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Baltimore In 'Merry-Land'-ing. |
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Cincinnati Enquirer by Terry Flynn |
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12-29-1977 |
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Byron Baltimore was one of the reasons the
reasons the Indianapolis Racers staged a
late-season comeback last year, made the World
Hockey Association playoffs and defeated the
Cincinnati Stingers in the first round.
Baltimore, 25, is a defensive defenseman. He
plays the position by the book, protecting his
territory and trying to disrupt the opponent's
offensive efforts. He doesn't worry about
scoring as long as he doesn't give up goals.
About one month ago Baltimore sustained a hip
pointer which incapacitated him for several
days. However, when the injury had healed he
remained on the bench while Indy coach Ron
Ingram looked elsewhere for defensive
assistance.
The big (6-foot-2, 200 pounds) defenseman
figures that's all behind him now. He's wearing
the yellow and black of the Cincinnati Stingers,
playing once again for coach Jacques Demers, and
he expects to see plenty of ice time.
"I wasn't playing, so naturally I wanted to get
out of Indy," Baltimore said in expressing his
delight with the trade which sent him and
forward Hugh Harris to Cincinnati in exchange
for defenseman Gilles Marotte and winger Blaine
Stoughton.
"I've been ready to play for some time but I've
been on the bench except for a couple of shifts
against the Russians and against Houston," he
continued. "I can't really pinpoint any one
thing that kept me out of the lineup."
The soft-spoken Baltimore said he didn't
actually have any problems with Ingram, but
apparently the coach felt the big defenseman
"just didn't fit into his plans."
Baltimore admitted he was "not an outspoken
person" and said he never really talked to
Ingram about his banishment to the Racer bench.
"I never really got together with him (Ingram)
and I didn't know exactly why I wasn't playing,"
he said. "There was no real difference of
opinion."
Baltimore said there was, and is, a morale
problem on the Indianapolis team. "Any time a
team is losing, there's going to be a lack of
morale. You're going to have differences among
people. Unless you're in first place, things are
never as good as they could be."
Baltimore believes he will help the Stingers.
"I'm not very offensive-oriented," he said. "I
think I can supply a lot of defense aspect of
the game has always been my strong point. I
don't worry as much about scoring points as
watching my plus-minus figures."
Baltimore said he was glad to be back playing
for Demers, his coach in Indy the previous two
years. "He's a good coach," the defenseman said
of Demers. "He's an easy coach to play for, an
easy guy to get along with. He tries to make
things as easy as possible. If you do your job
you'll get along with Demers."
Baltimore pointed out that the Stingers are now
driving toward the playoffs. "I hope I can
provide some help in that direction," he said. |
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