Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1983-10-12, Page 8Page 8 Times -Advocate, October 12, 1983 Sports Spotlight • By Ross Haugh Here we go again when the sporting scene is thoroughly mixed up with a variety of activities and television these days is a sportsman's paradise. With the just concluded American and National baseball league playoff series, a couple of days had two baseball games being televised along with a hockey game a host of football games. For almost a dozen hours starting at noon Saturday live action from at least one football, baseball or hockey game could be found. Jays south for the winter Before we put the Toronto Blue Jays away for the winter we have a few comments to make on the best season the team had had in its seven years of existence. Winning 89 games and going from a tie for last place to sole possession of fourth place in just one year is a great accomplishment. Toronto and Western Ontario fans are solidly behind the Blue Jays and if the 1984 team effort is anything like what we have just seen, the two million mark in attendance should be broken quite easily. Despite terrible rainy and cool weather for about the first 20 home games, the Jays were still able to draw within 70,000 fans of the two million mark. The big turning point for the Blue Jays and it was to the downward side occurred about six weeks ago against Baltimore. We believe it was August 26 when the Jays lost their first extra inning game after taking a dozen similar contests earlier. In the next seven days, they lost five or six games in overtime or in the ninth inning to Baltimore and Detroit. How they lost that first extra inning game is quite phenomenal. In the ninth inning, three consecutive Blue Jays were picked off first base by Baltimore ace reliever Tippy Martinez. It was the first time since the 1977 season that Mar- tinez had been able to catch anyone off first base. So much for the past, what happens in the future? The Jays need to be busy in the front office over the winter months and come up with some new players. General manager Pat Gillick said on the final day of the season any team that doesn't make any changes during the off season is actually falling back. Gillick has some good trade material, but, may not have enough' to get the relief pitching he so badly needs. One of three infielders Alfredo Griffin, Damaso Garcia or Tony Fernandez can and most likely will be used for trading bait. The starting pitching staff appears to be pretty solid with Dave Stieb, Jim Clancy, Luis Leal, Doyle Alex- ander and Jim Gott, but, manager Bobby Cox doesn't have that real stopper out of the bullpen. There were a few bright spots in relief early in the season, but, when the chips were down, the late relievers were much less than adequate. The pleasant surprises for the Jays in addition to Doyle Alexander who ended the season with eight straight victories were the coming of age of Lloyd Moseby, Willie Upshaw and Jesse Barfield and the resurgence of Dave Collins in the latter stages. The Jays ended the season with 167 home runs, good for second place behind Baltimore who hit only one more and a team batting average of .277 good for a tie for first with the Milwaukee Brewers. A big improvement was also shown by the designated hitters where Cliff Johnson hit 22 home runs and had 76 runs batted in. In the same spot Jorge Orta cracked 10 homers and 38 rbi's. From the overall designated hitter spot came 34 home runs and 113 runs batted in A pretty good effort. Another plus came behind the plate where Ernie Whitt and Buck Martinez combined not only for solid catching, but, 26 home runs and 86 runs batted in. Possibly the Jays could use either Whitt or Martinez in a trade as Gene Petralli after a good season in Syracuse seems to be ready for the big leagues. Willie Upshaw has to be the biggest Blue Jays plus in the 1983 season with a .304 batting average with 27 home runs and 104 runs batted in. Lloyd Moseby who shared Blue Jay of the year awards with Upshaw hit .317 with 18 homers and 80 mats knocked across the plate. Other Jays to hit over .300 were Barry Bonnell and Damaso Garcia. All in all a good year and we will look for better things next year. The same kind of optimism should be holding forth in Detroit over the winter for the 1914 Tigers. At the start of this past season, Tiger manager Sparky Ander- son said 90 games -would win the pennant. He was a lit- tle off as the Tigers won 92, but, the Orioles won 98. In a recent interview we heard Al Bumbry of the Orioles predict the American league east pennant race next year would he between his team, Detroit and Toronto. Players needed Exeter Mohawk manager I)an Brintnell has put out a call for players for his team for the upcoming South Huron intermediate hockey league season. The next practice session for the club is Sunday mor- ning at 9:30 a.m. at the South Huron Iter ('entre and newcomers will be welcomed. The Zurich Buckeyes are holding a workout at the South Huron Rec ('entre tonight, Thursday and manager Ron Rader is also looking for additional recruits. OIL UNDERCOATING ;30 Satisfaction guaranteed ('t-j■MER" Dashwood Auto Sales Open Mon. -Sat. 9:30 - 6:00 237-3250 Meet Irish Friday Two more wtns buoy Hawks hopes Buoyed by four straight ex- hibition victories, there's a high degree of optimism as the Exeter Hawks start to play for real this week. They'll face the Lucan Irish in Friday's home opener at the rec centre and coach Bob Rowe will have a well- balanced attack if the players continue the form which has dominated the opposition in the pre -season. The team has displayed more depth than last year's fourth place finishers, a situa- tion evident in their final two exhibition wins when they were without the services of several key players. There are seven new faces in this year's lineup, although three of them are far from be- ing classified as rookies. Brian Horner from the Junior "C" Clinton Mustangs has been approved by the OHA and will add some strength on the right side, while the defence will be bolstered by Rick Lindenfield and Kris Bedard. The latter has some Junior "B" experience and was a key player for the Zurich Buckeyes last year, while Lindenfield helped the local Mohawks to the South Huron intermediate title. Lindenfield will be missing from Friday's opener as he picked up a match penalty in a game against Brussels and will be out for at least three games. Goaltender Dave Rook posted a shutout in the game again Brussels to show he's ready, while juvenile graduate Pete Dearing made some sensational saves in the final game against Seaforth to STEADY BOYS — Tempers have flared in all four exhibition games which the Ex- eter Hawks have won and Friday's battle against Brussels was no exception as the teams more than filled the penalty spots allotted on the score sheet. This pushing match in the corner involved Scott Brintnell (12), Kris Bedard (2), Jeff Rowe (14) and at the top Ed Willis restraining defenceman Mark Kirk. Molting Hawks starting very ambitious .schedule The Exeter Molting Hawks are starting into their second season in oldtimer hockey ac- tion and have lined up a very busy schedule. The team made up of players at least 35 years of age will be competing in a 38 game schedule in addition to a number of exhibition and tournament games. Club spokesman Pete McFalls says the Molting Hawks will be participating in tournaments in Sarnia November 11, 12 and 13, in Zurich in March and possibly in a large tourney in Niagara Falls in January. The local oldtimers team will be organizing and hosting a tournament of their own at the South Huron Rec Centre on the weekend of November 25 to 27. Opposing teams for the Molting Hawks during the season will be Seaforth, the Dorchester Mavericks, Lucan, East London Oldtimers, CFB London, Strathroy, London Old In- dians, Belmont, Lambeth Blues, Lambeth Canadians, London Old Devils, Mount Brydges, Labatt's, East Lon- don Sports, and exhibition games with Zurich and Wingham. Home games for the Molting Hawks will be played at the South Huron Rec Cen- tre each Monday night at 9:30 p.m. throughout the winter with the exception of November 28. The Molting Hawks will be meeting Team 10 from CFPL television in London in a fun exhibition hockey game at the South Huron Rec Centre on the afternoon of November 20 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Proceeds of the game will go to Exeter and area com- munity work. Members of the team who will be playing under new coach Jack Fuller are Glenn Stire, Doug Fisher, Al Flynn, Bill Pincombe, Al Rundle, Walt Teideman, Frank Boyle, Jack Chipchase, Pete McFalls, Jim Russell, Jim McDonald, Eric Finkbeiner, Keith Ahrens, Bob McDonald, Mike Cushman, Bob Jones, Chipc'.ase and Jim Pfaff. The Exeter Molting Hawks were able to come up with on- ly a tie in two oldtimer hockey games this week. In an exhibition game, the Molting Hawks lost 7-5 to Wingham and Monday night they played to a regularly scheduled 3-3 tie with CFB London. Jack Chipchase led the Hawks in the scoring depart- ment in tie loop Wingham with two goallF'hd a pair of assists. Scoring in single fashion were Al Rundle, Keith Ahrens and Mike Cushman. In Monday's tie with the London club, the Exeter oldtimers jumped into an ear- ly 2-0 lead on two successful three-way passing plays. Frank Boyle was first on the scoreboard on a play set up by Bob Jones and Pete McFalls and Jim McDonald hit the net on passes from Bob .McDonald and McFalls. After London had tied the score at 2-2, Bob McDonald converted a pass from Jim McDonald to complete the Exeter scoring. "Check our prices before you buy" We are buyers of • Seed oats • Feed oats • Feed barley Highest prices paid for your 1983 grain crop Please give us a call at • Seed barley • Mixed grain 9h 435.0770 GOLDEN HARVEST FARM SEEDS 151 Thames Road East, Exeter Give Us a Call at '235-0770 indicate the Hawks netmin- ding should . be strong this season. George Tomes and Steve Prout return on defence, while the other two members of the blueline brigade Will be Mark Kirk and Randy Bilcke. Those two saw plenty of ac- tion in the two weekend wins and improve every time out. Bill Glover, who has proven he can do just about everything, moves to centre this season although Rowe has spotted him on the point for powerplays and penalty killing. Adding his finesse to the centre ice is veteran Pete Tuckey, while the third man at that position is rugged Jeff Rowe, another returnee. The Hawks have good strength down the left side with three returning players, Mike Clark, Ed Willis and Dave Skea. Joining them is Steve Batten, who will join Lindenfield as a spectator for the opener due to a one -game suspension he has yet to serve. On the right side, speedy Tony Jones is back, along with Scott Brintnell, last year's rookie of the year, and Horner. Several of this year's squad can move easily into other positions, giving Rowe con- siderable versatility. His only worry may be the number of penalties the squad members have picked up in their four games. They've fill- ed the sheet and more in three of those contests, and while their penalty killing has been strong, it could be one of the factors which will determine their success this season. Shutout new squad Playing their first game at the rec centre, Friday, the Hawks dominated play to post a 6-0 win over the new Junior "D" entry from Brussels. On- ly the fine play of netminder Steve Milardovic, the final cut from the Listowel Cyclones, kept the score from getting even more one-sided. Willis was the scoring leader for the locals in the rough contest, as he notched a hat -trick and assisted on Glover added two markers and Tuckey recorded the other. Jones, Bedard and Rowe had two assists each and singles were contributed by Glover and Horner. Rook turned aside 21 shots to post the whitewash, while Exeter Peppered 37 shots at the Brussels net. The game featured a rash of penalties, with the Hawks picking up 19 and the Bulls sit- ting out 22. The visitors prov- ed handy with their sticks in the final period as they sent Glover and Horner to the hospital for some stitches, while the former had one Brussels player join him there due to a heavy check in the final period. The player had trouble indicating where he was after being crashed with a clean check near cen- tre ice. Win going away In their final exhibition con- test, Sunday, the Hawks tackled Seaforth in a game played at Mitchell due to an ice problem in Seaforth. The Hawks had only 11 skaters for the contest com- pared to the 18 who suited up for the opposition, and while fans expected the locals to run out of steam in the final period, they actually came on strong to score four times and post a 5-2 win. The teams traded goals in the second stanza after play- ing scoreless in the first frame and Seaforth took a quick 2-1 lead to open the final. The Hawks then knotted the count on a powerplay and added three more to gain the victory. Tuckey, Glover, Brintnell, Prout and Batten dented the twine while Rowe picked up three assists, Horner had a pair and Batten notched a single. Dearing recorded 26 saves, half of them in the middle period when he kept the locals in the game with three or four deft moves. The Hawks 'recorded 36 shots and had to kill off 16 penalties, including three) occasions when they were two men short. i R* tsr Curling Club Persons interested in curling this season please contact Albert Van Dyken 235-1704 Dot Wales 228-6445 198344 oisceinei on NEW Membership • Men's $90 • Ladies $60 Reg. $110. Reg. 580. • Mixed $150 Reg. $170. We invite you to try the great game of curling! J s, ss ss MI NM MI s�s,ssOn r • Fall Special / 1 11 1 1 11 1 1 1 1 1 1 11 1 1 / / ■ Front End Alignment includes 7 point check • camber • caster • toe in • steering box • ball joints • tie rods • check brakes and tires *19.95 plus sales tax Also we do safety checks and complete mechanical repairs to any vehicle CaII now M. & T. Service Main St. Hensall, 262-2810 Hours: Mon. - Fri. 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. Sat. 9-4 sit sus El IIII MI NMI IM MI IN IIII MI IN £ c 0 Midnight Madness • 12 Hours Only We bought the entire Bankrupt Stock From a large dealership and we're passing the savings along This Saturday Noon to Midnight PrIees too /ow to quote!! • Suzuki MotorcycIes and Accessories • New bikes • Dirt bikes •' Street bikes • Used bikes from $150 Prices so low you better buy them before the factory buys them back. c ater.t are we/come e • Helmets & other Accessories 1/2 price We bought snowmobiles too • 464-3318 Open 8 to 8 weekdays. Closed Mondays. West of Highway 4 between Clinton and Exotor. FREE Hotdogs and Popcorn for the kids Midnight Madness saupow 44•Iu•