Pitchers giving baseball brass the BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The spitball. Batters can't hit it, umpires can't spot it, managers can't stop it. Yet somewhere, somehow, some pitchers apparently are throwing the pitch with great effectiveness regardless of its legality. uayiorti Perry of the Cleveland Indians is the most frequently mentioned suspect, although Jim Merritt of the Texas Rangers and Bill Lee of the Boston Red Sox have admitted throwing the game's most con- NL has to prove its This year's meeting of major league executives concluded two lieekr , ago and once again the weak National League refused to pick up the_gauntlet. Interleague play is the only sure way to tell which league has superior talent. The American League owners are all for it, but the NL owners, as they have for over twenty years, turned it down. They would rather the geographically, but the NL execs said all their good teams were in the West and it wouldn't be fair to Eastern fans to split geographically. So they gave the East two - good - teams, Cincinnati and Atlanta. Since then not one team west of Cincinnati has won a pennant and only one, San Francisco in '7l, has won a division crown. How 'can the NL judge the worth of the AL if it doesn't know which teams are the best in its own league? Other methodS used to ascertain the differences between the two leagues are interleague trades and the results of All-Star games and World Series. None are conclusive. Whenever a computer is fed all the material on ballplayers that have played in both leagues the answer is: "Not enough data to show one league significantly better than the other." Vil I" TrNs 4ETKEPR e - I ' •IN A. . l ia f I). k 4 H f 4 ." ii ik 14 !A r i a By FRED BREWER Collegian Sports Writer Air? ei, 4/ars API( • C6t4i PAPS • Cocker e:\Y 0. 4 Bowie • Basil; Flctsisft- 104410 r • tioivhi P . ri. *isoi % .. t -ky r ~ 4 Chu 68 Be t ', . ;., ik__•. 3 I%;i • ~,, 7 - 114Pir . air 0 1 l'is ec g Jim. is, _ _ 0 i troversial pitch. "It isn't difficult to detect," says Al Campanis, general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Calvin Griffith, president of the Min nesota Twins adds, "A pitcher throwing a spitball is taking a hitter's life into his hands. They really don't know what the ball is going to do." New York Yankee Manager Ralph Houk knows what the pitch can do -- and doesn't like it. "It dances and dives worse than a knuckleball or a curve. It changes the nature of the game And isolated examples to make a case for one league can always be refuted by similar findings,in the other league. For in stance: Much ado was made over, the improvement in Gaylord Perry's record last year from the one he had in the NL the season before, but Tom Hall made an equally impressive turnaround. He had 'a 10-1 record last year for the Reds after a losing season for the Twins the year before. If the All Star showdown was a best of seven series fought with all the zeal of a World Series the results, if lopsided, would be an indication of which league had the best superstars. As it is all the All Star game does is help prove the old adage that "good pitching will usually stop good hitting." The pennant winners supposedly carry the responsibility of league honor into, the World Series, but few losers accept this idea after the fact. Even a four game sweep is thin evidence to prove one team; much less league, is better than another. Often a team will lose four or more regular season games in a row and still take the advantage for the , season series. As in•erleague trades have indicated, there isn't a significant difference between the two leagues. Many NL fans won't agree. One suggestion for all of them: get together, write a letter to NL, President Charles Feeney and exclaim: "We'd like to put up orl shut up!" altogether." No matter what the pitch does, one fact remains: The spitball is illegal. Baseball's rule 8:02 staies: "The pitcher shall not apply eloreign substance of any kind to the ball; expectorate on the ball, either hand, or glove; deliver what is called the `shine' ball, the 'spit' ball, 'mud' or 'emery' ball." ITEM: A tube of surgical jelly was found in the warmup jacket pocket of California Angels pitcher Bill Singer at this year's All-Star Game. ITEM: On August 25, Merritt admitted 'superiority' Att.4 to throwing 25 to 30 "Gaylord• Perry fast balls" --a pseudonym reserved for what many allege to be a Perry strength the doctored pitch. The next- day, Merritt was fined an undisclosed, amount by American League President Joe Cronin. ITEM: Aftir the fine on Merritt was an nounced, Red:Sox•hurler Lee divulged that he, too, had. made use of foreign sub stances yetino fine was announced. ITEM: Ori August 30, Detroit Tigers Manager Billy Martin ordered pitchers Joe Coleman and Fred Scherman to [brow what he called "Obvious spitters...on pur pose," in a game against Perry and the In dians, because "this thing's got to come to a head some time." It came •to a head, indeed. Martin received a three-day suspension from the league office for his "blatant actions and endorsement of such illegal tactics." "I want everyone to know it 1 am in structing my pitcheri to throw spitballs," said - Martin. "If the commissioner is going to fine me and not fine Gaylord Perry, then there is going to be someone in a higher office than the commissioner who will decide this," he said. The ultimate decision on the Martin matter was handed down by Tiger General Manager Jim Campbell. Martin was fired. "We can't endorse what Billy did," said tCoILIV s Fa® Tab Monday r • ./ 4 . - slip over spitball Photo by Ira Joffe Campbell. "We can't condone it. The spit- directly to the .pithall controver-v. There ter is a matter for the rules committee and ha, been no announcement from (:our for the supervising umpires." missioner Flossie Kuhn', office regarding Nonetheless, Martin's firing gains the recent development, and pos.:lW ac significance because it relates only in- tion on the pitch itself. Ilkii4:141114111.11.L./:1,41,1j FOR A BETTER ENVIRONMENT? - TRY ECO•ACTION RECYCLING WORKSHOPS TEACH OUTS We also listen to new ideas every Monday 8:30 p.m. 301 Boucke An assortment of wooden boxes c'fiVirt . *** ol l / 4 - 6 * -0 *: -1 oito - ke ito .4* *Q.*. ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••...................••••••••••••• • • .2_ ed • . \\oNs • • bac k : CA. Va • \IA6 co • 0 ° k. k . 41 C.O • • - .. • 1 The Rathskellar •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• The 1973 Mt. Nittany Hike "A Picnie in the Sky" thy getting free meat anywhere else these days). PENN STATE OUTING CLUB The Daily Collegian Friday, September 7. 1973- .........--,-- ,"... as always featuring a FREE hot dog dinner for those who come Leave HUB lawn 1:30 p.m. Saturday Sept. 8 Return by around seven. EARTH WEEK ACTIVITIES The End Result 109 S. Allen St. orning Song Friday Sept. 7 9:30 ?
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