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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1970-08-13, Page 6Page 4 Times-Advocate, August 13, 1970 FOR ALL GOOD SPORTS By Ross Haugh Big day for Al MOST VALUABLE PLAYER— In addition to team awards the most valuable player was honored at Exeter's annual Civic Holiday fastball tournament. Above, Bob Baynham of the South Huron Fastball Association makes the most valuable player presentation to Jack Rand of Aberarder. With Rand are his sons, Scott and David. T-A photo. Greys lose three straight, tied for third position INVEST NOW 8ro 4 on Guaranteed Investment Certificates. Also "CASHAB LE AT ANY TIME" Guaranteed Savings Certificates up to 8%%. 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Insured FREE for a Lifetime All repair work needed on your ring will be done FREE of charge, regardless of age PLEASING YOU PLEASES US • . ,,, 11111111 uilUllllii, idliulnli0niuWiiiillll ulilimill 111161 ll l i llll 111111011 lllllllllllllllllll llll llllll llll 1111111ijoi llll ll l lllll l r. Sr wt a. it Tigers out of H-P action, play Stratford Sunday Getting back on the job after a holiday is usually quite a chore but writing this column should be a little easier because one of our leisure days was spent at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Making this a special trip was the fact one of the greatest Tigers ever, Al Kaline was honored by special festivities. We enjoyed the trip in the company of a couple of barbers up the street but are sorry the Yankees were not in action. With his favorite team absent, the Yankee Clipper decided it was more important to catch a bit of shut-eye. In attendance to honour Al were representatives of all facets of sport in Detroit along with former team-mates and managers, baseball commissioner Bowie Huhn, American league president Joe Cronin and Calvin Griffith and Harman Killebrew of the Minnesota Twins. Ex-managers saluting Al were Bob Scheffing, Frank Skaff and Jack Tighe. Former players included Hank Aguirre, Reno Bertoia, Jim Bunning, Paul Foytack, Bill Hoeft, Frank House, Harvey Kuenn and Dick Tracewski. With close to fifty thousand fans in the stadium, the biggest ovation next to Kaline's went to No. 9 of the Detroit Red Wings Gordie Howe. The likeable hockey right winger received a standing cheer for minutes. Wayne Walker of the Detroit Lions drew a laugh when he said his team-mates were presenting Al with only a plaque because at the moment they were unemployed due to the NFL players strike. Also in attendance at Al Kaline Day was the Tiger chief scout Ed Katalinas who was instrumental in getting Al into a Detroit uniform. The Tigers first heard about Kaline in 1949 but had to wait until his graduation from high school in June of 1953 before any contract offers could legally be made. Katalinas went to Baltimore in 1950 to have a look at a boy by the name of Johnson but happened to see a game in which Kaline was playing and that was the end of Johnson's hopes. The chief Tiger scout goes on with his story. "I saw him twice that year and came back when he was a junior. By the middle of the season he was the most touted and most scouted player in the Baltimore area. He was playing ball constantly. His uncles would drive him around from game to game and he'd change uniforms in the car. Pretty soon, I started driving him from park to park myself. In June I told our farm director John McHale that I was going to put all my eggs in one basket and concentrate on Kaline and he gave me the go-ahead. I went to Baltimore and holed up in a hotel several days in advance of Al's graduation. I dropped in on the family a couple of times and then asked for an appointment at one minute past midnight, the first minute I could legally tender him a contract. Around ten in the morning will be okay, his father told me, but I didn't sleep much and was there at ten sharp. We talked generally at first, then specifically. I mentioned taxes and somewhere along the line, I dropped the figure of $30,000. I sensed Al had about that much in mind. Al went back to the kitchen where his mother was cooking lunch and I waited with my fingers crossed. When he reappeared he was smiling that nice kid's smile of his and said "okay, we'll accept your offer." And that's how the Tigers got Al Kaline's signature in his first contract for $30,000. It has to be their biggest bargain ever. While last Sunday was probably the day Al Kaline will remember the longest he had a memorable afternoon shortly after he joined the Tigers. It was April 17, 1965 at Briggs Stadium in the first game of a Sunday doubleheader when Al turned in the following: A walk in the first inning; two run homer in the third; bases-loaded single in the fourth; bases-empty homer and two run homer in the sixth; pop fly in the eighth. It was only the fourth time in American league history for a batter to get two home runs in an inning and the first time since 1936 when Joe Dimaggio did the trick. It was also the first time a Tiger had hit three homers in one game since Pat Mullin in 1949. This was the season Kaline won the American league batting title with a mark of .340- the youngest in league history at only 20 years of age. That year, Al hit safely in 31 of his first 33 games, connected in 118 of the 152 he played, had one streak of 15 straight games and never slumped more than four games. He was the 20th Tiger to win the batting crown and the 16th to get 200 hits in a season. Kaline now ranks one-two-three among the Tigers' top hitters of all time in three categories and is close in several others with these career totals at All-Star time this year: Home runs — 346 for 1st; Games — 2,296 for 3rd; At-Bats — 8,348 for 3rd; Hits — 2,516 for 3rd; Total Bases — 4,104 for 3rd; Doubles — 416 for 4th; Triples — 67 for 8th; Batting .301 for 12th. In recognition of his great career, the fans tapped Kaline as one of the Greatest Tigers Ever in the 1969 Baseball Centennial poll. Their voting ranked him with Ty Cobb, Harry Hellmann, Hank Greenberg, Charley Gehringer, Billy Rogell, George Kell, Mickey Cochrane, Denny McLain and Hal Newhouser as the greatest ever to wear Tiger uniforms. All of Al Kaline's managers have poured lavish words of praise on the great Tiger outfielder and recently it was his present field boss Mayo Smith who put it this way: "The best player to ever play for me; right up at the top Of all the clutch players I've ever been associated with. You don't have to manage him. You just give him the signs and he goes out there and plays." A former Tiger pilot Bob Scheffing once said of Kaline, "He's the best defensive rightfielder I have ever seen, He instinctively plays the ball the correct way, has the speed to range far and his throwing arm commands respect from all runners." The late Charley Dressen, who managed a multitude of stars in his long career, was equally warm in his praise saying, "The greatest right fielder I ever handled and as great an all-round player I ever had, To complete a successful day in honoring a wonderful athlete, Kaline personally requested that all cash donations received for his special day should be used to purchase baseball equipment for needy youngsters of The Exeter Greys completed the regular schedule in the Huron Ladies softball league on a dismal note dropping three consecutive games during the past week but managed to end up in a third place tie with Mitchell. Wednesday in Mitchell, the home team eked out a 11-10 decision, the following night on their home diamond, the Greys lost 13-4 to Shakespeare and Friday night they were bounced 23-6 by the Brucefield Bombers, last year's league champs. Dashwood club in league final The Dashwood pee wees won the district Western Ontario Athletic Association group championship Tuesday night and advanced to the league final. The Dashwood youngsters downed Crediton 7-3 Tuesday night after taking the first contest of the best-of-three series Monday by a score of 6-1. Dashwood will meet Cargill for the league championship. Arrangements were not completed at press time, Wednesday. Both games were close from start to finish with Dashwood generating rallies in the late innings both nights to come out on top,. All the scoring in the final game was confined to the last two innings of play. Dashwood scored twice in the sixth inning and came back with five big runs in the top of the seventh while Crediton scored a run in the sixth and added two more in the seventh. Ron Anderson and Wayne Riddell singled in the Dashwood sixth and scored on Doug Mclsaac's double to open the game scoring. In the seventh Tom Hayter and Brad Willert each reached first after being hit by a pitched ball and Pat Masse was safe on a fielder's choice to load the bases. Consecutive singles by Ron Anderson, Wayne Riddell, Doug Mclsaac and Robert Guenther sent the Dashwood run total to five in the inning. Larry Clarke reached first on an error to open the Crediton sixth, moved up on Perry Preszcator's infield out and scored on a single by Kevin Datars. Darryl Preszcator was hit by a pitch to open the Crediton seventh, Ron Smith doubled and both scored on Larry Clarke's triple. Larry Clarke turned in an outstanding performance on the Crediton mound in a losing cause. The young right hander struck out 14 opposing batters in the seven inning contest. Dashwood's winning hurler Ron Anderson fanned a total of 10. BIG SIXTH FRAME A three run rally in the bottom of the sixth ensured the 6.1 Dashwood victory Monday night. Singles by Wayne Riddell, Doug Mclsaac, Robert Guenther and Tom Hayter were responsible for the winning spurt. Riddell, Guenther and Hayter also singled in succession in the fourth to produce two Dashwood runs. The first run came in the third when Steve Schroeder singled, stole second and scored on Marty Becker's single. The lone Crediton run came in the seventh on singles by Ron Smith and Larry Clarke. A sudden-death game to decide third spot will be played on the Exeter diamond, Friday night at nine o'clock. Against Brucefield, the Greys scored four times in the third inning and came back with single runs in each of the fifth and sixth frames to complete their game scoring. Three Brucefield errors along with a triple from the bat of Kathy Wells and single by Patti Robinson produced the opening Exeter scoring. Sheila Willert crossed the plate for the Greys in the fifth and Ann Jorgensen completed the base cycle in the next inning. Brucefield scored seven times in each of the first and third innings to get a good start on their way to the easy victory 23-6. LATE SCORING The Greys scored all their runs in the last inning during their 13-4 loss to Shakespeare, Wednesday night. Sheila Willert, Lynne Farquhar, Ann Jorgensen and Joan Campbell were the Exeter run getters. SEE SAW BATTLE In Mitchell , Tuesday night, the home club jumped in front Pony races at Zurich Festival All pony races sponsored by the Huron County Pony Trotting Club for the balance of the season will be held at the Zurich fairgrounds. A special meet will be held Saturday, August 22 in conjunction with the annual Bean Festival at Zurich. Post time is two o'clock sharp. The results of Sunday's races also held at Zurich are as follows: First Race — 2:25-2:30 — Sparky° Jim Barr 1,1; Dominion Ernie, Elmer Oesch 2,2. Second Race — 2:20-2:25 — Race Time — 2:19.2, 2:17 — Peter Jackson, Orville Beaver 1,1; Miss Unicorn, Gord Bloch 2,2; Dynamite Trigger, Max Windsor 3,3. Third Race — 2:15-2:20 — Race Time 2:14.2, 2:13.4 — Sweet Sue, Lorne Davidson 1,1; Klondike Pete, Dave Davidson 2,2; Black Beauty, Brad McIntyre 3,3; Punch, Barry Quinn 2,4. Fourth Race — 2:10-2:15 — Race Time 2:03, 2:01.4 — Lucky Lady, Harry Beaver 1,1; Susie 's Pride, Fred McIntyre 2,2; Tony, Eric Schwartzentruber 3,3; King Invasion, Norm Hunter 4,4. Fifth Race — 2:05-2:10 — Race Time 2:04.1, 2:01.2 — Silver C, Ray Core 1,1; Jimmy D, Norm Hunter 2,3; Sunny Boy, Jack McFarland 3,—; St. Paul's Lad, Jack Meadows —,2; Jay, Morris Martens 4,4. Sixth Race — 1:55.2:00 — Race Time 1:52.3, 1:53.3 — Smilie, Jack McFarland 1,1; Sugar Doll, Bill Garside 2,2; Nancy Hanover, Mel Good 3,3; 1:50-1:55 — Time of Race 1:52, 1:52.1 — Belle's Gift, Ray Core 1,1. Children's Race — First Division — Sweet Sue, Pammy Davidson 1, Klondike Pete, Julie Ann Davidson 2, Black Beauty, Gary McIntyre 3, Punch, Dale Quinn 4. Second Division — Jimmy D, John Innis 1, Silver C, Paul Core 2, Jay, Steve Martens 3 St. Paul's Lad, Murray Meadows 4. Powder Puff — First Division —Please turn to page 14 with three quick runs in the first inning and the Greys bounced back to stay in contention and scored four times in the top of the seventh only to have the Mitchell girls tally twice in the bottom of the seventh to take the 11-10 decision. The Greys reached the scoreboard for the first time in the second inning when Lynne Farquhar walked, moved up on an infield out and scored on Jayne Broderick's single. In the third, Sheila Willert drew a free pass and scored along with Ann Jorgensen and Glenda Fisher. Two more Exeter runs came across in the fourth when Penny McDonald reached first on an error and scored on Pam Vanderweil's home run. Glenda Fisher, Lynne Farquhar, Joan Campbell and Jayne Broderick scored in the top of the seventh to put the Greys in front 10-9 but the first two Mitchell batters in the bottom of the same inning came around to score to end the game. Ball tourney • is a success The second annual Civic Holiday fastball tournament held at Exeter Community Park was another huge success. Taking advantage of a four run rally in the first inning Shedden went on to down Strathroy 7-3 in the final game to take home the championship and the Labatt trophy. Shedden reached the final round by downing Aberarder Angels 6-4 after dumping Ingersoll 7-5 in their first round contest Strathroy edged Sturdy Towing of London 2-1 and last year's champs from Bridgeport 1-0 to reach the finals. Aberarder, a small community near F'orest won the consolation crown by swamping Bridgeport 13-1. After downing the Exeter All-Stars 4-1 in the first game of the day. Jack Rand of Aberarder who took care of most of his club's pitching chores for the day was named the most valuable player in the tournament. Four members of the Exeter team won dinners from the Ch uc kwa go n Drive-In for outstanding performances in a losing cause. They went to Jim Russell, the best ducker; Earl Wagner, best defensive display; Barry Baynham, most strikeouts and Gerry Finnen as the best holler guy. The Dashwood Tigers didn't last very long in the Huron-Perth baseball league playoffs. The Clinton Colts clumped the Tigers 8.1 and 3-2 to take the best-of-three series in quick fashion. Clinton will meet either Thorndale or Mitchell in the loop final. In Ontario Baseball Association playdowns, the Dashwood club will advance in the "D" category while Mitchell and Thorndale battle for the right to play in "C" ranks and Clinton moves on in "B" play. The Dashwood team is expected to be idle at least a couple of weeks before seeing their first action in OBA ranks. They swing back into action Sunday night at eight o'clock under the lights at Dashwood Community Park. The opposition will be the Stratford juniors of the Intercounty league. Bob 'Webb, a member of the Dashwood championship club for the past two years will see some action on the mound for Stratford. Cam Col(' uhoun's bases empty homer leading off the Clinton ninth gave the Colts a 3-2 win in Dashwood Wednesday night and the right to move into the league final. Colquhoun's solo blast broke up a tight pitching duel between Dashwood lefty Dave Ratz and Clinton's Cam McDonald. Clinton moved ahead with single runs in the fourth and sixth innings and Dashwood bounced Playoffs set in Rec loop Playoff arrangements for the Exeter and district Rec softball league have been completed and were released Tuesday morning by convener Alvin Willert. The top four clubs will playoff in the A division while the four second division teams will battle it out for the "B" championship. Each series will be a best-of-five affair and will start tonight, Thursday. In the "A" section, Custom Trailers and Dufferin Hotel will meet in one semi-final with Grand Bend and Exeter Legion tangling in the other half. The "B" division has the junior Hawks and Crediton Tigers squaring off and Dashwood Industries taking on the Exeter Kinsmen. Following is the playoff schedule: "A" SERIES AUGUST 13 - Custom at Dufferin 8:00 Legion at Grand Bend 7:00 17 - Dufferin at Customs 7:30 Grand Bend at Legion 9:00 20 - Customs at Dufferin 9:00 Legion at Grand Bend 7:00 24 - Dufferin at Customs 7:30 Grand Bend at Legion 9:00 27 - Customs at Dufferin 9:00 Legion at Grand Bend 7:00 "B" SERIES AUGUST 13 - Crediton at Hawks 9:00 Dashwood at Kinsmen 7:30 17 - Hawks at Crediton 8:00 Kinsmen at Dashwood 8:00 20 - Crediton at Hawks 8:00 Kinsmen at Dashwood 7:30 24 - Hawks at Crediton 8:00 26 - Dashwood at Kinsmen 7:30 27 - Crediton at Hawks 9:00 Kinsmen at Dashwood 7:30 back with a .two run rally in, the seventh to even.the score. Bud Desjardine singled to open the Dashwood seventh but was forced at second on Gord Vincent's infield grounder. Dave Ratz and Jim Hayter walked to load the bases and Bob Hoffman followed with a single to score Vincent and Ratz. The other Tiger hits during the game were two singles from the bat of Dave Ratz, singles by John Hayter, Bud Desjardine and Stan Lovie and a double by catcher Gord Vincent. QUICK START In the opening game of the series, Clinton scored four times in the first inning to give pitcher Ed Daer more than enough working margin to post the 8.1 victory.' The only Tiger score, came in the third inning when Jim Hayter walked, moved up on Bob Hoffman's single and scored on a wild pitch. The Tigers threatened on several occasions, especially in the seventh when they had the bases loaded with only one out but the rally was quickly snuffed out with a double play, Dashwo od pitcher Rob "Eppie" Wein walked and Jim Hayter and Bob Hoffman singled to load the bases in the seventh. Jim Hayter, Bud Desjardine and Stan Lovie each singled twice to equal Hoffman's hit production for the Dashwood club. innimimmiaimmiumalialmaminimmullimilimmiummutimanimmumminimmiimial the Detroit area. Old-time Tiger fans will remember the days when long balls were hit out of Navin Field and Briggs Stadium right out onto Cherry Street. This is really a thing of the past as Cherry street has been renamed Kaline Drive according to a proclamation read by Detroit mayor Roman S. Gil bbs, At the same time, a street near the Tigers spring training park at Lakeland, Florida has been designated as Kaline Drive, 0,