Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 53

Wo that rn a iiffersnav i in outfieli hard-to-iind i 1 deptl This is the last in a four-part series by Free Press baseball writer Jim Hawkins, analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the 1978 Tigers, position by By JIM HAWKINS Free Press Sports Writer COLUMBUS, Ohio At age 35, Mickey Stanley is still the best centerfielder the Tigers possess. He also happens to be their best leftfielder, and their best rightfielder, too. Yet everyone, including Stanley, knows that barring the unforeseen, Mickey will again spend most of the summer sitting on the bench watching somebody else play centerfield and leftfield and right. That ought to tell you something about the talents of Ron LeFlore, Steve Kemp and Tim Corcoran. In fact, if Ralph Houk is correct, the Tigers could be stronger in the outfield this season than they have been at any time since Willie Horton, Free Press Photos by CRAiG PORTfcR Rusty Staub (hand on hip), Milt May (center) wait for luggage at Metro airport Tuesday night; Mark Fidrych signs autograph Gooifjo HuCA 1 Tiger relievers lose it, 9-8 Al Kahne, Jim Northrup and Stanley were all in their prime.

LeFlore, of course, has already established himself as the Tigers' best base stealer since the incomparable Ty Cobb. And after a painfully slow start at the plate last season, he went on to prove that his All-Star performance the year before was no fluke by batting .325, fifth best in the American League and the highest average by any right-handed hitter. fit vi feiif i fKk LA II II xi ilj -f Ron LeFlore Mickey Stanley i 7 With Tigers hack home, everybody's gone AWOL Just between us Of all the four-letter words assembled in languages anywhere, including dugouts, locker rooms and player benches, the toughest by far is "liar." Who ever would say such a word? So we will avoid "liar" and simply appeal to the compassion and understanding of hardheads everywhere as the town prepares to count 55,000 people missing-in-action on the morrow. The Tigers, as you know, will be home at last from the south for Opening Day. By jinx or habit, their arrival annually creates great emergencies which destroy the rhythm and flow at desks and trenches all over town.

What happens to some people on the eve or morning of Opening Day is astounding, as follows: I Steve Kemp Rusty Staub IE. -A By JIM HAWKINS Free Press Sports Writer COLUMBUS, Ohio The most successful spring in modern Tiger history ended on a sour note Tuesday afternoon as the Tigers blew a seven-run lead in the final two innings to bow to the Cincinnati Reds, 9-8. Ahead 8-1 with six outs to go thanks in large part to home runs by Steve Kemp, Phil Mankowski and Aurelio' Rodriguez Tiger relievers Jim Crawford and Bruce Taylor permitted the Reds to score four times in each of the final two innings. Taylor, in fact, forced home the tying and winning runs by walking Doug Collins and pitcher Dale Murray with the bases full. As disturbing as it was, the loss was only the Tigers' ninth all spring, alongside 18 victo How to make 'uncle' em say THIS YEAR, though, Houk is convinced that LeFlore could be even more productive.

"Ronnie found out last year that this game is tougher than he thought it was," theorized the Tiger manager. "He didn't realize that people knew who he was and would be watching for him. "He came to spring training after the great year he had in '76 and he really didn't work hard. He never got going, and before he knew it, he was in a deep slump and he couldn't get out of it. "But you've got to give him credit.

He came out of that slump and had a great last Please turn to Page 7D i L. if I Charlie Spikes Tim Corcoran I couldn't make it to work because my bra broke and the elastic snapped around and damaged my cornea. I lost my third uncle this year. Honest. There are seven left.

The elevator in my building flooded and I couldn't get out. A guy dropped with a heart attack and I gave him mouth-to-mouth and got sick. If my wife doesn't get pregnant, she's going to leave me. I lost my glasses and couldn't find my shoes. I got caught in my zipper and I can prove it.

There was a pigeon in my bedroom. I was attacked by my neighbor's dog and his wife. What you see above is truth verified, as always, from testimony of hard-eyed supervisors, or from the pleading victims themselves. They swear it is so, and in each instance, absence from the work table was approved. So by my guest, if you are searching for method to escape on Thursday and watch the The Bird ries.

No Tiger team in recorded history has ever enjoyed a better spring than that. And no team in baseball was able to top that this year. (r HUDSON'S Dave Rozema held the Reds to six hits and only one run and departed, apparently destined to win his second exhibition of the spring. ANNUAL MANKOWSKI AND KEMP both homered for the first time this spring in the first inning and Kemp drove in two more runs MOTOR CITY SALE with a single off Paul Moskau in the third. Kemp connected again in the fourth, after Ron LeFlore walked and Jason Thompson singled, giving the Tigers left- fielder four RBIs in the game.

Mark Wagner walked and worked his way across the plate, courtesy of two wild pitches, in the fifth. wing it again in the Tigers' debut. To be true, you might find an argument here or there, some supervisors being especially hard. Just do not let him have the final say. Years ago, to show you, the Tigers were playing the Cubs in the World Series in Chicago, when the soldier at nearby Ft.

Sheridan said to the captain: "Sir, I have four box seats to the game. How about taking off this afternoon?" Whereupon the delighted captain, mentioning somebody would have to guard the 25,000 POWs in Rodriguez's HR in the top half of the eighth, gave the Tigers an 8-1 lead. But the Reds ripped Crawford for four runs in the bottom half of the inning, then added four more when Taylor lost control In the ninth. TAGGING THE TIGERS: Except for a few seats located behind poles, the Tigers' home opener Thursday afternoon against Toronto has been completely sold out. The Tigers have been out of box and reserved seats for Please turn to Page 7D Slugger Mayberry traded to Toronto DUNEDIN, Fla.

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tlf pup i 4 In it i i rTkT A 9 I A I. 4i Kl iu Hi 4v-a 4 1 i tXKt i Mxi consecutive American League West pennants, Tuesday was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for a player to be named later. The Jays open their 1978 season Thursday in Detroit against the Tigers. The 28-year-old Mayberry, who grew up in Detroit, once was regarded as one of the most feared lefthanded hitters in the American League. But two successive sub-par seasons and the rapid improvement of rookie Clint Hurdle made him expendable.

In 1973 and '74, Mayberry was named to the AL All-Star squad and in 1975 he hit 34 homers and drove in 106 runs while batting .291, However, he the compound, reached for the tickets And came away with a handful of confetti. His military discharge subsequently was delayed for a week or so pending a search for his records, but then, that is another story. Well, if you are among the lucky who make it to Mayor Young's ballyard Thursday, you might be fascinated by some numbers as regards the new appearance of the Tigers' home. They have replaced 22,000 lower deck seats at a cost exceeding $500,000. To do it, they sandblasted, patched and repainted and drilled some 88,000 holes into the concrete almost all of the work done while the town whimpered in the winter's The mayor would do that for us.

The changes that show now represent merely $2 million of the $15 million refurbishing program scheduled during the next three years. Tickets take a 50-cenl jump Actually, other changes are more striking than the new blue plastic seats. Concession prices are up a notch (John Fetzer must pay rent now), as are ticket prices, the city as new landlord attaching a 50-cent surcharge on all seats. I don't know why the latter was necessary. What I remember is the mayor saying it would be federal money being pumped into the stadium, and it wouldn't cost us anything.

I believed him. But then, I believe the gal who says she was hit in the eye by her bra. Not only the Tigers have returned from a lengthy stay in the south. The man who last coached the Lions to a world championship (1957) is back among us, to stay. George Wilson has quit Florida after a dozen years he had coached the Miami Dolphins ahead of Don Shula, later operated his own golf course in the Miami area and has returned to push industrial conveyors for the Wilkie Co.

It is not as if we need one more testimonial as regards new Lions coach Monte Clark, but Wilson offers it anyway: "They've got themselves a helluva coach there." The next time you hear it, you are entitled to make Super Bowl reservations Before sunset this very day, they intend to sign papers in New York and announce the Leon Spinks-Muhammad Ali rematch for the world heavyweight boxing championship. Spinks' Detroit attorneys, Edward Bell and Lester Hudson, are there expecting to make the announcement with promoter Bob Arum and Top Rank, Inc. Forget Detroit as a site for the fight. When it came time to put up the money, it wasn't available here. Eddie Smith, another Detroit attorney mentioned here as a possible promoter, told me it was not so, he simply was "encouraging" efforts to bring the fight here.

"Oh, yeah? What the hell was he doing in my office the other day?" responded Ed Bell. It is very tough news that Detroit does not have the financial punch of Mmabatho, Bophutatswana, but there you are. John Mayberry fell off to only 13 homers, 95 RBI and a .232 batting average in 197b and had another poor season last year when he hit only .230 with 23 homers and 82 RBI. Mayberry, who will play either first base or designated hitter for the Blue Jays, has hit 155 home runs in seven seasons. Royals manager Whitey Herzog said he liked Mayberry as a person, but "I just didn't want him playing for us anymore.

I think John can go to Toronto and hit 35 home runs," Herzog added. "I just didn't think he could play well for us anymore." Ilassler cuts pitching hand with knife FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) A freakish accident has "Total units available at Metropolitan Detroit Hudson's stores while quantities last. eliminated Andy Hassler as the Kansas City Royals' starter for the second game of the season Sunday against Cleveland. Hassler, a lefthander, suffered cuts on the index and small fingers of his pitching hand Monday night as he and his wife were packing.

He reached for a suitcase that was falling off a table, and instead grabbed a knife. Hassler required five stitches on his little finger and about a hudsons dozen on his index finger. "He doesn't need the little finger to pitch, but the index finger is very important," said trainer Mickey Cobb. 1 General manager Joe Burke said Hassler would probably have to go on the 21-day disabled list. Manager Whitey Herzog said he will probably know by Wednesday night who the starting pitcher will be for the second game at Cleveland.

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