Daily Hampshire Gazette from Northampton, Massachusetts • 33

Pages 33-40 SPORTS AND CLASSIFIED SECTION likes majors so staying If Mike Brown gets shipped back to the minor leagues it single-mindedness of making sure everything is in the proper per- spective Not only wu it a matter of unhurriedly learning a pitch at a time he grew up it wu a matter of telling the Atlanta Braves when they drafted him out of high school that he wu not interested that he wanted an Bristol in the Eastern League they tried to teach him to throw a curve ball It wu the first time he had tried that got a sore dhow from it It was putting a strain on the elbow and it puffed Mike recalled He missed six weeks and then came hack to post a record with a 245 earned run average Called up to Boston the last two weeks of the season he ended up 1-0 that victory coming over the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on the last day of the "It was a great feeling In fact that whole two weeks up with the big dub was a great experience I think it showed me what the big leagues were like I got experience being arouna during a pennant race (The Sox were in the battle for' the American League East flag until the last week of the season) and I think-the whole thing helped me mature more a ballplayer liked the Mg leagues and I wanted to Mike Brown impressed a lot of Red Sox people too during his brief stay and he wu on the raster that wu listed for spring training It wu all the opportunity Mike Brown felt be "I told them that unleu I wu drafted very high and the money wu too much to turn down I wu going to college" He chose Clemson in South Carolina I like hot wuther because it is-a good school with a beautiful campus I had grown up in the Washington area and I wanted some open species And Clemson hu an outstanding athletic program" went on a combined base- hall and football scholarship He at Clem- wu a good punter But son he gave up football and concentrated on baseball He Spring training Hollywood-style loved the school the atmosphere and wu one of the biggest fans for one of the nation's top collegiate sports programs think that winning atmosphere helped my development 1 says Still he wu a little surprised that the Red Sox picked him a No choice because he had a back problem a Junior But Mike wu selected and hu moved quickly up the ladder He wu 14-4 with a 145 ERA at Winston Salem in the Carolina League in 1961 Now it is Bos too and probably the No I starting Job in the rotation Brown though is a realist and he knows that he coukl stumble and have to be sent down know that I might end up back at Pawtucket but I know that if I work hard there I will he back with the big chib I liked it in Boston the end of last year and it year i I want to get there and stay there this and not a very impressive player as he spent mat of last year on the bench But yesterday he made two more good plays in the field and ripped two singles and showed Houk that he can be counted on for second andor short Barrett and Walker are second basemen and neither has done much this spring in Florida Their destinies are almost certainty tied to the Red Sox farm team at Pawtucket now Ed Jurak played shortstop but is counted on mainly to be a third baa or first base backup He played well yesterday also The Sox will carry six Infielders this season Dave Stapleton at cond Glenn first Remy at sect Hoffman (out with a flu bug and Wednesday) at shortstop Wade Boggs at third with Jurak and Valdes as backups Valdes seems to have taken on a new life with the recent hai tags and notes that he is Ml better because he is getting to play more and he is looking forward to a Mg season in 1963 Houk let it be known that Mike Brown the rookie righthander who pitched four shutout innings against LA will be a regular starter and most likely will go against Texas a week from Friday as the No 3 starter for the Sox Doug Bird pitched another strong three innings although he wu reached for two runs in the sixth a couple of bkwp hits and Lids Aponte got the in order in foe eighth and Hie two rum foe Dodgers got in the sixth by the way brought cheers from the 5000 fans because it broke a 34-inning runless string for LA which had not crossed homeplate since last Saturday In winning their eighth game knew that there were -j to be three jofas open on the and there were aix or seven of us with good shots at it Then it was Just up to the ones who wanted it the most I have worked very hard for it and I guess I have been fortunate the way things are going now although I haven't bees told that I have made the team or am going to he in the starting rotation Still iSSSte has sometendmiess in his right elbow down here and he and trainer Charlie Moss think it wu residue of the problem he had last year after the curveball experimentation They had been icing down the elbow after each time he pitched and it seemed to stiffen up on him never had used ice on the elbow until I came here It stiffened up and Charlie decided to try hut on it and it hu hen much better We think it is drawing out the rest of the stiff neu from last year Right now it feels very good If routine here seems to be getting him to where he wants to be it should not be Mike Brown hu approached his life and Ms baseball career with a fect maybe something will happen and they will uy we go The Cape might have been uying that after Bouy and Tomu Jonsson scored so secoods apart for a 24) edge Bossy backhanded the puck put goalie Pat Riggin while he wu airborne then Jonsson's weak back- Ariensttks you to Compare SpHaf Salt fries 3999 -r Mfe tuppty fast a be for a long while He pitched four shutout innings against the Dodgers Wednesday at Vero Beach lowering his earned run average in Florida to under! hu outstanding control of all his pitches and can throw them any time and with great confidence He reminds me most of Mel Stottlemyre (former Yankee star) although he throw quite hard Stottlemyre did IlB But if he pitches like Stottle-taxe him any smiled Houk who coached and managed Stottlemyre at New York Brown by the way is a kind of gift from the Yankees When New York signed Bob Watson a free agent in 1979 the Yankees' No Boston draft pick The pick wu used to draft Mike Brawn against 13 losses this spring the Sox got some strong hitting from-Tony Armu The centerfic had been a slump for two weeks but broke out with a single and two long doubles Wednesday Dwight Evans crashed two dou-bla well Brown also made an outstand-1 ing play in the field in the third I inning when the Dodgers had runners on first and third with one out Pitcher Jerry Reuss laid down a squeeze bunt with catcher Mike Sdoscta on third The ball went to the left of the near the plate Brown came charging off the I mound one-handed the Dali and kept on running to tag out foe runner Just before he got to the plate No one including Houk could recall having seen a play like that I before Brown suffered a bruise on Ms buttocks but otherwise wu unhurt He noted however that because of the use of designated Mtters in college and his two-plus years in organized baseball he had not Mt until this i spring When are played at National fSS fields foe designated Mt-ter is not used first at-bat this spring wu against Steve Carlton and he I a little grounder His otb- Jerry Reu first-short-first double play goodness I won't have to Mt anymore this season" he laughed The Sox are at Bradenton today to play the Pittsburgh Pirates with Bob Ojeda to pitch for Boston Then tomorrow the final game at Chain O' Lakes Park will see the Yankees in town with Bruce Hurst pitching for Boston and Dave Righetti throwing for the Yanks With CASH Parchau Off Mt Of 4 Tiros With This Adi Tfc PuchaM off a set off 4 Tires With Yea MC-VUA-A Eipiae With This Adi I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I WINTER HAVEN Fla Mike Brown had a taste of major teue baseball life in September of last year liked it and decided to stay done nothing at the spring training camp to change anyone's opinion that he ought to stay The soft-spoken transplanted Jerseyite who speaks with Just a trace of a Virginia drawl is feeling good about himself and his chances of becoming a member of the Boston Red Sox team In his third full season of profe al baseball not going to uy that I have made the turn but things are looking pretty good and I think I have been pitching pretty ell" Brown said "So I am nfident so Mike is a little restrained about his chances Manager Ralph Houk ia much more open indicating that of now Mike Brown the all-American righthanded pitcher from Ctemson University' is his No 2 starter the American League season is about to begin next Tuesday at Beaton He will pitch in Texas Friday or Saturday of next week been pitching very well He's got good stuff and he knows how to pitch" notes Houk Indeed if there is any one thing that stands out about the S-foot-2 200-pounder it is his ability to move the ball around pitches like someone who hu been pitching for many years in the major leagues not like a agrees pitching coach Lee Stange had some good coaching throughout my baseball playing days My coaches have told me not to tty too much too soon I didn't throw a breaking ball until I got into college father was one of my coaches and he told me to learn one pitch at a time You know there are some who will teU you to turn to throw a fastball slider and changeup and then come back and playball coaches wanted me to team one pitch at a time and that's what I did and it taught me to be patient It also taught me to move the ball around to make that one pitch more effective" And what Mike Brown hu been effective He throws hard I overpower any- 99 OM But he throws the ball up and down in and out never the same place twice and if anything his mast effective pitch is a straight changeup that comes off a full motion and seems to mesmeriu lefthanded hitters Brown sticks with futball slider and changeup Lut year at Islanders By THE ASSOCIATED PRE8S The New York Islanders who have bras at the top of the National Hockey League for three years were used to the kind of crucial game they were faced with at the Capital Centre The Washington Capitals playoff qualifiers for the first time in their nine-year history certainty were not So Wednesday's result a 7-1 Mow-out for the Islanders should not have been a shock came in here real uid Mike Bouy who scored to give him 59 goals for the season the Islanders grabbed a twopotat edge over the Capitals in the battle for second place in the Patrick Insurance Work Free Estimates MIKE BROWN a rookie right-hander for the Rad Sox has Impressed coachea with his abillt he appears to be the No3 starter I Impressed coaches with his ability to move the ball around and for Boston (AP photo) VERO BEACH Fla There is a real Hollywood atmosphere at the Los Angeles Dodgers training camp here frank Sinatra serenadu the fans with specially taped songs about his friend Manager Tom- my Lasorda to the delight of the fans The Dodgers attracted a record 65000 here this spring including 5000 for yesterday's 4-2 loss to the Red Sox There is a special Dodger fight song a product of the movie colony and when the game is over and the crowd is filing out the loudspeaker plays that tamed dosing line from Porky Pig all folks" That wu aU yesterday the Dodgers closed out their training season in Florida and headed home for the freeway series this weekend with the California Angels And Porky Kg's announcement also would seem to apply to two Red Sox players destined to be cut when manager Ralph Houk makes the final roster cut on Friday to bring the team down to the 25-player limit Chico Walker and Marty Barrett had to sit' in the open-air dugout at Dodgertown watch Julio Valdez in the field and at bat and know they have two more days with the Mg team and that Pawtucket is on the immediate horizon Each day that the tall slender shortstop from the Dominican Republic gets to play at second base he taka full advantage to Just about guarantee himself as being the Sox' chief infield utility man this season Manager Ralph Houk moved Valdes to second with Jerry Remy out for more than two weeks with a muscle pull in his been notb- lower back Julio had ing but a shortstop for the Sox bander from the blue line slid through Riggin Mike Gartner cut foe deficit when he intercepted a during pan by Sutter ana blasted it past Islu goalie Billy Smith But Sutter turned the game in New favor for good only 29 secoods later when left alone in tront of Riggin gardens and Invites you to 0COMENENT OPERATOR-CONSOLE 0 -ORA OYER- MCMER DECK M0UNTMQ 0 TUX-NAOKT MOMWQ vems Power Equipment beat Capitals in preview STEEL BELTED RADIAL TIRE SALE Deftea Steel Radiate SIZE PRICE I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I P155SO-R13 4200 P16580-R13 4500 P18580-R13 5200 P18575-R14 5800 P19575-R14 6200 P20575-R14 6500 P21575-R14 6800 P165 8R-15 5000 P20575-R15 6800 P21575-R15 7000 P22575-R15 7300 P23575-R15 7500 Hm MT af I to SOI Ska IMtUTta 5 OFF Division The teams will meet in the best-of-five first round of the playoffs and the Islanders need only one more victory in their remaining two games to clinch the home-ice advantage Elsewhere it wu Winnipeg 10-Los Angela 5 Chicago 5-Minneso-ta 0 Toronto 4-Detroit 2 and Pittsburgh 3-Montreal 2 Brent Sutter also scored two goals the Islanders routed Washington for the third time in a row hard to uy if that will have any effect on the playoffs hating them three uid Islanders Coach Al Arbour will be a clean slate when the season is over gums it could have some ef THE TRIM SHOP Complete Automotive and RV Interior Trim Work Auto Glass Replacement Auto Uphobtcry Work Auto Body Moiding Vinyl Repairs Vinyl Roofs (completely Instaled) Sunroofs (comptrtcfy instakd) I I a ji Arlan GT12 garden tractor take on big lawns snow removal Jobs all yaar 'round compare Arlans standard features: HHVOROSWnC DRIVE 09HAFTORNEN TOMNTS3POWER TAKE-OFFS 0STEP7VRJ OPERATORS DECK B9 MICHELIN TIRES to tho Tractor Source" Gteoffi) Amherst Hours: IMF 64 tat 44 or by appointment Alan Lovroault Prop 464 AmhoretRd (Rill 1 HAMPSHIRE UNCOLN-MERCURV-TOYOTA 2SO King St- Northampton 514-5207 riens 3s QHD IGj South Hadley UA 5344) ACUT ABOVE THE ROT a ti HMM 7 -ii r-ff-m i.