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Show v y'1 it n y-- t "y y"v v y vV r' - Bull Astros in Opener, It sounds PHILADELPHIA (AP) like a minor adjustment, really, but it has made a world of difference to Greg Luzinski, home run hero of Philadelvictory over Houston Tuesday phias night in the first game of the National League Championship Series. Luzinski, built more like a linebacker than a left fielder, looks strong enough to squeeze the stitches right off a baseball. But his bat had been silent for much of the season and now he thinks hes figured out why. "We had a long rain delay in Montreal last week, he said, and I made some adjustments with my hands on the bat. I have a habit of going with too much right hand. , 1980 3-- 1 Iase One Section C Sports Mirror bv John Mooney TrilmtM1 Mitor Muii Name a Pitcher Who Appeared In Six Decades of Baseball 3jr Maybe 1951 seems like a long time ago to you as a sports fan, until you consider that Hub Kittle, then managing the Salt Lake Bees and pitching in relief, still was "active on the mound in 1980. And if you add to this knowledge the fact that Kittle starting pitching in the 1930s, you get a true picture of his durability. at Derks will remember Kittle, trotting j out to the bullpen, picking up i Burt Barkelews glove on the n way, tossing a then and warmup pitches coming in to save a game for H At Hud Kittle Msocletsd there! Astros Craig Reynolds puts the tag on Phils Pete Rose Hes out Minor League Coach Kittle currently is on the payroll of the St. Louis Cardinals as a pitching coach in the minor leagues, responsible for teaching the youngsters the tricks of the trade. Hub may have written that book. It seems last summer, Hub happened to mention that he had pitched in every decade since he started in the 1930s, and A. Ray Smith, president of the Springfield Redbirds in the American Association, saw a chance for a promotion night. They scheduled a Senior Citizens Night and packed the ball park in Springfield with Kittle starting the game and retiring the first three batters. That gave him a string of pitching in every decade since the 1930s, and its doubtful if even Satchel Paige pitched any longer, or, perhaps even in more cities than Hub, who has hung his uniform in Los Angeles, Ponca City, Yakima, San Francisco, Spokane, Oakland, Bremerton, Klamath Falls, Salt Lake City, Terre Haute, Austin, Savannah, Fort Worth, Dallas, Oklahoma City, Houston and St. Petersburg. Kittle never made it to the major leagues as a pitcher, although he started out before World War II as a member of the Chicago Cub organization. When he pitched for Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland, those cities were members of the Pacific Coast League, which was as high in the echelon as Hub climbed. Hubs last appearance in the 70s gave him his greatest satisfaction, greater even than beating Larry Shepard and the hated Mustangs from Billings in 1951. "I was pitching coach at Houston under Leo Durocher in 1971, Hub recalled. Houston played an exhibition, last game before the season opened, against an American League club in the Astrodome. That year it was Washington. The Senators were winning a nothing game when Bob Gallagher hit a fly ball which Frank Howard lost in the dome lights for a triple, which scored three runs and put Houston ahead by two runs. of Durocher, naturally, had no one warmed up to pitch the ninth, so I volunteered. Leo was dead against it, until he realized he had no one warm and it was an exhibition game and he didnt want to hurt a pitcher rushing him into an exhibition game. So he let me pitch against a big league club in the Astrodome. How did I do? he laughed. "I set em down Hub now lives in Yakima with his wife and seven children, but he has a word for young pitchers. I try to show pitchers how to do things, rather than tell them, he begins. I still pitch batting practice every chance I get and my arm still is strong. I can give you 10 to 15 minutes of batting practice pitching almost every day. Thats how I keep in shape. I throw a lot. Some people say to run to keep the legs strong. And thats good. But you should exercise your arm regularly. I do." And Hub, at 63 years of age and a trim 195 cigar, looks like pounds, without the he might extend that pitching to the 1990s decade. ever-prese- It's too bad the Aggies didn't have a football player named Waters, who had personal problems, because the coach could have explained Saturday he was just pouring oil on the troubled Raters." , Pmi Leterpfnto steal attempt at second base Tuesday In the early innings of PHILADELPHIA (UPI) the National League playoff series opener, the not the Houston Astros Philadelphia Phillies looked like the team that had traveled all night from Los Angeles. to the Astros in the The Phillies were trailing early stages of the game and it could have been worse if Steve Carlton had not stranded seven runners in the first four innings. We came out sluggish, said Greg Luzinski, who homer that lifted the Phillies to a powered a two-run victory over Houston for their first triumph ever at Veterans Stadium. We tried to do it all ourselves. (Astros starter Bob) Forsch moved the ball around and we were a We came around in the later little innings and started putting the ball in play! The Astros, following their 1 victory over Los e playoff foe the West Angeles Monday in a Division title, arrived in Philadelphia shortly before 6.00 a.m. with a game starting a little over 14 hours from that time. coast-to-coa- st 0 n 3-- 1 post-seaso- night. Phils took opener, 3-- 1. 1976-77-7- post-seaso- League championship series Tuesday night, but they didnt. Neither did they let themselves be depressed by Steve their failure to beat Phillies ace Carlton, who had considerably less stuff than usual in left-hand- his t outing. had I dont think that any effect on us, said Astros Manager Bill Virdon, referring to the Astros late arrival in Philadelphia early Tuesday after e playoff on the defeating Los Angeles in a West Coast for the NL west title late Monday. I thought we played quite well," said Virdon. We just got beat. seven-hi- seven-innin- g, Tiats Luzinski's top hand on the bat and the result was beating the ball into the ground. So he tried to change the pattern. "I tried to make my approach to the ball a little shorter and quicker, he said. "So far, its worked out pretty well. Produces Homer The short, quick approach produced a two-ru- n homer that turned this opening game around and gave the Phillies their first-eve- r playoff victory at home Its not only at home," said Luzinski. "Weve had trouble in the playoffs, period. This was a big game for us for just that reason. These two at home are important and jumping out in front is especially good. The Phillies were beaten in the NL 8 but Luzinski had playoffs in n been one of their better hitters. The homer was his fifth in playoff action, tying him for second place behind Steve Garvey of Los Angeles, who has had six. Houston had left Garvey and the Dodgers behind, beating Los Angeles in a West Division playoff Monday and then flying all night from the West Coast to the East. But until the homer, it was the Phillies who looked bleary-eyenot the Astros. shot off Ken Luzinskis sixth-innin- g Forsch erased a 0 Astro lead and set off fireworks over Veterans Stadium crowd of 65,277 as a playoff-recor- d howled. one-gam- d, 7-- one-gam- Yet, they still managed to take an early lead his fifth before Luzinskis blast in the sixth inning in championship series play provided the margin of victory. Weve never been a team, Philadelphia Manager Dallas Green said. We were sitting back a little more than I would like but Bulls (Luzinskis) blast eased my mind considerably. With his ace struggling, Green removed Carlton for a pinch-hittand let Tug McGraw get the last six outs. er I felt he was a little sluggish tonight, Green said of his winner. He wasnt the Steve Carlton we have seen in the past When you got the chief down in the bullpen theres no sense wasting him. It was the 24-ga- perfect opportunity to get another run. The pinch-hitte- r, Greg Gross, singled to score Garry Maddox in the seventh with an insurance run. McGraw, who was Philadelphias hottest hitter down the stretch and who hasnt allowed a run since Sept. 1, said he was prepared to pitch often in n play. Ill be able to pitch more, the colorful said. I feel strong right now because Dallas has placed me well. My arm hasn't felt tired. Sometimes its a little stiff but thats what happens with relievers who are Irish and drink a lot. post-seaso- The second game in the series will be played Wednesday night in Philadelphia. Forsch had been locked in a tight duel with Steve Carlton, ace of the Phillies staff, but after Luzinski's homer gave Philadelphia the lead, it fell to relief ace Tug McGraw to nail down the victory. Carlton struggled through the Astros seventh, allowing two hits. A neat pickoff throw by catcher Bob Boone best-of-fi- On The Air, Screen The American League playoff game between New York and Kansas City Wednesday will be televised on KTVX channel 4 starting at 12.30 p.m. The National League playoff game between Philadelphia and Houston will be televised at 6 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on KWMS (1280) starting at 1 p.m. and 6: 15 p.m. the Houston rally and then, in the bottom of the seventh, Phillies Manager Dallas Green lifted his top starter for a pinch-hitteIt was a bold move that paid off when Greg Gross stroked an RBI single to left, giving Philadelphia a 1 lead. The rest was up to McGraw, and the veteran preserved the victory, retiring the last three Houston batters in order after walking leadoff man Luis Pujols in the ninth. As he came off the field, McGraw traded handslaps with the Phillies Phanatic who led cheers throughout. Both had earned that brief celebration. Carlton, carrying Cy Young credentials that include 24 regular-seaso- n victories and a major league-leadin- g 286 strikeouts, was shaky early in the game. Astros Leave Pair Houston left two runners on base in each of the first two innings and then nicked Carlton for a run in the third. With one out, Jose Cruz lined a single off Carltons glove, the ball was hit so hard it rolled almost all the way to first base. Cesar Cedeno followed with a single to center, moving Cruz to second. After Art Howe flied out, Gary Woods drilled a 2 pitch off second baseman Manny Trillo's glove, scoring Cruz. It was the second hit of the game for Woods, who spent the 1980 season in the Pacific Coast League and had played just 18 games for the Astros after being purchased from Tucson on Aug. 30. Armed with the lead, Forsch was brilliant. He allowed a leadoff single to Pete Rose in the third, but catcher Pujols called for a pitchout on the next pitch and gunned Rose out on an attempted steal. The next eight Philadelphia hitters went down in order as Forsch used the entire strike zone. He pitched in, out, up and down and had the Phillies clearly off balance. Rose Stays Close In the sixth. Rose led off again and drove a ball deep in the hole at shortstop. Craig Reynolds ran it down and tried to throw him out, but Rose beat the play. But this time. Rose stayed close to first base. Forsch struck out Bake McBride and got Mike Schmidt, the major leagues home run leader, on a fly to center. That brought up Luxinski, who had struggled to a .228 batting average this season and spent better than a month sidelined by surgery on his right knee. Forsch had handled the Phillies easily in his first two striking him out and getting him on a pop fly. This time, the count went to 2 and the man Philadelphia fans call The Bull jumped on an inside pitch and sent it on a line into the first deck in left field, beyond the sign. Suddenly the Phillies had the lead and it was sweet vindication for Luzinski, mired in a deep slump for most of the summer. short-circuite- d r. 3-- left-hand- s, 3-- Astros Spirit Still Up 371-fo- The Houston Astros PHILADELPHIA (UPD could have claimed fatigue caused their 1 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies in game 1 of the National Associated Pm LmnMo of Veterans Stadium. BuOs hit came off Astros Ken Forsch. Phillies Greg Luzinski watches flight of ball as it sails out 3-- oses Gura in AL Series Guidry Wednesdays iV.L. Hurlers PHILADELPHIA KANSAS CITY, Mo. ( AP) Ron Guidry and Larry with nearly identical records but Gura, sharply differing styles, will be the opening game starters Wednesday as thef-- ' New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals meet in the American League playoffs for the fourth time in five years. Guidry's Yankees have won rs . previous playoff, beating the Royals in five games in 1976 and 77 and e behind the Yankees managed a 5 mark, third-beand Orioles. Howsers lineup consists of Willie Randolph, second base; Bucky Dent, shortstop; Bob Watson, first base; Reggie Jackson, right field, Eric Soderholm, designated hitter; RickCerone, catcher; Lou Piniella, left field; Aurelio Rodriguez, third base, and Bobby Brown, centerfield. Frey posted his lineup before Tuesdays workout and stirred some controversy with his choice of John Wathan in right field over the hitting Clint Hurdle. Wathan, a hitter who also can play catcher and first base, has neither the range nor the arm of Hurdle. The rest of Freys lineup is: Willie Wilson, left field; U.L. Washington, shortstop; George Brett, third base; Hal McRae, designated hitter; Amos Otis, center field; Wathan; Willie Aikens, first base, Porter, and Frank White, second base. Sacrificing Defense of the Many Royals fear Frey is sacrificing too much defense in opting for Wathan over Hurdle, who hit .294 and drove in 60 runs. I think Hurdles probably a better right fielder," admitted Frey. I would have to say Hurdle has more experience out there. But I think Wathan has a better chance of hitting against Guidry than Hurdle. Wathan, who batted .305 and drove in 58 runs, agreed right field is not his best defensive position. I think I can do an adequate job, he said. Im not the best outfielder, but Im above average. 97-6- st left-hand- right-hande- taking the '78 clash in four. But that doesnt mean a said Kansas city thing, catcher Darrell Porter. The Reggie Jackson guys who hurt us the most those years Mickey Rivers, Catfish Hunter, Thurman Munson, Chris Chambliss arent there anymore. on a good day, is overpowering with a Guidry, fastball and hard slider. The slightly built Louisiana native is but was 2 this year against the season series Royals as Kansas City took the banks on finesse and control and Gura, mark against the Yanks. posted a ; 17-1- 0, 8-- G left-field- left-hand- er best-of-fiv- p 2-- over-anxiou- s. 18-1- 0, 3-- 0 Long Victory Drought But Gura has not won since Aug. 25 when he began experiencing problems with a pulled groin muscle. His last eight starts show five losses and three Guidry brings an earned run average of 3.56 into the playoffs while Guras is a deceptive 2.95. His ERA since Aug. 25 is 5.70. The top two relief pitchers in the American League, righthanders Dan Quisenberry of Kansas City and Rich Gossage of the Yanks, will be waiting in the bullpen should the starters need help. Gossages overpowering fastball notched 33 saves and a record, second among AL relievers only to the 33 saves and 12-- record Quisenberry rang up with d sinkerball. his Important Differences Two important differences between this Yanks-Royasenes and those of past seasons are the men in charge. Dick Howser, in his first year at the Yankee helm, led the New Yorkers to a 103-5- 9 mark, best in the major leagues. Royals Manager Jim Frey, who last year was an unknown j'oach with Baltimore, d Kansas City's offensive attack will be spearheaded by their first four hitters, Wilson, r Washington, Brett and McRae. Wilson, a and probably the fastest man in baseball, led switch-hitte- Bretts statistics are side-arme- ls well known. His .390 average is the best in the major leagues since 1941 and he drove in 118 runs in 117 games. McRae, rounding into form after shoulder surgery in 1978, hit three home runs and drove in 12 runs his last three regular-seaso- n games. Jackson, whose 41 home runs tied Ben Oglivie for the American League title, is New York's top with 111 RBI. Yankees clubbed 189 home runs The heavy-hittin- g to only 115 for the Royals. But Kansas City has a decided advantagge in speed, stealing 186 bases, exactly 100 more than the Yankees. The Yankees Tuesday activated veteran third baseman Graig Nettles, who missed much of the season with hepatitis, and dropped utility men Brian Doyle and Dennis Werth. er mJ (AP) Fireballing Nolan Ryan of the Houston Astros s expected to faceDick Ruthen of the Phiiladelphia Phillies in Wednesday nights second game of the National League Championship series. Ryan, signed as a free agent last winter and the highest paid player at a reported $1 million per year, was 0 with a 3.35 earned ran average during the regular season. 11-1- 3 CZ3 CZ3 CZZ3 CZZ3 EZZ3 EZ3 EZI3 C Transmission Maintenance Special Change transmission fluid Adjust bands , a (o) Replace Complete road test Where applicable pan-gask- et 1 1 h 95 put fluid Thu tervkA helps prevents transmission problems. Should you alreody have a problem, weK diagnose it for you and recommend just what's needed. Th Shift Kit. $173 volue the major leagues with 230 hits and 133 runs while stealing 79 bases. Washington is the second-fasteman on the Royals, a team built on speed. st Conversion from full time to port time 4 wheel drive. $295 value Viren to Run In New York NEW YORK (AP) -- Lasse Viren, Finland's Olympic gold medalist, has entered the Oct. 26 New York City Marathon in what may be the final competitive four-tim- e race of his All of illustrious the above. $468 value career. The and the 5,000-mete- and 1976 r r races at 10,00-met- 1972 . Viren Wonboth the (iprti DEER HUNT SPECIAL n 9 Transmission Cooler and Reprogramming 6-- 2 7 Observation Ward on Phils Shake Off Lethargy every No One Heated (14) Lockerroom Story Old-time- rs Remember, in 1951 Hub didn't give up a base hit in relief until late in the season when Pocatellos Ernie Schuerman finally broke Hubs hitless string. Kittle endeared himself quickly to Bee fans when he entered the game in the 10th inning of the opening game against Billings and Manager Larry Shepard, with two on base and none out. Hub promptly balked the runners to second and third and eventually struck out the side. From then on, Hub was king of the hill as the Buzzers won the pennant. He stopped by several years ago, when he was working as a pitching coach and scout for Houston, but it wasnt until Dennie Dunn forwarded a column from St. Louis that I realized Hub still was doing his thing. .A 1 half-doze- the Buzzers. yy ( ? Salt akf Sri bun r Sport? Wednesday Morning, October 8, bryr-- v n, LJ Ii3 n 255 360 n 6905 So. State 1357 East 33rd South 5 blocks south ol Fashion Placa Mall 561-115- 3C . Vi block west of Highland Drive on 33rd South 486-431- 1 3 CZ3 9 Ji j" Jj E7" LZ3 C3 CZ3 HU E3 Cp |