Word: dodger
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...been with us since baseball began. Back in 1920, Cleveland Indian Ray Chapman was killed by Yankee Carl Mays' fastball. Twenty years ago Giant Pitcher Sal Maglie was given the sobriquet "the Barber" because of the close shaves his fastball gave the faces of hitters. Don Drysdale, a Dodger star of the '60s, was famed as a fastballing headhunter. Basketball, theoretically a noncontact sport and one pleasantly peopled with college types, long had its "hit" men, players like Boston's Jungle Jim Loscutoff, whose primary role was to intimidate opponents...
There is some argument as to which is the hottest team in baseball right now. Some will tell you that it is the slugging Philadelphia Phillies, who have won 17 of their last 20 games. To this, diehard Dodger fans will sneeringly suggest that, yes, the Phillies have done rather well lately, but they've only won 24 of their last 33, while the Los Angelenos have won 23 of their last...
Experienced baseball men see ominous ramifications in all this, and with reason. "These newer owners are going to have to get housebroken and learn the bottom line," says Dodger Boss Walter O'Malley. Warns Charlie Finley: "People have only so much money for food, for rent, for entertainment. Athletes are going to price themselves out of the market. I do not criticize the athletes, I criticize the owners for paying these unjustified, astronomical salaries." Says Yankee Manager Billy Martin, who took a 28% pay cut in 1950 when the Yankees brought him up from the minors: "There will come...
...highest bidders, raising superstar salaries out of sight and tilting the competitive balance of the leagues to the clubs with the most money. Oakland Slugger Reggie Jackson, for one, seemed a super star likely to put himself on the open market. To add fuel to the fears, Los Angeles Dodger Pitcher Andy Messersmith, armed with his December arbitration victory, began entertaining bids last week from at least four teams. Nonetheless, the owners finally "bit the bullet," said American League President Lee MacPhail. At least they chewed on it. Last week in what they called their "final and best offer," they...
...biggest reason for their success is the play of Quarterback Fran Tarkenton, 35, now in his 15th pro season. Hampered last year by a sore arm-he was treated in the off-season by Dodger Relief Pitcher Mike Marshall, a graduate student and expert in body mechanics at Michigan State-Tarkenton has already thrown for 15 touchdowns. He leads the league with a completion mark of better than 60%. Indeed, Tarkenton, who has never been seriously injured, should soon become the leading passer in N.F.L. history. Only ten more TD throws will break John Unitas' lifetime high...