[■The Daily Collegian Friday, June 10,1977—11
Schmidt claims
slump end near
•• PHILADELPHIA (AP) What’s wrong with Mike Sch
[midt? At last count the $3 million slugger was hitting .243 with
:nine home runs and 22 RBI.
“Nothing that one hot week won’t cure,” replies Schmidt.
[[' “He’s trying to change the outlook on the type of hitter he
;>s,” growls Philadelphia Phillies’ manager Danny Ozark.
•'•‘He’s trying to make himself do something he can’t do right
Slow.”
[[ Ozark says Schmidt is trying to be a line drive hitter to all
fields.
[•[ ‘ ‘And as a result he’s taking soinething away from himself, ’ ’
[.Ozark declares. “He doesn’t want to strike out and he’s trying
•to become a contact hitter. What’s happening is that he’s
•taking something away from his aggressiveness as a hitter.
■[: Hell, Ted Williams didn’t try to hit to left field until he
•matured as a player . . . Who is he (Schmidt) fooling at his
■age? He doesn’t have to compensate. He’s trying to become
[accomplished and he’s giving the pitchers too much credit.”
■; Ozark says that he has talked to Schmidt about the third
jbaseman’s hitting.
) “He just wants to be an accomplished hitter, hit to all fields,
[and he’s messing himself up. He’s not that kind of hitter. The
jpitch that he’s trying to hit to the opposite field he could drive
!out of the ball park swinging in his natural way.”
v- What Ozark is afraid of is that Schmidt may fool around just
Jong enough that he won’t recapture the stroke that made him
major league home run king the last three seasons,
v Schmidt, a serious type, is concerned but not worried about
; his slump as a power hitter.
•;• “I’m about a hot week away from leading the league in
: home runs,” says Schmidt. “And the RBIs come with them.
[•[ “I’ll accomplish what I should accomplish before it’s over. I
■ will. I’ll hit .270 to .280, get 30 home runs and 100 RBI. I tell a
"lot of people that I don’t set goals, but that’s where I’ll finish.
[;[ “i’ ve got a period coming when I’ll be scalding hot. I’m just
'living and waiting for that particular period.”
•; Yeah, but can he take the intense booing of the blue collar
[worker who sees him now as a $3 million dollar bust with the
bat?
"The guy who comes to every game doesn’t boo,” Schmidt
• rationalizes. “It’s the guy who comes to one game who boos.
.The knowledgeable fans give me a cheer.”
Schmidt must be marching to his own drummer. Those boos
.night after night are clear and resounding. The fan expects.s3
,million production.
“It’s not like going from a Volkswagen to a Rolls Royce,”
says Schmidt of his six year multi-million dollar contract.
. “We’re human beings, not machinery. They may pay more for
;my services, but human beings are subject to failure.”
~ Schmidt says ariyway that he is past the stage where he lets
,the fans bother him.
a “It’s a hell of an adjustment from a guy who played this
game for fun all his life to suddenly find himself playing for all
•this money,” Schmidt said. “Now I have to make this work,
j’m not going to lie. I did press, try too hard because of the
money. But I’m going to handle it. ’•’
“ Schmidt carefully points out that he hasn’t been a total loss
Jo the Phillies. He’s still playing defense like the Gold Glove
third baseman that he is. He insists that there is no panic
situation either for himself or the team.
“I’m hitting a hard .243. I don’t get trash hits. I put the ball
Jn play more. Pitchers have tended to throw inside to me,
which keeps me from getting my hands extended. The more
that I extend my hands the more liable I am to hurt them,”
Schmidt noted. Has he sought help from Phillies’ batting
coach Billy De Mars?
I “I don’t spend a lot of time grabbing the bat, because I know
[ that I can be a hell of a lot better ball player. It’s my own
j K^WHAT^ HAPPENING....
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Favored as first unbeaten Triple Crown king
Seattle Slew 'home team favorite'
Seattle Slew is right at home working out for tomorrow’s Belmont Stakes.
The 3-year old is a heavy favorite to win the race and capture the Triple
Crown.
problem, and I’m not changing now. I do communicate with
DeMars, but I don’t spend much time in the batting cage with
the coach. I hit so well fn the cage that I can’t correct much.”
Schmidt says that he has been in a worse position as a hitter
at this time in previous years. He was hitting .190 in June of
1975. He wound up hitting .249 with 38 home runs and 95 RBI.
Of course, the spotlight wasn’t on him in 1975. He hadn’t won
a home run title yet, and he wasn’t earning close to $3 million.
Ozark probably has the right answer. Schmidt should go up
there and swing like Mike Schmidt. If he does he’ll get 30 or
more homers and drive in 100 runs. After all, what appears to
be conveniently forgotten is that Schmidt is a lifetime .252
hitter. His best year was 1974 when he hit .282.
What Ozark appears to be saying is: “give me .252, but give
me those home runs and RBI. Ted Williams you ain’t.”
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Classes offered for Children and Adults in
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Registration to be held at the office
June 98c 10 3:00 p.m. 6 p.m.
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Garner determined to overcome
PITTSBURGH (AP) People have
been having trouble with Phil Garner’s
name, but that hasn’t bothered the
Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman.
In Philadelphia, the press box at
tendant spelled Garner’s name “Gar
dner” on the blackboard where they put
the starting lineups.
Chicago broadcasters Lou Boudreau
and Jack Brickhouse continuously
pronounced it “Gardner” when the Cubs
were in town.
From 10 HI 2
'O',
the
U
NEW YORK (AP) “There’s no
disgrace being beaten by Seattle Slew,”
Billy Turner, trainer of the overwhelming
Belmont Stakes favorite said yesterday.
And, obviously the owners and trainers
of nine other 3-year-olds, agreed with
Turner ... and felt it was worth the
gamble that tomorrow might not be the
Slew’s day.
“Horses that never win another race
have won at Belmont,” said Turner. “Why
not take a chance? It’s good business.”
But if the early odds are right, it’s
useless business. The Slew was made 1-5 to
win his ninth race and become the first
unbeaten Triple Crown winner in history.
“I think it’s a compliment,” said Karen
Taylor, the listed owner of Seattle Slew,
said of the surprisingly large field.
“Everybody’s out to beat Seattle Slew.”
“I’ve never worried about Slew’s
competition, I never have,” said Karen’s
husband, Mickey. “He can gallop faster
than most horses can run. This is our
playground this time; we're the home
team.” Seattle Slew’s base is at Belmont
Park and ran all three of his races there
last year when he was voted the 2-year-old
champion.
“It doesn’t make any difference how
many horses there are,” Taylor con
tinued. “Iron Constitution, Run Dusty
Run, Sanhedrin, they deserve to be in the
race, and the rest have high hopes.”
Run Dusty Run, Sanhedrin and Iron
Constitution had the best loser’s look at
Seattle Slew in the Kentucky Derby and
Preakness.
The “High Hopers” entered yesterday
were Spirit Level, Sir Sir, Mr. Red Wing
and the John Campo-trained entry of
Make Amends and Hey Hey J.P.
If all 10 go to the post at 5:38 p.m., EDT,
the 109th running of the lVfc-mile Belmont
will be worth $183,800, with $110,280 to the
winner. However, Campo has indicated
that Hey Hey J.P. will be scratched and
sent to Philadelphia for the $25,000-added
Keystone Handicap.
uri wirapnoio
A victory by Seattle Slew would also
But Garner is more concerned that
he’s batting a weak .221, that the Pirates
have lost 12 of their last 16 games and
that the team has drifted out of first
place in the National League East.
“That’s all going to change pretty
soon, I hope,” says Garner of his
average. “I’m starting to get in the
batting groove. Maybe when I start
hitting a ton, those guys will be able to
say and spell my name.”
The new Pirate infielder says his bat
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make him the 10th winner of the Derby,
Preakness and Belmont and the first since
Secretariat, who in 1973 became the first
Triple Crown champion since Citation in
1948.
The Slew, who will be ridden from the
No. 6 post by Jean Cruguet, could boost his
earnings past the $790,000 mark. He won
$94,350 in 1976 when he easily won three
races including a 9%-length score in the
Champagne Stakes at Belmont in 1:342-5
for the mile, the fastest running in the 105-
year history of the race.
This year his wins in a seven-furlong
allowance, the Flamingo Stakes, the Wood
Memorial, the Derby and the Preakness
have been worth $514,290.
Run Dusty Run, owned by Verna Leh
mann, was made the second early favorite
at 6-1. He was second in the Derby and
third in the Preakness and in 16 starts,
seven of them this year, has eight wins and
has been worse than second only twice.
Sandy Hawley will replace Darrel
McHargue, who rode Run Dusty Run in
the Derby and Preakness, and take the
stretch-running colt from the rail. Trainer
Smiley Adams was not pleased with
McHargue’s ride in the Derby and was
downright unhappy about his ride in the
Preakness.
John Galbreath’s Sanhedrin, who will
leave the No. 8 post under Jorge
Velasquez, was third in the Derby, skipped
the Preakness and was second, by a head,
to Spirit Level in the 11-8 mile Peter Pan at
Belmont June 1. He is winless in seven
starts this year, leading trainer Lou
Rondinello to say: “The only thing I
haven’t taught my horse yet is how to
win.’Tron Constitution, second in the
Preakness after skipping the Derby, goes
into the Belmont after finishing second in
the Jersey Derby. Pass Catcher finished
second in the Jersey Derby and then won
the 1971 Belmont as Triple Crown can
didate Canonero II finished fourth. Iron
Constitution, owned by Harry T.
Mangurian Jr. and ridden by Angel
Cordero Jr., will start in the No. 2 post.
identity crisis
usually comes to life in June.
“I can’t wait until June comes every
season,” he said. “I’m glad it’s here.
May? Well, I could do without May very
nicely.”
“But I still don’t accept it. I’m going to
find out what happens. Until then there’s
not much I can do but live with it.”
“All I have to do is get this guy
‘Gardner’ off my back. Then I’ll be
okay,” he said. .
ian
o
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Corner of Beaver Ave,
and Allen St.
238-5521
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