European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 22, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday december 22. 1985 the stars and stripes Page 23 commentary Man s for Hall of Fame a bad idea the death of Roger mans on dec. U can be expected to generate a wave of emotional support for the slugger in the current mall of i line election. It is a Nice sentiment. It is also a bad idea. Maris was a Fine player. He was not however a Hall of Tamer. Thai designation must be reserved for More than just Fine players. It belongs to great ones. You want to talk baiting average the current Hall of Fame ballot lists 41 names 26 of them non pitchers. Only two players in that group had lower career averages than Maris .260. Voters had trouble with Harmon kill brew s Hall of Fame credentials a few years ago because he was a career .256 hitter. But kill brew had 573 homers. No. 5 on the All time list. You want to talk Home runs Maris 275 Hom ers ranks eighth among this year s list of eligible. Candidate Ken Boyar Hurdly remembered As one of his Era s greatest sluggers had More homers. You want to talk runs batted in ? Maris had 85 Dis trailing i 3 others on he current ballot. Candi Date Hill Meroski Best remembered for his vast defensive skills had More kills. Maris primary Cihir Castown credentials involve one magnificent season. La the ear he broke liable Ruth s record of 60 Home runs it was a singularly spectacular achievement. Cd a plish cd under the Hallock most trying circumstances the decision made at baseball s highest Levels to protect the record of one of America s most cherished heroes. There were some segments if baseball society left Over from an earlier Era that did not respond Well to Maris run at Ruth s record. Commissioner lord trick was the self appointed protector of the beloved babe and ruled that Maris. Who was playing the modern 162-Gamc season had to break the Mark in 154 games to dislodge Ruth. That decision was not among the finest moments in the history of his com Mission ship. To the eternal credit of the record keepers Maris line in the official record Bixik docs not include the Albatross of an asterisk. There Are simply separate entries one for he 154-game season and Ruth s � homers another for the 162-game season and Maris 61. F or Rick to penalize Maris because baseball  play ing eight More games in 19ft i than it did in l 27 made As much sense then As the Campaign now to sweep him into the Maii off ame with a a a path vote. Consider some of mans pre-61 and  seasons Only three times in his do in major league ears did he hit More than .270. And never did he reach my Only three times including la. Did he hit More than 2x Home runs Only three times did he drive in More than m runs. And Only once in 1 6i did he score More than 100 runs. If of want to Salute mans establish a separate Wing in Cooperstown a place Lor one shot achieve ments. That would us perfect for Don  s world series perfect game the most memorable no Hitler in baseball history Lor Bill Macrosky s series winning Home run in the Bottom of the ninth inning of the seventh game in i960, for Bill Wambsganss unassisted triple play in i he 20 series for Denny Mclain s 31 Victory season in 190s, for Hobby Thomson s Pennant winning Home run in 19m, for Maris 61-Home run year. They were isolated moments in mans Case a season Long one that deserve recognition by them selves though they hardly qualify the player for membership in the Hall of lame which recognizes career achievement consistent ear in. Car Mil production that is not just Fine but great. Becker Maurer dubbed in Davis cup doubles Wilander Nystrem give Sweden 2-1 Lead Munich a Mats Wilander and Joakim Nystrom routed Boris Becker and Andreas Maurer 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 saturday giving defending Champion Sweden a 2-1 Lead Over West Germany in the Best of five Davis cup Tennis final. In sunday s final two singles matches Wilander faces Becker and Sweden s Sec fan Edberg plays Michael Westphal of West Germany in the last match. Wilander and Nystrom one of the top doubles teams in the world outclassed Becker and Maurer in 1 hour 18 minutes moving Sweden closer to its third Davis cup title. The West germans were so outplayed in the second and third sets that Many fans in the capacity crowd of 13,000 in olympic Hall started leaving Long before the end. With Sweden leading 3-2 in the second set Becker and Maurer won Only two Points in the next seven games As Wilander and Nystrem closed out the second set and raced to a 4-0 Lead in the third. Nystrem s sizzling service returns demolished the West germans game. Swedish coach Hans Olsson said the doubles could turn out to be the key match of the series. The team that loses the doubles will be in trouble he said on the eve of the match. In the opening singles Friday Wilander beat Westphal 6-3, 6-4, 10-8, then Becker the 18-year-old Wimbledon Champion Defeated Edberg the australian open Cham Pion. 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. 8-6.Wilander, ranked third in the world and Nystrom. No. 11, quickly established control in the doubles. They broke Maurer s serve in the third game of the first set and never appeared to be in danger. Wilander served out the set but the swedes profiled from a controversial Call on set Point. The Ball hit by Wilander clearly appeared to be out but it was called Good despite protests by the West germans. Maurer the weakest server of the four players in the doubles match on the fast indoor carpet surface again was broken in the third game of the second set and swe Den look a 3-1  held serve making it 3-2, but after Hal in was mostly  mastered Becker s booming serve continually firing Cross court returns Oul of reach of the West germans. A Poloi Boris Becker jokes with Sweden s Joiakim Nysla room before Davis doubles match but the German buries his face in i cml after losing. In the final game Maurer fell behind 30 0 on his serve but the West germans took the next i rec Points. Maurer then committed three unforced errors in a Row hit Ting Long on an easy forehand for the match s final Point. "1 was very convinced thai we d win inc doubles and we did in. On this fasl surface it s very important to return Well and we did thai today Olsson said. Becker. No. 6 in the world said that he was bothered by a torn muscle in his left Side an injury suffered in training last week. I thought i would t even be Able to play the doubles but they worked on in and 1 Felt belter before the match Becker said. I think i la play  Wilander said he fell encouraged by Sweden s 2-1 Lead in the series. I can now play More aggressively against Becker because i can rely on Edberg in his match against Westphal i Lander said. Edberg is playing very Well. We thought before the match that we could break Maurlr b serve but we did t expect to do in so often he said. Maurer ranked 32nd in the world con ceded thai the serve was the weakest Point of his game. He lost five of his six serves