Lednesday, August J, 'l "V 7 AHE MICHIGAN DAILY -uf tleven Reds' pitchers reeling By The Associated Press CINCINNATI - The Cincinnati pitching staff is becoming a textbook example of Murphy's Law: Anything that can go wrong, will. And, for the defending world champions, it has. "IF PEOPLE read about all these things in a book, they'd laugh," moaned pitching coach Larry Shepard. "I've never seen so many things go wrong at the same time," said bewildered Sparky An- derson. Cincinnati's pitching woes are mounting almost as fast as the staff earned run average. For example: *Superstar Tom Seaver is only 3-2 since ar- riving in a celebrated trade six weeks ago. He has recently been hampered by what Anderson called the "old zippety-doo" an intestinal ail- ment. . Rubber armed reliever Pedro Borbon is favoring a sore knee suffered when his son slam- ed a car door on it. " Untried rookies Paul Moskau, Doug Capilla and Mario Soto compose 60 per cent of the Red's five man rotation. * Moskau, 22, re-aggravates a groin injury every time he pitches, but Anderson said, "I've got to pitch him. There's nothing else I can do." * Veteran 37 year old lefthander Woodie Fry- man, demoted to the bullpen after a slow start this season, asked to be traded. le was pressed into the starting lineup again and responded with three straight victories - then promptly retired to his Kentucky farm. Y Veterans Jack Billingham and Dale Murray are suffering through their worst ever seasons. "At least I hope they've never had no worse," said Anderson. Desperate for a seasoned reliefer, the Reds picked tip Joe Hoerner, released this spring by the Texas Rangers. Hoerner has yielded the first two grand slam home runs of his career and is saddled with a 14.40 ERA. Some have tried to add humor to the situation. Sore-armed Tom Carroll, a former Cincinnati pitcher now studying philosophy in Washington, sent president Bob Howsam a prank telegram offering his pitching services. AT LEAST ONE sports writer has jokingly urged the team to activate batting practice pitch- er Joe Nuxhall, who also serves as a Reds broad- caster. As the pitching problems have mounted, the defending world champions have slipped further behind the division leading Los Angeles Dodgers. The problem has become as much psychologi- cal as physical, Anderson said. "There's no question that after a certain point, a lot of it becomes mental," the manager said. CINCINNATI REDS pitcher Tom Seaver wipes sweat from his face and ponders his pitching problems which are emblematic sf the woes encountered by the entire Reds staff. Seaver is only 3-2 since he was traded to the Reds, who are currently 13 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers. Is Big Ten in financial distress? By The Associated Pres BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The g Ten football conference is n the road to self destruc- n fisancially," accordingrto diana Coach Lee Corso. "Ohio State and Michigan on't die," said Corso, "but here's no question in my sind that the conference is trouble. The majority of ears depend on game day icket sales, and those fans on't come when you're liminated from the confer- nee championship race with ttle hope of a bowl bid." Csrso suggests the league tit a schedule , which in- tdes six conference games. asebrll's leaders AMFERICAN LEAGUE G AB R B Pet. rew Min 102 398 03 152 382 tk m tn 101 397 75 136 .343 eu 05n 4106 031.320 L'10031 Bat 55 331 54 104 .314 tr tr 90 361 49 113 .313 rgWe ke 93 321 47 100 .312 Oal'k t9 310 55 99 .3tt ens KC 100 392 60 122 .311 ers NY 90 362 43 112 .309 e Cie 84262 40 81 .309 Homne Ruas JBe, Boston, 27; GScott, Boston, Settles, New York, 24; Hisle, nnesota. 23; Bonds, California, Zisk, Chicago, 21. Runs Batted In Bile, Minnesota, 87; Zisk, Chi- Thompson, Detroit, 73; isn, New York, 72. Pitching (10 Decisions) OJohnson, Minnesota, 12-3, .800; ett, New York, 10-3, .769; Bar- -Chicato, 11-4, 733; Lyle, New rk, 8-3, .727; Bird, Kansas City, .727; Rozema, Detroit, 10-4, (; Wtz, Minnesota, 12-6, .667; 'eoander, Texas, 11-6, .647. NATIONAL LEAGUE G AB K B Pet. ertt Ph 98 385 47 130 .338 er Pg 103 427 71 143 .335 10si Phi 92 347 60 110 .334 nleton 5tL 0 840067 133 .326 oale, Chi 200 360 44 117 .325 fey Cia 201 400 78 130 .325 50s StL i6 337, 56 109 .323 bhey StL 89 258 43 82 .318 shon Pgh 04 293 42 93 .317 se Cn 102 307 80 126 .317 Foster, Cincinnati, 34; Schmidt, iadephia, 28; Luzinski, Phila- 1ia, 26; Burroughs, Atlanta, 26; ey, Los Angeles, 25. Runs Batted In oster, Cincinnati, 102; Cey, Angeles, 8$; Garvey, Los An- ; Luzinski, Philadelphia, 11"Ch, Cilteinnatf, 76. ItchIng (10 Decisions) ,Pittsburgh, 9-1, .900; Los Angeles, 12-2, 857;RRen l,,Chirago, 15-3, .833; Candi- Pithbrghk 11-4, .733; John, Asgeles, 11-4, .733; RForsch, St. 13-5,.722; Carlton, Philadel- 14-6, .700; 3 Tied With .667. The other five games would be against "natural rivals." "We'd play Notre Dame and Kentuckywhenever webcould," Corso said. "And I'd bet we'd have little trouble filling the stadium against either. "If the Big Ten adopted this method, more teams from the league would receive bowl bids," Corso said. "Look at the Southeastern Conference. Most of the teams in it play six con- ference games. Some of their non-conference games are against weak opposition, and they produce the type of record which attracts a bowl bid. Now' that the conference allows more than one team to partici- pate in bowl games, we should do everything we can to get the invitations." The conference requires eight Big 10 games and three non-conference games which must be played duringfhe first four weeks of the season. "We're just eating each other up, and our last four games usually mean little," Corso said. "People aren't inter- ested in seeing a team play that's battling for third place." A quick check of the record book proves Corso's claim. In the last decade, only three teams have had winning sea- sons in six of the years. Four teams were over .500 twice, and in the other two years there were five teams above .500. "I raised my point at the league meetings," said Corso. "But instead of making the con- ference schedule shorter, the league decided to require nine conference games starting in 1980." Another Big Ten policy which Corso would change is requiring the Big Ten Rose Bowl representative to go to California 10 days before the game. "At that point of the season, there isn't much you can do, and I think you wind up spend- so I think a change is needed. ing a lot of time sitting The conference is evaluated on around," Corso said. "The its performance in that game, game officials really don't need so why should we do something the team around to sell tickets, that hurts that performance?" Braves to announce signing of Fitzsimmon By The Associated Press BUFFALO-If the Buffalo Braves have their way, Cotton Fitz- simmons will be named coach of the NBA club today. "My hope is it will be tomorrow, that it will be over this week. I've ben shooting for Wednesday," Braves President Norman Sonju said yesterday of his efforts to find a coach. SONJU AND Fitzsimmons' lawyer, Jerry Davis, have agreed to contract terms, Sonju said. The pact reportedly gives Fitz- simmons two years at the agreed-upon coaching salary, with a guarantee of two years at another job in the Braves -organization if the club should hire a new pilot. Fitzsimmons, 45, was director of player personnel for the Golden State Warriors last year. He coached the Atlanta Hawks to a 140-180 record in the 1972 through 1975 seasons and led the Phoenix Suns to a 97-67 record in the 1970 and 1971 seasons. A Public Service of this newspaper & The Advertising Council Courageous people to work for no pay. Frequently the hours and conditions are inconvenient or difficult. Occasionally even dan- gerous. No reward, beyond the gratitude of the people you help. Apply at your local Red Cross Chapter. Red Cross. The Good Neighbor.