Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 8, 1978)
Page 10 THE BATTALION THURSDAY, JULY 8, 1978 Professional athletes die two deaths Retirement thoughts don’t upset Perry United Press International NEW YORK — They say a pro fessional athlete dies two deaths. The first comes when he is forced to quit playing and the other is the natural ending of life. The first of these deaths is often more painful. Away from the chal lenge and the excitement of the arena, an athlete can experience an emotional trauma that causes much mental anguish. Gaylord Perry is already on bor rowed time when it comes to his first life. But, unlike many other athletes, he isn’t worried about the day when he no longer can peer down at a batter through those steely-blue eyes. The way Perry sees it he’s already achieved more than he ever thought possible and there will be no self-pity when he can no longer get batters out. “It’s not going to bother me, not being able to play,’ said Perry, the 40-year-old righthander of the San Diego Padres. “I think I know enough about baseball to stay in the game some way. What I’ll miss most are the guys in the clubhouse and making new friends. ” Perry isn’t quite ready for At 65 Perpetual Motion still rolls with the punches United Press International ST. LOUIS — In his time, Henry Armstrong was that rarest of all men, a pure natural. He was absolutely indefatigable inside the ring, a fellow who always kept coming at you and would never quit. Mainly because he fought that way, like some kind of human buzzsaw, they pinned many differ ent names on him. Names like “Hurricane Henry, “Homicide Hank and “Hammering Henry.” Of all the labels, though, none ever fit him better than the one he became known by best — “Per petual Motion.’’ That was his style then, and now 40 years later, Henry Armstrong, the only fighter in boxing history ever to hold three world cham pionships simultaneously, hasn’t changed his ways too much. He’s busy, busy, busy all the time. If he isn’t working with kids as as sistant director of the Herbert Hoover Boys Club of St. Louis, he’s preaching only three blocks away as associate pastor of the Mt. Olive Baptist Church. And if he isn’t doing that he’s about to fly off somewhere as he will in another day or so to Las Vegas. He’s not going there to gamble, but to visit ailing Joe Louis because Mrs. Louis asked him to come and please see her husband. Henry Armstrong, a senior citi zen at 65, finds little time these days to dwell on old times. He’s too oc cupied with more important things. But his memory hasn’t dimmed so much that he can’t remember how much of his blood and sweat it took to accumulate those three titles in 1938. Toughest of the three, he says, was the lightweight crown he won from Lou Ambers at Madison Square Garden less than 90 days after he beat Barney Ross for the welterweight championship. “In that fight, the referee, Billy Cavanaugh, came over after the 12th round and told me he was going to stop it,’’ Armstrong says. T asked him why. I had knocked Ambers down several times and knew I was ahead on points. Cavanaugh said to me, “Look at all the blood in the ring!’ I said, “So what?’ He said. It’s all yours.’ I told him I wouldn’t bleed anymore. He said if I did, he was going to stop it. T don’t want to lose my job,’ he told me. “You can fight anywhere you want but I can only referee in New York. ” One of the few men he ever lost to was Sugar Ray Robinson, but in Robinson’s opinion, Henry Armstrong was the best fighter who ever lived. Twenty-four years ago, Armstrong was elected to Boxing’s Hall of Fame and nobody has any more right to be in there. He had 175 professional fights, winning 144, including 97 by knockout. But that’s all in the past. What he’s far more involved with now is the work he’s doing with the local youngsters. “I’m thankful to have this job,” he says. “There is no greater satisfac tion than working with kids. They range in age from 6 to 18. None of them ever saw me fight, but that isn’t important. One of them came up to me the other day and said, “Mistuh Armstrong, you’re a famous man. Like George Washington. You’re in the encyclopedias and the history books. We studied all about you today.’ I told him, “All right, then, you’d better listen to me. ” Armstrong earned nearly $4 mil lion before he retired in 1945 and he remembers some of his purses he never even got to see. “I was getting only $50 a fight be fore my first fight with Arizmendi and my manager at the time, Wirt Ross, told me I could get $1,500 plus 10 per cent of the gate if I promised not to knock out Ariz mendi. “On the night of the fight, I was hitting Arizmendi real good with my right hand. Ross said if I kept it up, I’d knock him out, so I hit him with a left jab and my manager said I shouldn’t do that, either. ‘What should 1 do then?’ I asked him. “Just bob and weave,’ he said.” After the fight, Armstrong went to a Mexico City dance hall with a beautiful senorita. baseball’s graveyard. On June 4, he posted his 250th major league victory and his 4-2 record with a 2.88 earned run average has been one of the more pleasant surprises on a team filled with its share of dis appointments. “I still enjoy the challenge of the game,” said Perry, “and I can still throw pretty hard. There’s really nothing I can’t do that I didn’t use to do. I have five or six pitches, and if I get the ball where I want it, the bat ter can’t hit me. Opposing players and managers insist that Perry is still throwing an illegal pitch. A few years ago he ad mitted he once threw a “grease ball in which he put a greasy substance, like Vaseline, on the ball which made it break down and away from the flatter. He insists he doesn’t use it anymore, but nobody believes him. “Oh, sure, he still throws it and still gets away with it, said manager Joe Torre of the New York Mets. “The umpires don’t even check him anymore so it doesn’t matter much. ” “He’s a great decoy,” says Mets’ outfielder Tom Grieve, a teammate of Perry’s at Texas last season. “He goes to his mouth and his hat before every pitch and he sweats a lot which helps him. But he probably doesn’t throw more than 10 greasers in a game. ” Perry keeps insisting it’s all a psychological ploy. His prepitch mannerisms are designed to fool the batter. “I throw a fake greaseball,” he says in his country-style, tongue- in-cheek manner. "Oh, I may have shown a young player how to throw one. You know, for use in a softball league or a semi-pro league. But it’s an illegal pitch.” Perry, as feisty a competitor as there is in the major leagues, has given one concession to his age. He seldom completes a game anymore and is content to go six ort nings and turn the job 019 bullpen. “Fortunately, we havet\r better relief pitchers in and Rollie Fingers,”saidPb hard for a manager to lei finish a game.” The hardest moments come in between starts. Tla the muscles tighten in legs and soreness sets in.Ti some of the aches, helm soaking in ice. “This is the first yearli using a lot of ice,” said ft never used ice before; Bui the soreness and s It seems far-fetched I Perry might stay aron enough to reach the 300-vt (AMU-1 cle, but then again , oi By L Finley wastes no time "I don’t see why not,"Id never thought I’d readiJS] now I’m still enjoying it." using first draft choice United Press International NEW YORK — Oakland owner Charlie Finley apparently will not wait long to see how Mike Morgan, his No. 1 pick in Tuesday’s draft, can pitch. “We think he can step right in there with us,” Finley said in an nouncing his intention to let the right-handed pitcher from Valley High School in Las Vegas, Nev., start a ballgame for the A s Sun day. “We would not have drafted him if we didn’t think we were getting the best.” The Atlanta Braves chose col lege baseball’s all-time leading slugger to open the summer free-agent draft. Bob Horner, an infielder from Arizona State who set NCAA single season and career home-run records this year, was the No. 1 choice. The clubs selected in reverse order of their 1977 finishes, with the National League picking ahead of the American League under a rotating system. For the first time, the draft provided compensation to teams who lost veterans in the re-entry draft. Toronto, with the second pick, selected Lloyd Moseby, an 18year-old left-handed hitting first baseman-outfielder from Oakland (Calif.) High School. The Blue Jays immediately an nounced the signing of the 6foot-3, 200-pounder and said he will be assigned to the Pioneer League farm club at Medicine Hat in Alberta, Canada. After the Mets chose Horner’s teammate Hubie Brooks, Oak land took Morgan and promptly announced their plans for him. 1 Horner said his selection by the Braves was a “dream come true. It couldn’t be a better situa tion,” after talking by phone to Braves owner Ted Turner. After Oakland selected Morgan, right-handed pitcher Rod Boxberger of Southern California was taken by Houston. Boxberger was the first college pitcher taken and the 11th player overall. Detroit, picking 12th, chose outfielder Kirk Gibson of Michigan State, an outstanding football prospect, who intends to play for the Spartan football team this fall. In compensation for the loss of veteran free-agents Ron Blom- berg to the White Sox and Mike Torrez to the Boston Red Sox, the New York Yankees received two extra first-round selections. The Yankees picked shortstop Rex Hudler from Bullard High School, Fresno, Calif, and out fielder Matthew Winters of Williamsville (N.Y.) High School as their compensation choices. They closed out the first round by selecting right-handed pitcher Brian Ryder of Shrewsbury (Mass.) High School. Golfers around the nation are qualifying for U.S.Op Texas Ai it of a slii Univei prsity Pi aunced. [jected from is, Mill If priv Ich this e More and More People are Swinging to “College Station’s Biggest Little Hair Cuttery” Jf IHIEAIC tlVf# 209 UNIVERSITY DR. 846-4771 'fupfnamka Eddie Dominguez '66 Joe Arciniega '74 Now you know Harry Steinfeldt was the forgotten third baseman in the famous turn- of-the-century Chicago Cub infield that boasted baseball’s greatest dou ble play combination; Tinker to Evers to Chance. United Press International MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Co medalists Marty Fleckman and Fuzzy Zoeller finished at the top of the heap Tuesday with equal scores of 134 in sectional qualifying for the U.S. Open. There were some brilliant shots as Fleckman, of Port Arthur, Texas, scored a 64 in the afternoon round, while Zoeller, of New Albany, Ind., and Ed Fiori stroked 65s to secure several of the 10 qualifying spots in the $60,000 Open to be held next week at Denver’s Cherry Hills. Others to qualify out of a field of 38 hopefuls were Artie McNickle of Sacramento, Calif., Dick McClean from Carmel, Calif., and Lee Mikles of Saticoy, Calif., all scoring 136. Jimmy Wittenberg Jr. of Memphis joined Fiori with a final tally of 138 and Dale Douglass of Boulder, Colo., Alan Pate of Mobile, Ala., and Patrick McGowan of Colusa, Calif, scored 139. Frank Shinkle of Birmingham, Ala., John Mahaffey of Kerrville, Texas, and Lance Suzuki of Hawaii finished with 140s to qualify as alter nates in that order. Lee Mikles also scored a front- nine 30 and Jimmy Wittenberg great comeback 66 to qualify, but honors for the best clutch performance went to McGowan, a rookie pro. Nine players were already in with scores of 139 or better and three more were at 140 when McGowan, in the final threesome of the day, got the chance to finish three hours after the rain began to fall. McGowan went out to play the final hole needing a par 4 on the 383-yard hole to give him a 139 or a bogey for the 140 spot. __ _ fflimiiMi If you want the real thing, not frozen or canned We call it “Mexican Food Supreme.” Dallas location; 3071 Northwest Hwy 352-8570 $ EXTRA $ CASH? DONATE BLOOD PLASMA at PLASMA PRODUCTS, INC. 313 COLLEGE MAIN COLLEGE STATION NEW BONUS PROGRAM RECEIVE UP TO $64/mo. Help Self $ Help Others £ 846-4611 He missed the green to the right but chipped to witbin three feet and sank the put for his four, beating out the three alternates for the final spot in the Denver Open. Zoeller, enjoying his best year on the tour with two seconds and a third and more than $80,000 in winnings, parlayed an afternoon 65 with an ear lier 69 while Fleckman, having what he calls a bad year, made a 33-31 in the afternoon for a 64 to go with his morning 70. Meanwhile, in San Francisco, Ray Arinno, Marysville, Calif, fired a 4-under-par 70-68—138 Tuesday to outshoot 35 other golfers and lead the Califomia-Hawaii-Nevada qual ifiers for the tournament. Others to qualify in competition at the San Francisco Golf Club in cluded Arne Dokka, Los Angeles, 69-73—142; amateur Ron Commans of San Diego State, 73-69—142; Victor Haygt Jr., Los Angeles, 74- 69—143; and Ron Hoyt, Merced, Calif, 74-70—142. Former U.S. Open champ Jack Fleck missed joining the low five by one stroke and will be the first alter nate from the area. The 36 golfers who competed 01 were the low scorers from qualifying competitions. In St. Louis, Jim Cocki attached pro, won mei with a 3-over-par 143onroiit and 70at Old WarsonCoi* Runnerup with a 143 Chandler, a 40-year-old pr. lumbia Country Club and golf coach at the Univei Missouri. He bogeyed diet holes. Third qualifier and low with a 146 was 30-yea!- Holtgrieve of Westborougk Club in St. Louis. Holtgi the 1977 St. Louis Dishi pion, but qualified for thelt for the first time. In a three-way fourth and final qualifying|l Brent Buckman of WinlWj le Parkville near Kansas CitiB44QQ q the 40th hole with a par, HtB S umini sink an 18-foot putt for abin®j] et j c c } () second extra hole to stayi | lr p 0se ( tion - , , , ,, .Bresson Buckman had tied for l®B(f ren [ spot with Lynn Rosely f or Country Club and EdljB rc i’ satt Lakewood CountryClubinlt exampl Rosely and Maine filled flhted to spots. ver fresh I aid she 1 ffims we Ided a It year he Tex ;ents aj nning fi mitory women etary e; his act vious t inns won ut by t as A& sing fa< Less th for dc: Ch ently 1 Lopez seeks fourth victory on LPGA k United Press International MASON, Ohio — Nancy Lopez has a chance to join some of the all- time greats of women’s golf in this week’s $150,000 LPGA Cham pionship at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Center. Lopez, the 21-year-old rookie sensation of the LPGA tour, will be seeking her fourth straight tourna ment victory, a feat matched only four other times. Hall of Famer Mickey Wright and Kathy Whitworth, along with Shir ley Englehorn, are the only women players to ever win four events in a row. Wright did it twice, in 1962 and 1963, Whitworth in 1969 and Englehorn in 1970. Lopez, who has won five tour events this year and $96,448, nearly OKY< years an, kil re tha double that of Penny Pi closest challenger in th money winning chase, has than a year on the women but has already established' as tbt' play er to beat in amtaes am ment she enters. ekvtriciU Tlu 1 field, which will bes^Hardes for a first prize of $22,500, eludes defending champion Higuehi, along with JoAnne Jan Stephenson, Judy Ranh lis Stacy and former cb| Betty Burfeindt, Mary Mil Ahern and Whitworth. The tournament is being 1 the first time on the O- course, built by Nicklaus smond Muirhead and locatfj gigantic Kings Island entei center. yagi F rthern Xirted. re inji hv glass jOfficia uses ai in was Natii AGGIE BACK TO SCHOOL sPEcm $1995 TH LAMf LIT PUTS TH LIGH WHERE YOl Model CS-4/M WANT II TWISTS • TURNS • RAISES • LOWERS ... TO PUT THE LIGHT WHERE YOU WANT IT. DECORATOR COLORS: WHITE YELLOW BROWN, AND GREEN. HOURS: TUES.-SAT. 9:30-5:30 (CLOSED MONDAYS} bmp Life The traditi ning ( and f Texan Tex merri montl piad £ seems year i a time a wee thing melor Am to app Texar lar hi snugg try, more sake 10,00 846-3329 COLLEGE ROAD count Frc Daub the rc Juan annu chair Luck creas city 1 on v year. Ur these large bach hall. Past Anm Fairs come be r