European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 12, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday March 12, 1986 stars and stripes Page 23 commentary it was t Speed that got them there fdmie1 t run in i r or a i. Ernie Lombardi would t have made it yet. Neither would Bobby Doerr. Not if they had to depend on Speed to get them into the Hall of Fame. Fortunately for them they never did. It did t make a whole lot of difference because both could do so Many other things on a Ball Field so much better than the majority of their competitors. You want to know How slow Lombardi was the record Book says he stole eight bases in 17 years but nobody i Ever ran into can remember seeing him Swip ing one. He d hit a ground Ball and take so Long getting Down the line that fans found it a perfect Opportunity to get a Beer without missing a thing. They d come Back and there d be big Lorn still lumbering in the general direction of first base wishing with every Bone in his body the infielder would throw him out so he could go Back to the dugout and not have to bother finishing the trip. Now if you re beginning to be left with the impression Lombardi was Lazy or that he dogged it you could t possibly be More wrong. I be seen some of the Best catchers who Ever got Down behind Home plate Hall of Farmers like Bill Dickey Gabby Hartnett Mickey Cochrane Al Lopez Rick Ferrell Roy Campanella and Yogi Berra. Johnny Bench too. He s not enshrined in Cooperstown yet but he will be when his time comes. There was t a Lazy one in that Bunch but none of them worked any harder than Lombardi and none Ever gave More of themselves than he did. Facts Are facts though. He won the National league batting title twice once with the reds in 1938 when he hit .342 and was named map and again in 1942 with the braves when he hit .330. But As Quick As he was with the Bat that s How slow he was on his feet. It was no secret. Everybody knew it. Infielders played him nearly Halfway in the Outfield knowing full Well they had All Day to throw him out and that he d never bunt. One Day he amazed everybody and did Lay one Down. More amazing yet he made it safely to first. The feat was considered so remarkable that one newspaper ran a Back Page headline proclaiming Lombardi beats out bunt. He was a big Man 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds and his uniform invariably would be sweat soaked from All the Energy he was expending. The first thing you Ever noticed about him was his nose. It rivalled Jimmy Durante s. It was so big it earned him the nickname Schnotz but he had a heart that was even bigger. Lorn always took Good care of the Young kids on the club remembers Gabe Paul who was the reds travelling Secretary when Lombardi was with them. Paul also is a member of the veterans committee which elected Lombardi and Doerr to the Hall of Fame on monday. He was the banker for the Ball club Paul says with a laugh. If anybody especially any of the Rook ies needed Money they d go right to Lorn because he always had the biggest Roll he was Happy to lend you whatever you needed and he never charged any  they never could find anybody willing to room with him though. He snored too loud. That nose of his made a lot of noise when he slept. Lombardi was a Workhorse behind the plate. Some times he d get so disgusted with what his pitchers were throwing he d stick out that big right hand of his and catch the Ball Bare handed. It used to drive his Pitcher crazy. He did t have a big go but he could t understand Why he was t voted into the Hall of Fame Back in the 50s or 60s. He got so fed up waiting to be elected before he died in 1977 at the age of 69, some years after an abortive suicide attempt he said he would t show up even if they did vote him in. If you knew him you knew he did t mean it. Doerr never set his Cap for the Hall of Fame. I think it s a great Honor and it s terrific that it happened but i can t say i really was sitting Here expecting it said the 67-year-old former red sox second baseman from his Home in Junction City ore., following his election. Doerr was t nearly As slow As Lombardi but he was far from being any Speed Burner. He averaged less than four stolen bases a year in his 14 seasons with Boston but was such a consistent hitter and so near perfect in the Field that hardly anyone noticed. The things he could do were obvious to anyone who Ever saw him play said Birdie Tebbetts. I played with him and i played against him. It was t until i got to the red sox that i found out How often he played with terrible migraine  Tebbetts also serves on the veterans com Mittee. The group welcomed Ted Williams As a Mem Ber for the first time monday and he contributed some Fine input but mostly he listened. Nobody s happier than i am that Bobby was voted in Williams said. It s Well deserved and nobody will appreciate it More than he  that was clearly apparent from the Way Doerr a .288 lifetime hitter greeted the news of his election. Hell be at the annual governor s dinner wednesday evening in St. Petersburg. It s too bad Lom can t make it with him. He would be been on hand for the big occasion with Bells on. No matter what he said. United press International Bird s 50 Points weren t enough Mavericks slip by celtics 116-115 from press dispatches Dallas the Dallas Mavericks finally shed their Boston celtic Jinx on a night Larry Bird scored 50 Points. We survived one of Bird s clinics. You have to feel fortunate said Dallas Nabaro Windup coach Dick Motta after the Mavericks came from 13 Points Down with less than five minutes left in the game to defeat the celtics 116-115 monday night. It was Dallas first win Over the celts in 12 tries since the Mavericks joined the National basketball association in 1980. Bird scored 50 Points for Boston but it was t enough. No big Deal he said. I should have had 54. The shots were there for me and i just took them. We gave them too Many free throws and easy baskets Down the  Motta said there was every Indica Tion this was going to be a bad night. But we showed some professional Pride out there. I knew we would beat them sooner or later he added whether it was me Here or rip Van  Rolando Blackman s two free throws with eight seconds remaining on the clock iced the game for Dallas. Bird scored 17 Points in the third Quarter As the celts built a 104-91 Lead. Brad Davis put Dallas ahead 111-110 with 43 seconds left with two free throws. Then Dale Ellis hit a three Point shot with 16 seconds to go making it 114-110. However the clutch shooting Bird connected on a three Point shot. Blackman who had 32 Points for the mavs was fouled and made two free throws. After a time out Bird hit a Layup with four seconds left but Dallas avoided a foul and the clock ran out on the a photo Rolando Blackman. Two late free throws for Dallas celts. Dallas played the game without High scoring Mark Aguirre but Davis scored 18 Points and Sam Perkins added 24 to pick up the scoring Slack. Dennis Johnson scored 19 Points for the celts who lost their second game in a Row. In other games monday suns 120, pistons 109 Pontiac Mich. Larry Nance equalled his Aba career High with 44 Points including 20 in the first Quarter As Phoenix snapped Detroit s 15-game Home winning Streak. The suns who had lost four straight also got 17 Points from Reserve Forward Mike Sanders while Kelly Tripucka scored 30 for the pistons who played without top scorer Isiah Thomas sidelined with a sprained thumb. Phoenix started fast getting four Points each from Nance and Jay Humphries to Lead 8-2 Only 1 14 into the contest. The suns used a second spurt late in the Quarter to take a commanding Lead. Nance sandwiched two baskets around another by Alvan Adams in the last 1 14 of the first period for a 36-27 advantage. Ahead 67-57 at halftime Phoenix in creased its Lead to 75-62 just 3 12 after intermission before Detroit rallied with six straight Points. The suns answered with a run of their own however outscoring Detroit 10-4 Over the next 3 16 for a comfortable 85-72 Lead. Detroit never got closer than nine Points the rest of the Way. Supersonics 111, warriors 108 Oakland Calif. Jack Sikma drove for a three Point play with four seconds remaining monday night giving the Seattle supersonics their Victory Over the Golden state warriors. Goal ending was called against the warriors Larry Smith on the decisive play and Sikma was fouled by Golden state Center Joe Barry Carroll. Sikma s free throw gave him a total of 11 Points in the final Quarter and 23 for the game. Sikma was Seattle s second leading scorer behind Forward Xavier Mcdaniel who had 26 Points. Carroll and Purvis Short scored 22 each for Golden state and Terry Teagle had 21. Sikma the sonics starting Center sat out most of the third Quarter after picking up his fourth personal foul. Seattle trailed 89-83 at the end of three periods but went ahead by outscoring the warriors 10-1 in the first five minutes of the fourth period. The Lead changed hands several times near the end. The warriors Eric Floyd tied the score at 108-108 by driving for a Layup with 19 seconds left. Whalers record first Ever win at Montreal forum Montreal a John Anderson scored a goal and assisted on three others As the Hartford whalers snapped a seven season Jinx at the forum with a 5-2 Triumph Over the Montreal canadians in the Only National hockey league game played monday night. The Victory was the whalers first in Montreal since they joined the nil in 1979. Until monday they had lost 18 and tied 5 at the forum. The Victory gave the last place whalers 66 Points in the Adams division standings three behind fourth place Boston and 12 behind the canadians who Are in first place with 78. Anderson who went to Hartford in a Trade with the Quebec Nordques last saturday scored his first goal in a whaler uniform with one second left in the first period. He assisted on Sylvain Turgeon s goal late in the second period and on third period goals by Ray Ferraro and Kevin Dineen. Ferraro picked up a lose puck along the boards to the right of Patrick Roy who had a Superb second period and beat the Ca Nadies goaltender with a Backhander mid Way through the period. Dineen s wrist shot beat Roy at 17 47 to round out the scoring. Lakers sign Henderson to fill in for Kupchak Inglewood Calif. A the los Angeles lakers signed Center Jerome Hen Derson to a 10-Day contract to take the place of Mitch Kupchak who recently underwent knee surgery the National Basket Ball association team said monday. Henderson 6-foot-11 and 230 pounds appeared in 30 games for the Detroit spirits of the Continental basketball association this season. He averaged 13.7 Points per game and ranked fourth in the league in blocked shots with 2.4 per contest