Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 56

DETROIT FPEE PRESSTHURSDAY. JUNE 1. 1978 1D Tigers are iicox whips Brewers, 30 cooking! 3, Brewers 0 Tigers MtfWiUkM Detroit hbi br moi of Money to Coooer la 4 0 3 0 4 0 4 0 4 0 4 0 4 0 4 0 brhbi 4 0 10 4 0 10 3 0 10 4 110 4 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 10 0 1 3 110 3 12 2 3 0 10 31 3 I 3 2 0 LeFiorecf 0 0 T'ammi si 1 0 S'auDdh 2 0 JTnmos 2 0 Kemp If 0 0 Wocknfs rf 0 0 Corcorn rf 0 0 P3rriih 1 0 ARdroz3b VVitakr 2D 0 Total lezcanor GThoms cl Vouot ss CMoorec 3 0 34 his last six starts, struck out nine while scattering eight hits. It was also his second shutout of the season but only the fifth of his up-and-down career. "THIS IS THE year I have to prove myself," said Wilcox, mopping the sweat from his brow.

"This organization has got a lot of good young pitchers coming up. I can't afford to be just mediocre. If I do, I know I'm not going to be here very long. "I'm building a house in the area and I want to stay here. So I've got to do the job.

"Maybe I've dedicated myself a little more this season," admitted Wilcox. "I know what's at stake. "I didn't feel good warming up, I didn't feel I had good stuff at all," he said. "But my stuff got better as the game ient on. My breaking ball was one of the best I've had all year.

I know I can't rely on my Please turn to Page 5D the fact that when the season began the Tigers were counting on Wilcox as their long reliever, generally a rather thankless job, and nothing more. But that was before Mark Fidrych and Dave Rozema and Jack Morris all developed sore arms. AND WEDNESDAY evening, manager Ralph Houk, who had considered Milt Wilcox a five, or six-inning pitcher at best, was more than happy to admit Milt has proven him wrong. "He was going to be a long reliever," admitted Houk, who didn't allow Wilcox to start a game until he had no other choice. "And he'd have been a helluva long reliever, too, I'll tell you that.

Because he's really tough for five or six innings. "But that was before we lost Fidrych and Rozema. I'm sure glad Milt has done the job. He's been very consistent, I'll say that." Wilcox, who has completed five and won four of By JIM HAWKINS Free Press Sdomj Writer Milt Wilcox, who supposedly wasn't good enough to be a member of the Tigers' starting rotation when the season began, continued to perform like one of the stars of the staff Wednesday night as he shut out the Milwaukee Brewers, 3-0, at Tiger Stadium. Aurelio Rodriguez drove home two runs, giving Wilcox more room than he needed to send the Tigers home winners for the second night in a row.

And, when the Boston Red Sox bowed to Toronto, the third-place Tigers climbed back to within six games of the top of the American League East. For Wilcox, it was but another in a string of satisfying successes that raised the 28-year-old righthander's record to 4-2. No pitcher on the Tigers' staff has won more. Which is quite an accomplishment, considering TeH Brewer to pitch on sod he worshiped MDwaukM 000 000 00 0-0 Detroit 010011 00 3 fc Oalivie 7 Molilor. WSiem Coooer DP Milwaukee 1 LOB Milwaukee 8, ntrmt 7H ftaliie HR ARndriauer (4) SB LeFlore IP HER BB SO Milwaukee 513 12-3 TraversL.

1-2 RSietn McClurt Detroit 10 0 1 Wilcox 4-2 WP Wilms Travert 5:20 A 13 017 rr irzt' Sea Lary Sorensen By BRIAN BRAGG Free Press Sports Writer For nearly 10 years, Lary Sorensen has preserved a small piece of Tiger Stadium turf, keeping the precious memento safe from harm in a plastic bag in the refrigerator at his family's home in Mt. Clemens. He has had the fragment of sod ever since the glorious September evening in 1968 when he and a group of friends along with thousands of other delirious fans swarmed onto the field in celebration of the Tigers' pennant-clinchihg victory. The sod came out of the refrigerator Wednesday, and Sorensen himself will come out of the shadows Thursday night with his first opportunity as a starting pitcher for the Milwauk ee Brewers at the old ballpark where he once watched his heroes play. It will be a big night for the 22-year-old righthander, even bigger than the day he had Wednesday, when he was beseiged by calls from friends and relatives upon the Brewers' first arrival in Detroit this season.

"The last four hours have been unbelievable," grinned the former University of Michigan pitching standout as he dressed for Wednesday night's game at the stadium. "I went home and the phone started ringing. Everybody was calling. "And it's really nice that people care; it makes it all worthwhile." SORENSEN WAS A GUEST at a luncheon hosted by the Detroit sports broadcasters Wednesday, and that's when his little bit of Tiger Stadium sod came out of hiding. "My dad picked me up at the airport and he got it out of the refrigerator and brought it along," Sorensen laughed, explaining how he had the chance to show the piece of turf to three fellows who had trod it a decade ago Al Kaline, Bill Freehan and Jim Northrup.

Those former Tiger stars were winning the pennant that night in '68 when Sorensen was a mere junior high school youth, and they were also guests at the broadcasters' luncheon Wednesday. Sorensen admitted he was thrilled to be able to talk to that trio, men he once watched with awe as he sat in the Tiger Stadium stands. He is not awed by a Detroit uniform now, though, and he's primed and ready for a victory at the Tigers' expense Thursday. "Right now I'm hot and throwing the ball real well," the young righthander said. "Hitters have hot streaks, you know, and I guess it's that way with pitchers, too.

I've usually been a slow starter, and I'm really surprised I'm throwing the ball so well this early." SORENSEN LEADS the Milwaukee staff in victories with his 6-3 record, and those victories have not been against pushover opponents, either. He has beaten California twice and Please turn to Page 5D -i Ted Lindsay's given a lot; let's give him a dinner Nick Kerbawy never stops. He's always looking to put on another civic affair. He's the man behind the success of the Michigan Hall of Fame and now he's got something new for us. A testimonial dinner for Ted Lindsay.

W. Nicholas called the other day and asked if I could help. I recoiled when he mentioned it to me. I guess I've known Ted Lindsay so long I know how he'd feel about a testimonial dinner for Ted Lindsay. My first feeling was: "Hey, leave the guy alone.

He's been on the job only a year. A testimonial dinner would embarrass him. How many dinners are you going to have anyway?" "Let me explain," said W. Nicholas. "This one is going to be different.

We're going to honor Ted for the way he has revitalized his hockey team and for the way he has revitalized the city. "And we're going to give the profits to Northwest General Hospital." "That's different But what's Ted saying about all this?" "The only way he'll go for it is if the dough goes to charity," said W. Nicholas. So, this is about the Ted Lindsay Testimonial Dinner, Wednesday, June 28, in the Renaissance Ballroom of the Plaza Hotel, tickets $100 apiece, telephone: 934-3030. This is also about Ted Lindsay.

am all for his dinner now because I hope they bring out some things about 01' Scarf ace. We all. know what he has done with our hockey team. We appreciate his effort and his enthusiasm and the excitement he has given us. The game is fun again and we're all looking forward to next season.

Lindsay did this by the force of his will. He did it by getting up at six o'clock in the morning and working one hour later than everyone else. He did it because he cares about his sport, his team and his town. Count on Ol9 Scarf ace But it is the other things this man does which makes you glad they are finally saying "thank you" to him. 01' Scarf ace is one guy you can count on.

Cub Scout Den No. 232 needs someone to give out medals next Tuesday night, Lindsay's there. Plymouth 9 1 UPI Photo Keith Furphy boots the Express' first goat past sliding Philadelphia goalie Keith MacRae. 9 Francis imiites xoress 3-0 win over. Philadelphia IF'' i High School needs a speaker for the annual commencement exercise, Lindsay's there.

He was doing these things, morning, noon and night, before he ever took over the Red Wings, and he was doing them because he cared about those, around him. I have one small story. It concerns a charity event at Oakland University last April, where 28 "celebrities" agreed to show up and raise some dough for retarded children by taking part in a super stars competition. Lindsay was one of the celebrities invited. Two weeks before the event, a 3 days only: Fri.

Sat. 6 Sun. luxurious short sleeve Qiana dress and sport shirts in pastels, deeptones ond white, regularly marked at 14.50 now Ted Lindsay i99 Fy CURT SYLVESTER Free Press Sports Writer Trevor Francis didn't score a single goal of his own Wednesday night, but he was directly responsible for three others as the suddenly prolific Express beat the Philadelphia Fury, 3-0 Francis, who had a goal and an assist in his first game with Detroit Sunday, assisted Keith Furphy on the first goal of the game and Steve David on the last. In between, he set up David on a play which led to a penalty kick that resulted in David Bradford's line drive goal into the righthand corner of the Fury goal behind keeper Keith MacRae. The victory, before 6,794 in the Silverdome, was the Express' second straight and lifted them back to first place in the American Conference Central Division with a 7-6 record, seven points above Houston, which now has two games in hand.

Francis, with a goal and three assists (five points) in just two games in the North American Soccer League, has the team playing with infinitely more confidence than it exhibited in losing five out of the six games before he arrived from Birmingham City and the English national team. "That's the best we've played all season," said Sam Oates, the team captain who sat out the game with a back injury. "I felt right from the start, they knocked it about with authority. They made Philadelphia look like a pretty bad side." NATURALLY, THE IMPROVEMENT in the Express hasn't been entirely Francis doing, although his presence and his exceptional abilities are a major factor. Furphy, despite a volley of boos when he was introduced, created eight of Detroit's 34 shots (compared to only 1 1 for the Fury); David had seven shots in what was probably his best game since being purchased from Los Angeles; Bradford, the 5-foot-5 Mighty Atom, turned in a strong offensive game at midfield; Eddie Colquhoun and Ian Davies played well defensively; and goalkeeper Steve Hardwick pikced up his fourth shutout in 13 games.

The big difference in the team, however, is in offense. The Express had scored only 1 2 games in their first 1 1 games. Since Francis has arrived, they've scored six in two games. "Once we got the three goals in the last game, our forwards became more and more confident," said coach Ken Furphy. "What we've got now is a lot more threat up front.

With our three forwards, and even with Alan Brazil, we have forwards that threaten all the time." It took 36 minutes, 21 seconds for young Furphy to turn one of those threats into a goal. Francis headed a long ball to Bradford, who gave Furphy just enough time to break past a defender going down the left side. Furphy cut loose a left foot kick from about 18 yards out to put Detroit up 1-0. Barely four minutes later, Bradford took three quick steps and drove a penalty kick into the lower right corner of the Fury goal to make it 2-0. ALTHOUGH THERE can be no assists on a penalty kick, gal came to me in panic and said: "Gee, did you know the Wings are playing that afternoon a big game against the Islanders! J)o you think Lindsay will still come?" "Don't worry," I told her.

"Do you think we should call him to doublecheck?" "Naw. It's not necessary. He'll be there." Sure enough, precisely on time, wearing the star-studded T-shirt they gave him for the occasion, 01' Scarface went out on the floor of the gym and worked with the kids for morerthan two hours. He stayed until the very end and missed the first two periods of the game. But he had kept his word.

I wanted to talk to him about his testimonial dinner and the best time for me was Thursday morning. He said he couldn't make it Thursday morning, how would Wednesday morning do? I told him fine. Always give your autogra ph One of the things I wanted to ask him was why he made all of these public appearances. I was 25 minutes late for the appointment. He never mentioned it.

Instead, he said: "Come on, I'm going to my doctor's office. We can talk in the car." As we were sailing along 1-75, Lindsay said: "I guess I get involved because of something Larry Aurie told me years ago. He was a little guy who played with the Red Wings in the 1 930s. I never got a chance to see him play but he was still with the team in a front-office capacity when I first came up. "He showed me a lot of things about hockey.

He showed me how a little guy could survive. He showed me how a little guy could go out there and make little guys out of big guys. "But the most important thing he taught me was how to treat others. He told me, 'Ted, if you do nothing else in your career, don't ever refuse to give your autograph to a youngster. If you do that, you could have an effect on his personality and it could be something he will carry his entire "I've tried to live that way.

You see, the people in my sport ate very gifted. I was one of the gifted. I had a chance to make a living at the thing I love, and I have always appreciated that and I have always wanted to give something back." The reason we were sailing along 1-75 Wednesday morning instead of Thursday morning is that Thursday morning Terrible Ted was due to drive all the way to the Soo to appear at a banquet for his old buddy from St. Mike's in Toronto, Fr. Brian Higgins, the principal at St.

Mary's College. "All the way to the Soo for a banquet?" I said. "Sure," said Terrible Ted. "I just turn on the air conditioning, tune up the stereo, flip on the cruise control and enjoy myself. Can't let my buddy down." Nice going, Nick.

4 '-vYi kMt1 JjaMiHttftaftiiaW mnnp i ijii. mill itaWi once again Francis played a part in the scoring. He gave David a perfect pass to get a step on Fury defender Brooks Cryder breaking into the Philly penalty area. Cryder's only chance of stopping David was to trip him which he did, setting up the penalty shot situation which Bradford turned into the score. David finished the scoring with less than five minutes to play, taking a backheel flick from Francis and going in to fire a shot past the Fury keeper.

Nobody felt better about Trevor Francis Please turn to Page 3D MOST HUGHES HATCHER STORES OPEN EVENINGS. MOST HUGHES HATCHER STORES OPEN SUNDAYS..