European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 11, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday june 11, 1987 the stars and stripes Page 19 commentary John 44f proving he s not too old if it takes one to know one Tommy John understands what Tom a Caver is trying to do. Begin Ning thursday night in an exhibition game against the Tidewater farm team Tom a Caver is trying to convince the mets that he can still pitch at age 42, just As Tommy John had to convince the Yankees that he can still pitch. But at our Ages you can t pitch poorly John was saying now. If you do they think you re  Tommy John is not too old. Going into wednes Day night i game with the Toronto Blue jays at Yan Kee stadium the 44-year-old left hander had a 6-1 record with a 3.34 earned run average the Best stats of any of the Yankee starters. At his age John gets More batters out with his head than he does with his Arm. And that is what Seaver must do if he is to help lift the mets off the Treadmill they be been on this season. I think Seaver will pitch Well John said. He May pitch on the wrong Day against Rick Sutcliffe or Bob Welch or Rick Reuschel. He might lose by 2-1. But if he gets 16 or 18 starts hell win seven or eight or nine games. And if the mets win 10 or 12 of those games that he starts he will have had a great year. Granted the Tom Seaver of today won t be the Tom Seaver of years ago. But if he can give the mets five or six Strong innings and get them to the bullpen that s enough. He still knows How to pitch. And that s Why i m not surprised at the year i having. I know How to pitch. I know How to  although they be respected each other profession ally for two decades John remembered Only once when they spent any time together. During the 1977 world series when John was with the los Angeles dodgers and Seaver was a television analyst John asked Seaver How he and his wife Nancy had Cre ated a Home from a barn in Greenwich Conn. The next Day Tom came by the hotel picked up Dave Anderson my wife Sally and me and lock us up there to show us the House John recalled. We had a great  As a Pitcher analysing another Pitcher John remembered a game near the end of the 1985 season. Seaver then with the Chicago White sox was pitch ing in Oakland against Jose Canseco the Young slug Ger who had been promoted from the minors. John then with the a a was sitting in their dugout with Wes Stock their pitching coach. Canseco s first two times up John said i think he got a hit off a curve Ball and then bounced out on a change up but Seaver never threw him his Good fastball. His next time up a Caver had. Two on and two out. On the Bench i told Wes you la see some pitching now Seaver busted his Good fast Ball up and in and popped him  that s knowing How to pitch. And that s Why Seaver Hopes to add to his 311 victories and Why John has 270 after having been released by the a s and earlier by the California Angels. Pitching is three things Speed placement and movement John said. If you have All three you re Sandy Koufax Juan Marichal Bob Gibson Steve Carllon and Tom Seaver. And if you have two of the three like i do you can be a very successful Pitcher. I was never a hard thrower. When i was in my prime thank god they did t have the radar gun. But i still had two of the three. I Pride myself on knowing How to pitch. Some nights i can t do it. Some nights you re just going Roget hit. But for me it s like in Golf. I remember read ing once where Ben Hogan talked about knowing which Side of the Fain Vay to miss your shot on. I know which Side of the plate to miss my pitch on. It s also changing speeds. Even a slight change of speeds will do it. The time i pitched in Modesto before i joined the a a the kids there could t believe the variations of Speed in my pitches. On the radar gun one pitch would be 80 Miles an hour the next one 84, then 82, then 79. You can do that with grip pressure. But the idea is to get the Batter to the Point where he s looking for one pitch and then it s three Miles a hour slower or three Miles an hour  pitching to John is also based on the number of innings a Pitcher works in a season not necessarily on his won lost record. You always hear baseball people saying we want pitchers who la win 15 or 18 games John said. But what some people Don t understand is that innings Are More important. You give me five pitchers who la work 225 innings that s what s important. You play 162 games. Multiply that by 9 innings that s 1,458 innings. If you have five pitchers with 225 innings that s 1,125 innings right  in analysing Saver s 7-13 record with the White sox and the Boston red sox last season John remembered a Factor that affected him in 1985 whence had a 4-10 record with the Angels and a s. Tom s Mother died Early last season after an illness my Mother died in june two years ago after an illness he said. You re flying Back and Forth you re on the phone All the time How s mom you get yourself ready for the season and something like that disrupts it. I Don t care How great a Pitcher you Are something like that affects your  since last season the red sox the Yankees the Atlanta braves and the Milwaukee Brewers thought about Tom a Caver and decided he was too old. But two years ago the Angels and the a s decided Tommy John was too of. The new York times Al from Page 17 a photo Joe Niekro pitches against the royals tuesday night in his first Start As a twin. Rare Start had blanked the red sox Over six innings. It was the orioles sixth consecutive toss and 10th in their last 11 games. Twins 5, royals 2 Minneapolis Joe Niekro Al Lowed two runs in 6 i innings in his first Stan since being acquired from the Yan Kees helping Minnesota beat Kansas City for its fourth straight Victory. Tim Laudner hit a two run Homer for the twins who moved within .001 of first place Kansas City in the american league West. Niekro 4-4, allowed nine hits struck out six and walked three for his first Vic tory Over the royals since april 26, 1971. Keith Atherton pitched 2% witless innings for his first save. Rangers 3, mariners 0 Seattle Ruben Sierra Pete o Brien and Steve Buechel hit Solo Home runs and Jose Guzman pitched two hit Ball for five innings As Texas beat Seattle. Guzman 4-5, who was making his first Start after spending 10 Days in the bullpen allowed just a third inning double to John Moses and a fifth inning single to Mik Kingery. The 24-year-old right hander struck out four and did t walk a Batter before leaving the game due to a stiff Back. Paul Kilgus relieved then Dale Mohor Cic picked up his fifth save of the year by going the final 2vj innings not allowing hit Mike Morgan 5-7, went the distance for Seattle allowing 11 hits seven for extra bases. Athletics 8, White sox 3 Oakland Calif. Oakland s cur Tyoung pitched a no hitter through 7vi innings before allowing a two run Homer by Ken Williams and finished with a one hit 8-3 Victory Over Chicago. Williams who was in an o-for-16 slump homered to left Field on a 2-2pitch with the Ball staying fair by a few feet inside the foul pole. The Rookie s third Homer scored Fred Manrique who had walked. Young 8-3, struck out seven and walked three in his fifth Complete game. Angels 6. In Buss Anaheim Calif. Mark Mulc More s infield single scored two runs inthe seventh inning As California beat error plagued Cleveland. The Angels rallied for four runs in thinning All unearned due to Cleveland shortstop Cory Snyder s throwing error. Snyder made a diving Stop of Mulc More s hard grounder up the Middle but threw wildly to the plate for his second error of the inning As Jack Howell scored from second to give the Angels their sixth run. Snyder who d started the game in right Field but shifted to Short in the sixth inning made his first error of the seventh inning when he threw wide to Sec Ond trying for a Force out on Devon White s one out grounder. Wally Joyner followed with a two run single to tic the game 4-4. Jack Lazorko 2-2, pitched seven plus innings for the Victory. Duane Buick pitched the final two innings for his fourth save. Rich Yett 1-4, took the loss. Cleveland s Mel Hall hit his eight Homer off Buice in the ninth. St. John s Pitcher eager eyeing mets contract new York a Terry brass the starting Center for the St. John s basketball team has been drafted by the new Yor Kmets and is apparently close to signing a school spokesman said tuesday. Brass a 6-foot-9 Junior was drafted by the mets in the 13th round last weekend has been negotiating with the National league team the spokesman said. The right hander whose fastball has been clocked at Over 90 Mph was 0-1 with 17 strikeouts in 21 Vij innings for the redmen this year. Brass started 29 of the Rcd men s 30 is netball games last season averaging 1 Points and 3.6 rebounds