European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 30, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Friday August 30,1991 the stars and stripes b Page 27 commentary 61 yanks a scribe s summer dream by Steve Jacobson it was a Brand new White ban Lon shirt i bought for this trip with the new York Yankees. It was in the summer of �?T61, which was before we understood that ban Lon shirts were hot As a Sauna. But the ballplayers wore them and this was very Early in my education. It was my first season covering the Yankees the Only team in town. I had a Baa baseball writers association of America card 385. Its no. 28 now. This was in the lobby of the Muhlebach hotel in k.c., where they had the earliest Melon and Strawberry in the league in the Coffee shop and up the Street the kind of burlesque i had Only heard about. Anyhow i was chatting with several people and All of a sudden Yogi Berra squirts Blue Ink All Over the front of Niy new ban Lon shirt. I mean what Are you supposed to do when its your first season on a Job you had dreamed of and this legend does Spirig thug like that to you i had found Yogi to be cordial until i asked him a question and then head Grump a How the hell do i know a Veteran writers like Stan Isaacs and Lenny Shecter had warned me that yogis lovable cartoon image was a fraud. I wanted to learn everything Isaacs and Shecter could teach. This was beyond what they told me. And then the Ink paled and then faded away completely and Yogi laughed his heh heh heh. That summer was like a first love some things you never forget. It was the summer of Mantle and Maris but it was my summer too. Id been to Spring training for the first time the Yankees last Spring in St. Petersburg where they a trained since babe Ruth. Elston Howard was the Only negro player to attend the annual chamber of Commerce breakfast and Bill White of the cardinals objected that no negro on his team had been invited. That Spring like All Springs before negro players a they weren to referred to As Blacks then a lived in the negro Section of the City not at the teams hotels. I did no to quite know How to handle it. It was a season for me to get to know Maris and Mantle better after covering a handful of games in 1960. Mantle was his own legend with bandaged legs. For a moment he could be witty and Wise especially for columnists Jimmy Cannon or Milton Gross but id ask for introspection and head spin on his Stool and give me the reddening Back of his Heck. Maris did no to care who the writers were he was Roger. He had a the r.a.,�?� As players called the attitude. A sure a he said a a in be had it All my in be been Back Reading the microfilm. Roger a statement eventually led to his alienation. Honest and direct As he was he never did understand what the Media were doing. Pitcher Whitey Ford and slugger Mickey Mantle were close during Yankees glory years. It was fascinating to be on the outer ring of the inner Circle for the first time to see Whitey Ford run across the Field to throw a scuffed Ball a a watch this a to coach Jim Hegan. Ford was always acute courteous and funny. Of course my family knew him from Way Back when his picture was on the front pages being sworn into the army next to Howard Jacobson my brother. Ralph Houk in his first season As manager was More intimidating than Casey Stengel had been but i could understand what he said. He a been identified As a major which he became As a matter of procedure the Day he was discharged from the army. Captain was enough. At a party in los Angeles he told me about the time he got out of a jeep and saw that his Raincoat had a dozen bul it holes. Ford said he had changed his dogs name from Casey to major. There were at least 13 daily papers covering the Yankees but not today a swarm of radio stations and to rarely had a camera on the scene. New Day was an afternoon paper with later deadlines and the fun and the Best work was after the games a even after California night games. And we had no sunday paper Back then either. It was one of the great teams chewing up the first of the expansion pitching. Mantle was an absolutely stunning player and watching him wrap his legs to play and Force himself up the stairs of a bus was observing tragedy. In be that Marisa confidant Julie Isaacson a labor Union official said the papers sought a feud Between Maris and Mantle. I done to remember writing that. I know they shared an apartment in Queens with outfielder Bob Cerv for a time that summer. I never saw Mantle and Maris As especially close but they were always comfortable teammates. Mantle and Ford were close a Mantle called him Slick a but Fords family lived in new York. One time Ford had second baseman Bobby Richardson direct Mantle to move his position in Centerfield. A a Mick came trotting in from second base a Ford said after the game pausing Between each word. A the said i should take care of the pitching and he would take care of the i was thrilled to be hearing that stuff and at the same time awakened to the self serving lies and evasions that i now recognize As commonplace in ath Lete Joum Alist relations. They Arentt All Good Guys Pitcher Jim Coates was on that team Forone thing. It was the year a wave of pitchers adopted the no Windup delivery. Ford became a 20-game Winner for the first time and critics called him a a seven inning after winning his 14th straight Ford told of taking his sons to a batting Range and a fan saying a too bad you can to put in another Quarter and bring in Luis Arroyo the left handed reliever who saved most of Fords victories that year a the assault on Ruth a record became an everyday item but newspapers continued to cover the Yankees with one reporter and occasionally a columnist. When the Chase got into september new Day assigned Isaacs the grizzled Veteran to the Job and i was a Spectator. The crowd around Maris was swelled by the horde of out of town reporters. Isaacs single teamed the Climax of Maris and Mantle. He covered the 61st Home run by himself As most of the papers did but then the crowd was Only 23,000. Sal Durante caught the Ball and his Fiancee a name was Rose. There Wasny to even a big follow up because the world series was coming up. Mantle As always was the Star crossed figure drained from the Duel with history by a terrible abscess on his butt. He missed the first two games of the series and left the third after one at Bat with blood soaking through his uniform. He was witless in one More game but the Yankees did no to need him winning in five games. Ford broke Ruth a record for consecutive scoreless innings in the world series and Mantle was an inspiration. When the fifth game was Over Maris rushed from the crowded Crosley Field clubhouse. The taxi was waiting to take him to the Airport. End of legendary season. Jack Mann the sports editor and i lingered one More Day for the draft that stocked expansion Houston and the mets. Cruelly Early that morning the office Secretary phoned to confess she had. Messed up the reservations Home. She was afraid to Call the sports editor i was Low Man on the list. I was a Baa 385. Some things you never forget. does Bloom in Sunflower state by John Hendel United press International the state of Kansas has never been considered a bastion of College football. Wichita state after a series of poor seasons disbanded its team five years ago. Kansas state owns the worst All time record in Mcaa division i a. And Kansas most famous game is the 1969 Orange bowl in which the Jay Hawks employed a 12-Man defense and lost. The Sunflower state has been the Wallflower of major College football. But there is a football Power in the state. Tucked neatly in the Southeast Corner of Kansas is Pittsburg state University whose gorillas Haven to lost a regular season game since the third week of the 1985 season a Streak covering 55 games. A i done to know How we got to be a powerhouse a Pittsburg state coach Chuck Broyles said in a Telephone interview. A this is a typical Small College town and they like our football team. There a a lot of emphasis on it from the townspeople and there a a lot of football tradition thrives at Pittsburg. The gorillas have 24 conference titles and won naia National tides in 1957 and 1961. They have been a National run Ner up once 1981 and advanced to the National semifinals four other times including last season when Pittsburg lost to eventual Mcaa division ii Champion North Dakota state. A i think it All goes Back to when this was a teachers College a Broyles said. A the football program was successful and a lot of the players went out into the coaching profession. At one time you go to a Kansas City school where there Wasny to a Pittsburg graduate somewhere on the staff. A that built a lot of connections and consequently a lot of players were sent Back Here. A lot of Pur players Are still going into coaching. A All the victories gives Broyles in his second year As a head coach something in common with Nebraska coach Tom Osborne in that winning All of the the games in the regular season is getting to be so old hat the fans Are beginning to ask for More. A when i talk to different groups whether its the rotary or at a National football clinic one of the first things i always say is that the expectations in Pittsburg Are very High a Broyles said. A we have a boosters club and Well have our first meeting of the season Here in a couple of weeks. Ill give my Spiel about what the season looks like and undoubtedly someone will raise their hand and say a coach do you think we re going to have the first playoff game at Home this year or on the .�?T a they Are kind of on sept. 28, 1985, Emporia state Kan whipped Pittsburg 41-9. In the ensuing 55 regular season games the gorillas Nave Only been seriously threatened twice. Playing at Bolivar mo., Southwest Baptist scored 17 Points in the first period and led 24-20 before Pittsburg mounted an 80-Yard drive and scored a winning touchdown with 1 30 to play. Last year Central Missouri state played an outstanding game on defense and led 7-3 before Pittsburg scored on the first play of the fourth period for a 97 Victory. Usually however the scores Are As lopsided As Nebraska Kansas or Colorado Kansas state. The difference being the team from Kansas wins. As can be expected any team with that kind of Success begins with a defense that feeds a voracious offence. Broyles said a your defense has traditionally Good. Pittsburg state has had Good Tough hard nosed football players and the defense is usually nationally ranked. A but there had Only been a few really great offences. But when coach Dennis Franchione came Here in 1985 the offence just exploded. He changed the style from three Yards and a Cloud of dust to a split Back veer offence where we run the option.�?�. More of the same is predicted for this season. The gorillas Are unanimous choices to repeat As the Missouri intercollegiate athletic association champions and were Given the nations preseason no. 1 spot in division ii by three College football publications. Broyles recruits the bulk of his team from within a 200-mile radius of Pittsburg. The local flavor keeps the fan base close to Home and enhances Community support. A this year is the 30th reunion of the 1961 National championship team. Id be surprised if there weren to 40 Guys who return a Broyles said. A we have Golf outings and other Letterman functions. They just keep coming Back and supporting us. A a it a great to be a Gorilla. I guess that a the Bottom
