A roundup of the sports information of the week
BASEBALL—The LOS ANGELES DODGERS finished their Japanese tour with a 9-8-1 record, the worst performance ever by an American major league team overseas. The only big Dodger winner was Owner Walter F. O'Malley, who was awarded the Third Class Order of the Sacred Treasure by the Japanese government. He commented philosophically: "This tour shows that Japanese baseball is coming of age."
BASKETBALL—NBA: PHILADELPHIA (15-1) defeated the Knicks 113-109 and 117-108, the Bulls 145-120 and the Royals 134-110, to run its winning streak to eight games and its Eastern Division lead over the second-place Celtics to two games. BOSTON (12-2) made it eight wins in nine games with back-to-back 143-119 and 147-125 victories over the Bullets. Third-place NEW YORK (9-9) dropped three in a row before beating the Bulls 116-104, while CINCINNATI (6-9) lost two of three and BALTIMORE (3-16), three of four. In the West first-place SAN FRANCISCO's (11-6) winning streak reached six straight as Rick Barry scored 44 points in a 115-104 victory over the Pistons and 45 in a 144-109 romp over the Lakers. Barry's total raised his league-leading average to 39 points a game. ST. LOUIS (9-5), picking on the hapless Bulls and Pistons, won three games and moved to within half a game of the Warriors. In a 105-87 win over the Pistons, which gave the Hawks a five-game winning streak, rookie Lou Hudson scored 26 points, all in the second half. The only bright spot for DETROIT (8-11) was the shooting of rookie Dave Bing. He totaled 100 points as the Pistons dropped three of five. CHICAGO (7-14), after an unexpectedly good start, lost four more games to extend its losing streak to eight, while LOS ANGELES (5-12) lost two of three despite the return of Elgin Baylor, who missed three weeks with a knee injury.
CHESS—Russia won the team title for the eighth Straight year at the world Chess Olympics in Havana, with the U.S. second. Bobby Fischer, who had an amazing record of 14 victories in 17 games at first board for the U.S., was nosed out by the U.S.S.R.'s TIGRAN PETROSIAN for the individual title by .23 of a point.
FOOTBALL—NFL: GREEN BAY (8-2) lost Bart Starr early in the second period with an ankle injury but still managed to edge Chicago (3-5-2) 13-6 as Zeke Bratkowski threw two TD passes to Carroll Dale. Baltimore (7-3) fell out of a tie for the Western Conference lead with the Packers when the Colts were upset by DETROIT (4-6-1) 20-14. San Francisco (4-4-2) blew a 20-7 half-time lead and lost to PHILADELPHIA (6-5) 35-34 while LOS ANGELES (6-5) defeated Minnesota (3-6-1) 21-6 on four field goals by Bruce Gossett and moved ahead of the 49ers into third place. DALLAS (7-2-1) tied idle ST. LOUIS (7-2-1) for the lead in the East, as Don Meredith passed for one touchdown and ran for another to help the Cowboys defeat Pittsburgh (3-6-1) 20-7. Third-place CLEVELAND (7-3) remained half a game out of first by beating Washington (5-6) 14-3. A Yankee Stadium crowd sang "Bye-bye, Allie" and waved white handkerchiefs at Giant Coach Allie Sherman, as ATLANTA (1-9) defeated New York (1-8-1) 27-16. Falcon Quarterback Randy Johnson passed for three touchdowns (two of them to ex-Giant Ernie Wheelwright) and ran for a fourth, to give the expansion club its first regular-season win.
AFL: Babe Parilli tossed three touchdown passes and, with 24 seconds left in the game, Gino Cappelletti kicked a 19-yard field goal to give BOSTON (5-3-2) a 27-27 tie with KANSAS CITY (8-2-1). Despite the tie, the Chiefs (page 74) stayed on top of the Western Conference standings, but the Patriots dropped a full game off the lead in the East, as first-place BUFFALO (7-3-1) coasted over Houston (3-8) 42-20. NEW YORK (5-4-1) halted a four-game losing streak to remain in the running for the Eastern Conference title when rookie Emerson Boozer scored two touchdowns, including a 96-yard return of the second half kickoff, in a 30-13 victory over Miami (2-8). Passes of 58 and 51 yards from Tom Flores to Billy Cannon set up two touchdowns, as OAKLAND (7-4), 1½ games behind me Chiefs in the West, defeated Denver (2-8) 17-3.
GOLF—ARNOLD PALMER sank a 12-foot putt on the last hole to win the $110,000 Houston Champions International by one stroke over Gardner Dickinson Jr. (page 32).
HOCKEY—NHL: CHICAGO (8-2-2), with a victory and two ties, widened its lead to three points over runner-up TORONTO (4-3-7), which won a game and tied another. When NEW YORK (4-6-5) tied the Black Hawks 2-2 early in the week, the Rangers moved into a tie for second, their highest position in the NHL in five years. But a tie and a loss dropped them into a share of third with BOSTON (5-5-3), which extended its unbeaten streak to five with one tie and a victory. MONTREAL's (5-6-1) losing streak reached five games after a loss to the Maple Leafs 5-1, but the Canadiens climbed out of the cellar by beating the Rangers 2-1. DETROIT (4-8-2) lost two straight and fell into last place.
HORSE RACING—AMBEROID ($15), who had not won a race since the Belmont Stakes in June, took the 1‚⅛-mile Queens County Handicap at Aqueduct by 1¼ lengths over Exhibitionist.
MOTOR SPORTS—ART ARFONS lost control of his Green Monster and crashed wildly on the Bonneville (Utah) Salt Flats, aborting his effort to regain the world landspeed record (page 28).
Mario Andretti of Nazareth, Pa. took the 200-mile Bobby Ball Memorial race at Phoenix with an average speed of 104.687 mph for his eighth USAC championship victory of the year.
POOL—JOE (Butcher Boy) BALSIS, 44, of Minersville. Pa., defeated Ed Kelly of Baltimore two matches to one to win the sixth annual $20,000 World's All-Round Pocket Billiards Championship in Johnson City, Ill. Kelly beat Balsis in straight pool 150-26, but Balsis edged Kelly in nine-ball play 11-10 and in one-pocket 4-3 to gain the title.
TRACK & FIELD—Washington State's GERRY LINDGREN broke the six-mile-course record by 22.6 seconds and defeated runner-up Tracy Smith of Oregon State by 125 yards in winning the NCAA cross-country championships in Lawrence, Kans.
YACHTING—FRANK WOSSER or San Francisco overcame two broken spars to win the International One-Design World Championship in Bermuda for the second year in a row.
MILEPOSTS—NAMED: ROBERTO CLEMENTE, 32, the right fielder for the third-place Pittsburgh Pirates, as the National League's Most Valuable Player. Clemente, who batted .317, hit 29 home runs and drove in 119 runs, finished 10 points ahead of Cy Young Award winner Sandy Koufax, who actually had one more first-place vote than Clemente. Said Clemente, a native of Puerto Rico: "It's the highest honor a player can hope for, but I was expecting it. I had the best season of my career, and I was confident the sportswriters would vote for me."
HIRED: JOE CAMPANELLA, 36, as general manager of the Baltimore Colts, replacing Don Kellett, who resigned.
RESIGNED: MILT BRUHN, 54, as football coach of Wisconsin, and DOUG WEAVER, 35, as football coach of Kansas State. Bruhn led the Big Ten Badgers for 11 years and guided them to two Rose Bowl appearances (1960 and 1963), but his combined record for the last three seasons was 8-19-2, leaving him with an overall 52-45-6 mark. Weaver had more trouble at Kansas State, a perennial Big Eight loser. In seven seasons his Wildcats won just eight games, while losing 60 and tying one.
RETIRED: The Los Angeles Dodgers' SANDY KOUFAX, 30, the finest pitcher in the game, who said he was giving up baseball because he feared permanent injury to his arthritic left arm, which has bothered him through three seasons. Among the records that will surely earn him a place in the Hall of Fame as soon as the mandatory five-year waiting period is over: most major league no-hitters (four, including one perfect game), most strikeouts in one major league season (382 in 1965), most times 300 or more strikeouts (three—1963, 1965 and 1966) and most times led NL in earned run average (five straight years, 1962-1966). Sandy also gained the Cy Young Award as the majors' outstanding pitcher three times (1963, 1965, 1966) and the NL's Most Valuable Player Award once (1963). He averaged more than one strikeout per inning during his career, and his 2,396 total placed him seventh on the alltime list. In the last five seasons Koufax won 111 games while losing only 34 to make his 12-year won-lost record 165-87.
DIED: BILL MACDONALD JR., 58, a millionaire Miami sportsman who promoted the 1964 heavyweight title fight between Champion Sonny Liston and Challenger Cassius Clay; in Miami.
