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6 The Ruston Daily Leader Monday, June 11,1979■\■*?*»: V-. .. . xr.-. v 's . i •^4rVi^: ^ .v • ■.£M** '* i**'1i1i1im iv •*?« *» r W ■• .. f T .' ?.: .! 7'*«lt;By O.K. Davis jLynn McClothen is giving the Chicago Cubs more than their money’s worth.When the National League team purchased the Simsboro native last summer, they planned to use him exclusively as a reliever.But as this 1979 season has progressed, McClothen has been finding himself in double duty.As both a reliever and a starter.He-.ireliever, consistently bailing out other starters in trouble and gaining key saves....in a recent 4-3 win ovbr the San Diego Padres, Jm got credit for the victory by tossing four important innings and giving up four hits and one run,. cThat latter decisiopr ^eftMcClothen with a 6-6^ record through games of Friday#?#: Cubs' Two-Way Threat) iisn’t anything super; buMblsarkabl. a remarkable performance He has performed supert^t).considering that he was in both roles... •Regarded fas ‘VaMp up” McClothen whs the pitoft^#'?ohly two .years ago. of record in the Cubs’ yea^ijf McClotfei was traded from fit** * Victory of.,. ?$bj£ sftthe St. Lojds trfipaHto the season..; , the. Btarted.aiid San Francisco Giants prior to hurled; a.; complete kgafhe/f the 19f7;8kpn.: issuing: sik hits and not With mark And 2.70 earned run average^ and 142, strikeouts during ’74.,,.he went 15-13 the following year and then 13-15 the next season.But be saw action in only 21 games, for the Giants, spending most of the campaign on the disabled list with a sore shoulder.His pitches didn’t have the rip and finesse of previous £eah' #d many observers wie hik off as of any value to anytteam.“People are always asking how’s the arm and I’m always answering, ‘fine’, but ;they keep asking, M McClothen said. “Well, it is fine. All I needed was a :■ chance. The way I feel now, Iwalking a batter (he struck a k5ey; starter. »1N^M^ii;s#ould hav^ a good year inout two) in a 5-1 victory over victories' jlp ( three --deaabni fi kifejtef' ■. if I wasn’t back tothe Montreal Expos. (1974-76),. .including I: think I’m more■■ .■' ■ - ../*• • •, ' -i'/.vj.',‘v/- '• 'valuable to this team as astarterYou will find the 6-foot-2 and 195-pound righthander listed as a starter in the “Today’s Games” section of the daily major league standings.You will also find him designated as a reliever in the box scores.“We knew he could still throw when we saw him pitch five strong innings against the Dodgers last year, ” said Bob Kennedy, general manager of the Cubs.Ironically, it was Kennedy who recommended McClothen to the Cardinals after scouting Boston’s top farm club at Pawtucket in the International League-Am-erican Association playoffs in 1973.McClothen, who earned 16 letters in ail sports at Grambling High (an all-stater in football during 1967), began his professional career with the Boston Red Sox at their Class A Waterloo farm team in 1968....he compiled a 3-2 record.In 1969, he played for Winter Haven-another Class A team-and compiled a 15-8 record and 3.92 earned run average.Then in 1970, he had probably the best season ofhis 12-year professionalcareer.Playing for Winston-Salem of the Class A Carolina League, McClothen earned“Player of the Year” honors in the league by producing a 15-7 record...he was the league leader in strikeouts (202), complete games (16), and earned run average (2.24) and earned a berth on the All*Star team.He moved up to Louisville of the Class AAA International League and finished No. 1 in complete games (8), ranked No. 9 in ERA at 3.72, and finished with a 10-10 record.He was even better the following year, winning nine,of 11 games and recording a :;1.92 earned run average.McClothen finished the 1972 season with the Boston Red Sox and had an 8-7 record and 3.41 earned run average.He started the 1973 season in Boston, but was later sent to Pawtucket where he was 2-4 and 3.91.That’s when Kennedy recommended him to the Cardinals.The Red Sox* loss was theCardinals’ gain. McClothenwas chosen to the National League All-Star team and eventually completed eight games and worked 200 or more innings in each of his three seasons with the club.In need of additional pitching, Kennedy and the Cubs obtained him from the Giants for Hector Cruz and cash in June of last year.“We had talked about the deal for some time, but we didn’t want to give up onCruz, ” said Kennedy. “Wewere very reluctant. Weneeded pitching, though. We had to have pitching.”McClothen was a plus for the Cubs from June until the end of the season.His 5-3 record, 3.04 earned run average, and 60 strikeouts in 80 innings impressed club officials. He was 3,00 or below against six ofthe team's 11 opponents and he didn’t issue an earned run to the Cincinnati Reds and Houston Astros and allowed the Montreal Expos only one run in 8,1 innings of relief.McClothen had impressive strikeout performances of 12 in 18.2 innings lt;2.37 ERA) against the New York Mets and nine in 5.2 frames against the Atlanta Braves.McClothen’s exhibition performance this spring was another indication that he should be considered as a star ter....his 1.00 earned run average for 27 innings was the best for the Cubs.And sure enough, it turned out that the one-time student of Grambling State got an early starting assignment when the regular season got underway.Two other Cubs' starters had either been injured or had poor spring training performances.McClothen got his chance and he made the most of it inthat 5-i victory over theExpos.■ * i“•4 * S « *The only run he allowed was on a sacrifice fly.And he threw six consecutive curve balls to strike out Tony Perez, considered as one of the all-time best hitters/i'r ' V'*.,in the National League, McClothen, of course, “ righlhanded. cBut he does everything eh lefthanded. He eats hs (handed, writes lefthandei “I don’t know how it hrii iris.'.:'7 ‘-i't? ’pened that way, ” he said. * just happened, that’s all.” For the Chicago Cubs, doesn't matter how Lyh McClothen pitches.Just so he keeps on wti ning, either as a starter or reliever.GSU Sots Youth ProgramLynn McCJoth#n Cu4 m Hi* CemebedtGRAMBLING-Grambllflg Slate University will once again serve as a host for the National Youth Sporjg Program (NYU) sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCA|$ and the Community Servica Administration (CSA) Jude ll-July 26.
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