Hide Article Text (OCR)
Whafr's Wrong With the Game?Baseball Is Clean, Wholesome Fun jBy ROBERT LIPSYTE Copyright 1968 New York Times News Service NEW YORK - For most baseball fans, this has been an ordinary week so far. A few young men have been cut down at home while stealing, some others nailed at the hot corner, several knocked out of the box or blasted off the mound. But for Theodore Rosenak, a 65-year-old from Roanoke, Va., it was a very special week, and it began on Sunday at Shea Stadium.'We were playing the Dodg-LOS ANGELES (UPI)-The nation’s finest track and field performers battle for places on the United Slates team today in the Olympic trials at Memorial Coliseum.The two-day competition concludes Sunday and determines the competitors who will enga^ in high altitude training at Lake Tahoe, Calif., and who hold final competition there to determine which performers will participate in the 1968 Olympiad at Mexico City in October.Saturday’s program featured finals in the 3,000 meter steeplechase, the 100 meter dash, the 5,000 meter run and four field events—the poleFull HolidayDianna#! ituera,” he recalled today, “and we had the batting helmets for the kids. I’d guess there were 35,000 kids, and I was impressed that people felt free to take little children to his event. Deportment was such that little tots could be there and nothing of an embarrassing nature would occur.”. ‘Tremendous1 To Rosenak, the event was “a tremendous demonstration of wholesomeness, and I thought ‘Let’s not change it, let’s not make it a frenzied violent thing’.”shot put.In addition, trials will be held in the 400 meter hurdles, the 800 meter run and the 400 meter run.Three men who bettered the world record in the 100 meters at the AAU meet in Sacramento, Calif., last week—Charlie Green, Jim Hines and Ronnie Ray Smith—will attempt to equal or better their 9.9 second marks in the sprint race. ^ heir time bettered the world mark of 10 seconds flat first set in 1960.Other men who share or hold world records who will be competing include Tommie Smith in the 200 and 400-meter dashes, Earl McCuIlouch in theAnd so, in the spirit of free speech and in the name of Rheingold Beer, the sponsor of New York Mets games on radio and television, Rosenak wrote and had printed, in this paper last Wednesday, a full-page advertisement that began: “Why do you suppose some people say baseball is a dull spectacle?”A former advertising copywriter, now president of Rheingold Breweries, Inc., Rosenak had some answers: “no shoot-’em up ... no stabbing . . . no sex . . . no torture ... no110-meter high hurdles, Jay Silvester in the discus, Ralph Boston in the long jump and Randy Matson in the shot.In the distance races, two American record holders head the fields in the 5,000 meters and the steeplechase. Gerry Lindgren holds the domestic mark of 13:33.8 in the 5,000 meters and George Young holds the American mark of 8:30.5 in the steeplechase, set last week in the AAU meet.In the pole vault the field is headed by Bob Seagren who once held the world record at 17-feet-7. But he was beaten in the NCAA meet by Jon Vaughn and in the AAU meet by Dick Railsback who challenges him again today.sock-thud ... no robbery (except stolen bases).”And Rosenak concluded: “Baseball is just clean wholesome fun.”Courage Astounding The courage of Rosenak, in a world of Dodgers and mealy-mouths, was astounding. No one_ before had come out and stated so boldly what is wrong with baseball. No wonder baseball teams have to give away batting helmets to small children. Who else would come out to sit in the sun without at least the chance of one little sock-thud?“We are all becoming conscious,” said Rosenak today, “of the possible connection between things people are seeing and things a small minority do.”“Such as?”“If you are watching television,” said Rosenak, “maybe baseball is a good thing to see.” “Instead of?”“Alternate programming.” Sunday, the Mets beat Los Angeles in a game without a single shoot-’em up or stabbing. Small children drank Rheingold out of their batting helmets and waited tor an instance of torture, or at least some sex. Nothing.“Baseball is doing a wonderful job,” said Rosenak. “The conduct of its players is marvelous compared to the conduct of players in other sports.” “Which other sports?”“Don’t ask me to be specific,” said Rosenak.The final score Sunday was 54, and the largest single-game crowd in Met history, 56,738, waited in vain for solitary untoward evnet, perhaps a simple assault. Nothing. Luckily, the game lasted only 2 hours and 10an object at a player or an umpire? Did you see anyone r raise his hand to strike an- j other?” jOf course not, this is baseball, t n o t alternate programming, i Sports fans who need such ugly a stimulation attend boxing matches, and some of them a were at Madison Square Garden a on Monday night when Manuel y Ramos, a heavyweight, translat- / ed into action what Rosenak j| expressed in words.This fight was ostensibly for C the. heavyweight championship c of five states, Joe Frazier title- ii holder. The referee, Arthur p Mercante, is a Rheingold em-ployye, coincidentally, specializ- L ing in the college market. v.Ramos, a handsome man, came out throwing punches with s the desperation of the out- b classed. The fighter who knows I his only chance is a lucky punch. He almost connected a with one, but it was hard E enough only to rock Frazier, s who built up his momentum and s began hitting Ramos so hard g and fast that the Mexican’s face b started lumping up immediate- riy-Toward the end of the second E round, his back pushing against y the ropes as if to get through E them and away, Ramos raised s his hands and shook his head. Mercante- later said that Ramos “indicated he no longer wished to continue.” Some people in the audience, who believed that a fighter assumes a tacit covenant with his opponent and the crowd to try to win until he is disabled, made uncomplimentary noise.But those were strictly shoot-’em up, stabbing, sex, torture, roberty, sock-thud types who do not appreciate wholesomeness and probably drink beer only as chasers.Booster NightsD /aim Iam f fNation s Finest Thindads Battle for Olympic Berthsvault, javelin, long jump and
Newspaper Details
Oshkosh Daily Northwestern
Oshkosh, Wisconsin, US
Sat, Jun 29, 1968
Page 24
Full Page
Clipped by
Madison P.
WI, USA 11 Aug 2023
Other Publications Near Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Oshkosh Daily Northwestern
Oshkosh Gazette
Oshkosh Enterprise
Oshkosh Early Dawn
Neenah Menasha Northwestern
