APRIL 6, 1969:
AL PREVIEW: TIGERS by George Cantor (Detroit Free Press)
DETROIT - The prevailing sentiment in Detroit this spring is that there is only one team capable of beating the Tigers. And that team is the Tigers.
Even though it won the pennant by 12 games last season and grew up enormously in the World Series, this club has problems a good deal more tangible than possible complacency.
The danger zones are third base, shortstop and second-line pitching. A falling off at any one of these place could make the Tigers vulnerable.
Don Wert is a veteran performer coming off two poor seasons in a row at third. Manager Mayo Smith is inclined to blame the beaning Wert suffered last June for his dreadful .200 season and expects a jump of about 60 points from him.
Wert's fielding continues second only to Brooks Robinson in the league, but another bad year at the plate could but this position up for grabs with the Tigers.
There is also uncertainty at shortstop. Smith insists that he will go with young Tom Matchick. The only trouble is that if he stick with that lineup one of Detroit's slugging outfielders must ride the bench.
The Tigers shifted center fielder Mickey Stanley to short for the Series to get Al Kaline into the lineup. Smith wanted to test Stanley there again this spring, but Stanley's sore shoulder kept experimentation at a minimum.
Besides Stanley and Kaline, the Tiger outfielders are Willie Horton, who hit 36 homers last year, and Jim Northrup who led the club in runs batted in with 90. The Tigers would dearly to play all these hitters at once and it appears inevitable that Smith must shift Stanley again.
The ball club is set on the right side of the infield with veteran Norm Cash at first and Dick McAuliffe, who developed into a first-rate defensive man, playing second. The incomparable Bill Freehan will return as catcher, despite a spring-training accident in which he broke his nose.
Super pinch-hitter Gates Brown leads a versatile Detroit bench.
The Tigers should have no problems with the first two men in their pitching rotation. Thirty-one game winner Denny McLain and World Series hero Mickey Lolich give Detroit one of the game's top righty-lefty combinations.
After that, there's trouble.
Earl Wilson, who struggled to a 13-12 record last year, has shown no signs of coming out of the tailspin. In 16 innings this spring, Wilson was tagged for 25 runs and 35 hits.
Joe Sparma was supposed to be the fourth starter, although wildness forced Smith to lift him from the rotation in August. Sparma has had control troubles again this spring and the Tigers may have to raid the bullpen to bring in John Hiller and Pat Dobson to alternate with Wilson and Sparma in spot starting assignments.
Rookie Daryl Patterson will be in the service until June, so the stopper of the bullpen probably will be 39-year old Don McMahon. Hiller and Dobson will back him up when they are not starting and an unimpressive array of journeymen will also see action. Rookie lefthanders Fred Scherman and Mike Kilkenny may help out, too.
The Tigers are good enough to repeat as champs. This is still the same club that did it in 1968 - but it brings back the same problems that were overcome in the big year. The problems are big enough to trip them up, too, if last year's impetus fades away.
MICKEY STANLEY