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Page 18
The Panther
August 25,1980
|* PRO/'
Maury Wills Becomes Third Black
Manager In History
Associate Press
As a player, Maury Wills helped change the way the game of
baseball was being played.
As a manager, “I love baseball," said Wills after one week in his
new job. “It’s been my life and I’ll never do anything that would be
detrimental to baseball. At the same time, however, I feel like so
many of our ways are so antiquated."
Wills’ major importance as a player was to bring the art of base
stealing back into the game as a primary offensive weapon.
He led the National Leaque in steals six straight years, helping a
weak h itting Los Angeles Dodgers team won four pennants during
1959-66. His104 steals in 1962brokeTy Cobb’s single season record
- since topped by Lou Brock - and earned Wills the National Lea-
que’s Most Valuable Player Award that year.
It’s not surprising, then, that Wills already has the Mariners tak
ing longer leads and running more.
“I like speed because that’s what I did best - run bases and steal
bases,” he said. "I think speed intimidates the other team more
than anything else. You can always pitch around big sluggers and
hitting goes into a slump. But base stealing and base running never
goes into a slump.”
But Wills is far from one dimensional in his approach to the
game. He has spent a long time preparing himself for the op
portunity to manager.
“I’ve entertained the fantasy of being a major league manager
for the last 15 years,” he said. "For the last 10 years I’ve been
grooming myself.”
Wills managed a team in the Mexican winter league on four oc
casions and has been an instructor for eight different major league
teams in America and one in Japan.
"Even though I was making my living in television, I wanted to
stay in uniform because once you get away from it the game can
pass you up," he said. "I really feel like I’m totally prepared
emotionally, physically, spiritually and intellectually. I don’t think
I could be better prepared. I’m not going to be just another
manager for the Mariners. I’m going to be an outstanding
manager.”
Here is a sampler of Maury Wills' baseball philosophy:
-On baseball fundamentals. "Both major leagues are very weak
on fundamentals. And the reason is because of expansion,
because players come up much sooner than they used to. If we
(the Mariners) can become strong on the fundamentals, we can
close the gap. We can become very competitive.”
-On bunting. “Bunting is the lost art in baseball. Everyone on
the ball club is going to bunt except Willie Horton. I’ll never ask
him to bunt. How can I ask Willie to bunt at this stage of his
career.”
-On clubhouse behavior. “There’s this oldthing in baseballthat
when you lose, you hang your head. You can’t talk, can't play your
stereos, can’t play your radios. Everybody has to go around like he
lost his best friend. I never did agree with that. I always feltthat if
you gave 100 percent and you lost the game, there’s no reason to
hang your head. You did your best and the other team just beat
you.”
-On discipline. “I don’t believe in fines. We don’t have any fines
on this club. With the way the economy is today and with the high
cost of living, no one needs someone else taking $1,000 of their
money. I don’t want my players doing anything out of fear. I want
them to do it out of respect for the Mariners, for themselves, their
teammates, major league baseball and Seattle."
On pitchers. "I have some theoriesabout handling pitchersand
I think I handle pitchers very well. One theory is that I should
never go to the mound and ask a pitcher how he feels. Because
he’ll talk you out of it every time. So as soon as I cross that fou I line,
I signal the bullpen.”
-On practice. “We will practice, practice, practice. Perfect prac
tice. We’re going to have a half hour instruction period everyday.
In fact, we started that on the road.”
-On the press. “I was in the media so I don’t take offense at
tough questions or provocative questions. I’ll be totally honest
with you. We don't have any secrets. I’ve even invited the press in
for some of our meetings."
-On spring training. "(In Japan) they work out about five or six
hours a day and everybody’s moving all the time. Forty players on
one diamond and there’s no standing around. It's really amazing.
It’s quite an experience. I hope to have a spring training with the
Mariners somewhat similar to that. My players are going to think
I’m crazy.”
-On umpires. "I don’t believe in arguing with umpires. When
you run on the field too much, you lose the respect of the umpires
and they don’t pay any attention.”
Wills’ thinking is distilled from a unique background among
baseball's managers.
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Atlanta Hawks
Pre-Season Play Has
Bullets 3-Time Opponent
Pre-Season Schedule
Sept.
21 Washington
Charlottesville, VA
7:00 pm
25 Philadelphia
Omni
7:35 pm
27 Washington
Madison Square Garden
6:00 pm
28 Kansas City
Winston-Salem, N.C.
7:00 pm
30 New York
The Omni
7:35 pm
Oct.
3 Washington
Augusta, GA
- 8:00 pm
4 Kansas City
St. Joseph. MO
8:00 pm
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JjM&jlt ClanAxiu, cund Irumdh
On August 26, 1980
Vote
(Municipal Court)
JUDGE
CLARENCE
COOPER
Superior Court Judge
of Fulton County
Judge Clarence Cooper
Truth Led To
Heart Failure
i
Speaking candidly in an
interview in the September issue
of ESSENCE magazine, Arthur
Ashe admits that the pressures of
being the only Black to win both
the U.S. Open and Wimbledon
tennis championships led to his
heart condition and eventual
retirement fromt he sport.
Writer Alan Ebert reveals how
the death of Ashe's mother and
his early recognition of racism
shaped his desire for intellectual
and athletic superiority. “By age
twelve, I was using sports and
scholastics to set me free and
apart,” says Ashe. “I was not
about to be lumped with anyone
thought to be inferior.”
With such determination, he
won the two most coveted
championships in tennis,
catapulting him to superstar
status until 1979, when at the age
of 36, a heart attack ended one of
the more remarkable and
brilliant careers in sports.
Coined as a "gentleman” both
on and off the courts, the private
and unemotional Ashe explains
his success in tennis this way, “I
wasthe perfect onetobreak into
white tennis.. .I was acceptable.
. . nonthreatening.”
Arthur Ashe claims he doesn't
miss the attention and adulation,
but he misses the striving and
achieving. Forced to live with
physical and stress constraints,
the usually confident Ashe is
confused about his purpose and
identity. This is despite his new
role as interviewer for ABC
Sports, and lecturer for Aetna
Life and Insurance Company. It is
a d ifficu It t ime for the champion.
The scar that bisects his torso has
healed, but an invisible one has
not.
When asked what were the
greatest moments of his life,
Ashe does not mention Wim
bledon or the Open, but "The
day I married Jeannie (hiswifeof
four years) and the morning I
woke up aftersurgery.Therewill
be more moments in my life. I
just don’t know when or where
or how yet.”
BY VEVERLY Y. BYRD
Panther Staff Writer
The 1980 Pre-Season Schedule
for the Atlanta Hawks is
Highlighted by a pair of gamesat
the Omni and a third Georgia
appearance slated in August as
announced recently by General
Manager Stan Kasten.
"For the second straight year,
we will be kicking off our home
schedule against the team
(Philadelphia) which eliminated
us fromt he playoffs,” Kasten
said. "It is also the first time
we’ve brought two pre-season
games to the Omni and three to
the state.”
Additionally, Kasten was
pleased with the club’s spot on a
doubleheader bill at Madison
Square Garden saying, "It is
another example of our con
tinuing credibility growth over
the last three years.”
In all, the Hawks will play
seven games against four op
ponents. The Washington Bullets
provide the opposition three
times, including the Garden
date, and the Hawks will face the
Kings of KansasCity twice. Single
games are scheduled against
Philadelphia and New York,both
at the Omni.
The complete 1980-81 Atlanta
Hawks regular season schedule
was announced August 8 by
General Manager Stan Kasten.
“We feel this season’s
schedule is better overall due to
the fact we have just three oc-
cassions when we play three
consecutive nights this time
around as opposed to seven such
instances last year,” Kasten
remarked. "The March Stretch
Drive is excellent with nine
home datesand playingsixof the
first eight at the Omni is an
added plus.”
The key to the Hawks' season
may lie in the start and finish
since the club is 66-16 at the
Omni over the last two seasons,
fourth best in the league.
For the second consecutive
season, the NBA will utilize an
unbalanced schedule. Slight
modifications have been made
due to the League's expansion to
Dallas, who will join the Midwest
Division in the Western
Conference.
Atlanta will play each team
from the West twice and all
teams in the East six times, with
the exception of New Jersey and
Washington. The Nets will host
the odd game of their five game
series witht he Hawks while
Atlanta fans will view the extra
Hawks - Bullets game.
See Hawks, page 15