Sports
Saturday, August 14, 1982

Page 12

The Michigan Daily

Tiger bats pound Royals

I

Whitaker's 2 HRs
ignite 10-1 victory

By BOB WOJNOWSKI
Specialtothe Daily
DETROIT- If Milt Wilcox's days as
a Detroit Tiger are indeed numbered,
then maybe the Detroit brass should
think twice about trading him, as
Wilcox hurled five masterful innings in
his first appearance in more than a
month to lead Detroit to a 10-1 victory
over Kansas City last night.
The Tigers hauled out the heavy lum-
ber in support of Wilcox, clouting five
hoke runs, including three in the fourth
inning, as they won their third straight
and second 10-1 game this week.
FOR THE second time in three
games, Tiger second baseman Lou
Whitaker led off the first inning with a
home run. The Tigers added another
run in the opening frame when Chet
Lemon drilled an RBI single to center
field.I
Wilcox meanwhile, who has been
mentioned in trade rumors, was
mowing the Royals down, striking out
four straight batters in one stretch.
Wilcox struck out seven, walked two
and gave up only two hits in his five in-
nings of work. Pat Underwood came on
to start- the sixth and went the rest of
the way.

The Tigers continued their onslaught
off Royals' starter Dave Frost (6-5)
with five runs in the fourth inning.
Lemon started things off with a single
and he rode home on Tom Brookens'
seventh home run of the year. After
Alan Trammell walked, Whitaker
followed with his second home run of
the day, his second two-homer game of
the week. Whitaker's blast finished
Frost, but Glenn Wilson greeted
reliever Bill Castro with his fifth homer
of the year.
THE TIGER bats lay dormant until
the eighth when they exploded with
three more runs. A single by Rick
Leach preceded Trammell's seventh
home run of the year and gave the
Tigers a 9-1 lead. Wilson's sacrifice fly
later in the inning scored the final
Detroit run.
Kansas City's lone run came in the
eighth on an RBI double by Greg Pryor.
For the night, the Tigers pounded 14
hits, including three by Whitaker, who
has now had at least two hits in six
straight games. Every Tiger starter got
a hit as Detroit defeated Kansas City
for the sixth time in 10 games this year.
A crowd of 30,351 saw the Tigers up
their season record to 58-55.

4

WK
1a Photo
MIKE EASLER OF the Pittsburgh Pirates plows into St. Louis Cardinals'
Tom Herr at second base and breaks up the-double play during the third in-
ning of last night's game in Pittsburgh. For further details of the Pirates 7-4
victory, see story, Page 11.

1

Hebner out, HoJo in Wpair-Cobb

I


DETROIT (AP)- The Detroit Tigers
yesterday removed popular first
baseman Richie Hebner from the ac-
tive roster and put his contract up for
sale.
The move means that other teams
have 10 days to pick up Hebner's con-
tract. If no team does, the Tigers then
can assign the left-handed hitter to the
minor leagues or release him, a team
spokesman said.


THIS SEASON, Hebner is hitting .274
with eight home runs and 18 RBI while
seeing action as a first baseman and
designated hitter.
To fill the spot, the Tigers recalled
Howard Johnson from their Triple A
farm team at Evansville, Ind., the
American League club said. Johnson
was to be in uniform for the Tigers'
game with the Kansas City Royals
Friday night.
Johnson, a 21-year-old switch-hitting
third baseman batting .321 with 23
homers and 68 RBI at Evansville, bat-
ted .188 with one homer and two RBI
earlier this season with the Tigers.
FOUR CLUBS, including Pittsburgh
and Philadelphia, have contacted Heb-
ner's agent, Ed Kleven, about a
possible deal, Hebner said earlier this
week.
However, a spokesman for the
Phillies, who are in the market for a
left-handed pinch hitter, said earlier
this week they are not interested in
acquiring Hebner's contract, estimated
at $265,000, because it is too expensive.
A deal involving the 34-year-old
veteran had been rumored for some
time and had given him a "funny
feeling."
"It's like I come to the ballpark and
get dressed and don't know if I'm going
to be here for the game," he said earlier
this week. "It's like a plane circling the
airport."

fight finally set

EL PASO, Texas (AP)-,The World
Boxing Association heavyweight title
fight between champion Mike Weaver
and Randy Cobb, twice postponed by in-
juries, will take place Oct. 23 in Las
Vegas, Nev., the fight's promoter said
yesterday.
Ron Weathers, a spokesman for Tap-
co Promotions Inc. of El Paso, said the
afternoon fight will take place in the
Ceasars Palace outdoor stadium and
will be shown live on CBS-TV.
WEAVER will receive $1 million for
the fight, while Cobb will get $500,000,
Weathers said.
The Weaver-Cobb bout was originally
scheduled for June 2 in Atlantic City,
N.J., but was delayed when Weaver in-
jured his hand. The fight was
rescheduled for July 25 at Caesars, but
was again delayed when Cobb-ranked
eighth by the WBA-suffered a split lip.
The WBA championship committee

then changed its mind several times
before deciding to grant a second ex-
tension to permit the Weaver-Cobb
fight. The committee had refused at fir-
st to allow a 90-day extension.
RIVAL PROMOTER Don King has
gone to court in an attempt to block the
Weaver-Cobb fight. King contends that
he has signed the WBA's top-ranked
contender, Michael Dokes, to fight
Weaver.
King is suing in federal court to force
the WBA to impose a rule that would
require Weaver to defend his title
against Dokes.
King's request for an injunction
against the Weaver-Cobb fight will be
heard Sept. 7 by U.S. District Court
Judge William Conner in New York.
"King has done everything he can to
sabotage the Weaver-Cobb fight,"
Weathers said. "But this fight is going
to occur on Oct. 23."

4
I

/

He bnr
a Tiger no more