Page Twelve THE MICHIGAN DAILY Friday, August 12, 1977 SPORTS OF THE DAILY et Littler paces PGA field Down to the wire By Don MacLachlan Tigers in '77 ... 4th place finish TIllS SUMMER will be remembered as the year the Detroit Tigers could have been so good - if Mark Fidrych had pitched for the entire season. But The Bird probably won't hurl again this year and who knows if he would have provided the Ben- gals with an additional ten wins. What about the efforts of Bob Skes and Jack Morris - a couple of pitchers who wouldn't have seen Detroit until September if the Bird wasn't tounded Fidrych came off the disabled list Wednesday, but it ap- pears manager R-lph Houk won't use him again this year. If the Major did, it would be ridiculous. Detroit is going nowhere in the American League East Division for the fifth consecutive summer. Why hurry the Bird back and risk a more serious Injury? Fans around Detroit are beginning to speculate that Fidrych may have thrown his last pitch and his arm will never recover. If that's the case tln the Tigers have the problem of replacing a fan favorite and the ace of their pitching staff, a rotation that is beginning to look respectable for the first time since the prime of Denny McLain and Mickey Loligh Along with the hard-throwing rookie duo of Sykes and Morris, Houk is blessed with a splendid rookie in Dave Ro- zema. The Rose will probably win 17 or 18 this year - just one shy of Fidryc's total in his first campaign a year ago. Ro- zema has exceslent control and if he avoids further arm trouble, could have a great future in Detroit. Milt Wilcox and Fernando Arroyo have been pleasant surprises to the Tiger staff, and Bruce Taylo along with Steve Foucault could comprise the nucleus of the Bengal bullpen next year. ' The veteran Jchn Hiller still has a heckuva fastball but his hard-worked left arm just isn't really dependable anymore. Jim Crawford turned in some good performances this summer and could be offered as trade bait during the off-season. INFIELD NEEDS HELP Detroit's infield is currently its weakest spot. Jason Thomp- son is the first baseman the Tigers have been looking for since Norm Cash hung up his spikes. The powerful lefthander should hit at least 25 home runs and collect 100 RBIs in his first full major league season Down in the minor leagues lies a capable double play combination in Sweet Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammel. They gained valuable experience this year and might be ready to take the field for the Bengals next season. However, if Whitaker isn't quite seasoned enough to face major league pressure, Tito Fuentes can hopefully return for another season. The 34 year old second baseman still maintains a .300 batting average - something no one expected at the outset of the season when the Tigers signed hini as a free agent. If Trammel needs another season to tune up in the minors the Bengals are in trouble. Houk has given Tom Veryzer more than enough time to prove his worth to the Tigers, and the shortstop sure has let them down. He is solid defensively but his offensive statistics are almost too weak to mention. At the hot corner. Aurelio Rodriguez or rookie Phil Mankow- ski both want a regular starting job. By swapping one of those two, general manager Jim Campbell could get someone of value in return. LeFLORE NEXT LEADER? Willie Horton, Al Kaline, Jim Northrup, Mickey Stanley . the Tigers have always had a solid outfield. Steve Kemp's desire and hustle have made Tiger fans forget the Horton trade. The native Californian is stil improving and Houk sees a very bright career for Kemp. Ron LeFlore, now hitting .30. his proven himself a consist- ent offensive threat and with sharper defensive play could be- come the player the Tigers look up to. Ben Oglivie and Stanlev have done a sufficient job in Kaline's corner. Houk should gLide this squad to a fourth place finish this year and next year the pressure will really hit the Major. With a big off-season deal, the Tigers could land that one right- handed powerhittet or solid starter they really need. This year's crop of rookies will have a year of experience under their belts. General manager Camnbell has sat still long enough. Hope- fully he can see that a Vern Ruble, Dave Roberts, Nate Colbert, Gary Sutherland or Ray Bare will net instantly bring a pennant to Detroit. With the Bird flying again and a big name brought into town during the off-season, the hungry Tiger fans just might have a right to be optimistic in :978. By The Associated Press PEBBLE B E A C H, Calif. - Veteran Gene Littler, sidelined with a bad back for six weeks, slowly strolled to a five-under- par 67 and a two-stroke lead over Jack Nicklaus early in yes- terday's first round of the PGA National Championship. THE 47-YEAR-OLD Littler, troubled by arthritis in his lower back, has played infrequently since scoring his 29th tour tri- umph in the Houston Open in May. He hasn't played at all in six weeks. Nicklaus, recognized as the game's greatest p 1 a y e r and seeking a record-tying fifth PGA title, birdied three holes in a row on his way to a 69. The stretch included a 45-foot putt on the ninth hole. "I was just trying to figure out a way to get it down in two and the ball went in the hole," Nicklaus said. Watson, the outstanding play- er in the game this year, was one of the late starters on the famed layout that stretches 6,- 806 yards along cliffs and crags of Carmel Bay. And he had to go off with a borrowed set of irons. Maravich inked NEW ORLEANS - High-scor- ing Pete Maravich signed a five year, $3 million contract with the New Orleans Jazz -yes- terday, a package that probably makes him the second highest paid player in the National Bas- ketball Association. ALTHOUGH terms of Mara- vich's contract were not dis- cussed by either the all-NBA guard or team management, a source close to the negotiations said the amount is in excess of $600,000 a year. ~ But the source said the figure was less than the amount earn- ed by Kareem Abdul Jabbar of the Los Angeles Lakers. Maravich was in the final year of his contract with the Jazz, but he had said 1se would retire if h contract were not renegotiated. Maravich led NBA scorers last season with an average of 31.1 points per game. Both Maravich and general m a n a g e r Lewis Schaffel de- scribed the contract negotia- tions as "difficult." "It wasn't all monetary," said Maravich at a news conference. Lions grab two OAKLAND - Oakland Raider veterans M a r v Hubbard and Horace Jones were traded in straight cash deals to the De- troit Lions and Seattle Sea- hawks, respectively, the Raiders announced yesterday. HUBBARD, 31, beginning his eigh h year in the National Foot- ball Leagu2 sat out last season after shoulder surgery. But a team official said Hubbard, who played in Oakland's preseason 40-0 victory over the Houston Oilers Monday, is healthy this year. Hubbard, a running back, was Oakland's 11th pick in the 1968 draft after a college ca- reer at C lgate. He ranks third among active players in the American Conference with 4,394 yards. The Lions, hurt by the loss of kicker Benny Ricardo who is out for the season with a shoul- der separation, also obtained place kicker David Posey on waivers from the San Francisco 49ers. POSEY WAS the ninth round National Football League draft pick of the 49ers this season. Torrid Philies roll on, 10-5 ny The Associated Press PHILADELPHIA -- Bake McBride drove in three runs and beltes his ninth homer of the sea- son, and pitcher Jim Kaat had three hits yester- day as the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Montreal Expos 10-5 for their eighth consecutive victory. KAAT, WHO HAD t'vo doubles, lasted only un- til the sixth, but had enough of a lead to lift his record to 5-7. The win increased the Phillies' margin over the Cncago Cubs to three games in the National League East. Kaat, baseball's winningest active pitcher with 252 wins, gave up two runs in the first, but the Phillies get two runs in the first and four in the second on McBride's two-run homer and RBI hits by K' at and Jay Johnstone. Rangers prevail ARLINGTON, Tex. - Mike Hargrove and Claudell Washington each drilled two-run home runt and rookie Bump Wills laid down a perfect suicide squeeze bun, to help the Texas Rangers to a 8-3 victory last night over the Kansas City Royals. DOYLE ALEXANDER, 12-7, gave up only two hits but needed relief help from Roger Moret, who pitched 3 213 innings to earn his first save. of the year. Old nemesis Jim Co'born, 12-11, was the vic- tim as the Rangers jumped past Kansas City into third place in the American League West. Orioles nip in BALTIMORE - Lee May's two out single in the bottom of the ninth inning scored the tying and winning runs as the Baltimore Orioles ral- lied for three runs to defeat the Seattle Mari- ners 4-3 last night. WITH ONE OUT in the ninth and the Orioles trailing 3-1, pinch hitter Pat Kelly walked against starter Glenn Abbott, who then gave way to Enrique Romo. 5-9. Billy Smith hit what could have been a game-ending double play but first baseman Dan Meyer threw the ball into left field, allowing Smith to reach first base and Kelly to go to third. To y Muser's sacsice fly to left made it 3-2. Ken Singleton followed with his third hit, a dou- ble to right, which put runners at second and third and set the stage for May. May blooped a 2-1 pitch into right fot the winning hit. Angels trip Bosox BOSTON - Hot-hittirg Bobby Bonds drove in four runs, two with his 29th homer, and Paul Hartzell notched his first complete game victory of the season last night as the California Angels defeated Boston 7-3, ending the Red Sox' 11- game winiing streak. BONDS, WHO drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the third, moved into a tie with Boston's Jim Rice for the American League's home run lead in the fifth and had another RBI, his 82nd, witl' a fielder's choice grounder in the seventh. Yankees win NEW YORK - Mike Torrez hurled a master- ful two-hitter last night, allowing just two singles and permitting only one other runner in pitching the New York Yankees to a 3-0 victory over the Oakland A's. The 6-foot-5 right hander hit Rodney Scott with a pitch to start the game. Marty Perez hit into a force out and Jim Tyrone bounced into a double play, after which Torrez retired the side the next three innings. After Manny Sanguillen singled in the fifth, Torrez retired 11 straight hitters until pinch hit- ter Tim Hosley singled in the ninth. It was the 13th straight loss for the A's, most for the franchises s since the club dropped 13 in a row while playing in Kansas City in 1959. Tribe socks Chicago CHICAGO - Buddy Bell smashed a two-run homer and Rick Waits hurled the Cleveland In- dians to a 3-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox last night. CLEVELAND SCORED an unearned run in the second inning. Andre Thornton reached first when right fielder Wayne Nordhagen dropped his fly ball for an error. Two outs later, Thornton scored on a single by Paul Dade. Frank Duffy opened the Cleveland third with a double and scored on Mil's ninth homer of the season off loser Ken Kravec, 7-4. Waits, 6-4, limited the Sox to three hits until the ninth as the Indiaps swept the two game series. Jim Kern earned his 14th save. Chicago now leads Minnesota by only 1 game. The Twins beat Toronto 7-3 last night.