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Boog’s Hitting To Left
Makes Orioles Right
By United Press International
Boog Powell is hitting to left
again and that’s one of the
reasons why the Baltimore
Orioles are going the right way.
The 6-foot-4, 240-pound Balti
more first baseman is strong
enough to clobber opposite field
homers to left with ease and
that’s what he did Tuesday
night as the Orioles routed the
California Angels 11-4.
The left - handed swinger
blasted a 420-foot shot to left
field for a three-run homer that
highlighted a six-run second
inning and enabled the Orioles
to coast to the victory and
move four games in front of the
rest of the teams in the
Eastern Division.
“When I’m hitting the ball
well, I hit to left field.” Powell
said, "my homers usually come
when you least expect them.
I'm going for the base hit and
the power is there. In 1966
when we won the pennant, I hit
17 of my 34 homers to left and
I’ve hit five of my 11 to left
this season.”
Powell drove in 109 runs In
1966 with a .287 average and
this year he's ahead of that
pace with 47 RBIs and a .302
average.
"June has been a great
month for me in the past,” he
noted.
"We’ve got too many good
hats on this club to go into a
team slump. There's the
Robinsons, Paul Blair, Dave
Johnson and myself. And we’ve
gotten added punch from Mark
Belanger. Every one of his hits
i- bonus.” he said.
Powell has hit just .234 and
.249 with 55 and 85 RBIs the
past two years and that’s one
of the reasons the Orioles didn’t
win after their 1966 success.
But this year Powell is on the
beam and the Orioles are
breezing along in first place.
In other American League
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action, Minnesota edged Boston
6-2, Chicago routed Cleveland 9-
5, Detroit blanked Seattle 5-0,
Oakland topped Washington 6-4
and Kansas City nipped New
York 7-6.
In the National League,
Chicago topped Atlanta 3-1,
Houston edged Pittsburgh 7-4,
St. Louis nipped Cincinnati 5-4,
Los Angeles topped Philadel
phia 2-1, New York routed San
Francisco 9-4 and Montreal
downed San Diego, 7-4.
Minnesota remained 2> z £
games ahead of Oakland in the
Western Division by drubbing
Boston. Jim Kaat pitched a
seven-hitter and doubled in the
third inning to trigger a five
run uprising. Ray Culp went 2
2-3 innings and suffered the
loss.
Reggie Jackson doubled in
the tying run in the seventh
inning and scored the deciding
run on Danny Cater’s single as
the Athletics topped Washing
ton. Paul Lindblad got credit
for the victory with 2 2-3
innings of relief while Dennis
Higgins suffered the loss even
though he pitched only 2-3 of an
Inning.
Lou Pinlella drove in four
runs with a two-run double and
a two-run single as Kansas City
edged New York. Dave Wicker
sham came out of the bullpen
in the ninth inning and retired
the side with the tying run on
third to preserve the victory.
Roy White drove in four runs
for the Yanks.
Norm Cash hit his 10th homer
and Earl Wilson, John Hiller
anil Don McMahon combined on
a six-hit shutout as the Tigers
beat Seattle. Wilson went the
first six innings but was driven
out in the seventh by two
singles. Hiller retired the one
batter he faced—Don Mincher
on a liner to right—and
McMahon pitched the final 2 2-3
Ira Berkow
NEA Sports Editor
Dodgers Are 'Back'
NEW YORK—(NEA) —Down in Vero Beach, Fla.,
this spring, a brochure published by the Los Angeles
Dodgers carried a succinctly written passage on man
ager Walter (Smokey) Alston.
“This season marks the
first time in Alston’s major
league managerial career
(which began in 1954) that
he comes off consecutive
second division finishes,” it
said. “The Dodgers were
eighth in 1967 and tied for
seventh last year.”
A few weeks later, Alston
reportedly kicked down the
motel door of a rookie who
broke a curfew—just as he
had kicked down the motel
door of a pitcher named
Sandy Koufax for the same
reason five years earlier.
Now it is mid-June and the
Dodgers—a team composed
of enough peach-fuzz faces
to be mistaken for a high
school rock ’n’ roll band
are battling the Atlanta
Braves for first place In the
National League's Western
Division.
Los Angeles starts four
rookies, two guys who
weren’t around when the
1968 season ended and two
senior citizens aged 31 and
29. Altogether, the lineup has
exactly 19 years experience.
Most Boy Scout troops can
top this figure.
Still, there they are: The
Los Angeles Dodgers, again
contending for a pennant. An
explanation is in order, nat
urally, but thus far no ade
quate ones have appeared.
Alston, 57, puts both hands
behind his head for a cushion
and leans his chair back
against the wall. His expla
nation is not complicated.
“We had a good spring to
start out with,” he said,
“and because we had so
many young fellows, we got
in a lot of special instruc
tion. They appreciated it.
“One thing is the kids will
listen to you and not be
smart alecks. We still make
mistakes. We’re bound to,
innings.
Rookie Carlos May drove in
four runs with a single and a
pair of doubles to lead Chicago
past Cleveland. The White Sox’
but every day they play they
get more experience and are
making fewer mistakes.
They’ll listen to you and
that’s all you can ask.”
Many of Alston’s fine
teams have had their roots
in bad seasons. His 1959
team won a world champion
ship after his 1958 club fin
ished seventh.
“The veteran players
know that what they did the
year before has no effect on
the new season,” Alston
says. “They want to prove
that all they had was a bad
season and that they’re still
major leaguers.
“The kids are fighters, full
of vinegar and stuff. There’s
no problem here. They're out
to win a job.
“Any player should forget
what happened to him the
day before or the year be
fore if he’s smart. He’s got
to believe in himself. He
can’t let a bad performance
yesterday effect his play to
day. He just can’t.”
For 16 seasons now, Alston
has managed the Dodgers.
The role of the major league
managers always has been
suspect. (Good players make
good managers, etc.) A quiet
man with blue eyes that
laugh easier than his mouth,
Alston’s method — although
sometimes interrupted by a
door-kicking temper—is cool
and logical.
Winning pennants? Sim
ple:
“In order to win a pen
nant, you have to have the
support of your entire staff
—plus a couple of guys have
got to have outstanding
years, like Koufax and Wills
did for us. It gets con
tagious. A couple of guys
get the club going and the
others just seem to snow
ball with them.”
victory broke their five game
losing streak. Cisco Carlos took
the win with one inning of relief
work while Mike Paul, the
second of six Cleveland pitch
ers, suffered the loss.
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Palmer, Nicklaus Have Problems
HOUSTON (UPD—Jack Nick
laus and Arnold Palmer aren’t
scaring anybody these days—on
the eve of the 1969 U.S. Open
golf championship both of them
admit they have problems.
"I know what I’m doing
wrong,” admitted golden bear
Nicklaus after playing an 18-
hole practice round over the
steaming Cypress Creek Course
where a field of 139 pros and 11
amateurs open battle Thursday
in the 72-hold contest for the
title won last year by Texan
Lee Trevino.
“I just haven’t been able to
correct it,” said Nicklaus. The
twotime U.S. Open Champion
from Ohio didn’t disclose what
his problem is, but he hasn’t
won a tournament since San
Diego back in January and on
Tuesday he dropped a little
Nassau money to Palmer’s two
over-par 72.
Palmer, getting ready for the
last Open he’ll play under the
age of 40, also knows what he
has been doing wrong in recent
years and he thinks he may be
correcting it. It’s his “concen
tration ”
And strangely enough, being
forced • to qualify in sectional
competition to earn a spot In
this year’s Open may have been
the blessing in disguise that
nelped him find the cure.
“I went out there knowing I
had to play well to qualify,”
explained the Latrobe, Pa., star
whose eligibility for an automa-
Walter Alston: “The Kids Will Listen to You”
tic starting berth expired this
year. "It forced me t
concentrate. It was like in the
old days when I just had to
make a hundred bucks if I was
going to get to the next stop on
the tour.”
Palmer, now nine years past
his only Open triumph, quali
fied with a 70-68 in Pennsylva
nia. Both he and Nicklaus have
be n n grimly determined in their
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practice here and after their 18-
hole workout Tuesday, they
spent time on the practice tee
and then went right back out
for another nine holes despite
tne 93 degree heat and 41 per
cent humidity which combined
to make it hot going over
Cypress.
Gary Player, the little South
African who is one of the top
favorites here because of his
hot performance in the limited
amount of competition he has
had this year, offered an i
explanation for Nicklaus’ recent
woes—and Nicklaus promptly
denied it.
"Jack isn’t practicing en
ough,” sand Player. “He has
been spending a lot of time
with his family, which it
admirable. But he isn’t getting
in enough practice.”