Gaylord Perry, pitching, right , for the San Diego Padres, tional Leagues. The 40-year-old Perry, above , eel displays the form that helped make him the first pitcher ebrates with a bit of the bubbly with his wife, Blanche, to win the Cy Young Award in both the American and Na- as he accepts telephone congratulations. Aggie football coach resigns under pressure COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) Texas A&M . Coach Emory Bellard, the father of the Wishbone-T and the winningest football coach in the Southwest Con ference, resigned Tuesday under pressure. Offensive coordinator Tom Wilson was the named the interim head coach. Despite an overall record of 48-27, Bellard failed to please the highly vocal Aggie alumni who wanted a Cotton Bowl caliber club. The grumbling became louder after the Aggies lost to Giants' Altobelli named Manager of the Year NEW YORK (AP) Energetic Joe Altobelli, who led the San Francisco Giants to their most successful season since they won a divisional title seven years ago, is The Associated Press National League Manager of ,the Year for 1978. Altobelli was the runaway choice for the prestigious award in only his second year of big-league managing, outpolling Pittsburgh's .Chudic Tanner 199 votes to 70. "I'm very honored, but I feel our success was an organizational thing," Altobelli said by phone from his home in Rochester, N.Y. "We went to spring training this year realizing that we'd blown at least 30 games (in 1977)," said Altobelli. ."We wanted to cut that number about in half, The Chubk Fusina Story From the beginning, quarterback was his position Editor's note: This is the first of a three part series on Penn State quarterback Chuck Fusina. Today's segment deals with Fusina before he enrolled at Penn State. By NEIL RUDEL Daily Collegian Sports Writer If he had so desired, he could have hit the football field with a stone from his bedroom window. But he never had the urge to throw rocks. It wouldn't have sat• well with his friends. In McKees Rocks, Pa., a small town on the outskirts of Pitt sburgh, it wasn't the thing to do. There, kids grew up throwing foot balls. Charles Anthony Fusina was no exception. He started at age six and adapted so well that he never had to play another position. "We used to play on the field right next to my house," says Fusina, now the greatest quarterback in Penn State history. "We used to go out there every day we didn't have any streets to play in or movie theatres to go to . . . all we did was play. We played on a field about the size of a basketball court, and since I could throw the ball the best and the most accurate, I was always the quar terback in our tag football games. "From the first through seventh grade, that's all I ever did. So when I went out for football in eighth grade, there was no other position I could play." Soon afterwards, at Sto-Rox High School, it become evident that Fusina had the tools needed to succeed as a major college quarterback like other McKees Rocks products Chuck Burkhart (1968-69), John Hufnagel (1970-72) both former Penn Staters; and Tom Clements (1972-74, Notre Dame) and Billy Daniels (1972-74, Pitt). "I thought he had the makings of a great quarterback," says Sto-Rox coach Steve Wargo. "He had the Collegipn sportsv the daily the Houston Cougars 33-0 and and the Baylor Bears 24-6 the last two weeks. In both games, the Aggies failed to score a touchdown. Just two weeks ago the Aggies were the No. 6 ranked team in the nation. Rumors swept the Aggie campus after Bellard failed to show for his noon press conference. Sports in formation Director Spec Gammon also couldn't be found. In his announcement, Bellard said, "Under existing and that's what we did. We won 89 games this year. "Now if we can just take care of that other half, we'll win over 100." ' Tom Lasorda of the National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers and 'Danny Ozark of the Eastern Division winning Philadelphia Phillies finished a distant third and fourth respectively in the voting by a nationwide panel of sports writers and broadcasters. Lasorda, the NL Manager of the Year last season, collected 56 votes while Ozark got 14. Herman Franks of the Chicago Cubs finished fifth with 10 votes, San Diego's Roger Craig was • sixth with 7 - and Atlanta's Bobby Cox collected 2 votes for seventh place. San Francisco was a fourth-place disposition, he was always trying to improve and his biggest critic was hitnself. He's always been a very accurate passer and dedicated person." Wargo, who termed Fusina as a gentleman, scholar and very coachable athlete, says Fusina's most outstanding game came when Sto-Rox upset Shaler High, 29-20. At the time, Shaler was unbeaten, untied and unscored upon. He also recalls a game against Highlands in which Fusina threw for more than 400 yards. Chuck Fusina was different than most of his teammates at Sto-Rox High. He had to develop himself. He didn't have anyone to catch with after dinner. Nobody to talk football with at hoMe. Fusina is an only child. His dad died when he was four. "It's tough to grow up without a father," Fusina says, "but if you have a mother like I did, it's really not that bad. You'd think she'd be overprotective, but she wasn't. She could have had me coming in and reading and washing the dishes with her, but she didn't. "She saw that I was happy and she never stopped me from going out and playing ball. She even came out and caught a few. I think-I took a lot on myself froth an early age. I saw other fathers playing with my friends and I'd play with them, but I didn't have anybody giving me that special time. What I did learn when I was young was all on my own because my mother let me go and I always thank her for that." - Mrs. Helen Fusina let Chuck do as he pleased. He wasn't the type to play with lincoln logs or legos. He and his friends didn't go for building tree houses, either.'There was, his mother says, one main interest and his success never spoiled him. "He had the field right across the street," she says. "He and his friends :/• d ~.%^ team in 1977. But with Vida Blue bolstering the pitching staff, the Giants were a hot item in the National League West and the talk of baseball this year. In fact, they led the division for most of the season before fading in the final weeks. The Giants were division champions under Charlie Fox in 1971 before losing in the league playoffs to the Pittsburgh Pirates, eventual World Series winners. In his second season, the 46-year-old Altobelli continued to show the same "rookie enthusiasm" that marked his first year in the big leagues. Before joining the Giants in 1977, he had managed for 11 seasons in the minors. Altobelli has been given rousing en dorsements by fellow National League managers, including Cincinnati's were very interested in sports that's all they ever talked about. Chuck never played with a truck, like most kids. Being an only child, I think, was part of what drew him to sports. "Chuckie's not the type to raise a flag for himself. He always feels his teammates are the best and that there is always something better, something nicer than his ac complishments. And he's made me look at life like that" Then came his senior year. Time for Chuck Fusina to inform the large numbers of door-beaters of his in tentions. Coaches from Notre Dame, Michigan State, West Virginia, Pitt and Cincinnati were in hot pursit. The welcome mat at the Fusinas was dusty, but footprints belonging to Penn State representatives were scarce. "It wasn't until Dec. 1 when Coach Phillips (PSU quarterback coach Bob) came to look at my films again," Fusina rememebers. "I wasn't even going to come and up and visit. They contacted me the latest of all the schools. They offered me a visit, but I had all my visits filled. I thought about it then about what kind of a place Penn State is and then I cancelled my Cincinnati trip." Other schools, particularly West Virginia, didn't take as casual of an approach as did Penn State. The Mountaineers, led by coach Frank Cignetti, were like bloodhounds on Fusina's trail. "They came to see me at my basketball practices almost every night," Fusina says. "They were really great, and it was the hardest thing I ever had to do when I told Coach Cignetti that I wasn't going there. I knew how much time they put into me and I knew I owed them a lot. But I looked at everything and I decided that I had to be selfish and think about myself. Penn State was Ageless wins Cy NEW YORK (AP) Gaylord Perry, the 40-year-old right-hander for the San Diego Padres, became the first pitcher to win the Cy Young Award in both leagues when he easily captured the National League honor Tuesday. ' t i The Baseball Writers Association of America announced the result, which came from the voting of two of its members in each of the NL cities. And it was a landslide for Perry, the oldest winner ever of the coveted pitching award. ii, , , 1 Perry, the only pitcher named on all 24 ballots, received 10 first-place votes and a pair of runner-up ballots. The five three-one point system gave him 116 points, far outdistancing Burt Hooton of Los Angeles, who had 38 points, Vida Blue of San Francisco, with 17• points, and J.R. Richard of Houston, with 13 points. Blue and Richard each picked up a first-place vote and were followed in the balloting by relief pitcher Kent Tekulve UPI Wirephoto circumstances, I feel that is best that I resign my position as director of athletics and head football coach at Texas A&M University. "Texas A&M is a great university and will always have a special place in my heart. To all the great people who have supported our program, I say thank you for your loyalty and friendship." The Aggies were 4-2 for the year after opening with resounding victories over Kansas, Boston College, Memphis State and Texas Tech. Sparky Anderson, who has called him, "The best young manager in the game." When Altobelli was first brought up to the Giants, Anderson was quoted as saying that he wished he had gotten a job in another division, citing his ability Eo communicate with young players as' his best attribute. In 'guiding the Dodgers to the NL pennant, Lasorda for the second year in a row ousted Ozark's Phillies . Diminick, Bassett on TV Bob Bassett and Joe Diminick will be the guests on TV Quarterback tonight at 7 on WPSX. In his high school days at Sto-Rox, Chuck Fusina once holds or shares 15 Penn State passing records threw for more than 400 yards in one game. Today Fusina ..- . . the best place." Fusina couldn't resist PennT State's straight forward sales pitch, even though it came late. "I was really impressed with . the coaches, especially Coach Paterno," he says. "I was impressed by the way they didn't put any pressure on me and the way they recruited. It made me feel they wanted me, but that they didn't have to have me. That they were going to look after me, but that nobody would be pressing me all the wonder Perry Young easily of Pittsburgh (12 points), Phil Niekro of Atlanta (10), Ross Grimsley of Montreal (7), reliever Rollie Fingers of San Diego (1), Tommy John of Los Angeles (1) and rookie Don Robinson of Pittsburgh (1). Perry, 21-6, topped the 20-victory mark for the fifth - time in his magnificent career that stretches back to his major league debut with the San Francisco Giants in 1962. He has also won 19 games twice and,lB games once. Perry, whose NL record is 155-115 and American League mark 112-91, led the Padres to their best season ever, a fourth-place finish in the NL West with a record of 84-78. Perry also has pitched for Cleveland and Texas in the AL. His other Cy Young . Award came in 1972, when he was 24-16 for Cleveland. The 1972 award came in his first year with the Indians after he was traded by the Giants. The Cy Young trophy he picked up Tuesday also came the first year following a trade. time. It gave me a comfortable feeling." Phillips says he knew Fusina, regardless of the fact that he was hurt his senior year and his team had a 3-5- 1 record, would be a big asset. "He had an almost perfect throwing motion," Phillips says. "He had a quick release, quick delivery and a great ability to find receivers. We were sure we wanted him.We knew about him as a junior. He was hurt the first part of his senior year Vednesday, Oct. 25, 1978 —8 The Texas Rangers, who acquired the fr , 6-foot-4, 215-pound pitcher from Cleveland during the 1975 season, ap parently felt his best years were behind him, dealing the ageless wonder to San Diego for pitcher Dave Tomlin and $125,000 last February. Perry, the top NL winner in 1978, gave N. his new employers their money's worth, compiling a 2.72 earned run average in 26finnings pitched. Only five of Perry's starts ended in complete games, as the Padres utilized Fingers to nail down many of the victories. The big right-hander, from 4 / 4 Williamston, N.C., has been involved in numerous controversies throughout 'his career over his use of the greaseball,' an illegal pitch that is loaded up with vaseline. Perry admitted in his autobiography, written during his Cleveland years, that ,; .7 heonce threwa greaseball,but maintains" now with a smile, of course thathe throws a mean forkball. -1. ' 'lt , 41 , 4 :or!. • • - „;;/ • Ito Courtesy of Fusina fa and the game we saw him play was ' f o. the first he came back. He had Li. something like five touchdown passes. "Rich Leach, now the quarterback at Michigan, was in high school at the same time. He wanted to visit us. :t Well, we decided we didn't want to - have him visit us. We wanted to have t- Fusina." Tomorrow: A rocky freshman year to the emergence of a No. 1 guar- terhack. 1 di, UPI wirep
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers