The Michigan Daily-Wednesday, February 13, 1980-Page 9 SPOR TS OF THE DAIL Y: 4 Tigers opt for contract arbitration By The Associated Press Detroit Tiger infielders Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell along with out- fielder Steve Kemp and pitcher Mark Fidrych are opting for arbitration by a mediator rather than negotiate with the Tiger,front office. Ex-Tiger Ron LeFlore signed a one- year contract with his new club, the Montreal Expos, for an undisclosed amount. LeFlore was traded by Detroit to Montreal for southpaw hurler Dan Schatzeder. AMONG THE names still on the list were National League relief star and Cy Young Award winner Bruce Sutter of the Chicago Cubs, ace Pittsburgh reliever Kent Tekulve and top Houston relief specialist Joe Sambito. The Oakland A's, for the fifth straight year, had the most players filing for ar- bitration, with 10. Detroit, Seattle and Toronto each had five players scheduled to go to arbitration. Other big names on the list included outfielder Ellis Valentine of Montreal, shortstop Roy Smalldy of Minnesota, third baseman Ray Knight of Cincin- nati, and Chicago White Sox pitcher Ken Kravec. One star who chose to pass up ar- bitration was St. Louis All-Star shor- tstop Garry Templeton. He reached, verbal agreement Monday on a one- year contract. Templeton had threatened to file for arbitration, but instead accepted a contract believed to be worth about $300,000 for the 1980 season. THE ARBI'TRATION process calls for the player and the team to each submit a salary figure to an arbitrator, who then schedules a hearing. After both sides present their arguments, the arbitrator selects one of the two sub- mitted figures as the player's salary. There is no bargaining., Pete Rose, association counsel for the players association and the man in charge of setting up the hearings, said, "I'm in the process right now of setting up all the arbitrations. There will be hearings in Chicago, San Francisco and New York, with the last one to take place by-Feb. 23." Players eligible to go to arbitration are those with at least two years of ser- vice over three seasons, and less than six years of total service. The teams and players can continue to bargain toward a new contract until they go to arbitration. A's stay put OAKLAND - The late afternoon deadline for a $4 million American League buyout of the Oakland A's lease came and went without any action yesterday, practically assuring another season at the Oakland Coliseum for the troubled baseball team. The league had offered the money as a way of getting Charlie Finley out of the remaining eight years of his lease at the Coliseum and alowing him to sell the club to Marvin Davis of Denver. HOWEVER, league President Lee MacPhail had said that the city's refusal to accept the money by yester- day was the end of those attempts, for this year at least. "There's no chance of further exten- ding the time,'MacPhail said from his New York office. "Wedhave no alternative but to proceed with preparations for the A's home opener April 10," said Coliseum General Manager Bill Cunningham. "I DIDN'T really think they'd meet the deadline," Finley said in Chicago. "so the American League will with-' draw its buyout offer and I'll be free to deal with other people. That would probably kill the sale to Marvin Davis once and for all. "I have a couple of people who want to buy the team and keep it in Oakland and then there's always the possibility that I will keep it and run it myself." San Leandro builder Wayne Valley, a former owner of the Oakland Raiders, and Dr. Dave Schoenstadt of Marin County both have talked about buying the team recently. "I DON'T have meetings set up with those guys exactly, but I wouldn't be surprised if I got together with one or both of them this week," Finley said. Although the buyout offer expired yesterday afternoon, it probably became a dead issue the night befdre when the Oakland City Council voted 6-1 not to drop its pending lawsuit against Finley. Jabbar sued LOS ANGELES - Pro basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has been sued for divorce by his wife of nine years, Habiba, Abdul-Jabbar's lawyer confirmed yesterday. "He told me he had been served papers," attorney Bob Owen said in a telephone conversation from New York. Owen declined to give further details. ABDUL-JABBAR and his wife were married May 28, 1971 but have been separated since October 1978. They have two daughters, Habiba, 7, and Sultana, 9 months; and a three-year-old son, Kareem. Abdul-Jabbar has been the National Basketball Association's Most Valuable Player five times during his 11-year pro career. The 32-year-old center has been with the Los Angeles Lakers for the last five years and is the sixth-leading scorer in the NBA this season, averaging 25.3 points a game. AP Photo U.S. downhiller Karl Anderson battles Lake Placid's Whiteface mountain during a training run. The Greene, Maine native is practicing in hopes for a gold medal. :: : '::'-'i"+.; {.. . .:...;{,.:.. . . .".. .:::.,. .: . : ,y :