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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 10, 1977)
THE BATTALION WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 1977 igning autographs now a struggle for Ruffing Page 9 Jnited Press International )PERSTOWN, N.Y. — A flittle thing like signing his takes practically all the " and energy Red Ruffing V doesn’t mind doing it a i him, giving people his au- a labor of love. Sinfully difficult, almost ex- ely so, to go back not that many years ago and recall what a fine figure of a man, Charlie “Red ’ Ruffing was, pitching for the New York Yankees, and then to see him now partially paralyzed and impris oned in a wheel chair struggling so hard to write his name. Charlie Ruffing is happy to do it, though. You could see that by the pleased reaction on his face every time someone came over to him for his autograph here the past couple of days, as so many did. Elected to Baseball s Hall of Fame 10 years ago, the 72-year-old Ruffing shames many ypunger and much more vigorous Hall of Earners by coming here from hi s home in Cleveland each year for the annual induction ceremony. Without his devoted wife, Pauline, to whom he has been mar ried for 40 years, he’d never make it. She watches over him like a baby, shaving him each morning, feeding him each day, putting him to bed each night. “What does coming here mean to him?” she said, repeating a question put to her by a newsman. “It means everything. He plans this all year. He looks forward to seeing the ch tops league in experience it’s like receiving a presi- ndorsement from George n or being named who’s ag CIA operations person- tever the implications, it’s lith a track record Texas [htjust as soon forget. i basis of returning letter- rters and seniors the Red lave carved the first notch ir 1977 helmets by winning b Southwest Conference ex- ce championship, a distinc- thi defending SWC co in Raiders have gained ft before in the title’s short Gaining one point for each return ing letterman, another point if he is a starter and still a third if the player is a senior, then subtracting a point for each starter and each letterman lost, Tech amassed a total of 51 points to edge TCU for the champ ionship. The Horned Frogs totaled 48, fol lowed by SMU with 42, Arkansas with 36, Houston with 33, Baylor with 30, Texas with 26, Texas A&M with 13 and Rice with two. Tech s total is well shy of the record 75 points by the 1971 Aggies, but well ahead of the all-time low, a meager nine points posted bv the Aggies in 1967. Supplying names with points for an aid in explanation, Tec'h quarter back Rodney Allison is w° r fh three points to the Raiders beca use h e * s a senior letterman and a returning starter. On the other hand, all- America defensive tackle Wilson Whitley cost defending co-champ Houston two points on the experi ence formula chart (and possibly a lot more on the field.) But before Tech coach Steve Sloan goes and bets his golf swing on the Raiders’ chances in 77, he might do well to note that things haven’t always gone so well for prior winners. Only once in the last s^ven years tember akland pulverizes Oilers -0 in exhibition opener $o Jnited Press Internationnl ^D’Calif. .— The power- id Raiders tuned up for de- iheir Super Bowl title, rol- the Houston Oilers, 40-0 irst exhibition contest. ■ense was awesome and the Invulnerable. The Raiders, lly playing reserves and The second half, scored on ses, a 69-yard punt return, power play and even a ■ ays preta , date am* a 8 0()d 8 aine f ()r us.” said d, his j ear cod nirts A the Asia ti major I used die; ast to be don’t« hornton e wi ;ion NeO group dl out Ik fore (Im ic inters Raider Coach John Madden, a mas ter of understatement. “We had a chance to look at a lot of players. We have a long way to go and a lot of things we still have to do. We re an explosive team. I think we proved that." Oakland starting quarterback, Ken “Snake” Stabler, played only the first quarter in which he com pleted three-of-five passes for 72 yards and one touchdown, a 54-yard bomb. “It felt good to be back, exulted Stabler. “We have more good 1 ticket! kes’ Dorsett out of tion with injury United Press International SAND OAKS, Calif. — iwboys coach Tom Landry '' said running back Tony vill be held out of contact the next week to 10 days, t, the Cowboys’ No. 1 draft V >H m iss Saturday night’s abouth n game at Seattle during ait leave it 18,d 1 fered a bruised left knee in uage against San Diego u ly 21 and has re-injured it the Uni ce. The most recent bump Saturday night’s 34-14 vic- ''the Chargers in Dallas, t gained 26 yards on seven |nd caught one pass for 15 'that game. ecided that the best way to back to 100 per cent was to re he didn’t get the knee hit •f at least a week, ” Landry [certain that with the run- J conditioning work he will |g during that period, the T 1 should be completely |P.” Jtt gained more than 6,000 |Cnng his four-year career Iniversity of Pittsburgh. The Cowboys also announced 13 players were waived. Draft selections released were No. 8 choice Al Cleveland, defense line man from Pacific; No. 9 draft pick Mark Cantrell, center from North Carolina and No. 11 Don Wardlow, tight end from Washington. Free agents cut were kickers Leonard Allen of East Texas State and Gary Hernandez of Fresno State*, defensive backs Marty Ham mock of Memphis State and Keith Ponder of Northern Michigan, linebacker Lueien Johnson of Texas-El Paso, wide receivers Gerald Johnson of Johnson C. Smith and Kenny Walker of Oklahoma State, center John Rosetti of Ore gon, and defensive linemen Dennis Dedrick of Wichita State and Keith Kerkhoff of Buena Vista. Second-year wide receiver Percy Howard was placed on the “physi cally unable to perform” list. How ard, who has had knee surgery twice in the past two years, may be reac tivated Nov. 1. players than any Raider team I’ve been on. I would hate to have to be the one to cut this squad. The talent rich Raiders cut 7 players today to meet the league limit of 60. Reserve receiver Morris Brad shaw caught two touchdown passes while filling in for the injured Cliff Branch. “I was happy I got a chance to start,” said Bradshaw. “Anyone can catch passes if they get a chance to play.” Houston coach Bumb Phillips took the crunching defeat philosophically, noting “You can’t make mistakes against a team like Oakland and expect to win. We have a lot of things to work on.” In addition to tin* 54-yard pass from Stabler in the first quarter, Bradshaw snagged a 12-yard touch- down pdss from reserve quhffefback ' Mike Rae in the second quarter, quarter. The most spectacular touchdown of the night was provided by Rick Jennings, who returned a punt 69 yards for a TD in the second quar- i ter. Houston, with only two scoring threats all night, drove to the Oak land 20-yard line in the first quarter but Ove Johansson’s field goal at tempt was blocked. In the fourth quarter, Houston drove to the Oak land 11-yard line on a pass from Karl Douglas then passed into the end zone but it was intercepted by rookie Lester JTayes. has the experience champion shared a conference crown (A&M in ’75) and not since 1969 when Texas won the national championship has an SWC entry won the league title out right after being given this early confidence-builder. That season ended a string of five straight con- ference winners which started the year as the league’s most experi enced units. Last season’s most ex perienced entry, Baylor, finished fourth. Tech’s 51-point total, slightly below the 56-point average by the previous seven winners, was figured by the return of 42 lettermen, 16 of them returning starters with 14 en tering their senior campaigns. These plusses were offset by the loss of 15 lettermen and six starters. TCU also returned 42 lettermen and 16 starters, but only 12 are seniors and the Frogs lost 22 points due to graduation. In individual categories, Arkansas returns the most lettermen with 43, while Tech, TCU and SMU all welcome back 16 starters. A&M’s loss of 12 starters tops that department by one over Texas while Rice said goodbye to a league-high 30 lettermen enroute to its total, well above the all-time low of minus four turned in several times. A total of 119 of 198 starters re turn for the ’77 season, or60.1 per cent of last year’s top players. In cluded are 32 returnees for co champion Houston. But the loss of 13 lettermen, including eight star ters, whittled away at the Cougars final total. Ironically, the top four teams on this year’s experience chart show the four lowest averages over the past seven seasons. From 1970 through 1976, the Raiders averaged only 26.1 points of experience per year, TCU was barely ahead with 26.3, SMU trailed with 19.6 and Ar kansas topped the group at 27.1. Other seven-year averages included Rice’s league best of 36.4, A&M’s 34.4, Baylor at 29.3, Houston’s two-year average of 29.0 and Texas at 28.0. Taking the biggest dive in 1977 from their totals of last season were the Owls, who fell 50 points from their lofty second-place finish of 1976. Texas also took a notable tum ble, dropping 30 points. On the more positive side, SMU jumped 20 points to close a third in ’77, while Arkansas added 17 and TCU 12. Tech won the’77 championship by gaining only six points, the least gained or lost by any team. s AFRICAN VIOLETS - SPECIAL — intis! miniatur es for $6.50 Wm/ng Trailers, Gift Plants & Supplies 693-3237 Litkl any - Knowledge is your best protection. / \ > Carl Bussells \/Diamond Room 3731 E. 29th 846-4708 Town & Country Center (SS) MEMBER AMERICAN GEM SOCIETY LAKEVIEW CLUB 3 Miles N. on Tabor Road Saturday Night: Country IVIusic Revue From 9-1 p.m. STAMPEDE DANCE Every Thursday Night Ladies $1.00 Men $2.00 All Brands, Cold Beer 40 Cents 8-12 Q bc) interstate UNIVERSITY SQUARE SHOPPING CENTER 846-6714 & 846-1151" N Starts FRIDAY! N * « rV,V A JENNINGS UNG PRODUCTION t:-<C Staffing GEORGESE6AL y RICHARD WI0MARK TIMOTHY BOTTOMS W HARRY GUAR0IN0 SUSAN STRASBERG and HENRY F0HDA i- JtniiTTn NOW PLAYING -FINAL SHOWS! ■cxiNZAj-. oncfwo ; ■ „ » tt thurs.aiig.ii| dail [2:001 p: 05 18:15, 11 ™ DAY starring ICHAKD HARRIS & CHARLOTTE RAMPLING CAN YOU COMMIT SIN AGAINST AN ANIMAL ? TTTiriiriiiiiiiiniri MANOR EAST 3 THEATRES manor east mall 2:20-4:35-6:55-9:20 Skyway Twin! 822-3300 West Screen at 9:05 “The Van” (R) At 10:40 “Pickup” East Screen at 9:10 p.m. “Outlaw Blues” At 10:45 p.m. “Noon Til ‘3’ ” 2:30 - 4!5» -1:30 -"HR BEST SOUND DOLBY 4-CHANNEL STEREO A long time ago in a galaxy Jar Jar away.. ft»H*150N« PWNT5 0TDEUUDC® ! Y1| DOLBY SYSTEM \' (8). 2:00-4:16 SOARING ADVENTURE! WALT DISNEY PRODUCTIONS THE ^VunJ Walt Disney’s Tale of N 1Wo Critters SS9SSSSSSSMSSSSSS!5S!«5SS5SS5r^-SS}SS^«B»\ . Campus |! COLLEGE STATION people he knows and the people in his own environment. When we go home today, he’ll begin making preparations for next year.” Pauline Ruffing looked over at her husband on the other side of the lobby in the Hotel Otesaga, where all the Hall of Famers get together each year this time, and watched him autographing baseballs. Tears welled up in her eyes and she had to wipe them with a handkerchief when someone asked her how dif ficult it was to make the trip from Cleveland. “It’s a hard job,” she said, unable to talk for a moment. “He has such a little bit of pleasure and it breaks my heart to see him stuck in a wheel chair like this. Five years ago, he had a stroke, and he doesn’t have control of his left side. It kills me to see him this way.” Charlie Ruffing won 273 games during his 22-year career in the big leagues and hit .300. Remember, he was a pitcher. Today you have out fielders who can’t hit that. Ruffing came to the Yankees in 1930 from the Red Sox, and next to getting Babe Ruth from the same club the Yanks never made a better deal. “When I came to the Yankees, I was called into the office by the manager, Bob Shawkey,” Ruffing said. “He told me you will walk like a Yankee, conduct yourself like a Yankee on the field and always act like one off it. I never forgot that. ” Now Ruffing lives on a modest baseball pension. Very modest, only $300 a month. His wife works to help out. She gets up 5:30 in the morning to take care of him, puts in eight hours working in a hospital, then comes home to feed him. “Charles is a wonderful person,” she said. “He has always given me everything he possibly could and we’ve had a marvelous life to gether.” Ruffing was the kind of fellow who never took any nonsense from anybody — even his wife. “I remember Red Rolfe making an error in a game Charles pitched one day,” she said. “I was at the game and made a remark that if Rolfe couldn’t play in the big leagues he should go back to Newark and learn how. I didn’t know it, but his wife was sitting in front of me and she heard what I said. “I told Charles about it and he was infuriated. He insisted I call Mrs. Rolfe and apologize. The next morning the first thing he did after he woke up was ask me, ‘Did you make that call yet?’ I told him I hadn’t and he insisted that I make it immediately.” Pauline Ruffing apologized to Red Rolfe’s wife that day personally. Be fore she did, though, she gave her own husband a piece of her mind. “Look, you pitch,” she said. T pitch,too.” She certainly does. What’s more, she’s still in there pitching now. Do You Know United Press International Raccoons do not wash their food in water because they cannot salivate. They have salivary glands and do salivate. NEW...from our KEEPSAKE GALLERY ‘Closed for Repairs” -¥• ■¥■ ^Redeem this for ^ if* If. 1 FREE BEER OR SOFT DRINK WITH A SMALL PIZZA 2 FREE BEERS OR SOFT DRINKS WITH A MEDIUM PIZZA 3 FREE BEERS OR SOFT DRINKS WITH A LARGE PIZZA the Void After — Sept. 30, 1977 transit co. <593 7<523 815 harvt;y road oollo^e station (lop) GOLDEN ACCENT A breathtaking array of Keepsake’s most enchanting diamond engagement ring styles . . . duets, trios and solitaires to delight you . . . and every engagement dia mond is guaranteed perfect. Keepsake Registered Diamond Rings Embrey's Jewelry "The Friendly Store" 415 University Dr. College Station 9-5:30 Mon.-Fri. 9-5:00 Sat. Save half a dollar. The Campus Directory 1977-78 is being sold this year on a pre-publication discount basis. Students: Be sure toask for the directory on your pre-registration and registration fee list check-off. You can buy the directory at the same time you buy the Aggieland ’78. You save half a buck on the directory’s price if you buy before the book is published. Faculty, Staff and Others who want a good deal: This year order your Campus Directory copies before publication and save $.50 per copy. Since most offices usually buy a bunch of the books, you could save a lot of money. All you have to do is write the Division of Student Publications, 216 Reed McDonald Building, asking for the number of copies you need. Either enclose $3 per book or the University Fiscal Office account we should charge. We’ll notify you when the hooks are ready to be picked up. Pre-publication price: $3.00 Regular price: $3.50 Campus Directory 1977-78 Any questions about the directory? 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