Griffin daily news. (Griffin, Ga.) 1924-current, October 04, 1977, Image 7

Griffin daily news., October 04, 1977, Page Page 7, Image 7

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Newspaper Page TextMajor league baseball playoffs open Carlton vs. John in National opener By RALPH BERNSTEIN AP Sports Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Philadelphia Phillies will go with 23 game winner Steve Carlton and the Los Angeles Dodgers with 20 game victor Tommy John, but the big news at the National League playoffs today was the Phillies’ loss of star center fielder Garry Mad dox. The Phillies’ prospects of winning their first NL pennant since 1950 took a sharp drop when team physician Dr. Philip Marone said Maddox probably would miss the first two in the best-of-five game series with the Dodgers. Maddox, who hit .293 and finished the regular season with a 14-game hitting streak, sustained a contusion of the left kneecap, which caused fluid to build up on a joint, t Sports World An AP Sports Analysis By WILL GRIMSLEY AP Special Correspondent Oscar time again The regular baseball season is over, the World Series is just beyond the horizon, and it’s Oscar time again in the major leagues. Pretty soon they’ll be opening up the envelopes and announcing the honorees for the outstanding per formances for 1977. Jumping the gun, here is one man’s ballot for the key awards: Most Valuable Player, National League: Greg Luzinski, Phillies. Most Valuable Player, American League: Reggie Jackson, Yankees. NL Manager of the Year: Tom Lasorda, Dodgers. AL Manager of the Year: Earl Weaver, Orioles. NL Cy Young Award: John Candelaria, Pirates. AL Cy Young Award: Jim Palmer, Orioles. These are official categories, determined by writers’ ballots and accorded official recognition in the record books. Winners take their places in indelible ink beside the great and near great of generations past. There are other categories on which no referendum is taken, yet which had an unmistakable impact on the long, hot and turbulent summer. To wit: Outstanding Individual Player, Both Leagues: Rod Carew, Twins. Best Managerial Job Under Duress: Billy Martin, Yankees. Biggest Disappointment, Team: Cincinnati Reds. Biggest Disappointment, Player: Catfish Hunter, Yan kees. Worst Collapse: New York Mets, finishing last with 98 losses after trading away the game’s best pitcher, Tom Seaver, and home run hitter Dave Kingman. Biggest Falacy: The belief that pennants can be bought. Prime examples: The California Angels and San Diego Padres, who invested a fortune in the free agent draft, not to mention Texas, Atlanta, Cleveland and Milwaukee. Disregard the Yankees. They had a closer squeak this year with their million-dollar free agents, Reggie Jackson and Don Gullett, than a year ago without them. The normal rule of thumb in choosing the season’s out standing players and managers is to start at the top. The assumption is that if a team can win the pennant somebody on that team must have done the most things right. This theory does not square this year in the case of the Orioles’ fiery little Earl Weaver, who lost three million dollar players — Reggie Jackson, Bobby Grich and Wayne Garland — pieced together a team of largely no name rookies and almost stole the AL East title from under the noses of the filthy rich Yankees. Billy Martin deserves accolades for keeping his team and sanity intact when player egos and front office pressure almost destroyed the Yankees in mid-season. Rotund, tobaccochomping Don Zimmer did a fine job of bringing the Bostons back after their 1976 collapse. Yet neither did so much with so little as did Weaver, the man they overlooked when the Orioles swept to pennants in 1969, 1970 and 1971. Over in the National League, it was Lasorda’s driving enthusiasm and locker room good humor that kept the Dodgers so loose they outsped the champion Cincinnati Reds by 10 games. The prize of “Most Valuable Player” has a connotation deeper than cold statistics. The question: Most valuable to whom? Based on pure value to the team and not individual statistics, one can’t ignore Jackson, who provided most of the momentum in the Yankees’ strong streak after the All- Star break. In the period when the Yankees won 40 of 50 games, Jackson hit 13 homers, accounted for 49 of his 110 RBIs and led the team in game-winning blows. The Phillies conceivably could not have made it without the powerful, 230-pound Luzinski, with his 39 homers and 130 RBIs. It’s true the Reds’ George Foster —52 homers, 149 RBIs and .320 average — and Minnesota’s Rod Carew — 239 hits and .388 batting average — had more impressive personal credentials but how effective was their motivation? The forum is now open for debate, r limiting the outfielder’s ability to walk, let alone run. Maddox, referred to in Phila delphia as the Phillies’ secre tary of defense, might not even be able to play Friday when the series shifts to Philadelphia for game No. 3. If Maddox doesn’t play — and Phillies Manager Danny Ozark insisted on the use of the word “if” — Bake Mcßride will move from right to center field, and either Jerry Martin or Jay Johnstone play right. Martin or Johnstone probably can pick up Maddox’ lost offense, but even the accomplished Mcßride can’t cover center field like the injured star. And if the Maddox problem wasn’t enough, the Phillies had another gripe after Monday’s workout. They protested to league officials the conditon of the dirt in front of home plate, contending it was raked for John’s style of pitching. Phillies’ officials and the um pires assigned to the series will meet at the Stadium at 2 p.m. PDT to inspect the playing sur face. John’s slow stuff, which induces batters to hit into the dirt, is the Phillies’ concern. The Dodgers, who won the West Division by 10 games over runnerup Cincinnati, were 6%-5 favorites over the East cham pion Phillies, winner by five games over Pittsburgh. The matchup of Carlton against John featured two of the leading candidates for the Cy Young Award as the league’s best pitcher. John,whoseoperation-scarred left elbow looks like a map of the Los Angeles freeway system, posted a 20-7 record with a 2.78 ERA. He started 31 games, completed 11. Against the Phillies he was 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA. Carlton went 23-10, compiled a 2.64 ERA, and completed 17 of 36 games started. He was 1-1 against Los Angeles, with a 2.40 ERA. Carlton, previously a pi geon for base runners, devel oped a new move this season that resulted in 22 pickoffs. Both teams have power, with four Dodgers hitting 30 or more home runs — Steve Garvey (33), Reggie Smith (32), Ron Cey (30) an Dusty Baker (30). The Phillies’ Greg Luzinski slammed 39 and Mike Schmidt 38, with six others in double fig ures. The Phillies appear to have an edge in speed, defense and bullpen, the Dodgers have deeper starting pitching. The teams split 12 regular season games with identical 2-4 home and away records. Over all that’s about the way they stack up for the playoffs. The loss of Maddox could give the Dodgers the edge. No ‘doghouse 9 in KC Herzog’s philosophy: play best players By DOUG TUCKER AP Sports Writer KANSAS CITY (AP) - “Hey, Whitey,” George Brett hollered across the Kansas City Royals’ dressing room. “I was just asked what do I like most about you. I can’t think of anything.” “Put your mind to it and con centrate,” Whitey Herzog re plied. “No, on second thought, you might hurt yourself.” An All-Star third baseman who hits over .300 and a man ager who just won his second straight divisional title could be expected to engage in light hearted banter. But the rapport Herzog has established with his players — the unsung journeymen as well as the superstars — is the cor nerstone of the success he and I I • ■I I o Whitey Herzog: KC manager plays best players Wlß'' ~ !■- — - f * wk <■ rJr ch W?..' §»■' Jr LA’s Tommy John grins as he works out for opener Playoff schedule Baseball Playoff Schedule By The Associated Press Best-of-Flve Tuesday’s Game Philadelphia (Carlton 23-10) at Los Angeles (John 20-7), (n) Wednesday’s Games Kansas City at New York Philadelphia at Los Angeles, (n) Thursday’s Game Kansas City at New York, (n) the Royals have enjoyed since he became manager of a dis sension-wracked club on July 24, 1975. “This team has the talent to win if it’s used right,” he said then. “It’s my job to see that it’s used right.” From that day to the end of the season, the Royals’ team batting average jumped 13 points and the staff eamed-run average fell from 3.75 to 3.06. The next year he guided the Royals to the division title, the first championship in Kansas City’s 20 years of major league baseball. This season, while defending their title with essentially the same personnel he inherited in 1975, Herzog’s Royals swept to a 102-60 record, the winningest team in the major leagues. Friday’s Games Los Angeles at Philadelphia New York at Kansas City, (n) Saturday’s Games New York at Kansas City, if necessary Los Angeles at Philadelphia, (n), if necessary Sunday’s Games Los Angeles at Philadelphia, if necessary New York at Kansas City, (n), if necessary Clearly, Dorrel Norman “Whitey” Herzog has done his job. “I’ve been lucky,” he says. “I’ve got the best staff of coaches there is, and a bunch of good, dedicated players. Any manager is only as good as the people around him.” But his players and coaches don’t see it that way. “There’s no way you can measure it,” said outfielder designated hitter Hal Mcßae, “but, to me, it seems very, very unlikely we would have won this many games without Whitey. He’s got an uncanny knack of handling pitchers. “And he’s the first manager I’ve ever known, or even heard of, who doesn’t have a dog house. He gets mad, he’s had some pretty hot arguments with guys. But the thing about Whitey is he sees to it that no hard feelings develop. I’ve seen him chew out guys real bad, but the next day they’re laughing and joking and it’s all for gotten.” Herzog’s baseball experience encompasses almost every fac et of the game except own ership. An outfielder-first base man, he compiled a .257 lifetime batting average in a 9-year career that included stops at Washington, Baltimore, Detroit and the old Kansas City Athletics. He spent seven years in the New York Mets organ ization, five as director of play er development. Herzog, who takes his nick name from his butter-colored hair, admits his player-man ager philosophy is somewhat unique. “I’ve seen it all my life,” he says. “Good players sitting on the bench because they’re in the doghouse with the manager. I’ve never understood it. When I was a player, I liked it because I was never any good, and I got to play ahead of some stars. “But after I tell a player off, the next day, if he’s the best player, he’s going to be in the lineup.” Page 7 Yankees wrangle over short roster By HAL BOCK AP Sports Writer NEW YORK (AP) - The New York Yankees go into the American League playoffs against Kansas City Wednes day, technically one player short of the 25-man limit. But actually, the East Division champions have far fewer usuable men than the 24 their roster lists. Included among the Yankees eligibles are pitchers Ken Holtzman, Catfish Hunter and Ken Clay, none of whom are likely to see any meaningful ac tion. Holtzman has pitched only once since Aug. 13 and appeared in only 18 games all season. His lone appearance in the last seven weeks was in a mop-up role during a 19-3 loss to Toronto on Sept. 10. That same game marked the last appearance of Hunter, who is suffering from what the Yankees call a hernia and is questionable at best after going more than three weeks without work. Clay, a rookie, has been used in just 20 games, almost exclusively in mop-up situations to save more im portant pitchers for later games. Remove those three and the shrinking Yankee roster dips to 21. But that includes infielder Mickey Klutts, who played all year at Syracuse of the Inter national League and is eligible for the playoffs only by a quirk. Klutts was called up to the Yankees when third baseman Graig Nettles injured a knee and the rookie happened to be with the parent club on Aug. 31, the date post-season rosters are frozen. His New York appear ances this season comprise a total of just five games. Then there are two other in fielders, both with the club all season, who have been used most sparingly. Fred Stanley, last year’s regular shortstop, has appeared in 48 games as a backup for Bucky Dent this season. He has a total of 12 hits —two of them in the final game of the regular season. Rookie George Zeber has appeared in just 25 games as the backup man for second baseman Willie Randolph. Also among the eligibles is catcher Fran Healy, whose main contribution to the Yan kees cause this season has been warming up pitchers in the bullpen. Healy has been in only 27 games. With the Yankees already FALL IS FALLING Get your Toyota* ready for cool weather with these service specials. Minor engine tune-up special (4 cyl.) 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MacPhail rejected the request and Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and President Gabe Paul charged that he was pressured into re fusing to allow New York to add a 25th player. Nobody is enjoying the Yan kee roster wrangle more than Royals’ Manager Whitey Her zog, who made his last trip to New York under duress. That was in late August when KC had SPORTS ★★★★★★★★★★★★★ Free agents 64 players eligible for re*entry draft By The Associated Press With the regular season over, the free-agent season can’t be far behind. Like Christmas, that’s the season to be jolly for a handful of players who can command high bidding for their services. It’s also the season of good cheer for teams that can fill weak spots by signing top-notch free agents without giving up comparable players. Os course, they will probably need a pile of green stuff as high as a giant Christmas tree. As of today, there are poten tially 64 players eligible for the second annual re-entry draft Nov. 4. (That figure does not include the two dozen or so players who were minor leag uers for all or much of the 1977 season.) About a dozen of the 64 major leaguers can be considered blue-chippers who will stimu late the laws of economics and the competitive juices of the baseball owners looking for the winning edge. Twenty-three of the 64 players snipped off their chains by not signing 1977 baseball contracts. The rest are six-year veterans whose contracts, signed after Aug. 9, 1976, expired after the current season. to make a one-day stopover at Yankee Stadium to make up a game that was postponed in late July. The Royals argued that the game should never have been postponed originally and was called by the Yankees because New York was ex periencing pitching problems and needed a day off. Herzog made a symbolic pro test that day by listing four pitchers in his starting lineup, then technically pinch hitting for three of them as their bat ting turns came up. In the play offs, New York Manager Billy Martin won’t have the luxury of wasting bodies that way. Need a big home run hitter who will stop the pitchers from laughing at your powder-puff lineup? You don’t have to look much further than Richie Zisk (30 homers, 101 RBIs), Larry Hisle (27 homers and an American League-leading 119 RBIs) or Dave Kingman (26 homers and 78 RBIs for four different teams this season.) Zisk, Hisle and Kingman, all outfielders, represent the top right-handed sluggers. If your lineup lacks a left-handed swi nger who can bust fences and end ball games, Oscar Gamble is your man. Gamble, an out fielder, socked 31 homers for the Chicago White Sox and had a phenomenal slugging per centage of .586. At 27, Gamble wouldn’t be much of a risk. But he won’t come cheap. Willie Stargell, the longtime left-handed lumber man of the Pittsburgh Pirates, would be more of gamble since he is coming off an injury-pla gued season, in which he totaled 13 homers in 63 games. He’s also 36 years old. These big guns wouldn’t have loomed so big if the batters earlier in the lineup didn’t -get on base.