American League Roundup : Bobby Witt’s 4 Balks Open Gate for Tigers

The exact number of games decided by the new emphasis on the balk may be hard to determine. But Bobby Witt is certain the mental effect can be disastrous.

The hard-throwing right-hander is convinced that “undue” enforcement of the balk is the reason he and the Texas Rangers were beaten by the Detroit Tigers, 4-1, Tuesday at Detroit.

Although only one run was the direct result of a balk, Witt, who tied an American League record by having four balks called on him, went through a nerve-wracking day.

Witt tied the mark set by Vic Raschi of the New York Yankees in 1950. The four calls came in the first three innings when the Tigers scored all their runs. He missed by one tying the major league record of five set by the Milwaukee Braves’ Bob Shaw in 1963.

Witt settled down after the third inning, but the damage was done. Before a home-opener crowd of 51,504, Frank Tanana pitched a strong 7 innings and Mike Henneman retired the last five batters for his second save.

“This is really frustrating to me,” Witt, who has always had control problems, told the Associated Press. “I don’t know what’s going on. I was just exhaling, moving my shoulder, and the ump called a balk. I did exactly the same thing at Cleveland and nothing was called.”

Tiger Manager Sparky Anderson has always wanted the balk rule enforced. He had no sympathy for Witt.

“If I’m a pitcher,” Anderson said, “I ain’t going to let you win that way. I’m going to find a cure for this in a hurry. It ain’t the ump’s fault. How am I going to get mad at the ump for something my pitcher did? My pitcher (Jack Morris) did it three times in Kansas City the other day. I have no sympathy for them.

“The rule’s been on the books for 40 years, and they’ve been cheating the whole time.”

Two walks, two balks, an infield out and Matt Nokes’ single accounted for two Tigers runs in the first. In the third, three walks, a balk, a sacrifice fly and Jim Morrison’s single accounted for two more.

Boston 3, Milwaukee 1--When healthy, Bruce Hurst is almost unbeatable at Fenway Park. With the addition of Lee Smith in the bullpen, his record may get even better.

Hurst held the Brewers to five hits in seven innings in this game at Fenway, and when Smith followed with two shutout innings, Hurst’s lifetime record at home was improved to 21-7.

Smith, who gave up a game-winning home run to Alan Trammell in the 10th inning on opening day, has been almost perfect ever since. He has three saves and five scoreless innings in his last four outings.

Minnesota 7, Cleveland 6--For the first seven games, the Indians led the American League East on the strength of surprisingly good pitching.

It seemed too good to be true. It was.

After taking an early 6-2 lead, the Indians blew it because the pitching collapsed.

Although he didn’t get charged with the defeat, Doug Jones was the culprit. Greg Gagne’s two-run home run off Chris Codiroli brought the Twins to a 6-5 deficit.

Jones replaced Codiroli with the bases loaded. He hit Don Gladden to force in the tying run, then committed a balk to let in the winning runs.

Kansas City 6, Baltimore 1--Frank White drove in four runs,and Mark Gubicza pitched another gem at Baltimore to spoil the debut of Frank Robinson as Oriole manager.

Gubicza held the Orioles (0-7) to a pair of infield hits in seven innings. He had all the support he needed when White and Bo Jackson hit back-to-back home runs. Jackson’s 400-foot blast to left was his second home run of the season.

Seattle 6, Oakland 4--Alvin Davis and Ken Phelps hit successive home runs in the third inning, and Harold Reynolds hit a two-run smash in the sixth to highlight the Mariners’ home opener before 35,321 fans.