Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 33

DETROIT FREE PRESS Monday, Oct. 2, '72 It's Best-of for All ff me es Boso in Town 123 Tisrers Win. inigli BY JIM HAWKINS Free Preu Sports Writer Two out of three. That's what it will take. Nothing else matters.

The spring strike the imbalance it caused in the schedule the traditionally all-important loss column the games behind the percentages beyond the decimal point they're all meaningless now. The Tigers and the Boston Red Sox, as good as tied for the lead in the American League East, meet three times in the ballyard at Michigan and Trumbull, beginning Monday night. And the team that walks out of Tiger Stadium with two wins will fly to Oakland Thursday for that prerequisite to the World Series known as the Championship Series. John Hiller saw to that Sunday. John Hiller and Aurelio Rod-rigeuz and Dick McAullife and Al Kaline.

Together, they completed the Tigers' vital sweep in their weekend series with the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-1. AND WHEN Baltimore obliged by beating Boston, 2-1. the Tigers climbed back to within half-a-game of the top-sitting Sox. Games Pet. Behind Left Boston 84 68 .553 3 DETROIT 84 69 .549 V2 3 SUNDAY'S RESULTS DETROIT 5, Milwaukee 1.

Baltimore 2, Boston 1. i PITCHERS: Monday, Curtis (11-7) vs. Lolich (21-14); Tuesday, Tiant (15-5) vs. Fryman (9-3); Wednesday, Pattfn (16-13) vs. Coleman (19-13).

'v GAME TIMES: Monday, 7:15 p.m. (family night); Tuesday, 8 p.m.; Wednesday, 1:30 p.m. TICKETS: Good seats at all prices are available for; all three games. Box office opens at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday and Wednesday.

WEATHER OUTLOOK: Partly sunny Monday, temp-1-; eratures in upper 60s; cloudy, chance of showers Tucs- day, temperatures in lower 60s; clearing Wednesday, chance of morning rain. More Pictures on Back Page So now this' whole hectic season boils down to the best-of-three, winner-take-al, the Tigers and Bosox head-to-head. The biggest win of the season behind him, and the biggest series of his brief managerial career ahead, Billy Martin tried hard to conceal his confidence beneath a veneer of wisecracks and clever comments. "The Red Sox will be in town tomorrow, reading the papers, so I've got to be careful what I say," admitted Martin. "Just say I'm still just as confident as I was in the beginning of the season and let it go at that." But down the crowded corridor, in the dressing room of the last-place Brewers, Milwaukee manager Del Crandall, wasn't nearly so cautious.

"Detroit is going to win it now," Crandall bluntly predicted. "They're really swinging those bats." THOUGH THE Tigers only came away with six hits off a quartet of Milwaukee pitchers, half of those ended up out of reach in other words, home runs. I i 't if. Ja i -'A rv7 llv. IV 1 .1 Rodriguez, who really didn't realize the significance ot Sunday's game until after it was all over and the reporters surrounded him in swarms, socked one into the seats off Bill Parsons with Willie Horton and Jim Northrup aboard.

Horton had singled and Northrup had walked, sending Crandall out to the mound to confer with his pitcher. And, of course, you can guess what happened on the very, next pitch. In the last of the eighth, with Hiller still throwing a i. Please turn to Page 6D, Column 2 4s? v.a ff -i 'linn i ini itktuL 1 Fret Press Phots by ALAN KAMUDA Aurelio Rodriguez checks in at home plate after his game-winning home run Hiller Beat Heart y. Nothing Can Rile Him Now Thank You.

Birds! Red Sox Lose, 2-1 Vikiims Lose to Miami-ID Cowboys Upset4D Oilers Clip Jels-5D BY CHARLIE VINCENT Free Press Sports Writer BALTIMORE Billy Martin: You can just address that card of thanks to Bobby Grich, Long Beach, Calif. Grich took the pressure off the Tigers and put it on the Boston Red Sox Sunday afternoon when he tied into a Lynn McGlothen fast ball in the sixth inning and slammed it high off the second deck facing at Memorial Stadium. THAT WAS the difference as the Baltimore Orioles snapped a four game losing streak, 2-1, in their final home game of the season. Boston manager Eddie Kasko was not actly distraught by the loss. But he smiling much after the game, either.

"No, we won't make any changes in our he told reporters. "The same guys who got us here will have to win it. "Everyone knows what's riding on this se-; ries, they've known it for quite some tints now." And he conceded, "'I guess it'll probably help Detroit to be playing these three games I. there. I'd certainly rather be playing at home." That's understandable.

The Bosox -have! Please turn to Page 3D, Column 4 nervous warming up. Now I don't worry about tomorrow. If I do well, I do well. If I don't well, there'll always be another day. "When you've been through something like I went through I could have lost my life well, winning a ballgame is still important because that's the way I make my living but there are more important things.

Sunday was John Hitler's anniversary. Exactly two years ago, on Oct. 1, Please turn to Page 6D, Column 1 marked: "I haven't seen this many people since the day before my operation." When you've suffered a heart attack and survived somehow everything else loses a little of its significance even the biggest game in your life. "I go at this game with a little different attitude than 1 used to," explained Hiller in the excitement that followed his five-hitter Sunday that guaranteed theJ Tigers a small margin for error in the upcoming three-game showdown with the Boston Red Sox. "Before my sickness, I was more up-.

tight every time I pitched. I used to get BY JIM HAWKINS Free Press Sports Writer It's been a long time between victories for Tiger lefthander John Hiller. But Sunday's 5-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers certainly was well worth waiting for even if it took two full years. And if there's one thing Hiller has learned since his heart attack, it's how to be patient and wait. HE STOOD there in the Tiger clubhouse Sunday, ringed by reporters all ready to prod and probe, and re Greg Leads Lions Past Bears.

38-24 1 Big Showdown Turns Tigers On 5)85 0)85 FOR FINE QUALITY DOUBLE-KNIT SUITS IN FOR FALL WINTER DOUBLE-KNIT SPORT COATS Pure polyester knits in two two-button in checks, plaids, stripes; and blazers in solid blister weaves. DOUBLE-KNIT SPORT COAT GROUP NO. 2: pure polyester in twill blazers, patterns 42.85 DOUBLE-KNIT SPORT COAT GROUP NO. 3: finer quality coats in assorted styles 58.85 WRINKLE-FREE "I hope it's a nice night Monday." No kidding, that's what Al Kaline said after Sunday's ball I game. Not, "I hope we win." Not, "I hope Mickey has it." Not, "I hope I can get a couple of hits." "I hope it's a nice night Monday." That tells you something about the professionalism of this man, and it tells you something about the mood of the Detroit Tigers as they embark on their Great Adventure in the next few days against the Boston Red Sox.

They are all turned on by the prospect of playing for the title that they-are now in a position to win it or even lose i it "Really, this is what it's all about," Kaline was saying. "This is the thing you strive for in life." He meant not winning or losing so much though that's the ultimate goal but the chance" to participate. Nerves, he was asked? Sure, said Kaline, there'll be nerves out there for both sides. "But it isn't something that actually makes you nervous," he said. "What all of this does is create excitement.

It puts excitement in the air. "It's like the World Series. Everything means something every batter, every pitch. I love it. You ste newspapermen you don't see all year long.

They're all over the place. It's part of the scene. I love it all." So, for one man, there won't be any moist hands or wet armpits it begins at 7:15 Monday night. And this has to be a comfort to those around him. YEAR-ROUND WEIGHTS 1 BY JACK SAYLOR Free Press Sports Writer CHICAGO Dick Butkus was supposed to be the author around here, but Greg Landry wrote the book on how to beat the Bears.

Landry returned to the form Detroiters have grown to know and love as his running and passing sparked the Lions to a tension-laden 38-24 victory over the Chicago Bears Sunday before 55,701 fans in Soldier Field. Galloping Gregory scored three touchdowns as the Lions staved off a frantic fourth-quarter surge by the Bears to record their second win against one loss. i THE LOINS needed all the heroics generated by Landry. Steve Owens and a power-thrusting offensive line to avoid doing a loop-de-loop in the Loop. The Bears punishing Detroit with 'a running which is the hottest thing in Chicago since Mrs.

O'Leary's cow or was it Mr. O'Leary's pipe? Anyway, Bobby Douglass took off running like well, like Greg Landry and Jim Garrison joined the fun even Butkus got in the running act as Chicago jolted the Lion line for 253 rushing "We knew we had to stop Douglass and Harrison," a relieved Joe Schmidt said after the ball was over. "We didn't do it very well, but we just out-lasted them." DOUGLASS gained 97 on the ground for the Bears and Harrison added 91, while Landry ran for 87 and hit 8-of-12 passes of 131 more. Owens also collected 78 yards in a workhorse 22 carries. It was such an offensive show that neither team punted until Herman Weaver had to boot with 3 'a minutes left in the game.

It tied an NFL record for the fewest punts in a game. The issue also stayed in doubt until Douglass frantically put the ball in the air trying for a tying touchdown with three minutes left. LEM BARNEY tipped a pass away from Bob Wallace and into the arms of Mike Lucci, which sent the Bears into orbit crying interference and set up Landry's final touchdown which made the final score much more comfortable than it truly was. In addition to Landry's three scores, on runs of 10, and 13 yards, he also pitched three yards for another tally to tight end Craig Cotton, who played a superior game. Owens also scored on a one-yard plunge and Errol Mann contributed a 35-yard field goal to the Lion assault.

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Sizes 7.99 3i 1 i DOUBLE. KNIT SUIT GROUP NO. 2: pure polyester in solids and patterns 58.85 DOUBLE-KNIT SUIT GROUP NO. 3: fine quality woolpolyester, etc. 89.85 no charge for alteration Kaline Keeps Males Steady "I know I'm glad he'd on our side," said Dick McAulifle, who shouldn't be nervous but admits that he is.

"I'm the high-strung type. I can't help myself. It is the way I am. "But Al over there he's so calm that if it begins raining out there he can come into the dressing room and take a nap. "I've got to be careful I don't try too hard.

You can get too aggressive. You can go for bad pitches. You can overswing. "Al is always relaxed. He has learned to keep control of himself and that has to help players like myself." Talking to the Tigers after Sunday's game a very strong feeling came through that they have a great respect for the Red Sox.

Not that they're afraid of saying something which the enemy might use for a psychological lift, but they seem genuinely impressed by the ability on the Boston ball club. Norm Cash, another of the old pros who has been through all this, sat in front of his locker and said: "We've got to stop them from running. That's where they're going to try to beat us." "They won't run on Lolich. He won't let them," said Kaline in a tone of calm assurance. "Well, if they can come in here and take two out of three from us, they deserve it," said Cash.

All of the players felt that Monday night's game is the big onethe one that will swing the edge to one side or the other. "Whoever wins that one is going to be in control," said Ka- Please turn to Page 6D, Column 2 4fe life "Book Didn't Beat Us, Lions Says Dick Butkus Page 6D HHS STORES OPEN MONDAY EVENING (EXCEPT BIRMINGHAM TIL 5:30).