Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 37

I PM An; How 1 i. I A aseba time to count it when the cops arrived. LeFlore was the one carrying the gun. He was convicted of armed robbery and sentenced to serve five to 15 years lie-hind bars. He was 17 at the time.

"The neighborhood was really crime-infested," he recalled. "Committing crimes was just the in-thing to do. Everybody was doing it. I figured, if they could do it, I could too. "I just fell in with the wrong people.

My parents were always telling me to stav away from those but didn't listen. I was hard-headed." One of Leflore's accomplices is dead. He has no idea what happened to the other guy. And four prime years out of his life were wasted. Fortunately for the future of Ron LeFlore and possibly for, the future of the Tigers it was far from a total waste.

"At first I told myself I might have to go back to a life of crime when I got out," he admitted. "At the time, that was what 1 thought I would have to do to survive." After a year cr so of staring at the wall of his cell, LeFlore began playing baseball "just to pass the time and get to Jsnow some people." Another inmate, Jim Karalla, watched LeFlore play a few times and began telling people the kid had major league potential. The rest is well-hashed history. How then-manager Billy Martin heard about LeFlore while giving a goodwill clinic at the prison. How LeFlore was invited to Tiger Stadium to try out while still technically in prison How the Tigers signed him July 2, 1973, the same day he was paroled And, finally, Please turn to Page 3D, Column 3 BY JIM HAWKINS Free Press Sports Writer MILWAUKEE Thirteen months ago, almost to ihe day, Ron Let-lore walked through the gates at Slate Prison, a free man.

It was, without a doubt, the happiest day of his young life. But Thursday evening was a close second. As he sat there in the visitors' clubhouse at Milwaukee County Stadium, surrounded by reporters, slowly puliing on a Tiger uniform for the first time, he couldn't even claim it was a dream come true. Because, as a youngster on the streets of Detroit, Ron LeFlore never once dreamed of playing baseball in the big leagues or any place. Frankly, he admitted Ihursday, he didn't understand the game and he couldn't have cared less.

He was too busy running the streets "trying to be slick," as he put it. "I didn't want to play sports," recalled the newest Tiger, the 22-year-old centerfielder who replaced Mickey Stanlye on Thursday night. "I really didn't recognize the ability I had until 1 was in prison. 1 didn't realize how good I was. "It wasn't that I was a bully or a tough guy.

got along with everybody. But at night, you know, on the streets, I'd be trying to get away with stuff without anybody knowing. That was what appealed to me." One night, LeFlore and two of his friends decided to stick up a check-cashing agency in Detroit. They escaped a couple blocks away from the scene of the crime and called a cab. The police pulled up right behind the taxi.

To this day, LeFlore has no idea how much money they stole. It was in a paper bag and they hadn't had Ron Save LeFlore AP Photo Y'i'r manager Ralph Houk (left) "reels rookie Hon LeKlore ROOKIE LE FLORE 0-FOR-l IN DEBUT Brewers. hltits 2-0 Fry man iSFL Strikers Could Ruin a Good Thing year and, aside from Mitchell's ground single between short and third, only seven balls reached the Tiger outfielders all night. Three of those fly balls, by the way, went to rookie outfielder Ron LeFlore, who also struck out three times and gjounded out to third in his major league debut. Milwaukee righthander Jim Slaton didn't do too terribly himself, allowing the last-place Tigers seven hits.

Put one of those happened to be Cash's seventh homer of the season leading off the second inning and another was a ninth-inning single by the veteran first baseman, after Ben Oglivie had opened with a triple. And, bear in mind, Norman never would have been in the line-up if Bill Freehan wasn't still sidelined with a pulled groin muscle. The Tigers didn't get anybody else beyond second base against Slaton and only three people made it that far as they prevailed for the fifth time in their last seven tries. BY JIM HAWKINS Fret Prii Sport Writer MI LWAUKEE You figure Woodie Fryman out. The Tigers certainly can't.

The last time Ralph Houk let the veteran lefthander start a game, he lasted exactly one-third of an inning. Base hits ripped in all over the place. Needless to say, that effort earned him a long rest on the bench. Thursday evening, Fryman finally surfaced again and guess what? That very same Woodie Fryman limited the Milwaukee Brewers to one solitary seventh inning single by Bobby Mitchell and the Tigers rode two Norm Cash RBI's to a 2-11 win. Numerically, anyway, it was without a doubt the best game any Tiger has pitched all year and Woodie's best outing, individually, since he tossed a one-hitter on behalf of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1966, the year the 34-year-old veteran broke in.

Fryman struck out 10 Brewers also high for his this Still, they remained six games back as Boston won again, defeating Baltimore, 11-3. ASIDE FROM A WALK to George Scott in the first inning, one to Bobby Coluccio in the fifth and another to Don Money in the last of the sixth, Fryman was perfect until Mitchell bounced a ground ball between Aurelio Rodriguez and Eddie Brink.man in the bottom of the seventh. The Milwaukee rightfielder proceeded to steal second, but that was as far as he, or any Brewer, ever got. Fryman then got rid of the last seven Milwaukee batters without incident to lift his record for the year to 5-7. It was Woodie's first start since he was shelled in the first inning by Chicae.o back on the July 17.

And it was his first appearance of any kind since he threw four innings of relief against Minnesota 13 days ago. Which shows you the kind of confidence Ralph Houk ha'; in Fryman, who was purchased by the Tigers from Phila delphia precisely two years ago Friday. Ironically, it was only his second shutout as a Tiger, the other coming, appropriately enough, in the first game he ever started for Detroit on Aug. 9, 1972. last win this year was nearly three weeks ago, on July 13 against Kansas City.

"I WAS THROWING as hard as I could," said Fryman. "This was the first time in my life I ever went seven innings without giving up a hit. "But the hit didn't bother me one bit. Then 1 was worried about the win. I was just trying to go as hard as 1 could for as long as I could.

Actually 1 was a little lucky on some pitches. I made some bad pitches, but the guys made good plays behind me. "The hit was in the hole," continued Fryman. "It went right through. Nobody had a chance.

It was a base hit all the way." Strike Talk: George Cantor, travel editor, Detroit Free Press "What's all the fuss about? The NFL owners can settle things with the players very easily. Just give them everything they want freedom and everything else. Give them their union. Make it like all unions. Set pay scales say, $75,000 for quarterbacks, $50,000 for running backs, $40,000 for wide receivers, and so on.

Then the players can move around all they want." Rick Talley, sports editor, Chicago Today "It must be heartening for unionized football players to see members of other unions out there helping them on the picket line. "But gentlemen, please answer this question: What happens next November if the International Confederacy of John-Flush-ers ask you to honor a picket line outside the stadium where ou are supposed to play a big game. I can hear your response now: 'Union what union? We're just football Craig Hanneman, Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end "1 personally am not interested in the freedom issues. Six months of vacation is plenty of freedom." Rob Asher, Chirac Hears "It's getting obvious we are losing the strike against the owners. I feel Ed Garvey is blowing it.

He came into this thing with such hard-nosed tactics, using freedom as the theme, that the good points of our stand have been lost. For years players stood high in the eyes of the community. "Now, by inoring the public with the 'no freedom, no football' approach, probably 80 percent ot the public is against us and you can't put a price tag on a loss like that. There are a lot of things we deserve but won't get because we failed to concen-trate on the key issues." Rick Forzano, Detroit Lions head coach "1 understand the meaning of the freedom but all I can say to the players is, 'No Curfew, No Slick Talkers Running Show? Dick Young, columnist, New York Daily players have tried to pull a ripoff and throw around their muscle and they ran into unexpected resistance from the owners. It never occurred to them that the owners would dare go on without them, to play the with rookies and whatever veterans Catcher Moses Joins Horton, Stanley and Freehan In Tigers' Sick Bay famous brand summer suits by Hart Schaffner Marx, Eagle, Hammonron Park, in Dacronwools and double-knits new trio suits in fabrics and double-knits, or super special price have the good sense to believe they are not neing ensiaveu.

"From the beginning the players' interests were poorly handled. Somebody misled them. Maybe it was Ed Garvey, the poor man's Marvin Miller. Maybe it was the few well-placed activists on each club, the slick talkers, the guys who are always able to get the rank and file to follow. The guys who think of the 1 propaganda phrases, 'No Freedom, No BY JIM HAWKINS Free Presi Sports Writer MILWAUKEE If there was one thing the Tigers absolutely could not afford this season, it was a lot of injuries.

Everyone agreed on that. So, all of a sudden, they're minus regulars at four critical positions. And that's certainly not going to make it any easier to escape the cellar. JERRY MOSES joined Willie Horton, Mickey Stanley and Bi.l Freehan In sick bay Thursday as the Tigers embarked on the final leg of this moderately successful, though painful, road trip. Moses caught a foul tip on the end of the middle finger his right hand in the fourth inning Wednesday night and was forced to leave the game.

That finger was heavily bandaged Thursday and though Moses was talking in terms of missing only one game, it might be longer than that before he is back behind the plate. Meanwhile, third-string catcher F'reehan who also happens to be the Tigers' No. 1 first baseman is still hobbled by a pulled groin muscle, leaving only Gene La-mont to do the catching, and Norm Cash to fill in at first. Horton and Stanley, of course, are both on the disabled list. Willie began a series of exercises at Tiger Stadium on Wednesday which hopefully will enable him to return to the lineuD in 10 days to two weeks, but Stanley may miss as much as five weeks with his fractured right hand.

The sudden rash of injuries is but the latest thing to go wrong for the Tigers, who had been fairly fortunate in that respect up until now. And. as was the case when the hitters weren't hitting and again when the pitchers weren't getting people out, there isn't much of anything they can do about it. Just let the injuries heal, and hope they don't happen again. Cj)85 iu "What an appalling misapplication of the previous word freedom.

Men gve their lives for freedom, not their football games. In this context, for the distorted purpose, (he word freedom has been used to exploit and mislead the young, particularly the young blacks, who are sensitized to the word." Steve Guback, sports writer, Washington Star-News "What botheis me more than the various theories expounded on both sides, iJ the reaction of the fans who support the game. NFL football is built on the star system. If players shuffle en masse from team to team every year, 1 think the game would lose most of its tremendous appeal. "The players point out that college football has a complete turnove- ot personne" roughly every three years and its attendance is at an all-time high.

The difference is that when college players leave, they don't return to play against their old teams." FINEST BRAND SUMMER YEAR-ROUND SUITS: A LARGE GROUP, NOW 139.85 to 149.85 The 6 Real9 RozelleRule WW Loves 9 StreaM At Six, 28-19 summer sport coots: woven seersucker plaids and checks, summer suits in fresh new lightweight, fineline woven cords, very specially priced Loves 28, Hanners 19 Women 'j singlet Rosii Casals (Del.) del. Kathy Kuykendall Men's sinqles Jimmy Connors (Bait.) del. Phil Dent (Del 4-3. Women's doubles Casals and Kerry Harris (Del.) def. Joyce Hume and Betty Stove 7-6 (5-3 tit-breaker).

Men's doublet Dent and Allan Ston (Det.) def. Connors and Bob Carmichael M. Mixed doubles Stont and Harris (Det) def. Carmichael and Stove -J. linenlook plaids Halas, Chicago Bears owner "I wonder if the striking players realize that about 200 of them are going to lose their jobs because of the extra attention the rookies are getting in all of the camps.

When the strike collapses, 1 hope Ed Garvey will have it on his conscience that he caused these players to lose their jobs. "I still must laugh about this cry for freedom. I think Kent Kramer (Eagles tight end) summed up everything recently when lie said trn so-called Roz.elle Rule was put in so the league could control the 26 club own'-rs and prevent their abusing it, rather than to stymie the players. That's a bit of clear thinking that Garvey could use." Don Simla. Miami Dolphins coach "1 am apalled.

that one of our players, Doug Swift, would say he hopes we get beaten by Cincinnati. That's hard to stomach. 1 never thought it would get down to that kind of business. "I might see this coming from anyone but Swift. He won his job in the camp four years ago when the veterans were on strike.

But now he resorts to this calling people names who have helped put $70,000 in playoff money in his pocket in the last four years. I respected him for doing what He felt was right as an individual, but to rap his teammates the way he did just isn't right." Mike Reid, Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle "I can't believe our plaver rep, Pat Matson, saying the reporting veterans havj 'no "But 1 also can't believe that if Pat Matson never plays another minute ot football that Ed Garvey gives a damn. Anybody fightir.3 for those freedom issues is guided by greed by blind stupidity." Joe Falls, sports editor, Detroit Free Press "When the plavcrs have the guts lo give up just one game check just one then 1 will know they are serious. I will wager they will give in long before that. Already 290 of them have given up rthe 'great cry' for freedom and none surprisingly have been bound in chains." and checks f985 ml85 BY HOWARD ERICKSON Free Prest Sportt Writer If the Baltimore Banners were smart, they would offer Jimmy Connors all the tea in Chesapeake Bay and make him renegotiate his contract.

However, the Detroit Loves and the rest of the teams in World Team Tennis might come up with a better offer if Connors continues to play in more than half of the Banners' matches. Connors was Baltimore's lone winner Thursday night at Cobo Arena against the Loves, who won, 28-19, to increase their winning streak to six matches. Against the Loves, who are now a comfortable 3'2 games in first place in the WTT's Central Section, a team needs more than just someone of Connors' caliber to knock off Detroit's only first-place team. HUGHES HATCHER FAMOUS BRAND AND BETTER MAKER SPORT COATS in Rummerweigrtt woven fabrics and double-knits 49.85-99.85 Phi! Dent didn't play well against the 21-year-old mop-topped and 'brash lefthander from Los Angeles. Not as well as he had against snmp lesspr opponents since WTT came into town this summer.

BUT HE DID stay even with Connors until the eighth game, when Connors broke Dent's Please turn to Page 3D, Col. 3 STORES CLOSED SUNDAY, AUGUST 4 FOR INVENTORY. STORES OPEN FRIDAY SATURDAY EVENING EXCEPT WOODWARD-STATE OPEN FRI. SAT. TO 6 P.M.

AND BIRMINGHAM OPEN SAT. TO 5:30 r1 i- i -it fi.