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Happy ending for fairy tale
Rookie’s homer in 11th propels
Mets to victory over Braves 9 5-2
By HAL BOCK
AP Sports Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - This is a
baseball fairy tale, complete
with a hero, an assistant hero, a
villain, and, for the New York
Mets, a happy ending.
The hero is rookie Steve Hen
derson, whose llth-inning home
run propelled the Mets to a 5-2
victory over the Atlanta Braves
Tuesday night.
The assistant hero is veteran
Ed Kranepool, whose leadoff
homer in the bottom of the ninth
tied the scoree 2-2 and saved the
extra inning’s swing for
Henderson.
The villain is M. Donald
Grant, the Mets’ chairman of
the board, who made his first
appearance at Shea Stadium
since trading away folk hero
Tom Seaver last week and was
greeted with a chorus of “Grant
must go,*’ from the fans.
That, of course, was before
Henderson, one of the four
players packaged to get Seaver,
tagged his game-winning
homer. For the rookie, it was a
storybook finish to a turbulent
week which saw him tagged as
the can’t-miss prospect, without
whom the Seaver trade could
not have been made.
Until the ninth inning, the
Mets were losing 2-1 against
Andy Messersmith, with Willie
Montanez’ first-inning homer
accounting for both Braves’
runs. But Kranepool tied the
score with his seventh homer of
the season on a 3-2 pitch.
“It was a beautiful sight, be
cause you knew it was gone as
soon as he hit it,” said Mets
Manager Joe Torre.
[Catcalls greet Connors
[for match in Wimbledon
By JEFF BRADLEY
AP Sports Writer
WIMBLEDON, England (AP)
— The game of tennis has been
revolutionized in the 100 years
since the Wimbledon champion-
BASEBALL
Baseball At A Glance
By The Associated Press
National League
East
..W L Pct. GB
Chicago 41 22 .651 —
Phila 35 29 .547 6%
Pitts 34 29 .540 7
S Louis 35 30 .538 7
N York 29 36 .446 13
Montreal 28 35 .444 13
West
Los Ang 44 23 .657 —
Cinci 35 29 .547 7%
SFran 31 37 .456 13%
S Diego 31 40 .437 15
Houston 28 40 .412 16%
Atlanta 23 44 .343 21
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New York tried to win it in the
10th, loading the bases with one
out, but Atlanta reliever Don
Collins squirmed out of trouble,
and when the game went into
the 11th, Torre put Henderson in
left field.
With one out in the bottom of
the 11th, John Stearns doubled
and Felix Millan was in
tentionally walked, setting up a
double play. Henderson was the
next batter, but Torre stopped
the rookie on his way to the
plate.
“He said, ‘lt is just a ball
game. Relax,”’ Henderson said
later.
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WIMBLEDON, England — Chris Evert thrusts sideways to return shot of opponent Ruta
Gerulaitis during their women’s singles match in the first round Tuesday of the Wimbledon
Tennis Championship in Wimbledon, England. Miss Evert, the reigning women’s Wim
bledon champion, won the center court match 6-0, 6-3. (AP)
ships were first played, but the
middle-class sensibilities of the
English men and women who
come to Wimbledon each sum
mer remain the same.
The Jimmy Connors incident
American League
East
~W L Pct. GB
Boston 39 25 .609 -
Balt 35 30 .538 4%
NYork 36 31 .537 4%
Cleve 30 31 .492 7%
Milwkee 32 35 .478 8%
Detroit 29 35 .453 10
Toronto 24 39 .381 14%
West
Chicago 36 28 .563 -
Minn 37 29 .561 -
K.C. 32 32 .500 4
Calif 31 31 .500 4
Texas 31 31 .500 4
Oakland 29 35 .453 7
Seattle 31 40 .437 8%
Torre is concerned about the
pressure on the 24-year-old out
fielder. Not everybody, you re
alize, is traded for a Tom Sea
ver.
“I don’t want to rush him,”
Torre said. “This has all hap
pened so suddenly for him. He’s
got a long career and I’d rather
be safe than sorry.”
So Torre has been keeping
Henderson mainly under wraps
since the trade, letting him get
used to the big league scene,
avoiding pressure situations.
But he decided to expose the
youngster just a bit in the 11th
and he wasn’t sorry. “The in-
which marred the start of this
centenary Wimbledon proves
the point.
He snubbed the championship
committee and the royal family
by failing to show up at Mon
day’s opening day Parade of
Champions, although he was 200
yards away at the time prac
ticing with Hie Nastase.
The incident overshadowed
the appearance of more than 40
other all-time greats in the pa
rade and made front page news
in the British press. In retali
ation, Wimbledon authorities
denied Connors the com
memorative medal presented to
all other past champions by the
Duke of Kent.
And when the 24-year-old
American, ranked No. 1 in the
world, appeared on the center
court Tuesday for his opening
math, he was greeted by boos
and catcalls which veteran
commentators said were un
precedented.
For Connors had violated the
“game’s the thing” ethics
which still dominate the British
sport scene and are basic to
Wimbledon’s traditions.
That is why behavior like
Connors’ on Monday shocks
Wimbledon. The whole show is
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WIMBLEDON, England — America’s Kathy May, ap
pears to smile, as she reaches for a ball from Britain’s
Linda Mottram, during their Women’s Singles First
Round match here Tuesday. Miss May, from Beverly
Hills, Calif., beat Mottram 6-3; 6-1. (AP)
tentional walk made me ang
ry,” said Henderson. “It meant
I didn’t have their respect. But I
am a rookie, so I guess I have to
earn it."
Atlanta Manager Dave Bris
tol briefly considered bringing
in a right-handed pitcher to face
the righty swinging Henderson.
“But I figured they would
switch to a lefty, so I decided to
stay that way,” he said.
Henderson took a strike, then
sent the next pitch on a line into
the second deck in left field. “I
just wanted a base hit,” he said.
“I just wanted to make
contact.”
about tradition, decorum and
style.
Connors himself appeared
slightly repentant at a Tuesday
news conference after sailing
through his first-round match
against Britain’s Richard Lewis
6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
Asked his reaction to the
booing which met his appear
ance on the center court, he
said: “They got the point
across.”
He explained that he missed
the parade because he was un
der doctor’s orders to get in
some practice before reporting
back to the specialist for an ex
amination of his bruised right
hand thumb. “And that’s the
truth,” he said.
“If I could have been there,
I’d have been there,” he added.
In Tuesday’s other action, de
fending women’s titlist Chris
Evert sailed past first-round
opponent Ruta Gerulaitis, 21-
year-old sister of Vitas Geru
laitis, 6-0, 6-3.
The No. 2 seed, Martina Nav
ratilova, also coasted to a 6-3, 6-
0 victory over Glynis Coles of
Britain.
Second-round men’s and
women’s singles action begins
today.
And when he hit the ball, what
did he think?
“Hey, we win!" said the hero.
Afterwards, Grant visited
Henderson in the dressing
room. “He said, ‘Way to go,”’
said the rookie. “He seemed
very happy. I shook his hand
and I told him I was happy to be
here.”
The last time Grant shook
hands in the Mets’ dressing
room, the other hand belonged
to Seaver. It was after the
pitcher hurled a shutout in what
was to be his last appearance at
Shea Stadium. And that was
where this fairy tale began.
WIMBLEDON — Jimmy Connors holds his injured thumb
away from his racquet during action on the center court at
Wimbledon, England, Tuesday in the men’s singles first
round match. Connors, who beat opponent Richard Lewis
of Britain, despite his injured thumb, was booed by the
audience for his failure to attend a medal presentation
ceremony at Wimbledon Monday. Connors won the
match, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. (AP)
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Page 11
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SPORTS
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Commercial,Dundee
win LL consolations
Only two batters had hits for
Commercial Bank in its victory
over Moose in the Consolation
Tournament in the Griffin Little
League.
Commercial won the game 8-4
on the hitting of Mark Eskins
and Buck Lee and the pitching
of Keith Gilbert.
Eskins hit a home run, double
and single and Lee slammed a
home run and double.
— Griffin Daily News Wednesday/ June 22, 1977
Gilbert struck out 13 Moose
batters enroute to the victory.
He gave up 3 walks and 4 hits.
Randy Chadwick and Todd
Wheeler were on the mound for
Moose. Chadwick pitched three
innings, striking out 2 and
walking 5. Wheeler pitched 4
innings, striking out 5 and
walking 2. They gave up the 5
hits to Eskins and Lee.
Kel Ellis and Meredith Beck
hit doubles for Moose. Chad
wick and Clint Smith hit singles.
Dundee 20, Jaycees 9
Dundee collected 19 hits
enroute to its 20-9 victory over
Jaycees.
Dundee pitchers Joe Pharr
and Kevin Kennedy limited the
Jaycee batters to 5 hits. Pharr
pitched 4 innings, striking out 5
and walking 8. Kennedy struck
out 3 and walked 5 in the final 3
innings.
Four pitchers were on the
mound for Jaycees. Doug
Peaden started and went 4
innings, striking out 5 and
walking 4. He was followed by
Gary Harris, Kenny Ayers and
Brian Bailey who pitched 1
inning each. Harris walked 1
and did not strike out any.
Ayers struck out 1 and walked 2
and Bailey struck out 1 and did
not issue any walks.
Ray Malcolm blasted q home
run, 2 doubles and 2 singles to
lead the Dundee list of hitters.
Pharr hit a double and single;
Gerald Morton, a double and 2
singles; Kennedy, a double and
3 singles; Zack Ellis, 2 doubles
and a single, and David
Culpepper and Sunwha Verdell
hit triples.
Ayers blasted a home run and
single and Marty Bradford
slammed a home run for
Jaycees. Harris and Joey
Duncan hit singles.
Today’s games
Dundee plays Moose today at
5:30 in the consolation division
of the Griffin Little League
Tournament.
First National Bank, National
League champions, and Buick-
Toyota, American League
winners, begin their best 2-of-3
game series for the Griffin LL
championship tonight at 8 p.m.
at Patrick Park.
Golf tourney
Griffin Country Club will
hosts its annual Member-Guest
Golf Tournament Saturday and
Sunday.
There is a full field for the
tournament and 104 golfers will
be participating.
BASKETBALL
ATLANTA — Sergei Belov
pumped in 25 points to lead the
Russian national team to a 123-
96 victory over the Metro Seven
All Stars in an exhibition bas
ketball game.
GOLF
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.
— Veteran golfer Dow Finster
wald was named non-playing
captain of the 1977 U.S. Ryder
Cup golf team.