The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • 57

EcflAnaeUsCtaM 6 Part III Saturday, March 21, 1981 BENCH: Cincinnati Clears a Spot on Bench for Him SALES MANAGZ3 WANTED JACK WALL CHEVROLET Looking for an experienced qualified person to manage a large sales force. APPLY: Jerry Shepherd, General Manager JACK WALL CHEVROLET 3003 last Colorado live). Pasadena, California 91 107 them off the spot for 13 years. I know the front office expects me to catch more. I still have aches to catch.

But I know the aches will be of a different kind if I go back there." Wagner won't talk much about it "I'll simply say John's a very good man and very important to our ball-club. We haven't tried to trade his contract and we don't intend to trade his contract." And that's where the saga of Never on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday or Saturday is. There is no solution in sight and everyone is tiring of the discussion as the Reds head for the traditional National League opener in Cincinnati, which this year will include a returned hostage or two and President Reagan throwing out the first ball. "Who's going to catch it?" someone asked McNamara. "I imagine Mr.

Bench will," he said. JOIN OUR EXCLUSIVE a IREPFIELP'SI DISCOUNT OFFICE FURNITURE EQUIPMENT of him and he wants a last shot at his old levels: 45 homers and 148 RBIs in 1970, 40-125 in 72, 33-129 in "74, 28-110 in 75, 33-109 In 77. Last season when he was down to a career-low 360 at-bats, he dropped to 24-68. He wonders if he could rise again from an easier position. "That." Bench said, "is what I don't know.

That's what I want to know. "There are all those foul tips nobody sees off your feet, hands and arms that cut down swinging the bat The snap throws to second base that cut down on your arm. "I went through a period last year when my arm was very bad. I was taking cortisone shots, Butazolidin. It was a daily occurrence with the Butazolidin.

Any time the arm hurt I took the cortisone. "This all seemed relatively simple to me. It might have been on another club. But this club has talented people at all those positions. "I had to expect that (his teammates' resistance).

I said it and the next day a reporter would call up one of the four players and say, 'John wants your "It was no different than if Harry Spilman had said he wanted to play first base. Danny Driessen would have said, 'He's got his work cut out, he's not going to have my I'd have felt the same way if Van Gorder had said he wanted my job before I was ready to leave. I'd have said the kid was talking out of the side of his mouth." Has Talked of Quittinf At other times this spring, Bench has talked of leaving Cincinnati, or baseball in general. He has investments that include oil wells and he said if one of them hit, he was gone. "I don't think you can close all the exits," Bench says.

"I don't particularly want to leave Cincinnati. But I have to do what's best for me. "If I was satisfied I had something lined up outside the game, I might decide to retire. There's got to be a time sooner or later. It's just which one you take.

"They say I'm putting them on the spot, but I've kept ATARI CLUB Be the first to own the new cartridges for the Atari Video Computer System' ASTEROID OTHELLO'" WAR LORDS'" VIDEO PIM3ALL'" (ol ovoiobl later this year) Continued from First Page Knight, who is thought to have protested privately to Wagner. "He said he'd come out like a rookie and win a position," Griffey said a couple of days ago, smiling. "There's no way in hell he'd beat me out, let's put it that way." The man who has to juggle all this is John McNamara, the manager. McNamara is admited for his expertise and his serenity, and in camp he has explained patiently that this isn't really a problem. But in Cincinnati in January, he bristled when a reporter asked what Bench had told him about where he'd play.

"What." asked McNamara, "did he tell me? "Bench will fill in at other positions when I give somebody a rest or when someone is injured. He's an extra player by his own choosing. "I'm a person who believes in not worrying about things you can't control," McNamara says. It is three months later and he is making the best of the situation. "John has said he'll catch two games a week and that's what we'll do.

"Naturally if he wanted to catch more, it'd be beneficial to us. It'd make my job easier, but that's not the way it is. We have no problem. Our communication is very good." Three Other Catchers McNamara names his other catchers as Mike O'Berry, Dave Van Gorder and Joe Nolan. O'Berry has been passed along by two teams.

Van Gorder, a USC alumnus, is considered a prospect (Bench says one reason he made his request was he'd heard so much about him) but he hit .225 a year ago for Indianapolis (AAA). Nolan, the front runner, has been a backup throughout his career, though he hit .307 last season. "He caught very adequately," McNamara says. "We feel he'll do a very adequate job, a very decent job." Bench, around whom this drama revolves, walked onto the field at Al Lopez a couple of days ago, wearing a first baseman's glove. He seems to be tiring of talking about this, it's so awkward and all, but he does a TV interview, a radio interview and then starts explaining it all over again.

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JX JX- JX JX JX JX JX JX JX JX -M- J-W- Wm wwitr ik Wik ir ikf ikf iki ir it Mets Beat Dodgers, 6-4; Leary Gains the Victory VERO BEACH, Fla. (J Sergio Beltre's run-scoring double in the eighth inning broke a 4-4 tie and helped give the New York Mets a 6-4 exhibition baseball win Friday over the Dodgers. Tim Leary, an All-American at UCLA, pitched four scoreless innings, allowing two hits, for the win. Rookie Ted Power, the second of three Dodger pitchers, was the loser. Each team had 13 hits.

Rick Monday had three singles for the Dodgers, while Lee Mazilli, Mike Jorgensen and Dave Kingman had two hits each for New York. The Mets' winning rally in the eighth began when Hubie Brooks drew a leadoff walk. Alex Trevino sacrificed and, with two outs, Beltre drove Brooks home. The loss was the third straight for the Dodgers (3-7). Overall, the Mets are 4-5.

i SflS8- 3S88gfle tS I mm' flpnflJia1' i AUTO REAR DECK 3 WAY I 1 j)AHvV ous Namesl "6sto Cal Poly Beaten, 54-5 1 SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (UPI)-All-American center John Ebeling scored 16 of his game-high 24 points in the second half Friday night to lead Florida Southern to a 54-51 NCAA Division II semifinal victory over Cal Poly at San Luis Obispo. Florida Southern (23-8) advances to Saturday night's championship final against Mount St. Mary's, a 76-60 winner over Wisconsin Green Bay in Friday's second game. Eberling was saddled with four fouls but came off the bench at 7:51 with the score tied, 41-41.

The junior center sank a layup within two minutes to give Florida Southern a lead it never relinquished. Four free throws by Mike Hayes and a field goal by Clide Roberson followed to complete a spurt of eight straight points that gave the Mocassins a 49-41 lead with 2:54 left in the game. Ernie Wheeler led Cal Poly with 19 points, while Pete Neuman added 13. Cal Poly takes a 23-8 record into tonight's consolation game with Wisconsin Green Bay. Kings Play in Edmonton The Kings begin their last extended trip of the season tonight with a game against the Edmonton Oilers, who are barely clinging to the 16th and final playoff spot in the NHL.

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