Pae 4- rid oyJne 19981-theMithigdn Daily SPOR TS OF THE DAILY 4 Umps NEW YORK (AP)-Richie Phillips, counsel for the Major League Baseball Umpires Association, said yesterday that umpires considered striking in protest of American League President Lee MacPhail's edict that Terry Cooney couldn't umpire a game in- volving the Oakland A's. But Phillips said the potential walkout was made unnecessary by the players' strike that began last Friday and the umpires' decision to disobey MacPhail's order that three crews on the West Coast switch assignments last Thursday so Cooney would avoid the Oakland series. MACPHAIL SAID yesterday that he took Cooney off the Oakland assign- ment because of fears for his safety af- ter the umpires joined Cooney in filing criminal assault charges against Billy Martin, manager of the A's. Martin was. suspended one week and fined $1,000 by MacPhail for bumping Cooney during an argument May 29 in a game in Toronto against the Blue Jays. Martin, who has appealed Mac- Phail's ruling, said that Cooney should not work any games involving Oakland or other teams in the AL West. Phillips, speaking by telephone from his home near Philadelphia, said Mac- Phail's action would encourage other managers and players to abuse um- pires with whom they were having problems. "MacPhail is buckling under pressure from Billy Martin," Phillips said. "The reassignment is a declaration of open season on um- pires." Mason case outlined TUCSON, Ariz. (AP)-With juror and considered walkout alternates selection completed, op- posing attorneys outlined their respec- tive cases yesterday in the trial of for- mer University of Arizona football Coach Tony Mason on charges he misused university athletic funds. Mason is charged with 15 felony coun- ts, including fraud, conspiracy and theft in connection with allegations that he accepted reimbursement from the university for trips he didn't take and that he gave money illegally to at least nine football players. SIX OF MASON'S former assistant coaches face separate trial later on similar charges. Earlier yesterday, Dr. John P. Schaefer, the university's president whose administration has been marred by the Mason controversy, but whose contract already had been renewed for his 10th year, announced his resignation effective next June to become president of a New York City research foundation. Schaefer made no reference to the Mason indictment in his announ- cement. Mason later praised his former chief as being outstanding, saying Schaefer "knew more about academic standards and its relation to athletics than any man in the country." MASON AND his six former assistan- ts were indicted last year by a state grand jury which charged they received more than $13,000 fraudulen- tly. Mason's attorney has contended that the figure involving Mason is only about $2,100. A former American Airlines ticket agent who also was indicted in connec- tion with the alleged misuse of funds, Michael E. Hoffman, pleaded guilty earlier to reduced charges in exchange for becoming a prosecution witness. Hold your breath SEATTLE (AP) - The American League may add a rule against blowing a baseball into foul territory as a result of an incident in which the Seattle Mariners' Lenny Randle purportedly pushed a slow roller across the third base line by the force of his breath. Randle claims he merely talked the ball into rolling foul. IN TIDE SIXTH inning of the Mariners' May 27 game against Kansas City in the Kingdome, the Royals' Amos Otis tapped a hit lightly toward third base. Three Mariners converged on the baseball, hoping it would roll foul, realizing they could not throw out Otis. The baseball, though near the chalk line, gave no indication it would deviate from its course. RANDLE GOT down on all fours and appeared to be blowing on the baseball. It rolled foul. Larry McCoy, plate umpire, gave the foul sign. But Kansas City Manager Jim Frey protested Randle was huffing and puffing. After a huddle among the umpires, Otis was credited with a hit. The ruling, according to McCoy, was that you can't alter the course of a baseball. That is in the rule book, but it doesnt mention blowing on the ball. RANDLE INSISTED he had not blown on the ball, that he merely pleaded with it. "I said please go foul, go foul," Ran- dIe said. "I did not blow on it. I just used the power of suggestion. How could they call ita hit? It was a foul ball." The Mariners lost to the Royals, 8-5, but the foul ball question has not blown over. The American League office is probing the details of the situation. The rule book may get a new entry, which would render such efforts illegal. Austin advances to semifials EASTBOURNE, England (AP)-Tracy Austin missed her high school graduation yesterday but celebrated with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Anne Smith for a place in the semi-finals of the $125,000 BMW grass courts tennis championship. Austin, 18, was to be graduated from Rolling Hills High in California, but admit- ted, "Although I would have loved to be there, given the choice, I had to choose tennis." THE PONY-TAILED American has not dropped a set in four rounds of this major pre-Wimbledon event on grass for women. She had missed five months of competitive play with a back injury. "I feel it has all come together again," said Austin, the defending champion and top seed. "I'm forgetting all about my injury and I feel like I'm playing really well. I've worked hard, and I'm eager for success," she said. AUSTIN'S THUMPING victory over Smith, from Dallas, Texas, gave her a semifinal date against 11th-seeded Barbara Potter, whom she has beaten in all five of their previous meetings. Potter, from Woodbury, Conn., upset fifth-seeded Wendy Turnbull of Australia, 6-4,7-6. Second-seeded Martina Navratilova and third-seeded Andrea Jaeger completed the semifinals lineup, with play beginning today. TWO-TAME WIMBLEDON champion Navratilova downed 17-year-old West Ger- man Claudia Kohde, 7-6, 6-1, after surviving two set points in the first set. Jaeger swamped another 17-year-old, American Pam Casale, 6-1, 6-1. Jaeger, 16, and 24-year-old Czech-born Navratilova never have met on grass before. But Navratilova has a 3-1 record in their meetings this year. NAVRATILOVA, WHO had lost her last match against Kohde, appeared motivated by that when the tall, athletic German held a 5-4 lead in the first set. "Thinking back to our previous match in San Francisco gave me all the motivation I needed," said Navratilova, who played too tentatively early on. "I had to get myself to hit out and not be chicken," she said. Jaeger had no trouble with the unseeded Casale.. "I just forced the issue and didn't let her control anything," said the Lincoln- shire, Ill., schoolgirl.aIjust moved herarund and that was enough," AP P TRACY AUSTIN, HAMPERED by back troubles throughout 1981, appears to have recovered just in time for Wimbledon. She has advanced to today's semifinals of the BMW Women's International Tournament, in which she will,d V1 fsrbar Potter. Yesterday she whipped Anne Smith, 6-2, 6-0, in a quarterfinal match.