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Ellis Reveals in VietAPDOCK ELLISMeeting the TroopsBy PFC. KEN SCHULTZSS Staff Co-respondentSAIGON — Pitching ace Dock Ellis of the world champion Pittsburgh Pirates admitted here he had a sore arm during the World Series against the Baltimore Orioles.“I had no business pitching but I didn’t want to miss being the starting pitcher in the opening game of the Series,” said Ellis, who was driven from the mound in the opener of the fall classic after giving up a three-run homer to Merv Rettenmund in the third inning.Danny Murtaugh ‘‘wasn’t too cool.”Ellis and three other major league baseball players arrived in Saigon Wednesday for a 13-day USO tour of U.S. military installations and troops in Vietnam.The other three players are Bobby Bonds, outfielder for the San Francisco Giants; Mike Iledlund, pitcher for the Kansas City Royals, and Mike Killkenny, pitcher for the Detroit Tigers.National League umpire Nick Colosi and Chicago Today sports writer Jim Enright — the tour manager — also made the trip.Though Ellis led the Pirate pitching staff with a 19-9 record, he pitched only 2 1/3 innings during the World Series, which the Pirates won four games to three.Despite losing the first two . games of the Series in Baltimore 5-3 and 11-3, Ellis said the Pirates never lost confidence.“We knew when he came home for three games against the Orioles, they wouldn’t touch us,” he said, ‘‘because the Pirates had won consistently at home during the regular season.”‘‘We were always confident,” he said. ‘‘Everybody thought we were through after losing the first two games. But the press and the people in Pittsburgh fired us up by saying we didn’t have a chance.”Ellis also praised outfielder Roberto Clemente, who was voted by sports writers as the most valuable player of the Series.‘‘He played super hard because he doesn’t get the recognition he deserves,” Ellis said.Clemente, four-time National League batting champion and the league’s MVP in 1966, collected 12 hits during the Series, one shy of the record.‘‘I don’t know too many players 37 years old who can do what he can,” Ellis said.The 26-year-old Ellis was miffed by the criticism of the Pirates’ pitching staff, which he said was underrated.The Pirate staff allowed only seven runs in the last five Series games after giving up 16 in the first two games.Ellis added that trying to hide the sore arm from managerBy KENT NIXONSS Sports WriterTOKYO — Baltimore Manager Earl Weaver’s face twisted in a wry grin as he asked Japan newsmen, ‘‘Do you want us to lay down a little bit? Are you happy with the way we played?”Weaver’s power-packed, strong-armed Orioles had just cut down the Japan All-Stars 7-0 here Wednesday for their seventh victory against no defeats but with one tie on their postseason tour.“You are too strong,” a Tokyo newsman told Weaver as other local newsmen nodded in assent.With 10 games left on the American League champions’ Japan barnstorm schedule, Nippon baseball observers found scant little to be optimistic about.“Why don’t you start any other pitchers?” another Tokyo scribe wondered.“We use the other pitchers in case any of our starting four (all 20-game winners) have a bad day,” Weaver said, a faint tone of apology discernible in his voice.“Nobody looks good against good pitchers. ThetUAJapanese are not playing bad baseball. If they could put up four pitchers like we have, they’d do all right,” Weaver added.He noted that his Orioles were a “streak team” and that they won the final 11 games of the A.L. season, all three games of the league championship series and the first two of the World Series against the Pittsburgh. They lost the next three and the World Series to the Bucs.But since arriving in Japan, Baltimore has reconstructed its winning habit, although Weaver said, “We may lose some games before we leave.”But don’t bet on it. In fairness, Weaver was probably saying this from a good will standpoint. The barrel-chested Oriole skipper hates to lose and he spoke the words with an enormous lack of conviction.The Orioles bad a travel day Thursday and were at Niigata Friday for a game against the Yomiuri Giants. They return to Tokyo for games at Korakuen Stadium Saturday and Sunday against the Giants.iJLi f..J
Newspaper Details
Pacific Stars and Stripes
Tokyo, Tôkyô, JP
Sat, Nov 06, 1971
Page 28
Full Page
Clipped by
Marc H.
VA, USA 25 Apr 2023
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