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GRIFFIN DAILY NEWS MAGAZINE
Astros’ Reserves
On Reserve Duty
COCOA, Fla. (UPD—Grady
Hatton has his own ideas on
Vietnam.
You wouldn’t exactly call him
a hawk or a dove. He’s more
like an owl. That could come
from staying up late, counting
noses in the dark and trying to
figure out who’s on his ball club
this week and who isn’t.
Last week, for example, five
of his Houston Astros had to
pack up and leave for reserve
duty.
They were outfielder Don
Davis, catcher Dave Adlesh,
infielder Lee Bales and pitchers
Chris Zachary and Ron Crook.
Make that six instead of five.
Jimmy Lake, Houston’s equip
ment man, had to go, too. Some
of the Astros had to rough it a
few days and wear the same old
sweatshirt.
The four who go this weekend
are outfielders Norm Miller and
Alonzo Harris, first baseman
Nate Colbert and pitcher Eruce
Von Hoff.
Not all of Houston’s reservists
are second-liens either. Joe
Morgan, Larry Dierker, Denis
Menke, Doug Rader and Wade
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HMMMMI—These major league managers aren’t contemplating the effects of spring
fever but rather the progress of spring training. At left, from top to bottom, the
Phillies' Gene Mauch, Ralph Houk of the Yankees and the Cardinals’ Red Schoendienst
ponder their problems alone while, at right, Mets manager Gil Hodges (14) talks with
coach Yogi Berra, who rubs bls legs after doing calesthenics.
Blasingame are among them.
Now Grady Hatton is as big a
patriot as the next guy. He
knows how important the
reserve program is to this
country. But he’s beginning to
wonder whether he’ll have
enough guys for all the positions
on some given days this
summer.
That’s no gag. There was a
time last summer he had to
send his second baseman
Morgan, out to play left filed.
“I don’t know of any ball club
that has more players in the
reserves than us”, said Hatton,
examining his Houston roster.
“We’ve got 16, plus one of our
supplementary list. That makes
17”.
“The Mets have a bunch of
young kids, too”, offered
general manager Spec Richard
son, who had come into the
manager’s room to get a coke
from the ice box.
“Yeah, but they’re married,”
Hatton answered. “I checked
with Salty Parker. He was with
them last year and he said they
had only four. The trouble with
8
us is we got a bunch of
bachelors”.
Hatton studied his roster
some more.
“I remember one time last
summer we had six of our
players out”, he said. “I played
Atlanta a five-game series with
only 19 players’’.
“Why didn’t you bring up
some players from one of your
farm clubs?" someone asked.
“Could n’t”, said Hatton.
“Three of our Oklahoma City
players were doing reserve duty
at the same time and seven
more from Amarillo”.
“How did that make you feel
about the five game series with
Atlanta?” was another question
put tc Hatton.
“Must I answer that?” he
frowned.
“How many of those five
games did you win?”
“One.”
Had the Astros swept that
series with the Braves it
could’ve made a world of
difference to them.
They wouldn’t have finished
32 '/ 2 games behind. Only 30'
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ANYWHERE ONE TRAVELS, the chances of seeing Al
Silvani, either in person or on film, are good. He is a
fight trainer who has helped handle Nino Benvenuti
(upper left) among 19 other champions, plays character
roles (upper right) in Hollywood, and has been assistant
director in such films as “Funny Girl’’ with Barbara
Streisand (bottom).
Pitching Mauch’s
Biggest Concern
Btv MILTON RICHMAN
UPI Sports Writer
CLEARWATER, Fla. (UPD—
Gene Mauch doesn’t try to con
anybody about his Philadelphia
Phillies.
He doesn’t go around predict
ing they’ll win the pennant this
year nor does he look for any
sympathy because two of his
best hitters still aren’t operat
ing at maximum efficiency
after injuries last year.
“We’re a good ball club,”
claims the Philadelphia mana
ger. “From the progress
Richie Alien and Bill White
have shown me so far I’m not
worried about them. My main
concern is to put together a
good pitching staff. If I can do
that we’ll be all right.”
Allen, who nearly ended his
career last August by cutting
two tendons and the ulnar nerve
in his right wrist when he
smashed his hand through the
headlight of an old automobile
he was pushing, appears to be
coming along all right. His
progress has been slow but
consistent.
The Phillies can’t afford to
lose a Richie Allen. He is to
them what Sandy Koufax was to
the Dodgers and what Willie
Mays was and still is to the
giants. Before putting himself
Sat. and Sun., March 16-17,1968
out of commission last season,
Allen had a .307 batting
average, 77 RBl’s and 23 '
homers.
The Pitching Picture
White, eight years older than
Allen at 34, also is important to
the Phillies because without him
they don’t have a first
baseman.
Trying to make it back after
tearing the achilles tendon in
his right ankle in December of
1966, White batted only .250 in
110 games last season, but now
seems greatly improved.
“We’re figuring White at first
base and Allen at third,” says
Mauch. “If those tw'o are okay,
and they look like they are, it’ll
make all the difference in the
world.”
The pitching staff is another
story. Mauch will have to do
some improvising now that he
no longer has Jim Bunning, who
was dealt to Pittsburgh.
Chris Short, Larry Jackson,
Rick Wise and Woody Fryman,
Who came in the deal with the
Pirates, are the four regular
starters. Short, who had a
disappointing 9-11 record last
year, and Fryman, with an even
more disappointing 3-8, are the
’ lefthanders in the group.