Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 13

DETROIT FREE PRESS Thursday, July 8, '76 1-D LeFlore, Staub to Start A Sta Game BY JIM HAWKINS Free Press Sports Writer ARLINGTON, Tex. A year ago, the American League was hard-pressed to pick even one Tiger to sit on the bench and represent the worst team in baseball in the annual All-Star Game. This year, the Tigers will dominate the starting lineup like no other team in the league. BOTH RON LeFLORE and Rusty Staub will be in the starting lineup for the national pastime's most extravagant exhibition next Tuesday night in Philadelphia making the Tigers the only team to have two players so honored. In fact, it'll be the first 1 time that the Tigers have had two starters on the team since 1971 when Bill Freehan and Norm Cash both made it.

And if Boston manager Darrell Johnson should select rookie sensation Mark Fidrych as the AL's starting pitcher, the Tigers will have three men on the field when the game begins. And that hasn't happened since 1966. Only Boston's Fred Lynn, last season's Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year, outpolled LeFlore and Staub in the balloting by the fans across the country. Lynn received 2,953,664 votes more than any other American League player at any position. LeFlore, who continues to rank among the league leaders in George Puscas Bird's Deal Even Worse Compared to NFL Rates Understand, it is not how you play the game, but the game you play.

In yards and kitchens all around, even the kids and women know that a Bird named Mark Fidrych is being paid a factory wage while tens of thousands crowd and crave to watch him talk to a baseball. They know nothing at all about James Hunter and Lawrence Gaines or several dozens like them, who have yet to play a moment in a professional sport but already are very secure young men, money-wise. The peculiarities of Mark Fidrych's game and the team for which he plays dictate, or so we are told, that he remain at $16,500 per, unrewarded until a future date for saving his team and enlivening the summer. It is baseball custom. Even so, James Hunter, Lawrence Gaines and dozens more rookies coming into professional sport not only will double the wage of Mark Fidrych in their very first year, but will have banked three times $16,500 before stepping on a field.

The price has gone that high for top draft choices in the National Football League. It was the suspicion, if not belief, that when the World Football League folded, lower wages would be the order in the old NFL. That has not happened. Strangely, football salaries continue to escalate, even though the stars have few options but to sign contracts with the teams that draft them. There is no way of knowing the exact dollar numbers commanded by the likes of James Hunter and Lawrence Gaines, who were first-round draft picks of the Detroit Lions.

Without a doubt, though, they have been signed to contracts at or above the going-rate for first-round selections in professional football. That rate is rather astonishing when compared to the wage of Mark Fidrych, who even has some people in the state Legislature beseeching the Tigers to pay him more, now. Football Players Hold Advantage Just so you will know, pro football this year will He also will receive sum contingent on his So you can see, the Gaines, defensive back nearly $100,000 each this paid Mark Fidrych. There is, of course, Muncie, who commanded seven-year contract with It would be difficult for WONDER? "A lot of Russ Thomas, usually is Wary of dead, football players in Muncie, as football the average first-round draft rookie in make about $35,000. bonus payment of roughly $60,000, that agreeing a multi-year contract.

likes of James Hunter and Lawrence and fullback, will take from the Lions year or six times the salary being the more extreme example of Chuck $1.6 million, or $260,000 per, in a the New Orleans Saints. Muncie to make as much noise is his rookie season as Mark Fidrych has with the Tigers. Yet, he illustrates the advantage a football player holds over his baseball counterpart when entering the professional game. Like most other top football rookies, Muncie already is a well-established name and talent, the result of a brilliant collegiate career. Few baseballers, particularly Mark Fidrych, can say the same when they enter the big leagues, and so their initial wage is considerably lower.

this year's rookies," says Lions' general manager "want heavy bonuses up front, but the amount contingent on the length of the contract." player wanderlust now that the reserve clause is teams are turning to long-term contracts, locking and paying for the privilege. Such was the case with it is the case with Hunter, Gaines and many other newcomers. No Complaints Yet Next Monday, the Lions will open training, and in less than three weeks, they will play the first of seven summer exhibition games. No, the summer has not flown by already; it's just the football season expanding and encroaching. Some important people among the Lions still are without contracts, and they pose a problem a costly one.

Two of them are quarterbacks Joe Reed, who rescued the Lions last fall when Bill Munson and Greg Landry were wiped out, and Munson himself. The three quarterbacks represent roughly $250,000 in annual wages, and it's a question of which deserves the biggest slice. Munson figures he's the best of the three and is due a boost from his $80,000. Reed feels his timely work deserves something better than $70,000. Dexter Bussey, Altie Taylor and Larry Hand, all vital in the Lions' midseason surge, are looking for salary boosts, and probably will get them.

All of which leaves you puzzled how Mark Fidrych can make only $16,500, regardless of baseball tradition, practice, policy, whatever. The kid doesn't complain not yet, anyway and it is, after all, his own business. Still, you remember last year, the Lions had a similar case. Ron Jessie, a fine receiver, had been making $18,500 per, as called for in a carry-over contract from Dallas. In disgust, he departed, refusing a belatedly generous Lions offer and signing for less, an estimated $75,000, with the Los Angeles Rams.

It is John Fetzer's money for Jim Campbell to handle as he sees fit, we all know that, right, and never would I intrude. Butt if it were left to me, knowing what other athletes make while far less, I would see that the tooth fairy slipped an envelope under Mark Fidrych's pillow one night soon. hitting with a .339 average in this, only his second full season in the majors, 1 finished second among the outfielders with 1,911,335 votes. Staub, who was named to five All-Star teams while in the National League, but never started a game, was third with 1,573,703 votes. Staub is hitting .309 and leads the Tigers in RBIs with 46.

THE REST of the AL starting lineup, as announced Thursday, will include New York Yankee catcher Thurman Munson, Minnesota Twins first baseman Rod Carew, Baltimore Orioles second baseman Bobby Grich, Texas Rangers shortstop Toby Harrah, and Kansas City Royals third baseman George Each player voted into the starting lineup by the fans, must remain in the game for at least the first three innings, although the manager can leave them in as long as he wants after that. Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn said a record 8,370,145 fans participated in the balloting for the 47th All-Star Game. BRETT, HITTING .354 through games of Tuesday, was an easy winner at third base over runnerup Don Money of Milwaukee, who had 1,315,602 votes. This will be Brett's first appearance in the mid-season game. Mickey Rivers of New York finished fourth among the outfielders with 1,432,412 votes and Amos Otis of Kansas City was fifth with 1,431,688.

The closest race for a starting berth was among the catchers, where Munson, a .322 hitter, edged Carlton Fisk of Boston, 2,284,577 to 2,218,875. At first base, Carew, a five-time AL batting champion now hitting .320, outlasted second-place finisher Carl Yastrzemski of Boston, who had 1,403,557 votes. Grich had an even easier time getting the starting job at second base. His 2,043,904 vote total was far ahead of the 582,156 for runnerup Willie Randolph of New York, a rookie. The balloting at shortstop was much closer, with Harrah, a Please turn to Page 8D, Column 1 They Won't Last Long: 10,500 'Bird' Seats Left Mark Fidrych has done it again! By 6 p.m.

Wednesday 50 hours before he makes his next appearance at Tiger Stadium The Bird had caused such a stampede of ticket buyers that only bleacher seats remain for Friday's 8 p.m. game against Kansas City. The remaining 10,500 bleacher seats, priced at $1.50 each, will go on sale at 6 p.m. Friday at the ticket windows at the corner of Kaline Drive and Trumbull. Tickets will be limited to eight per customer.

Fidrych, now 9-1 and a possible starter in next Tuesday's All-Star game, has drawn crowds of 47,855 and 51,032 in his last two starts at Tiger Stadium. Dies at 53 Ex-Lion Swiacki Ron LeFlore A Rusty Staub Mark Fidrych BY JIM BENAGH Free Press Sports Writer It was inevitable that former football star Bill Swiacki could not outlive his legend. The legend was too big. Swiacki, a central figure in one of college football's greatest upsets, was found dead in his Sturbridge (Mass.) home Wednesday at the age f53. Authorities declined to give any information on the cause of death.

He is survived by his widow, Charlotte; a son, Bill and a daughter, Leslie. In 1947, when college football reached its peak, the Cadets of West Point were seemingly an invincible team, having gone 32 games without, a defeat. They hadn't been scored upon in their first four games of the 1947 team when they were matched against twice-beaten Columbia at Baker Field in New York City. A crowd of 35,000 saturated the field on Columbia's campus on a late October afternoon, but few eyes nationally were on the game because Army was a heavy favorite. The Cadets played like favorites, too, in the first half as they rolled up a 20-7 lead.

But in the third period, Army slowed down and Columbia picked up the tempo, though neither team scored. Encouraging the Lions was the fact that their two passing backs, Gene Rossides and Lou Kusserow, began hitting the big Swiacki with their throws. In fact, Swiacki was making acrobatic catches all over the field. WITH 3:32 GONE IN the fourth period, Swiacki made the greatest catch of his career a shoestring grab of Rossides' long toss which landed him on the ground in the end zone. Columbia made the conversion and was back in the game, 20-14.

Rossides continued to aim for the senior receiver who was having such a good day. Then with about seven minutes to play, he found him again near the goal line. Swiacki made another great catch on the three. Two plays later, Kusserow carried the ball in, Bill Swiacki as a Lion in 1951 Columbia kicked another point, and Baker Field was in bedlam. Relying mostly on Swiacki, who had eight catches for 138 yards that day, the Lions completed 13 of 15 second-half passes and hung on to win, 21-20.

The New York Times reporter who covered the game wrote that Swiacki's touchdown catch "will have to rank with the greatest" and compared to the one outfielder Al Gionfrido of the Brooklyn Dodgers made on Joe DiMaggio in the World Series that year. Please turn to Page 8D, Column 1 IOC Still Scrambling for Taiwan Solution MONTREAL (UPI) The International Olympic Committee, backed into corner by the Canadian government's stand on the issue of Taiwan, Wednesday held hopes it may have found a way out of the dilemma, but said it will require Kissingertype diplomacy on the part of Lord Killanin IOC president. A high IOC source said the committee will try to persuade the Republic of China to march as Taiwan "under protest" in the July 17 opening ceremony of Montreal's $1.4 billion Games. Shen Chia-Min, president of Taiwan's Olympic committee, was expected to arrive in Montreal late Wednesday. The Taiwanese team is en route to Canada from Taipei, traveling on identity cards issued the Olympic organizing committee.

The Canadian government said last week it would not grant the Taiwanese entry visas if they insisted on marching in the parade as the Republic of China" and behind their national standard. The team, however, is welcome if it ignores all reference to China Canada recognizes the People's Republic of China (Peking) and marches as Taiwan. In 1960 at the Rome Games, the Taiwanese, then known as Formosa, marched in the parade as Taiwan when ordered to do so by the IOC but unfurled a banner which read "under protest" when it passed the saluting stand. Killanin, looking tired after hours of burning the midnight oil in an effort to find the way out of the dilemma, had no comment on the issue. 10C members said most of the 70-strong committee are expected to disagree.

Jean deBeaumont, a former vice-president, who wants the Games canceled or moved elsewhere if Taiwanese athletes are not given free and unqualified entry into Canada. BUT IOC members in Montreal said they will not go along with de Beaumont's views, although they strongly condemn the Canadian attitude as an attack on fundamental Olympic principles. They argued that: -It is too late to move the Olympics elsewhere. -If the Games were canceled it would permanently harm the ideals of the Olympic movement. Canada is the first government to challenge the IOC's authority since the Games were revived at Athens in 1896.

Ruhle: Tigers' Bad Luck Kid BY JIM HAWKINS Free Press Sports Writer ARLINGTON, Tex. -Vern Ruhle is beginning to wonder just what he has to do to win a game. The young Tiger righthander lost again Tuesday, thanks to the two least productive players on the Texas Ranger squad Steve Barr, who has a 6.27 earned run average, and Joe Lahoud, who's hitting .168. Lahoud's two-out double in the bottom of the eighth scored Toby Harrah all the way from first to snap a 2-all tie and give the Rangers a 3-2 victory over Ruhle and the Tigers. BARR, in the meantime, was pitching a six-hitter to win his first game since April 13.

his second victory of the year. For Ruhle, who lost a 2-1 decision to Baltimore on a broken bat single just last Friday, it was the third setback in a row. The only time the Tigers managed to get a man past first base was in the fourth inning, when they scored both their runs on a bunt single by Tom Veryzer, a double by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau has called upon the IOC, which for the moment is standing firm in its position that there can be no government interference in its affairs, to follow the precedent established in 1960. 10C sources said Killanin is keeping this in mind. The Irish aristocrat, however, knows, problems don't finish with Taiwan.

Other political issues will be raised at next week's IOC congress, where counties he- longing to the Organization of African Unity are calling for the exclusion of New Zealand from the Games because it still has sports with an out-of-favor South Africa. An IOC source said, "Then we could have a problem with Israel. It is quite possible the Arabs will demand Israel's exclusion." The Africans, who had threatened to walk out of the Munich Games four years ago unless Rhodesia was excluded, won the day in Germany. THE GREAT BIG ALL-AMERICAN CLEARANCE Rusty Staub and a two-run single by Jason Thompson. Texas scored first in the third.

when Juan Beniquez walked, stole second and came home on Lenny Randle's single. After Detroit its 2-1 lead, the Rangers tied it in their half of the fourth on a single by Lahoud, a walk to Tom Grieve and a single by Beniquez. That's the way it stayed until the eighth when Ruhle walked Harrah with two out and Lahoud promptly doubled him home for the winning run. "The underdogs did it tonight," said Texas manager Frank Luchesi, referring to his unlikely heroes. "I have never pulled so hard in my life for a pitcher as I did for Steve Barr and I'm almost as happy about Lahoud." The loss, the third straight for the Tigers, dropped them three games below the .500 mark.

After closing out their threegame series in Texas Wednesday night, the Tigers get a day off Thursday, then return to Tiger Stadium against Kansas City Friday. Another capacity crowd expected to be on hand Friday to Mark Fisec. drych once again. LUXURIOUS QIANA DRESS SPORT SHIRTS SHORT-SLEEVE STYLE IN PASTEL, MEDIUM TONE, AND DEEP TONE SOLIDS, WERE $14 099 Silky nylon that's extraordinarily easy to care for. This collection features both dress and sport shirts, in a spread collar style with short sleeves and a single pocket.

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