Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 4

George of the jungle New York Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner has fashioned a team in his own image sometimes rough and egotistical, always aggressive. Page 6 Today's television highlights: CBS 1:30 p.m. Son of Football Follies: NFL Bloopers CBS 2:00 p.m. Soccer: Philadelphia vs. Oakland, taped ABC 3:30 p.m.

Tennis: World Invitational Classic CBS 4:00 p.m. Golf: Canadian Open Tournament NBC 4:00 p.m. SportsWorld: Amateur boxing; Lacrosse Sunday, Jane 25, 1978 SPORTS PEOPLE 2 STANDINGS 3 INSIDE OF SPORTS 6 RACING RESULTS 7 OUTDOORS WITH OPRE 8 A igers Miller gets 'Ms day i me sun Fiiili LJ DETROIT FREE PRESS By JIM HAWKINS 'pet Press Sports Writer I you had informed John Hiller in 1967 when he was a smug, chubby rookie that the Tigers would someday, dedicate a day in his honor, he probably would have sneered and said: "So what?" If you had told him in 1972 when he was struggling to bounce back from his heart attack that he would go down in history as the most successful relief pitcher the Tigers have ever had, he would have thought you were out of your mind. And if you had told him at this time a year ago that he would proudly escort his wife and their three children out onto the field while the Tigers and a near-capacity crowd paid tribute to his 10 years in the big leagues, Hiller would have sadly shook his head. Because at this time a year ago, he was so disgusted With himself he was determined to quit.

NEVERTHELESS, the 35-year-old Hiller will most deservedly be the guest of honor Sunday in special ceremonies at Tiger Stadium before the Tigers face the New York Yankees in the finale of their four-game weekend series. It will be similar to the salute the Tigers gave Willie Horton, Mickey Lolich, Mickey Stanley, Gates Brown and Bill Freehan in 1975. They were all presented with distinctive, engraved clocks in recognition of the 10 or more years they had each spent in a Detroit uniform. And what will it all mean to Hiller? "It will mean my wife can quit looking for a clock to put on the mantle," the Tigers' lefthander laughed Saturday. "We just bought a new house actually it's an old house," he explained, "and we've been looking for a clock to put on the mantle." Don't get the wrong idea.

It's not that Hiller doesn't appreciate the gesture. After all he's been through during his 1 0-year big league career, he appreciates the tribute more than most players would. "This is probably the first thing that has happened to me that didn't have to do with my performance or my lack of performance on the field," he said softly. "It's nice. I know the Tigers don't have days for their Sketches by Free Press Art Director DICK MAYER Ten years have changed John Hiller: 'There have been a lot of good jAfeu- 1 irr mi n.imnh 4 Tfcfr iniitrti J' players very often.

I'm sure, with the Yankees here, it's going to be very impressive. I know my family is going to get a kick out of it. "I DON'T KNOW if I'll get emotional or not," continued Hiller, who already has signed to anchor the Tigers' bullpen again next season. "If I was retiring, I might be more emotional. To me, emotion has got to be a spontaneous thing.

I Please turn to Page 2E Yanks romp, Tigers suffer John Hiller: a special clay for a very nice man This is John Hiller Recognition Day. That's nice. Nobody deserves a moment in the sun more than this man. He is one of those rare players in baseball who has touched the lives of everyone around him. You can walk 1- U-D will be 'step up' for new AD Geracioti from one end of Tiger Stadium to the other and not hear an unkind word about John Hiller.

That very nice. He has touched us all with his manner and style. And his courage, too. 41. "if 5 1 "said he'd start working out the contract technicalities, and that he was happy to have me (as the new AD)." Before going to Wagner three years ago, Geracioti had been the baseball coach at New York University and the assistant athletic director since 1959.

He also has served on the committee to select basketball teams for the National Invitation Tournament. Geracioti, who lives in Westchester County, N.Y. with his wife and 21-year-old daughter, is a graduate of Missouri State at Springfield and later received his master's degree from Boston University. According to the Staten Island Advance newspaper, Geracioti has been under fire for the past two seasons at Wagner. There have been reports from New York that Wagner president Dr.

John Satterfield had refused to renew Geracioti's contract, which expires Aug. 31. Commenting on that report, Geracioti said: "There have been a lot of people who have been spreading that around, but it has nothing to do with accepting the job at U-D." Satterfield was not available for comment. GERACIOTI said that when the Titans made their offer, he looked at it as a way to better his career. "I took the job because it Please turn to Page 4E By BARRY LEVINE Free Press Sports Writer Lawrence J.

Geracioti confirmed Saturday that he will become the new athletic director at the University of Detroit, replacing Dick Vitale. The official announcement will be made by U-D on Monday. Geracioti, 50, the athletic director at Wagner College in Staten Island, N.Y., will fill a job left vacant last month when Vitale quit to become coach of the National Basketball Association Pistons. Before leaving an athletic directors' meeting in Vail, Colo, on Saturday, Geracioti said he was looking forward to the challenge at U-D. "I like what I see at the school," he said.

"This opportunity will be a challenging one. I just can't wait to get things rolling." Geracioti confirmed reports that he had met with Walter Redmond Dean of Student Life at U-D who is in charge of a committee searching for Vitale's successor last Tuesday in Detroit. At the time, Geracioti said, he wasn't sure he had the job. "All we did was talk. He (Redmond) said that he would get back in touch with me and let me know if I had it." GERACIOTI said that Redmond phoned him the next day, while Geracioti was in Denver attending an NCAA meeting, and Listen to what they're saying about him on this special day in his life: Dan Ewald, baseball writer "If I had to pick anyone to g6 get a beer with and talk about my troubles, it would be John Hiller.

We'd go to some out-of-the-way bar and I know he would sit there and listen to me. Maybe he couldn't help me but I know I would eel.better after talking to him." i Bill Behm, trainer "You don't find many like man. I never see him in the training room. I'll bet I haven't given him six rubdowns in 10 years. He'd pitch if he had a broken arm." Ida Pleznak, Tiger Stadium nurse "I've seen John out in the parking lot after some night games when he was so tired he couldn't hold his head up.

But he was always willing to sign autoglaphs for the kids. "I remember once a lady up in the stands asked John to throw her a ball and John did. She tried to catch it but it hit her in the face. John was really upset. They brought her to the first-aid room and John kept calling from the clubhouse to see if she was okay.

"I told him she was fine but wondered if he'd sign the ball for her. John was so relieved he said, 'I'll put my life's history on it for He (eels lor others Frank Azzopardi, grounds keeper "All I know is that John is easy to talk to. He is nice to everybody. Even after he loses, he'll talk to you. And he has something good to say about everybody." Ralph Houk, manager "I'd rather have John Hiller than a 20-game winner.

He means so much to this Kit By JIM HAWKINS Free Press Sports Writer The gracious Tigers made manager Billy Martin feel considerably more secure Friday evening as they made his New York Yankees look virtually invincible in losing to the World Series champions, 12-3. That all but guaranteed Martin he'll be able to keep his job, at least until the Yankees leave town after Sunday's game. Yankees' president Al Rosen again was seated directly behind the New York dugout in Tiger Stadium Friday night as the Yanks put on their biggest offensive show of the season. AND ROSEN could not help but be impressed as the Yankees made the most of their 10 hits, including home runs by Chris Chambliss and Roy White, to score more runs than they have in any game all year. Furthermore, every move Martin made such as bringing in reliever Sparky Lyle and sending pinch hitters Paul Blair and Lou Piniella to the plate turned out just right.

The Tigers outhit the Yanks, 12 to 10, although you'd never know it by the score. In spite of their efforts, they fell yet another game off the pace and now trail the front-running Boston Red Sox by games. The Yankees, in spite of their back-to-back triumphs over the. Tigers, were still 7'2 behind. Also, the fifth-place Tigers now lead the sixth-place Cleveland Indians by just 34 games.

THE TIGERS should have known what kind of night it was going to be when the Yankees loaded the bases against Milt Wilcox in the first inning on singles by White and Graig Nettles plus a walk to Reggie Jackson. Then Chambliss cleared the bases with a grand slam, six inches above the rightfield fence and six inches inside the foul pole. The Tigers responded with a run of their own off Yankees' pitcher Ed Figuerora in the bottom of the first when Ron LeFlore walked and eventually scored on Jason Thompson's single. And Wilcox settled down Please turn to Page 3E AP Photo U-D's new athletic director, Larry Geracioti: "I like what I see at the school," he said Saturday. "I just can't wait to get things rolling." Lopez just wants to play golf ST mm team well, we didn know how much he meant until he had his pitching problems last year.

"John wants the ball all the time. But he hates to come into a game that doesn't mean anything. The thing he hates the most is to come into a game, lose the lead for the starter and then come back and win it for himself. I know he'd rather have the save than the win. That's the kind of man he is." Rusty Staub, veteran player "John tries to make everything light for everyone.

He has a feeling for other people. He takes his job as seriously as anyone I've ever i By CATHY TROST Free Press Slaff Writer HERSHEY, Pa. Nancy Lopez was tired. She shoved a complimentary 25-pound bag of Hershey's candy kisses off her bed and stared in the mirror, worrying about her thick dark hair gone to frizz in the afternoon rain. There had been a tedious press conference that morning where she told reporters for the umpteenth time that no, the pressure of playing record-breaking golf did not bother her and yes, she liked strawberry daquiris, McDonald's hamburgers and watching television in her spare time.

Then there was a Pro-Am tournament twice interupted by summer storms that didn't finally end until long after suppertime and now, before she could even comb her hair, another interview with three reporters. LOPEZ TALKED WITH the three reporters John Hiller "No he's not. No way!" Lopez said, leaping off the bed, her dark eyes flashing. She had seemed all afternoon to be on the verge of erupting and now she surrendered the famous Lopez charm and good humor to sheer frustration. "Look at my hair," she cried, facing off against the bewildered publicity man and then, weakly, "If he isn't Sports Illustrated I'm not going to talk to him.

If he wants me to look like Phyllis Diller I can go put on one of those shimmery shirts and Her voice trailed off and she sat back down. Adams told the photographer the bad news and he could be heard yelling: "Well that's just great. I've wasted all day here trying to get this picture." LOPEZ LOOKED like she'd taken a hard punch to the stomach. She felt it necessary to explain her outburst. "I just don't like it when they don't take pride in their pictures," she said.

In a matter of mere weeks Nancy Lopez has ascended America's star-making machinery to emerge, not just a superb young golfer, but a bona fide celebrity. The sports world no longer holds first rights on her; Lopez now belongs to the People Please turn to Page 6E UPI Photo Nancy Lopez, the world's richest golf rookie, would really like to have some time to herself while preparing to meet another reporter for a late dinner. In the middle of all this, Jeff Adams, publicity coordinator for the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA), knocked on the door. "Nancy, the photographer from the New York Daily News is going to take a quick shot so he can go home," Adams said. Lopez falls back in Keystone golf 3E Why Spirit of Detroit looks like 4 3 -boat race known but heltnows how to take the stiffness out of the game." Gates Brown, coach "I remember how John used to tear up the clubhouse after he lost a game.

That was before his heart attack. Since then, I've seen how he has changed. He still takes the game very seriously but he has learned there are much more important things in life. He has shown me how to control my own temper." Bob Sykes, pitcher "The man has no fear. I know I can't be another John Hiller but when I see him go in there so relaxed, I try to learn from him.

He is one great influence down in that bullpen." Steve LaCasse, bat boy "John is always joking around with us guys, always needling us. He is nice to everybody." No problems with John Milt May, catcher "John is very easy to catch. He comes right at the hitters and challenges them the moment he gets out there. You can just feel the whole team get a lift when he comes in." Ron LeFlore, outfielder "I have great respect for John. He tries to keep everyone pepped up.

He gets on me a lot and I appreciate that because I need it. I need somebody after me and John does it. I know why he is doing it. I just hope he stays in the organization after he retires." George Maloney, umpire "We never have any problems with John. You never see him acting up the way some of the other pitchers do.

It could happen tomorrow but I don't think I've ever heard a word from John in all the years we've been in the league together." Dick Petee, fan "I love John Hiller. From all I've ever heard of him, he is a great human being. He made a helluva comeback and is an inspiration to a lot of people." Jim Campbell, general manager "John Hiller is very special person. I remember after he had his heart attack, we sent him to Lakeland as a coach with our Florida State team. "It was just about this time of the year and I remember flying to Florida and taking John out to the rightfield stands before the start of a game and I did my damndest to talk him into quitting baseball.

"He listened and he listened and then he said, 'Jim, I'm not going to quit and nobody is going to make This man has really shown me something about courage." But as they say, on any given Sunday, etc. So here's a thumbnail sketch of each of the eight qualifiers: U-00, Atlas Van Lines, qualified at 129.186 m.p.h., powered by a Rolls Royce Merlin: The best, and just a year old. Please turn to Page 4E Squire runs in heat 1A with U-66 (103.448 m.p.h.), Miss Madison (110.204) and U-96 (111.197; with Bud and Atlas going head to head in heat IB. After the two 15-mile heats, the top five of the eight boats go at it in the championship, the winner of which takes home the trophy and the lion's share of the $37,500 in prize money. Today's boat races at a glance By TOM HENDERSON Free Press Sports Writer You say you're going to be one of the 400,000 fans waiting to see the unlimited hydroplanes roar along the Detroit River in Sunday's Spirit of Detroit Trophy Race? So whom do you keep an eye on? Which of the boats are likely to be leading the pack during the various heats, which are due to begin at noon? That's easy, thanks to the rather depressed state of the sport these days.

There are only three topflight boats in the race and one of them, the Atlas Van Lines of veteran Bill Muncey, is everybody's favorite to win. His boat turned a 1 lap in qualifying last week, nine miles an hour faster than anyone else. But it's not a one-boat race. Miss Budweiser, driven by Ron Snyder, set the course record of 132 last summer and owner Bernie Little says his boat is capable of breaking that record on a flat river Sunday. Budweiser ran a couple of 120s in practice and qualifying but was just cruising, says Snyder.

Oh, yeah, the Budweiser just happens to be the defending national champion, so it can run. THE THIRD-BEST boat in the race is the Squire Shop, which barely edged Bud for the second-fastest qualifying speed, a 120.805. COURSES: Begin at Roostertail for both classes of boats, with the hydros running all the way to Belle Isle Bridge for a three-mile lap. Grand prix boats run a 1-mile course. PAYOFFS: Each of eight hydros gets $1,500 for going into the water.

The winner receives $7,050 and the next four boats split $16,450. Grand prix boats will be dividing $10,000. CROWDS: Up to a half-million. TICKET PRICES: $5 for an official ticket and a spot in the various bleachers run by the Spirit of Detroit committee. Nothing for the hundreds of thousands of spots on Belle Isle or on public park grounds along the Detroit side of the river.

Performing well, not winning, is the point of boat racing for driver Chip Hanauer. The story is on Page 4E. The what, when and why of Sunday's Spirit of Detroit Trophy Race and Manufacturer's Bank Grand Prix: WHERE: Detroit River between the Roostertail restaurant at the foot of Marquette and the Belle Isle Bridge. WHEN: Heats begin at noon, with the championship heat of the trophy race scheduled to start at 4:20 p.m. WHO'S RACING: Eight unlimited hydroplanes in the Spirit of Detroit race and 16 of the smaller grand prix boats in the Manufacturer's Bank Grand Prix.

There are two 15-mile elimination heats for hydros, with the top five boats going on to race for the trophy in the championship heat. Alternating with the hydro heats will be three elimination heats of five miles each for the grand prix boats, with the top eight boats qualifying for a two-heat, 10-mile final..