Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 45

Thursday, July 8, 1582 tho baseball pugs: today's complete baseball report. Howe has a new title with Whalers: Gordie Howe, who had talked with new Red Wings owner Mike Hitch about a job with the National Hockey League team, decides to stay with the Hartford Whalers as a special assistant. Details on Page 3D. TELEVISION 9 COMICS 10,11 THE WEATHER 11 Call with sports news: 722-6660 DETROIT DETROIT FREE PRESS L-J UUxo KEMP'S STATISTICS BY FAR THE BEST Lemon's average goes sour If 1.1 v. "What I need is some base hits." Lemon has been in a woeful state of mind for the last few weeks, especially because he consistently has failed to drive in teammates from scoring position.

Since May 20 he has had only three hits in 25 at-bats with a teammate at second or third a .120 mark. The talent that has always worked for him before isn't working now, and he doesn't know what to do about it. ANDERSON CALLED Lemon into his office for a chat this week in an attempt to encourage the dispirited veteran. "He told me he thinks it's probably been hard for me during my career to appreciate when guys around me were having a hard time," Lemon said. "When you're doing well yourself, you aren't as aware that other people are having trouble.

Now I can appreciate what a tough time is." Lemon said he put pressure on himself to Petty coaches sling mud on whistle-blowing Digger Downey Does Detroit: You know who got shafted? Digger Phelps got shafted. The Notre Dame coach blew the whistle on recruiting violations serious recruiting violations whereupon his good buddies in the basketball business warned him to keep his nose clean. Last Wednesday, Phelps was watching some high school players play. One of them was a kid Notre Dame had been recruiting. After the game, the kid suddenly walked up to Phelps and shook hands.

His father came by and did the same. Coaches from other colleges witnessed this "illegal contact" (talking to a recruit is forbidden this time of year) and promptly reported Phelps to the NCAA. Poor babies. What a terrible thing Digger did. A kid and a parent approached hint and he looked like a fairly even one.

Both players were hitting reasonably well. At the end of April, Lemon was batting around .260 with one home run and nine RBIs in 14 games after recovering from an early rib injury. Kemp was doing a little better, but he hadn't been hurt and it was still early and Lemon's defense made him a worthwhile addition to the Tigers. BUT THINGS have changed for the worse for Lemon, who starred for six seasons as the Sox center fielder. His average has gone steadily downhill since late May, and Kemp is now batting 50 points higher than Lemon, has twice as many home runs and has three times as many RBIs.

Before Wednesday's game, Lemon was batting .239 with four homers and 16 RBIs. The slump, Lemon admits, "has hurt me real bad real bad." "But I don't need sympathy," he said. By BRIAN BRAGG Free Presi Sports Writer CHICAGO Chet Lemon's return to center field in Comiskey Park Wednesday evening was not that of a conquering hero. He was a man returning to the scene of former triumphs, desperately hoping familiar surroundings would help him shake the most humbling slump of his career. Lemon would not even have been in the lineup against if a wrist injury had not sidelined center fielder Kirk Gibson.

Just before Gibson's injury, manager Sparky Anderson benched Lemon to give him a respite from the increasing pressures of his batting skid. Things have been going that badly for the 27-year-old outfielder who came into this season with a career batting average of .288. The first time Lemon and the Tigers visited Chicago this year, the trade that sent Steve Kemp to the White Sox for Lemon Inch Oaylcr (plf column didn tell them to get lost. Coaches claim they like to clean up the game; too bad they get caught up in petty stuff like this. You know who got drafted? Panayoti Giannakas got drafted.

You know, the big Hellenic College star. Boston Celtics, NBA draft, ninth round. Which brings up a serious question at contract time: What's a Grecian earn? You know who starts play today? Canadian Football League players start play today. You know who passes out from heat stroke today? You know who can hit the bleepin' baseball? The Milwaukee Brewers can hit the bleepin baseball. Turning to the roster Hey, here's good news: Dave Kingman, .214.

Have I mentioned lately that Lou Whitaker can play for me anytime, anyplace? Now I know why Gillette sponsors the All-Star Game ballots. When the players find out how the voting went, they feel like cutting their wrists. I'm not positive, but I think Bucky Dent's brother-in-law got more votes than Larry Herndon. Scotty Robertson of the Pistons is in Italy this week A skeleton now, but Golden Bear's costly new course will be gilded -J 1 I I j-l i i ii i i i vj A il 1 coaching at a basketball clinic. I would give anything to hear him say buon giorno with a Southern accent.

Ron Lee of the Pistons is in China this week playing basketball. I wonder if he'll meet anyone else In the Orient whose name is Lee. Oops, here's bad news: Alan Trammell, .202. I've got an idea. Let's put Mike Ivie in the lineup and leave Mike Ivie in the lineup.

il Ron Lee I ve got a better idea. How about a no-smoking section at the ball park? Free Press Photo "I don't need sympathy," said Chet Lemon (above). "What; I need is some base hits." do well, to try to make a good early impression as a new member of the Tigers. "That was probably foremost on my mind," he said. "You want to win, you want to do everything right.

But it just didn't work out "I guess that's just part of being an imperfect human being. Now I'm just trying to hold onto a little peace of mind." During the latest home stand, Lemon looked particularly perturbed when he would fail to get a base hit or advance a runner. After one strikeout he slammed his bat to the ground. In Baltimore a few days ago he drop-kicked his helmet toward the dugout after failing to drive in a run. "THIS YEAR," he said, "it seems like.

even when I'm having a good time like when the team was winning and doing well I've still been having a bad time myself." Lemon, like Kemp, is in the final year of his contract. He could become a free agent after this season. Also like Kemp, Lemon turned down a lucrative multi-year contract from his former employers and ended up being traded because they felt they would be unable to sign him. But, after nearly half a season of poor performance at the plate, Lemon still hasn't resigned himself to staying in a statistical rut. "I haven't quit, no, no," he said.

"I really believe I'm going to hit better than this .240. It takes time. But I had a glimpse of light the other night when I got four hits. "Who knows? It's getting warm now, the ball is jumping, and maybe I'll get going and we'll start winning again." Expos are starriest 1TT among iw starters AP and UPI NEW YORK Three members of the Montreal Expos outfielders Andre Daw; son and Tim Raines and catcher Gary Carter have been named to start for the National League before their home fans in the 53d All Star Game Tuesday night. Other NL starters, as selected in voting by fans, are first baseman Pete Rose, second baseman Manny Trillo and third baseman Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies, shortstop Dave Concepcion of the Cincinnati Reds and outfielder Dale Murphy of the Atlanta Braves.

Rose is the veteran of the starters with six previous appearances. Raines and Murphy will be first-time starters. Steve Carlton of the Phillies and Fernando Valenzuela of the Los Angeles Dodgers will head the NL pitching staff, named by manager Tom Lasorda of the Dodgers and other National League managers. Joining Carlton (11-7) and Valenzuela (11-6) on the NL staff are Steve Rogers of the Montreal Expos, Phil Niekro of the Atlanta Braves, Mario Soto and Tom Hume of the Cincinnati Reds, Greg Minton of the San Francisco Giants and Steve Howe of the Dodgers. The All-Star Game next Tuesday night in Montreal's Olympic Stadium will be the first to be played outside the United States.

LASORDA WILL select the remainder of the 28-man NL squad today. Each team must be represented by at least one player. The American League starters were to be announced Tuesday. AL manager Billy Martin of the Oakland A's will announce the pitchers and reserves today. The National League will be seeking its 11th straight victory in a series that began with the American League winning 12 of the first 16 games.

The National League leads the series, 33-18, with one tie. Carter, who hit two home runs and was named Most Valuable Player in last year's game, was the leading National League vote- getter with 2,785,407, followed by Schmidt with 2,748,210 and Concepcion with 2,203.574. Rose won decisively at first base despite the formidable opposition of Steve Garvey of the Dodgers, Al Oliver of the Expos and Keith Hernandez of the St. Louis Cardinals. Rose, who has played five different positions in All-Star competition, has been the Nation-! al League's starting first baseman the last I've got the best idea vet.

Let's nut snm fane nn tha field and let Jack Morris boo them. I hear Kirk Gibson is thinking of investing his money and becoming half-owner of the elegant Restaurant Duglass in Southfield. The restaurant will be renamed Kirk Duglass. If you think that was bad, you should have heard the one about John Wockenfuss buying into the Hudson's department store chain. Wock-Hudson's.

Meanwhile, readers and editors of the Detroit News were shocked today to discover that in "Rocky IV," Sylvester Stallone will fight Mr. T's wife, Carol in a 15-rounder at the Silverdome. Emanuel Steward has just announced that Thomas Hearns is negotiating a contract to fight everybody in ACME Even the Michigan Open, which starts a four-day run today, can't avoid the immense influence of Jack William Nicklaus. Nicklaus is a native of Columbus, Ohio, and makes his home in North Palm Beach, Fla. But lurking near the classy field of Michigan pros and amateurs this week is the skeleton of a championship course he is building.

It's adjacent to the Open site, the Grand Traverse Village Golf Club. The club, designed by Bill Newcomb, held its first Open last year. Jack's track will be the centerpiece of a 700-acre resort that will include a hotel, condominiums and two golf courses Newcomb's and Nicklaus. The resort, built on former orchard land, overlooks Grand Traverse Bay. The Nicklaus course has become a $2.5 million project because of skyrocketing construction costs.

The Golden Bear receives a non-negotiable $350,000 designing fee. "THIS DOESN'T include the cost of land," said Paul Nine, a Birmingham attorney and general partner in Grand Traverse Village. "You can't compare the cost of land in one place it might be dirt cheap. Other places, it isn't. We're building near a major city, and our land is relatively expensive.

"Somebody else going into the middle of the wilderness might get land at $500 an acre. You can't buy around Traverse City at $500 an acre." There has been a notable lack of work on the Nicklaus course this year, and that has led to rumors that Grand Traverse Village has financial problems. Not so, Nine said. "The thought isn't surprising, considering the economy," he said. "But that's not the reason.

We're using a company (Wads-worth of Chicago) that builds courses for Nicklaus, and they're not available right now. "Jack is the designer, and he supervises construction. We used local contractors for the heavy earth-moving and got that done last year. But on the finishing, you need people that really understand this kind of work. Jack is very picky about it and won't accept just anything." Despite the delay, the course, which will be open to the public, is expected to be finished on schedule.

The front nine is scheduled for completion late next summer and the back nine the following year. NINE, TO REFUTE any suggestion of money woes, pointed out other projects at the resort. "We're building 33 condo units on the site already," he said. "We have nine units roughed in already, and the high-rise is up to the fourth floor. "We just broke ground on another $2.5 million worth of condos three to four weeks ago.

And we put another $100,000 into our outdoor pool. "It's going to be dramatic out here. The hotel on the course used to be rather plain, but these units will break that up. It's a kind of Aspen-type architecture. Nicklaus helped with his input to the styling and sizing.

Ctsta Cpcn bsins tcdsy: The 145 golfers who start play today in the 67th Michigan Open could catch the course with its defenses down. Jack Saylor tells why in his story on Page 3D. The championship course being built by Jack Nicklaus (above) is a $2Vi million baby, for which Nicklaus receives a non-negotiable $350,000 designing fee. for 'Bowling for Dollars9 know much about soccer, but I do know this: wins the World Cup, there is going to be some partying in Hamtramck, Mich. have "Bowling for Dollars" at midnight on Anything's got to be better than the "Ironside." the world.

of them. A vote I don't If Poland serious Let's Channel 2. rerun of Well, again and The five 2. Erik Hooper, the serve. 5.

in that order. The Playboy magazine went way out on a limb picked Dallas to win the Super Bowl. greatest chips in the world are: 1. Frito-Lay. Estrada.

3. Haagen-Dazs chocolate. 4. Chip guy at Wimbledon with the 140 m.p.h. Tom Watson at Pebble Beach.

Not necessarily AP Photo 17 is 219... On the subject of aces, it seems the great ones never lose it like Fred Kammer Jr. of the Country Club of Detroit. Now in his 70s, the 1947 Walker Cup captain recently registered his fourth hole-in-one at his home course. Kammer, 16-time club champion, holed out a four-iron at the 160-yard 13th hole and shot 80.

And Joe Colucci, Detroit sales representative with U.S. News and World Report magazine, bagged the second of his career with a six-iron shot at Oakland Hills' third hole. "I didn't win a nickel no car, no skin, nothing," grumbled Colucci, who was playing in a husband-and-wife outing with his wife, Scottie Do charity golf tournaments work? As a result of the ninth annual benefit outing at the University of Michigan's Radrick Farms in April, the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital is $16,300 richer. tea parties Today: First round, Michigan Open, Grand Traverse Villaoe GC, Acme; Michioan Juniort, Riverwood, Ml.

Pleasant. Friday: Second round, Michigan Open at Acme, finals, Michigan Junior, Ml. Pleasant. Saturday: Third round, Michioan Open, Acme. Sunday: Finals, Michigan Open, Acme.

Monday: Women's Michigan Golf Association at Tarn O'Shanter; PGA staff assistants championship, Braeburn GC; iunior district at Red Run CC; Jewish Hospital Invitational, Knoilwood CC. Tuesday: WMGA at Tarn O'Shanter; Crittenton Hospital benefit, Katke-Cousins, Oakland University; Port Huron Hospital Classic, Port Huron Golf Club; Michigan 500 Pro-Celebrity, Country Club of Jackson; Golf Association of Michigan Father-Son at Birmingha CC and Pine Lake CC. Wednesday: WMGA at Tarn O'Shanter CC; Women's Metropolitan Golf Association at Highland Hills GC. Minnesota Twins have just left town. Name five "The Golden Bear Inc.

people (Golden Bear Inc. is the umbrella company for Nicklaus) contribute a lot more than just how you build a golf course. More important, they've done successful communities, and that's what we were after." IT IS PART of the reason why Nicklaus, according to a Golf Magazine estimate, has holdings of $300 million. Nicklaus' business partner, Charles Perry, figures Jack's endorsements lawn mowers, cordless telephones, CMC, American Express, etc. account for less than one-third of his interests.

Nicklaus' portfolio includes 25 companies most recently added was McGregor which he picked up for a fast $19 million this year. But his first love is designing, and at last count 42 courses bear his name. "Jack will probably go down in history books first as a golf course designer, then as a player," Perry has said. Nicklaus' influence on the Michigan Open could be immense. His course will be ready at the same time the state PGA's contract with Grand Traverse Village is renewable after the '83 Open.

DIVOT DIGGINGS: Aces will be hard to come by at the sixth and 17th holes in the Michigan Open, but if anyone does pull off the feat, they will be well rewarded. The first player making a hole-in-one at the sixth wins a Chrysler LeBaron convertible. The prize at the 17th is a Yamaha golf cart. The catch? No. 6 is 220 yards, and No.

If Charlie Neal will come back to Detroit to do the sports on TV, I'll be glad to pick him up at the airport. Al Ackerman's favorite line is "Bless you, boys," but during the Tiger slump, I'll bet "bless" wasn't the word a lot of people used. If Bo Schembechler is such a big deal, how come we. only hear about him 12 weeks a year? (Just kidding. He's a good football coach.) I've been listening to Eli Zaret's voice on Tiger pre- game shows and I think the show should be called "E.Z.: The Extra-Zerrestrial." (Just kidding.

He's a good sportscaster.) Come back, Les Moss, all is forgiven. (Just kidding.) From now on, I'm going to write (just kidding) after every joke, because people sure do take things serious ly. With apologies to John McEnroe and all his admir two years. ers..