Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 27

with AI I i. I I III 1 7 1 i ill vp iL tt ii A ffl ITMB if ii fi it hu 11 ML. "7 fee HI voir 1 'I Si ft ttW Farmer pitched well for Milwaukee, picking up a win nd a save in three appearances. But in December, they dealt him to Texas as partial payment for pitcher Reggie Cleveland. Meanwhile, while playing winter ball in Latin America, Farmer suddenly mastered the curve, a pitch that had not been in his repertoire during his first 12 years in pro ball.

"I never really had one," he admitted. "I relied mostly on the fastball and slider. Then I was messing around with the curve in winter ball and, zap, I had one and I understood the nature of the thing. "When I came to camp this spring (Rangers' manager Pat) Corrales told me, 'There's one spot open on this club and I'm going to give you the opportunity to take said Farmer. And he did exactly that.

Statistically, he was the best pitcher the Rangers had in camp this spring, compiling a 1.58 ERA. If he keeps pitching like that, one of these days Ed Farmer may even be forced to smile again. Crowley, who convinced the Orioles to send a scout to California to watch Farmer throw. "The day before I was to pitch," Farmer said, "I was riding my bike down Wilshire Blvd. when a car hit me head-on." Farmer flew off his bike and shattered the auto's windshield with his face, knocking out all of his front teeth.

Still, two weeks later he pitched, and pitched well enough to convince the Orioles to invite him to camp. "I hadn't pitched a game in two years," he said. "But I was excited. I went to spring training and got into such good shape they told me they were considering taking me north with them." Instead, the Orioles sent him to Rochester, where Farmer was 1 1-5 before the Birds finally summoned him in September. In his first appearance in the big leagues since 1974, he pitched in relief against the Tigers.

"I faced two batters," he said. "Lance Parrish hit a 66-foot single off me and I walked Ben Oglivie. I was taken out of the "People do change," said pitcher Ed Farmer. "But when baseball tabs someone, you have to go out and live down that mark." game and that was it." LAST SPRING, WHEN the Orioles tried to send Farmer to the minor leagues, he refused to go, invoking a seldom-used rule that enabled him to declare himself a free agent. He signed again with Milwaukee, and the Brewers again banished him to the minors.

"They kept pitching me at Spokane and telling me, 'Stay ready, you're going to the big he said. Finally, in September, the Brewers kept their word. Palmer's 3-hitter ignites Orioles, 5-3 BALTIMORE (UPI) Second baseman Rich Dauer's two-run single in the second inning backed the three-hit pitching of Jim Palmer Friday when the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Chicago White Sox, 5-3, in the opening game for both clubs. Mark Belanger, Eddie Murray and Doug DeCinces each drove in an Oriole run as Baltimore manager Earl Weaver became the 35th man in baseball history to record 1,000 victories. By JIM HAWKINS Free Presj Sports Writer As a young pitcher with the Cleveland Indians nearly a decade ago, he was known as "Eatin Ed," a gangling kid who had made a name for himself by gulping down 52 hamburgers and half a dozen milk shakes at one sitting.

With the Tigers in 1 973, he was known as a wild and crazy righthander who had trouble keeping himself and his pitches under control. Since then, he has been divorced, married again, released by two teams, sold by one and traded by three others. He has had a two-inch chunk of bone removed from his pitching arm, been hit head-on by a car, and been misled and let down more times than he'd care to remember. No wonder it has been years since anyone saw Ed Farmer smile. Now, after all the traumas, all the tragedies, the well-traveled 29-year-old righthander is trying to pick up the pieces of his once-promising career.

HE IS THE NINTH man on the Texas Rangers' nine-man pitching staff. But he's sitting on top of the world. "I'm starting baseball all over again," said Farmer Friday, as he impatiently waited along with the rest of the Rangers for Saturday's twice-postponed season opener against the Tigers. "I don't need my past. I'm a different pitcher than I was six years ago when I pitched for Detroit.

As for that eating stuff, I was just an impressionable 17-year-old kid when that started. When you're a kid, you want people to notice you, you want people to like you. So you do things out of the ordinary. "People do change," he continued. "But when baseball tabs someone, you have to go out and live down that mark." For Farmer, that definitely has not been easy.

In the middle of a messy divorce, he was traded by the Tigers to the New York Yankees in the spring of 1 974. "Detroit never knew if I could pitch or not," Farmer recalled. "All they had me do was pitch at Iwo Jima (Tigertown)." The Yankees immediately optioned Farmer to the minor leagues, but he refused to report. Instead, he convinced the Philadelphia Phillies to buy his contract from the Yanks. "The Phillies signed me and gave me a raise," he said.

What was even better, Farmer won his first two games for Philadelphia. "Then," he explained, "my father died and that was a tragic part of my life. "When I got back from the funeral, I went from pitching to not pitching. On May 26 1 had pitched 22 innings. On July 29, when they sent me to Toledo, I had pitched a total of 31 Innings." 1 PRIOR TO THE 1975 season, the Phils traded Farmer to Milwaukee for a minor league infielder and cash.

"I wanted into camp that spring and Del Crandall, who was Milwaukee's manager at the time, said 'There's no reason why you shouldn't be a starter on this Farmer said. Instead, the Brewers sent Farmer to Sacramento with orders to learn to throw sidearm. That was where he hurt his shoulder. It was two years before he pitched again. "I was gone, out of the game," he admitted.

"I was thinking along the lines of another career." For a long while, he couldn't even raise his right arm to open a door or eat. He had surgery in 1976, and a two-inch bone spur was removed from his shoulder during the three-hour operation. His surgeon, sports specialist Dr. Frank Jobe of Los Angeles, told him he'd be able to shake hands and open doors, but it was questionable whether he'd ever pitch again. But Farmer was determined to come back.

"I started running to get my legs In shape and I got up to 1 0 miles a day," he said. "And I did a lot of praying. I thanked the Lord for giving me the perseverance to stick with it. My wife Barbara was my biggest booster. She was the real driving force behind me when I was recuperating.

She would drive me to the places where I ran every day." IN 1977, HE called his friend, Baltimore infielder Terry After giving up two singles in the two-run second Inning, Palmer did not allow a base hit for six innings, until Lamar Johnson singled with one out in the ninth. Dauer's two-run single came after an error and a pair of walks issued by losing pitcher Ken Kravec in the second inning. Rick Dempsey singled Dauer to third base and Belanger's sacrifice fly snapped a 2-2 tie. Expos win, 3-2, on 5 Pirate errors I 'vj I .4 I 1 lJ 1 1 1 llllllllliliilllllll mmmsimmmmmmmmim mmmmmsmms tmmmmmzm immmmmmmmfmmm- mts PITTSBURGH (AP) Tenth-inning errors by Willie Stargell and Dale Berra resulted in an unearned run Friday that gave the Montreal Expos a 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the opener for both teams. The Pirates, who emphasized defensive improvement In snrino trninino after laariino tha Matinnal I i.nn.

u.Itk 1CT errors last season, committed a total of five errors as the temperature dropped into the low 30s on the wind-swept field. With the score tied, 2-2, in the 10th, Andre Dawson was hit by a pitch from reliever Kent Tekulve. rSotlrcAn tfrAr canny A itrnn TaU 11 1 1 r' a nl. 1. past Stargell at first base.

He advanced to third on a ground out and scored when Ellis Valentine's bouncer was muffed by third baseman Berra. Shortstop Frank Taveras committed the Pirates' first error in the sixth inning when he bobbled a grounder by Warren AP Photo Friday. The Pirates, who led the National League with 1 67 errors last year, started this season with five. Omar Moreno of the Pirates is tagged out by Expo first baseman Tony Perez in the Pittsburgh home opener Cromartie. Valentine then hit a fly ball that was dropped at the warning track in rightf ield by Dave Parker.

In the ninth inning, third baseman Phil Garner made the Pirates' third error on a ground ball by Gary Carter. Parker, playing his first game under his new five-year, $5 million contract, went 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts. Braves' Niekro loses on 3-hitter, 2-1 HOUSTON (AP) Houston third baseman Enos Cabell drove in two runs with a first-inning single off Atlanta's Phil Niekro, one of only three hits he eave up, and the Astros made It Campbell files tampering complaint stand up for a 2-1 season-opening victory over the Braves Friday night. Niekro, who retired 13 straight batters during one leadoff batter Terry Puhl and Jose Cruz in the first. Cabell drove them home with a line drive single.

Cards' Dennv handcuffs Phils. 8-1 ST. LOUIS (UPI) John Denny tossed a five-hitter and Ken Reitz and Tony Scott each drove in three runs Friday night to power the St. Louis Cardinals to an 8-1 victory over the defending National League East champion Philadelphia Phil lies. Pete Rose, making his first appearance in a Philadelphia uniform since signing a four-year, $2.9 million contract In the off-season, had a single in three at-bats and also walked.

STAUB, from Page 1C he is "still under contract and still has to abide by the rules of baseball." "I've said all along, somebody has been giving Rusty bad advice," said Campbell. "And if other ball clubs have been talking to him, they've been giving him bad advice." The Tigers' president also vehemently denied Staub's claim that he had offered Campbell a compromise in an effort to resolve their contract dispute. "He offered no compromise whatsoever," bristled Campbell. "I didn't even talk to him about it. There Is no compromise to talk about.

I have a contract signed by Rusty and I expect him to honor it." Campbell said he has made no effort to trade Staub and only one club has contacted him to inquire about a possible deal. "One club called and offered me a player that was ridiculous, in my estimation," said Campbell. Campbell also noted with amused interest Staub's statement that he returned to Detroit because he had promised former teammate Jason Thompson he would attend his wedding Friday night. "When he signed his contract he promised he'd play for the Tigers for two more years, too," snorted Campbell. "I guess he considers some promises more binding than others." STAUB AND CAMPBELL have been a loggerheads for months.

Before last season Staub signed a three-year contract that made him a Tiger through the 1980 season, but during the winter he asked for an extension through 1983, saying he had a lucrative restaurant deal he couldn't pass up unless he was given the security of three more seasons at a guaranteed salary. Campbell refused to talk about such an arrangement, saying he wouldn't even consider negotiating an extension until Staub reported to the club and began playing this season. The GM and the player haven't talked since March 21, when Staub called Campbell and asked if his position had changed. He was told "absolutely not," and the 35-year-old redhead indicated he would have to go full-time into the restaurant business. However, he has put off those plans temporarily, and he is hoping Campbell will trade him.

"What happened to the big restaurant deal?" asked Campbell Friday. "It started out in January that he had 60 days and then he was going to tell these entrepreneurs with him that he was going to go. Well, the 60 days is long gone." While on the disqualified list, Staub is not receiving any salary or any payments deferred from a previous year's service. Staub has some deferred pay coming, which Campbell said is payable "when he retires." But the Tigers' GM obviously does not consider his disappearing DH a retiree, just yet. "The money is there, it's available, and we'll pay it whenever the commissioner says it's payable.

It's Rusty's money, and he's earned it, but when it's payable is up to the commissioner," said Campbell. (Staub has not applied to the commissioner to be put on the "voluntary retired" list, and it's not likely he will at any time soon). "The contract says he'll be paid number of dollars when he retires," continued Campbell. "But it also says he he'll live under baseball rules." Campbell repeated that he wants Staub back in a Tiger uniform. "I expect him to play for us, as I've said so many times," the GM declared.

"It's so basic: We have a contract and we expect him to play for us. He has to get a physical, like every other player, and then come in and go to work. "And when Les (Moss) says he's ready to play, then he'll play. He's a member of our team. It's that simple." 1 T-T A T1MI f.

miwimNrt i i ytr) Din mauiutK uruve in mice runs and scored three and Darrell Evans drove in two more as the San Francisco Giants beat Cincinnati, 7-2, Friday night for their second straight victory over the Reds. After Madlock singled home the Giants' first run in the fourth, Evans capped the rally with a run-scoring double. Dan Driessen homered for the Reds in the fifth. 1 Rusty Staub Sad-sack Pistons bomb ouL 1 12-96 Ililllllilri ifl' but none of the three officials saw the infraction. With only three seconds remaining, Carr lunged into Drew and was ejected for the flagrant foul.

"I think that was frustration," said Atlanta coach Hubie Brown. "He went four for. 11 from the field." Adubato, however, said he thought "there might be a problem between them. Drew is established as one of the best small forwards in the league and with the season M.L. has had, he's challenging now." Drew was the Hawks' leading scorer with 24 points and Long, the second leading rookie scorer in the NBA this season, was high for the Pistons with 19.

Ii MIIHII I Eckersley is million-dollar guy BOSTON -(UPI)-Dennis Eckersley became baseball's newest millionaire Friday after signing a five-year contract extension with the Boston Red Sox that his agent said will place him among the top 10 salaried players in the game. "I'm just glad to know I'll be in Boston for years to come," said the tanned and beaming 24-year-old righthander, who won the season opener with Cleveland, 7-1, on Thursday. "I'm happy. Now I can concentrate on my pitching. I'm proud to play with the Red Sox so I can be proud to play with the Red Sox for six more years." No financial terms of the contract were disclosed, but Sullivan quipped to reporters: "It will be out in a week." It had earlier been estimated the contracted would be worth $2.8 million.

"We feel we have the pre- PISTONS, from Page 1C when we got so far behind, we figured we wouldn't catch up, so we thought we'd rest him." That seemed a curious strategy with only one game remaining and Porter professed to be baffled by the move, too. "I guess he benched me," said Porter, whose nine assists Friday gave him 1 ,090 for the season. "You'll have to talk to the coach about it, he's the coach. All I can do is sit there and wait until he puts me in." ADUBATO SENT PORTER to the bench with seven minutes left in the third period and Atlanta leading, 73-55. By the time the quarter was over, the Hawks had padded that lead out to 95-71 and the disgruntled fans were heading for the exits.

The citizens of Romulus honored one of their native sons, Pistons' rookie John Long, before the game and that was the highlight of the evening for the Detroiters. Atlanta outrebounded the Pistons, 79-46, once again demonstrating just how much this team misses the services of Lanier. Former Central Michigan star Dan Roundfield led the Hawks with 1 6 rebounds and added 1 5 points while not a single Piston was in double figures in rebounding. Detroit, which has now lost seven of its last eight games, was never in Friday's contest. The Hawks overcame a 19-18 deficit late in the first quarter by scoring six straight points and the Pistons were never again ahead.

It was 25-23 at the end of one period, 57-47 at halftime and 96-71 after three quarters, when Adubato apparently threw in the towel. 4 M.L. CARR SHOWED more hustle than most of the Pistons, but for once his enthusiasm seemed completely misplaced. Carr elbowed John Drew in the mouth in the second quarter Detroit Free Press Carrier Profile Barry Taylor "I'm happy. Now I can concentrate on my pitching," said Dennis Eckersley.

mier pitcher In baseball. I think the Red Sox are well on their way now to gathering the premier players of the game," Sullivan said. "We're pleased he'll be with us for six years and probably more to come." Eckersley, 20-8 season, had one year plus an option remaining on his existing contract. He said he will honor his contract for 1979, which remained unchanged. Going by earlier estimates made by Keating, Eckersley would receive $2.8 million over the life of the contract or more than $500,000 a year.

Seven Wings Russia-bound Seven Red Wings will fly to the Soviet Union after Sunday's season-ending game against Montreal. Paul Woods, Dale Mc-Court, Willie Huber, Jim Rutherford, Nick Libbett, Dan Bolduc and Dan Labraa-ten will compete in the world championships in Moscow. Bolduc will play for Team U.S.A., Labraaten for Team Sweden and the rest for Team Canada. Czechoslovakia, Holland, and Poland also will compete. DETROIT (M) mm Ij ft ttb isl pi pit Crr 33 4-11 3-4 4 2 5 II Tvler 33 3-11 1-3 6 13 7 Douglas 31 6-10 0-1 I 1 i 12 Porler 25 5-9 4-7 2 9 3 14 Long 31 9-14 1-1 5 2 1 19 Poquette 26 2-7 3-5 6 0 5 7 Talum 23 3-9 1-3 1 0 6 7 Brewer 15 1-3 0-0 5 1 1 2 Wkfield 23 4-14 5-7 3 3 2 17 Total 39-88 11-31 40 19 32 96 Atlanta (112) ii rib Ml pi pts Drew 36 1-17 t-14 7 2 4 24 Rndfld 37 6-15 3-6 16 3 4 15 Hawes 36 5-8 3-5 11 6 3 13 Hill 36 5-12 6-6 6 4 2 16 Johnson 23 4-7 5-6 0 3 6 13 Rollins 9 1-2 1-3 7 0 0 3 Furlow 25 7-1 2-2 4 1 2 16 Criss 10 0-5 3-5 2 1 3 3 Givens 12 2-6 1-1 3 10 5 Mrmillen 14 1-6 2-2 7 0 4 4 Wilson 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0 Totals 39-16 34-50 63 21 29 112 DETROIT 21 24 24 2S -96 Atlanta a 32 9 16 -112 Attendance: 9,531.

0 Favorlt easy listening 0 Turn-ons: business 0 Turn-offs: homework City: Clawson School: Oakland Community College Class: Freshman Hobbles: bowling, golf District Managsr: Jack Mc Mahon.