European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 30, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Tuesday september 30, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 25 commentary critics of Mcnamara choking on words Byl Daberkow Boston not John Mcnamara with two pieces of White tape flapping from the sleeve of his Blue red sox windbreaker and a shift lineup card in his hand entered the Boston dugout one Day recently from the passageway leading from the clubhouse. Well he said to a Boston sports writer As he began to tape the lineup card to he Wall or the dugout who won the Polk county championship what asked the sealed the lop of the lineup can with one strip of tape and flattened the Bottom with the second strip. The Polk county championship he repealed. Having completed his posting chore he sat Down on the cushioned dugout Bench his generous Hook nose prominent under the Bill of his baseball Cap. I guess Detroit did said the s right said Mcnamara with a Loach of satisfaction. Polk county Fla is where the red sox in Winter Haven and the tigers in Lakeland train in springtime because of their proximity the clubs play numerous preseason games with each other. And that s when most people were picking you Guys for fifth place said the reporter. And seventh place too reminded place 18vj games out of first place was where the red sox finished last season. And Lasi place was certainly a possibility this some people Haven t we said Mcna than some said the reporter. It s True of course that the red sox hardly appeared to be the strongest team in major league Masc Ball As the new season was unwrapped. Their pitching was questionable their defense might be unreliable their base running was possibly undependable and Only their hitting much of their hitting anyway seemed relatively mattered mostly 1 thought was the old cliche pitching will take you As far As you go he said. And our pitching has been so Nave the red sox who Rose to dominance in the american league East leading the second place club by As Many Asip i games in mid september and finally clinched the division did t try to make a full House out of a pair of deuces. And so if his fastest everyday player is his 33-year-old Center fielder then the team will not Lake chances on the bases and if his Best base stealer Smarty Barrett with 14 the league Leader is Rickey Henderson with 86then hell Call on say wad Boggs who is in a daily tussle with the Yankees Don mailing to for the league baiting championship to Sac Rifice bunt or ask Bill Buckner or Dwight Evans the veterans at first base and in right Field to hit behind the Omner to Advance him. The idea that Youdon t go against your Grain if you want to Maxi Mize your skills is Essen tial to Mcnamara we did t know what to expect from Clemens for example he said. He meant Roger Clemens the right hander who May finish the season leading the league in victories. He has a 24-4 record now and 238 strikeouts and a 2.4fi earned run average. He came off sur Gery last year and he was our fifth starter to begin the season Mcnamara said. When he got his first Start against Chicago Hewon. And won some More. He had 14 consecutive victories before finally a temporary almost solitary. Quiets sceptics reversal of Fortune. Any time the red sox appeared la begin to sink Clemens rescued them. Fourteen times out of 15 chances Clemens has started a game after a Boston loss or a series of losses and has won. But Mcnamara in t As complacent As he might por tray himself and in fact attempts to take the Burden of concern from his players. "1 was having some trouble at the Plale earlier in the season and i was t sleeping Well because of said Dwight Evans. Funny a Guy like Wade Boggs or mat tingly i understand they can go through a bad period not that they have Many and sleep eight 10 hours a night. Not me i told Mac that i was kind worried. He said worry about what that was All and that was All i needed to feel that my manager had a lot of Confidence in Calvin Schiraldi the Relief Pitcher who joined the red sox in mid july after spending the first part of the season with the Pawtucket farm club recalls being called upon to save a game for torn Slayer. It was against Baltimore and the red sox were winning 3-1,in the eighth inning and the orioles got two men on with no one out. Schiraldi proceeded to walk a Batter and give up a hit which drove in two runs and lied the game the red sox won in in the 11th. And Schiraldi was the winning Pitcher. Afterwards he said i went to Tom and apologized to him for not being Able to save a win for him. He said Calvin did we win the game i said yes. He said that s what we were out there for. He also told me that he liked the Way i Hung in there and did t get discouraged because i started off badly. That Lold me a lot about you he said. That was a very important thing for me to hear a Caver now in his 20th major league season and Don Baylor a Veteran of 16 big league seasons both came to the red sox in deals this year Baylor just before inc Start of the season and a Caver at the end of june. Another player on the team who leads but mostly by example is Jim Rice the Star left fielder for More than a decade who is now a candidate for most valuable player in the league. Rice is one of the lop hitlers in the league and of yesterday was Balling .319 with 20 Home runs and 107 runs batted in. Rice is a fierce competitor and sometimes a fierce conversationalist As Well. Mcnamara has said that inc club has been fortunate that v far there have been no major injuries to key players. The major problems for the club have been personal ones. Wade Boggs Mother was killed in a car crash in june. Rich Gudman the All Star Catcher lost his father to cancer in May. Editor s note gedman s half sister Deborah m. Coltman Stone 36, a diabetic with a heart condition died sunday of natural causes. And then there were the celebrated tantrums and two week suspension of Dennis Oil can Boyd an Ace starting Pitcher he became upset when he was not selected for inc All Star team which Cost him a $25,000 Bonus and he flew into a rage screaming obscene its at even his teammates including Baylor and Rice who tried id Calm him. He s been accepted Back said Evans and even though he apologized that does t mean that much. It s actions that count. And the whole team had a wait and see attitude about the can. But he s controlled himself and we re rooting for him. So far we re very proud of to he s come the attitude of the team toward Boyd to give Hima Chance to make amends and the response by scan or to Schiraldi and the attitude of Jim Rice to getting hit in the head with a pitch then digging in deeper at the Plale the next time up seem pan and parcel of the Genera ideology of the team philosopher the Paterra Milias the skipper John Francis Mcnamara. What you be Golla be Able to do he said is put yesterday behind rooting for botox has been a habit with nun Holyoke mass. A Sisi Evanila Maria has been following the Boston red sox since they last won the world series in 1918. And the 80 year old roman Catholic nun has never Ion Faith in her team. Baseball is in my blood i guess said the sister of former holy Cross outfielder Arnold state who played in the majors in the 1920s. The loved it As Long As i can remember. Sister Anita follows the red so games mainly by radio and she has t missed a broadcast in nearly a dec Ade even those night games on the West coast which 5 no casual loyalty when the Bell for prayers rings at 5 30 red sox played so Many exciting games i was Loo nervous to fall asleep she said. Even if the games sometimes did end around 2 . Her passion extends to statistics. Sister Isth Only sister i know of who gels the report said Chuck Waleski who publishes a monthly red sox statistical report. She remembers Riding m a car i Chicago with Hall of Fame Pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander. And shews in ebbetts Field in Brooklyn when a Man with a megaphone announced to the crowd that Charles Lindbergh had arrived safely from his trans Atlantic flight. But tie red sox have been her perennial Pennant pick since she was a Little girl growing up in Worcester even i reality and the Yankees usually set in by june. Bui this year they were in firs place on May 15, then june is then july is she said. By then i really started to believe they could do it. They be really earned it Loo. Hope people remember they had to overcome All those injuries she said. It was t m also very impressed Ai How they handled Oil can Boyd s prob lems. They handled his problem with a great Deal of Christian Chanty an care she said. They really seem like a team of Good Christian men especially John Mcnamara the manager. He is so Calm so reassuring. Bui do you really think they can beat the Angels sister Anita asked. Czech paper concerned Over Lendl s status As citizen Prague a the communist name on the scoreboard. Party daily published a Reader s query of whether Tennis Star Ivan Lendl was still a czechoslovak citizen hinting official displeasure Over his reported unwilling Ness to return Home and play for the czechoslovak Davis cup learn. Lendl the world s no. I player and Winner of this year s . Open Wilt note playing for the czechoslovak team in is semifinal clash with defending cup Champion Sweden Here oct.3-5. Czechoslovak non playing Captain Jan kodes said on aug. 26 that Lendl had refused to play on his country s team next month. I spoke with Lendl asked him to join the team kodes then told replied he cannot. He said Formali ties he applied for were nol settled Intima and now he has another can Ivan Lendl still be regarded As our Ennis player t rude Provo quoted a Reader As asking the newspaper s journalists at a Public discussion a week ego. Lendl currently lives in the United Stales. In the question and answer session a Prague s Julius Fucik Park sport editor Ivo Urban reportedly told the question or Ivan Lendl is our citizen when he plays at an International tournament Czechoslovakia is written beside his Nam however As we can read in foreign press interviews Lendl gives. He unfortunately docs not always behave wheway a citizen and of our Republic should Urban is. The interviews were not specified. Rude Provo was reporting on a Public discussion during last week s celebrations of the Day of the press radio and Televik in which a panel of editors answered questions ranging from the soviet Economy to czechoslovak Media reports allegedly lagging behind foreign counterparts. While Many czechoslovak fans Are known to be bitter Over Lendl s refusal to play for their country authorities have avoided Sharp Crit id in Public m an apparent Effort not to antagonize him. The right hander who makes his Home in Greenwich conn., has applied for permanent alien status with the United states government the first Slep to Ward becoming an american citizen. Television pro football Dallas at St. Louis taped8 to p in. Tuesday
