3turday, August 5, 1978-The Michigan Daily
Walton wants trade
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)-Center Bill Walton, the
NBA's Most Valuable Player, is leaving the Portland
Trail Blazers, the team he led to the 1977 champion-
ship, Walton and the team said yesterday.
Neither Walton nor the Blazers said specifically why
he was leaving, but Walton's friend and agent Jack
Scott consistently referred to Blazer treatment of in-
juries.
"THIS WAS THE most difficult decision I've ever
had to make regarding my basketball career," Walton
said ina prepared statement issued through Scott, who
just completed a book on the Blazers. "The tremen-
dous loyalty and support of my teammates and Trail
Blazer fans "have made the decision that much
tougher."
Scott told The Associated Press that "The statement,
by omission, expressed his feelings."
"Bill's concern is not money but the working con-
ditions on the team that he joins," Scott said. He said
Walton is concerned with the treatment of injuries on
the Blazer squad.
WALTON, 25, HAS been troubled by a foot injury suf-
fered late last season. He missed nearly all games in
the playoffs, where Portland was eliminated by the
Seattle SuperSonics in the second round after the
Blazers had drawn a bye through the first round.
Scott said the team had agreed to make no comment
beyond this terse statement which the Blazers released
by telephone:
"THE PORTLAND Trail Blazers announced today
that Bill Walton has asked to be traded prior to the
1978-79 season and the club has informed him it will at-
tempt to abide by his request."
Scott said seven clubs are in the running to obtain the
services of the 6-foot-11 center, the NBA's Most
Valuable Player last season. They are New York, Los
Angeles, Denver, Golden State, Philadelphia, San
Diego and Boston.
Rookie Young notches
3rd win for Tigers
By DAVE RENBARGER
Special tothe Daily
DETROIT-That amazing fountain
of youth at Tiger Stadium was gushing
again last night.
In fact, fueled by pitcher Kip Young
and catcher Lance Parrish, it looked
more like a guyser as the Tigers drub-
bed the White Sox, 7-1.
THE BATTERYMATES, whose
combined age totals only 45 years,
combined forces to stymie the Sox
before a vocal Lutheran Night crowd of
31,334. The victory was Detroit's third
straight and their sixth in their last
seven games. It also moved the fifth
place club to within a half game of the
fourth place Yankees, who lost last
night to Baltimore.
Young, a major leaguer less than
three weeks, pitched his third complete
game in as many starts while demon-
strating the finesse of a veteran.
And Parrish, a major disappointment
an a team of young stars until lately,
went three-for-four at the plate, in-
cluding a homer, a double and three
runs.
Fellow rookies Alan Trammell and
Lou Whitaker also got into the act, tur-
ning three doubleplays and picking up
three RBI's between them in support of
Young.
BUT YOUNG didn't need a whole lot
of help throughout the early-going. The
23-year-old righthander, who the Tigers
drafted in the 23rd round of the 1976free
agent draft, was working on a three-hit
shutout through six innings. He even-
tually yielded ten hits, working effec-
tively with runners on base during the
SCORES
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Baltimore2.NewsYork I
Detroit 7, Chicago I
Texas8, Cleveland 0
Milwaukee 6, Boston 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Chicago6, Montreal d
Philadelphia 2, Pittsburgho
Atlanta 7,.louston2
New ork 8. St. Louis3
final three innings to raise his record to
3-1.
Doubleplays in both the eighth and
ninth frames got the Tiger hurler out of
trouble to finish off his evening's work.
Young's rapid success has endeared
him to the hero-starved Detroit fans.
For the second time the fans demanded
a post-game appearance by Young, who
was more than happy to oblige.
Tiger batters collected just nine hits
off Chicago pitching relic Wilbur Wood
(10-9) and eighth inning substitute Ron
Schueler. Two of them, however, went
for the distance, as Aurelio Rodriguez
and Parrish homered off the knuckle-
balling Wood.
THE TIGERS jumped out to a 2-0
lead for single runs in the opening two
innings, and never looked back.
Wood's lack of control set things up in
the first when he walked Whitaker and
Jason Thompson. Steve Kemp's RBI
single made it 1-0.
In the second, Parrish lead off with a
bloop single and starting rightfielder
Mickey Stanley followed with another
single. Parrish crossed the plate on
Trammell's force out at second.
After going out in order in the third,
Detroit pushed across another tally an
inning later to give Young three runs to
work with. Parrish poked a one-out
double to left, and scored his second run
of the evening on Trammell's RBI
single.
PARRISH MADE it 4-0 in the sixth with
a solo homer, his ninth of the year, into
the leftfield upper deck.
The Chisox finally broke through in
the seventh, picking upa run on a walk
and two singles. Detroit native Bill
Nahorodny picked up the RBI. The run
broke Young's scoreless inning streak
at 14.
In the last of the eighth the Tigers
picked up three more runs, to add some
frosting on the cake. Rodriguez's sixth
homer of the year led off the inning. Af-
ter Parrish made his first out of the
evening, Stanley stroked his second
single. Next batter, Trammell, drew a
walk and Stanley took third on a wild
pitch. Ron LeFlore followed with an
RBI single, leaving runners on first and
third. Whitaker lifted a sacrifice fly to
left to end the scoring.
JACK NICKLAUS blasts one out of the sand trap and onto the eighth green
in action from yesterday's second round of the PGA tournament that saw
Nicklaus miss the cut for the first time since 1960 in one of the Big Four
classics. Tom Watson held the second round lead.
Jack misses PGA cut,
Watson leads by four
OAKMONT, Fla. (AP)-Tom Watson, solving his problems with what
he called "a golden putter," put on a closing burst for'a 69 and stretched his
lead to 4 strokes yesterday in the second round of the 60th PGA National
Championship while Jack Nicklaus, almost incredibly, missed the cut.
"Everything seems to be rolling my way on these greens right now,"
said Watson, who used only four putts on his last five holes and played them
3-under par.
For Nicklaus, however, practically nothing went right.
The game's greatest player, winner of the British Open and Philadelphia
Classic in his last two starts and solid favorite to wina record-matching fifth
PGA title this week, failed to qualify for the final two rounds. he shota fat 79
in the opening round and followed with a 74.
It was only the fourth time in 68 major events as a pro he'd missed the
cut and the first time in one of the Big Four events since he failed to make it
in the 1960 PGA championship at Pecan Valley in San Antonio.
Tied for second place at 140 were Tom Weiskopf, Joe Inman and Ben
Crenshaw. Johnny Miller was in third place, five strokes back of Watson.