The Windsor Star from Windsor, Ontario, Canada • 25

'r The Windsor Star Saturday, April 8, 1978 25 r-f ft I Jack Dulmage sodo tration. But they don't, and nobody in baseball bears down on a hot dog wrapper the way Fidrych does. JOHN MAYBERRY, Kansas City slugger acquired by the Jays uesday, batted fifth in front of ommy Hutton whom he bumped off first base. He singled first time up to trigger the only Toronto scoring burst. Said Hartsfield, He improves us.

Id say he changes the character of our club. I moved Hutton to the outfield because Mayberry cant play there and Hutton can. Mayberry said he knew the Royals were going to send him away. I didn't play much in the exhibitions, and they had these kids, Clint Hurdle and Willie Wilson who had to play. Man, that Willie is the fastest player Ive ever seen.

He outruns the ball." Mayberry was sick the day he was terrible against the an? kees in the championship playoff last fall. I was dizzy from pain pills I took for my tooth. Id been sick all night. But it wasnt all that. 1 had a poor year." With 82 runs batted in? Yes, but they expect Will it be better with Toronto? If I dont fall flat on my face." He was gone in the fourth inning, crippled by Phil Man-kowski's three-run homer that won the game.

Said Toronto manager Roy Hartsfield, Lemanczyk had good stuff, but its not a matter of stuff, its where you put it. He made two mistakes and thats enough to bring you down in this park with the wind blowing stiff into right field." The other mistake was a high pitch to Jason Thompson in the seventh. Thompson slammed it off the roof in right, a beautiful spectacle in bright sunshine. THERE WERE OTHER SPECTACLES in right field, notably a blonde in section 34, wearing a tight, slit skirt and not too much else. Her distractive advertising was abolished in the sixth inning when five constables led her away.

It didn't distract Fidrych who said he didn't see her. What did were several hot dog wrappers swirling in the wind around the mound in the ninth inning. The Bird tracked them down like a hound dog, stuffed them in his pocket and wiped out the Jays, one-two-three. Houk said all pitchers do things like that to preserve concen IT IS JIM SLATON, 27-year-old righthander obtained last December from Milwaukee for Ben Oglivie. Slaton was the best pitcher in spring training 5-0 with a 2.53 earned run After Slaton, its Jack Billingham, 35, Cincinnati Reds righthander acquired a month ago, then Rozema, then Fidrych again Billingham was 3-0 in Florida, Rozema 1 -1 This is Houks five-day rotation.

Hes glowing about it that and a tightened infield in the middle with Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker, and a five-man righthanded batting platoon that he injects against the Blue Jays lefthanded Jerry Garvin today. The five are Lance Parrish, Aurelio Rodriguez, Charlie Spikes, Steve Dillard and Mark Wagner. Its platoon luxury. HOUK REMEMBERED opening day a year ago. Dave Roberts lost it to Kansas City; and the Tigers didnt get on the board until their fifth game.

I remember the second game better, he said. God, they beat us 1 6-2. Fidrych was losing this one, 2-0, but it was early, and Toronto starter Dave Lemanczyk rapidly yielded to hot, eager Tiger bats that were .284 in Florida. I feel so good, said Ralph Houk. So did 52,528 people in Tiger Stadium.

They were embraced by gorgeous weather, new blue seats and Mark Fidrychs five-hitter the first opening day win by Detroit in Tiger Stadium since Mickey Lolich beat Boston in 1972. Last time the people had seen Fidrych was in July when he threw 15 pitches against this same Toronto team, and retired for the 1 977 season with a bum shoulder. This time he threw 115, propelled the Tigers to the top of the American League east and recreated a mania that makes the hearts of Tiger supporters beat fast. These jolting, coltish Tigers came out of Florida with their best training camp record (18-9) in history, causing Houk to say. Were completely different.

1 used to worry who I was going to bring in second, not first. Our ace last year was Dave Rozema and we had no idea he was going to be that. Im not worried now. The man I put out tomorrow will be just as strong as Fidrych. Tigers carry on with spring fever on balls to load the bases with, one out.

But, Fidrych fanned Bosetti and coaxed A1 Woods' into an easy infield out. Mankowskis error and. Roy Howell's two-out singled to centre gave Toronto a threat in the eighth but Fid- rych struck out designated hitter Rico Carty on a break ing pitch which catcher MajT said "broke almost down to the ground. Blue Jays scored their only runs in the second when Carty walked, John Mayberry and Tommy Hutton touched Fidrych for back-to-back singles and McKay rapped into a double play. designated-hitter Rusty Staub and May paced Detroit's 10-hit attack with two bingles each.

Ex-Tiger Dave Lemanczyk, who threw 67 pitches in 3 innings, was tagged with the loss. Tiger centrefielder Ron LeFlore, who came out of the exhibition seaso.i with a .351 batting average, had a miserable day. He was hitless in four official trips to the plate, striking out three times. (Box score on page 28) I A couple of times I had to regain my composure, he explained. Think strike, think strike.

Thats how you get Out of trouble concentration. For awhile, I was not coming through enough. My motion "was lacking that snap. You've got to keep the ball down, keep that rhythm. threw the ball better in the late innings.

Fidrych claims he has set no objectives for himself. His injury-plagued 1977 season produced a lack-lustre 6-4 record. I just want to stay healthy and. see what happens, he added. Fidrych shrugged off a couple of collisions he had in the game, one with second baseman Lou Whitaker in the fifth inning and another with Toronto base-runner Dave McKay in the seventh.

It was in the fifth that Fidrych bailed himself out of serious trouble. The collision between Fidrych and Whitaker gave McKay an infield single. Luis Gomez followed with a single to right and Alan Ashby worked The Bird for abase Photo by WALTER JACKSON Tim Corcoran(left), Phil Mankowski, Alan Trammell lead charge as new Tiger season about to get underway i Heroes yesterday bench today CLEARWATER run CERTIFIED CHRYSLER-DODGE'S SERVICE DEPT. By KEN FATHERS Third baseman Phil Mankowski cracked the biggest hit of Fridays 6-2 victory by Detroit Tigers over Toronto Blue Jays, a three-run home run in the fourth inning. Today, hell be on the bench.

Thats because Tiger manager Ralph Houk intends to platoon his lefthanded batters against righthand pitchers and vice versa. Blue Jays will throw a lefthander, Jerry Garvin, against the Bengals this afternoon. So, Mankowski, rightfielder Tim Corcoran, catcher Milt May, second baseman Lou Whitaker and shortstop Alan Trammell will By KEN FATHERS Detroit Tigers picked up Friday afternoon where they left off in spring training. Mark (The Bird) Fidrych pitched a five-hitter, Milt May, Phil Mankowski and Jason Thompson supplied some home run power as the Tigers opened their American League home baseball schedule with a 6-2 victory overToronto Blue JayS. It was the curtain-raiser of a three-game series at partially-refurbished Tiger Stadium and drew the largest opening-day audience in seven years, 52,528.

-Fidrych, who was 4-1 in the southlands as the Bengals posted their, most impressive exhibition-season record ever (18-9), showed no sign of the shoulder injury which placed him on the disabled list for more than half of the 1977 season. He yielded two runs to the Blue Jays in the second inning, struck out five and walked two in a superb routegoing performance. Mankowski, who committed the only error of the game at third base for the Tigers, shattered a 2-2 deadlock with a line-drive, three-run home run into the upper deck in right in the fourth inning. May connected for a solo home run in the second inning and Thompson, who clouted six homers in Florida, reached the roof in right centre in the seventh. "Its always satisfying to open the season with a win, said Tiger manager Ralph Houk.

"In all my years in baseball, Ive never had a team come out of spring training looking as good as this. Right now, this club has pitching, hitting and defence. I honestly cant ask for anything more. "Most important, this is a ground-ball pitching staff. Blue Jays hit only two fly-' balls to the outfield andall of their hits were lazy singles.

Fidrych, who was his happy-go-lucky, bouncing self, personally threw out five Toronto base-runners and made three putouts himself. His (Fidrychs) stuff was real good but he did not have pin-point control, said Houk. His pitches were up in the early innings but he got in the groove after that. Mark has a history of finishing his games strong. If he gets into the eighth and ninth inning with any sort of a lead you usually dont have to worry about him.

Fidrych, who has extended his pre-game warmup from 15 to 20 minutes, said after his 114- pitch effort: I feel great. problems at all. training is spring training. Now is the time the games start to count. Weve lost five (home) openers in a row and we needed the victory.

We want to show people well be in contention. I knew all the time we could score runs. It was my job to hold them (the Jays). Fidrych had a couple of shaky innings, the fifth and eighth. I ir Road Ready Service know that I can help this ball club anytime I'm in there.

First baseman. Jason who clouted a giant home run off Blue Jays reliefer Jesse Jefferson in the seventh inning, also spoke of confidence. "Right now, were coming out of a good spring-training camp and have developed a certain amount of confidence, he said. "I think were going to be all right this year. A year ago, we didn't get off to a very good start (losing six of their first seven games) and never did really recover.

Blue Jays, who came out of the south with an 8-17 record, got some good news after yesterdays game. They wont have to face Tiger pitcher Mark Fidrych again for another couple of months. He will not pitch in the three-game series at oronto next Friday, Saturday and Sunday -Houk has set up his pitching rotation so that "The Bird" will throw next against the Rangers in Texas Wednesday and against the Chicago White Sox at Tiger Stadium on Monday afternoon, April 17. Newcomer Jim Slaton will pitch against Garvin this afternoon. Tigers Jack Billingham will go against Jays Tom Underwood in Sunday's series finale.

go to the bench in favor of Aurelio Rodriguez, Charlie Spikes, Lance Parrish, Steve Dillard and Mark Wagner, respectively. All swing the bat from the right side of the plate. If were going to have a good ball club, we have to platoon our players," explains Houk. They (Blue Jays) are throwing a lefthander against us tomorrow (Saturday). So, Spikes, Dillard, Wagner, Rodriguez and Parrish will be in there.

Ive spoken all along about the balance and depth of this ball club. Weve got to take advantage of this. If I decided to stay with todays (Fridays) lineup and kept these other fellows on the bench for six or eight days, it would undo everything weve accomplished this spring." Mankowski said following yesterdays contest that "Id like to play full time but if that's his (Houks) decision, its okay' with me as long as we keep winning. I was real happy to get this start today. Anytime you break into the starting lineup at the start of a season, you know that youre going to play a fair amount of the time.

1 want to get as much playing time as I can but I'm satisfied with the decision to platoon. I have confidence in my own ability now and IUBE, Oil FILTER CHANGE COMPARE tmm TIRES rThe Windsor Star Saturday, April 8, 1978 Section 3 Pages 25 to 32 Shocks GUARANTEED For most popular makes of cam! M64L PRICES Protect, your Cars ENGINE Sports Outdoors Womens Pages 25 to 28 Page 29 Pages 30 to 32 FULL ROAD HAZARD $963 Tax Included tune-up special WE ADJUST Timing -Idle muon credit cmos accepted WE TEST OR CHECK MINOR TUNEUP Zgrcr plus port CCEGR Vo've 1 T1, 422-50 Plu Cronkcase Vent System WE INSTALL Battery NEW PARTS Air Filter 6 Air Cleaner Belt tension All lights Wipers Choke operation on. Choke unloader Gos filter Charging system 4 'few 4 MW mu 10 DISCOUNT WITH THIS COUPON ON All PARTS LABOUR FOR ANY REPAIRS or ADJUSTMENTS FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL 78 SEUBS 1 w.w, w.v. fo A CHRYSLER- DODGE LTD. 2300 Tecumseh Rd.

E. 2562688 1 Photo by ASSOCIATED PRESS JMrd first worry is for Lou Whitaker after Tiger terminates collided on Dave McKays infield single.