Lubbock Avalanche-Journal from Lubbock, Texas • Page 29

Thursday Morning, July 25, Laputka Shines For Philadelphia PHILADELPHIA (AP) When Tom Laputka was tapped by the Philadelphia Bell as their starting defensive tackle, he had hours to get ready for his first game because a contract dispute had kept his status in doubt. Although the Bell was dumped 11-0 by Houston in the World Football League last week, Laputka looked more than ready to play. He was one of the few bright spots for Philadelphia. So the Bell isn't worried about his being ready Thursday night, when the New York Stars arrive here for a nationally-televised game at John F. Kennedy Stadium.

Nor is there much worrying about the rest of the team's defense But the offense is a noth er matter. "The offense was not ready to play a game," Bell Coach Ron Waller said of the Houston loss. our job this week to get them prepared. The defense last week was just much more ready." BROWNS TAKE AGENTS CLEVELAND CAP) The Cleveland Borwns announced Friday the signing of two free agents, Bill Englert, 21, a running hack from Pittsburgh, and Paul Pavlich, 21, a tight end from William Mary. Waller reacted to last defeat by putting the squad through two a-day workouts and extra meetings.

Laputka was ready for that, too. "We need it," he said. "Nor-; mally, you want to get as many; veterans as you can on offense. Here, we have young guys; playing a complicated system. They need time to get the offense together.

"Defenses don't have txx know that much. A lineman just knows he has to get there (to the quarterback) and do it." For the 6-foot .1, 255-pound for mer Ottawa player, "do it" means rattling the booms of any offensive player within reach of his huge arms. He can bench-: 450 pounds. "1 admit paid to be mean on the field," he says. "I like picking guys up, for example.

If a guy gets knocked down, he can pick himself up, unless on my team, of course. paid to hit." "He could be the top COACH WANTED SLATON (Special) A junior high coach for all sports is needed at Slaton. Interested coaches should contact Eddie Cook at 828-6503 or at the coaching school in Houston at the Holiday Inn Main. tackle a tough says Barry Leib, a Bell vice president. "A mean player He plays like an animal out says quarterback King Corcoran.

Lujxxtka. who grew up in Philadelphia, played three years in the Canadian Football League at Ottawa. Ho says he always wanted to play here, and the contract was considerably sw'eeter than the $30,000 he was getting up Nor til. But a snag in his contract delayed a final settlement, and it was not until just before the Houston game that he got foe word he was starting at tackle. BROCK $EEPS ON Brock (20) of the St.

Louis Cardinals keeps on going by second base and Bert Campaneds of the Oakland as Brock steals second during the fifth inning of Tuesday All-Star game. American League catcher Thurman Munson of New York threw the ball to Cam- paneris, but it went into centerfield and Brock went on to third. The National League won 7-2. (AP Wirephoto) Mays Lived Up To Promise During Magnificent Career NEW YORK (AP) He came up as the "Say kid, a shy 20-year-old with a squeaky voice and a world of potential; over the next 22 years he fulfilled that promise beyond all expectations, becoming a model of the complete baseball player. Last year, Willie Mays, his 42-year-old body still trim and muscular but his once-magnificent skills diminished by nagging injuries and the ravages of time, announced his retirement from the game with which his name had become synonymous.

Baseball players are judged by their abilities in five categories: running, fielding, throwing, hitting and hitting with power. Mays excelled in all. Hitting? Mays compiled a lifetime batting average oi .302, 10 times bettering the .3001 mark. Power? 660 homers are the third-highest total in the history of the game, behind only Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron. He was a daredevil on the basepaths, four times leading the National League in stolen bases and breaking up countless games by forcing other players into mistakes with his speed and guile.

His fielding marked by the distinctive "basket catch" which was his trademark became the standard by which other outfielders were measured, and runners learned quickly the futility of challenging his strong, accurate throwing arm. "Willie could do everything from the day he joined the Giants," recalled Leo Durocher, first major league manager with the New York Giants in 1951. "Mays could do all the things you look for in a player better than anybody I ever saw," said Durocher. "He never had to be taught a thing. "The only other player who could do it all was Joe DiMaggio." Comparisons with DiMaggio, another "complete ballplayer" who excelled as the New York center fielder from 1936 through 1951, were inevitable for the 5-foot-ll, 185-pound Mays, who was also constantly being measured against two other great New York City center fielders of the 1950s, Mickey Mantle of the Yankees and Duke Snider of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Comparisons such as DiMaggio-Mays are by their very nature impossible to resolve, because of the different circumstances and conditions under which they played. DiMaggio had a far higher lifetime batting average, .325, but he did not have to contend with coast-to-coast travel and played far fewer night games. Mays outslugged Joe 660 homers to 361, but DiMaggio was hampered by spacious Yankee Stadium and lost a number of years to military service at the prime of his career. Yankees won 10 pennants to three for Giants, but Willie played 22 years as compared with 13 for the Yankee great. In 1969, when major league baseball celebrated its centennial, Mays was named to the all- star team composed of players still living as a right fielder.

this something?" said Willie. played right field maybe two or tnree days in my life. Center field must be reserved for my idol Joe Mays patterned his batting swing after "I got it from watching DiMaggio in the newsreels and on he said. "I never saw him play in real life, but always copied him, every chance I got." Bom May 6, 1931 in Westfield, Mays as a teenager often played on the same semipro teams as his father, who worked in the steel mills of Birmingham. Willie joined the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro National League at age 17, while he was still going to high school.

New York Giants scout Eddie Montague, sent to look at another Barons player, spotted Mays in the spring of 1950 and signed him for $5,000. Mays batted .353 for the Trenton farm team that year. He was promoted to the Giants top farm club, Minneapolis, for 1951, and was batting a torrid .477 after 35 games when he was called up to the majors. His debut was a shaky one. His first three games were in Philadelphia; the Giants won all three, but Willie went hitless in 12 trips to the plate.

The team then returned to New York, where the local fans, disregarding the out-of- town boxscores, cheered Mays as if he were a conquering hero. And the youngster responded. In his very first at bat in the Polo Grounds, facing the great Warren Spahn, Mays slammed a home run over the left field roof. Nonetheless, his early batting woes continued. One day Durocher spotted the rookie, batting a lowly .039, sitting in the locker rhom in tears.

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better bench me or send me But Durocher knew better. The wily skipper told Mays he was staying right where he was, in center field for the New York Giants, and that he might as well stop worrying. "That was what I Mays said later. "My problem was just a confidence After the rocky start, Mays came on to finish with a .274 average for the year. He hit 20 home runs, earned Rookie of the Year honors and helped the Giants to the NL pennant.

That year he picked up the "Say Hey" nickname. "If I think of a name," Mays explained, say, uh, 'Say But that was a long time was called into military service early in 1952 and missed the entire 1953 season, but came back to have possibly his finest season in 1954. Front-Nine Record Tumbles At Hillcrest Steve Locke erased one stroke off the Hillcrest Country Club front nine record Wednesday by firing a seven-under-par 29. Locke carded seven birdies and twio pars in breaking Tommy one- year-old standard of 30. Locke, however, missed the 18-hole course record by two shots.

His one-under- par 35 on the back nine gave him an eight-under- par 64 round. Wilson holds the 18-hole mark with a 62. Locke, an ex-Monterey golfer now playing for TCU, was playing with John Canine, Jobe Moss and Dick Mattox during his record round. Get Your GYM SUITS EQUIPMENT Early Colors for all Area Schools 7454445 HALF GALLON. Consider these advantages: 1.

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