every day is beginning to slip away. His batting average as a Yankee, in the high before the All-Star break, is down to .288. "It's tough, it really is," Wynegar said. "You go out and have a bad game, then you don't play for a day or so, so you sit around and think about it." Being a switch-hitter, Wynegar is concerned about keeping his timing down against southpaws, something he feels slipping away.

"Right now, my right- handed swing doesn't feel real good," Wynegar said. "I don't think I'm seeing the ball good and the only time I'm really going to see them (left-handers) now is probably in relief." The effect on Cerone is expected; his clashes with the front office are becoming legend. But the standing joke around Yankee Stadium these days is that if Wynegar becomes bitter, then it's time to bail out on the Yankees. Though Wynegar hasn't reached the snarling point, the friendly, easy-going catcher admits chips are developing in his armor. "It's not a lot of fun," he said.

"I enjoy a day off every once in a while, sure. But it was a lot more fun knowing you were going to play every day." The fact that the Yankees have starters backed up not only at catcher, but at shortstop, first base and right field is a situation Wynegar has never seen, coming from an organization that never seemed to have enough live bodies to cover nine positions. "I know that Bucky's not happy," he said, referring to benched shortstop Bucky Dent. "I know that Rick's not happy. And if I'm not playing every day, I'm not going to be real happy.

But I just hope they don't mess around -and end up losing Rick and me both and losing Roy (Smalley, starting shortstop) and Bucky both. They could be in big trouble then." Wynegar was prepared for the platoon-ing the day he arrived in New York. He also considered the possibility that one would be traded. He never thought that he would sit Cerone down. The one thing he wasn't prepared for, though, was some of the baffling things that go on with the Yankees, including the punitive workouts like the one Thursday, which Cerone missed and was subsequently fined $500.

And Wynegar, who usually keeps everything to himself and who was so happy to come to New York, is starting to speak out more and more. "There's a lot of petty stuff that goes on around here," he said. "You go out and make an error, then you have to come out the next day, I've never seen anything like that. I've never gone through anything like this and it's definitely different around here." But Cerone and Wynegar are far from being the only players effected. The starting pitchers also are vicitms of the musical catcher syndrome, too.

"I think it's essential for pitchers and catchers to be in synch," Tommy John said. "The catcher has got to know how the pitcher likes to throw, what he likes to throw, what to look for when he's not throwing the ball well." Though John says both Wynegar and Cerone are more than capable of doing just that, it's much more difficult to do it only two days out of four. "Both catchers, in my estimation are outstanding young catchers," John said. "It's a shame that you have two people like this who have to share it. Most teams go with just one catcher.

"It's unfortunate that we have rotating catchers, just like we have rotating pitchers on our staff. It does not do the catchers justice, just as it does not do the pitchers justice." John has not been caught by Cerone since the May 1 1 injury. John says he's used to Wyn i I JF S9; jj UPI National League great Hank Aaron, left, and American League outfielder Larry Doby chat in the outfield before the start of the Old-Timers Classic Monday in RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. Yesterday's Heroes Unforgettable flO-miitutes white-ii-wait "We save time and money. Cars run better and last longer." Oil, Lube, Filter DASEDALL COLUMN By CLAIRE SMITH Courant Staff Writer Rasphall has a rnntinnifv a naccina nn nf 95 to 5 qts Quaker State 10W-40 15' Quality Filter Chassis Lubrication uauuiuiu) niiuuuL eu uai ah muicaaiuuai Thorough 8-point Safety Check sports.

meet cars) niuic tuc swciic in aaiiiugiuu, u.j., Monday. More than 29,000 people flocked to Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in 98- I Daily 8-6, Sat 8-3 Mastercharge Visa II degree temperatures and were forced to wait through an hour delay as the skies opened and a thunderous downoour flooded the field. EAST HARTFORD 215 Tolland St. at Burnside Curve 2894323 HARTFORD 868 Maple Ave.

near Goodwin Park 278-7428 Why? To watch a bunch of elder statesmen vlnn nnmn M.ma L.J 4 it Kiner said he's reached the point where he might have to hire a secretary to help handle the volumn of mail requests he receives. Johnny Mize said he doesn't mind the mail, but often stratches his head when he gets a letter with his address, but a letter addressed to Willie Mays or Luke Appling. And, Mize says, "I get letters from kids who say "Oh, you're my favorite ballplayer, kids nine, 10 years old. And I've been out of baseball 29 years." Early Wynn is stricter with his time. He won't sign anything he calls "commercial" baseball cards, glossy photos, "Greatest 100" books.

Wynn said he also gets a bit suspicious when he gets different sob-story letters from the same person two or three times. Bob Feller won't sign anything that arrives in bulk, stacks of cards or photos obviously destined for for sports show sales. But more and more old-timers are starting to cash in a bit themselves, attending autograph sessions at card shows for a fee, selling signatures or lending their time to shows and auctions. Even the Cracker Jack Classic paid off, with each player guaranteed $1,000 for attending the game, which benefited indigent and ill ballplayers. "They're paying me to be here," said Don Newcombe, who was playing in his first old-timers game in 12 years.

"And that's why I'm here. I'm going to be honest with you. I need the money." And Banks, baseball's eternal optimist, says that even when it's not for profit and a bit of a bother, signing autographs is just another way of keeping former players a part of the Grand Old Game. And keeping old-timers young forever. American League dugout.

It was a joy unequalled in any other sport's arena, a joy that showed not only baseball fans' hearts, but the pure Americana that exudes from the national pastime. But there is a business side to this Americana. It's called baseball memorabilia. And the old-time players know now that the business of trafficking in celebrity scrawls is bigger than ever. Lou Brock says autograph collecting is as old as modern-day baseball, and credits the man responsible for giving us the game, as we know it today.

"It started with a fella by the name of Babe Ruth, way back around 1915," Professor Brock explained. "There were only six balls available for the game. If the ball was hit in the stands, the people had to throw it back. Babe Ruth came along and he was the maverick of his day. So at the end of the games, he'd take the six balls and throw them in the stands.

"People would come around later and ask Babe Ruth to sign them, but they could never find Babe Ruth. So they'd ask anybody to sign it. Consequently, that got to be the trademark in baseball and that's why you see autographs so often associated with baseball." Some old-timers are overwhelmed by the increasing interest in their signatures. They don't have foundations, or, for that matter, a lot of money to put into photos or mailing costs. But still, they try their best to cope with the volumns of requests, something most modern-day players avoid like the plague.

Ralph Mlt glUUV U1VUV gLWIIU MUU uf ong ago. But the gentlemen running around on the field, playing at a kids' game in the first annual Cracker Jack Classic, were well worth the admission price. Afterall, they are what baseball legends are made of. Aaron. Musial.

DiMaggio. Feller. Campan-ella. The names roll easily off the tongues of the youngest baseball fan, who recognizes the uniqueness of baseball lore, which keeps even the oldest old-timers young in the minds of fans everywhere. Children who have only seen the exploits of Reggie Jackson and Mike Schmidt flocked to Ernie Banks and Early Wynn in hotel lobbies.

They scrambled over the walls at RFK Stadium just for the honor of standing next to a I Whitey Ford or a Pee Wee Reese. Enos "Country" Slaughter, 66, and Johrin; I OIlMimilMamiD Mize, 69, signed autographs for people who weren't born when they quit playing baseball. And even a press box full of jaded cynics joined in the fun when Luke Appling, 75, taught that kid, Warren Spahn, 61, a lesson by belting a leadoff homer. And the soaked but happy fans went bonkers when "Aches and Pains" Appling high-fived his way back to the Inflatable Boat Center H5M33F OUTBOARDS 3 13 A DYER' Ali ZODIAC i SIZE REG. PRICE CITY TIRE PRICE SAVE 20570R13 SIT tin BR7Qxl3 66 4 $19 18575Rxl4 cR78xi4 67 4o $19 2057ORxl4 SKI DR78xl4 $68 01 17 19575R14 $KO ER78xl4 $69 OZ 19 20575Rxl4 SCO FR78xl4 $71 QO $18 20575R15 SCC FR78xl5 $74 OD $18 21575R15 GR78xl5 '77 $20 20575R15 tC7 ALL SEASON 76 0 $19 22576R15 $CQ tnt HR78xl5 81 $22 23575R15 -0 tfi LR78xl5 86 DU 26 23575R15 t51 6 PLY TRUCK I '88 I Ol I '27 'Warehouse Stock I DISTRIB'JTFD BY -msKiiiaiion Matenal Handlirg Dtv.

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