Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 89

22D DETROIT FREE PRESSTHURSDAY. MAY 25. 1978 0 111! 1 Tiger Poster Ho, 10 The fans arc sweet on whiz kid inf iclder 1 ludd J4Jl flmett Great outdoors can be unmatched or helped "AND WHEN she was good she was very, very good, and when she was bad she was horrid." That was what Longfellow said about a little girl who had a curl right in the middle of her forehead, but the thought has occurred that the line also applies to Michigan's weather, especially in the spring. All at once it turned very, very good, which is to say that practically overnight it became the best In the Northern Hemisphere. So a few days ago Old Yeller climbed into the back seat of the Ramrod Eight and assumed the dignity of a Circuit Court judge being chauf eured to the Hall of Justice, and we took off to see an attraction in Michigan, My Michigan that had previously escaped us.

Our destination was Canadian Lakes, a tract which has absorbed the imagination and energy of a former baseball player the past 16 years. This improvement on nature, if such a statement is supportable, is located near either Remus or Mecosta, take your pick. Or between Mt. Pleasant and Big Rapids, in case your geography is shaky. When you get there, you will be 173 miles from the Northland Shopping Center in Detroit; 88 miles from beautiful downtown Lansing; or 54 miles from the pulsating heart of Grand Rapids.

HOW LONG you will stay, or whether you will ever go back, depends on a number of things, including the condition of your wallet. It is amazing how valuable the great outdoors becomes once they run a I "V- 'M I "A By JIM HAWKINS Free Press Snorts Writer With Mark Fidrych in Florida waiting for his arm to get well, Lou Whitaker now ranks as Tiger fans' No. 1 favorite. The reception the rookie second baseman has received this season has been absolutely amazing. Everyone seems to love the skinny little infielder which is understandable, considering the way Whitaker is playing.

However, there's more to it than that. Other guys on the team are playing well, too. But you don't hear the fans chanting their names every time they step to the plate or make a fine play in the field. No cries of "Jason! Jason! Jason!" or "Milt! Milt! Milt!" have filled Tiger Stadium. It's always "Lou! Lou! Whitaker himself is at a loss to explain why in his first full season in the big leagues he has suddenly become the people's choice.

THE FIRST TIME he heard the fans chanting his name on Opening Day, Sweet Lou thought he was being booed. He knows better now but he still doesn't know why it's happening. He's tried to take the adulation in stride, knowing he could fall from favor with the fans at any time. "Here today, gone tomorrow," he says with a grin. The Tiger fans aren't the only ones who appreciate Whitaker's talent.

During his first full year in the minor leagues, the Tigers were offered $500,000 for Lou's contract. The Tigers never hesitated. They turned it down. He has been one of the top prospects in the Tiger farm system since 1976 when he hit .297 and stole 48 bases at Lakeland and was voted the most valuable player in the Florida State League. Knowing they desperately needed a second baseman, the Tigers transferred Whitaker from third base to second that fall, then began counting the days until he'd be ready to take over in Detroit.

WHITAKER, WHO spent most of last season at Montgomery learning how to play second base before he was summoned in September, has developed even faster than the Tigers had dared hope. Along with fellow rookie Alan Trammell, he has given the Tigers the best second base-shortstop combination they've had in years and one they hope to keep intact for a long while. So far, Whitaker has alternated with Steve Dillard at second base, playing only against righthanders, as manager Ralph Houk gives him time to adjust to the big leagues and get his feet on the ground. But every one knows it's just a matter of time before the 5-foot-ll, 160-pound Whitaker becomes the Tigers' every-day second baseman. Whitaker, who just turned 21 earlier this month, is single and lives during the winter in Virginia.

1 road past it. Quite recently, as an illustration, we received a brochure from a national magazine which is developing an expanse of Colorado mountainside. They are asking $5,000 for one-acre lots to which electricity has not been extended and from which drinking water will be difficult and expensive to extract. You snort? You think they won't sell it? They will sell it. Already they have sold tremendous slices of Arizona and California deserts, Florida swamplands, and portions of Appalachia where you have to train one leg to be shorter than the other just so you can walk.

Out our way scrub woodland is commanding a premium price, and waterfront is so expensive you would think they had manufactured it at Tiffany's. What the sages were saying 40 years ago is now the gospel truth: Buy a piece of land, hang on to it and become independently rich. How's come you usually remember what the sages told you after it is at least 20 years too late? WHERE WERE WE? Oh, yesthe road to Canadian Lakes, with Old Yeller worse than that horrid little girl. He wanted to get out of the car and initiate a strange bush every four miles. But, then, it was a day for marveling at the beauties and wonders of heaven and earth.

It is not often bragged of Michigan that it belongs in the company of the powerhouse agricultural stores, but we have some farming areas which would be considered scrumptious anywhere. North of Lansing, on either side of U.S.-27, you will see some of this splendor, while it has long been the opinion in this quarter, and expressed before, that between Owosso and 1-96, and specifically in the environs of Perry, is some of the prettiest countryside in America. Perry itself is a postcard village, while immediately south of it are a couple of farms which make you regret your wasted youth. Canadian Lakes is situated off Route-20, about five miles west of Remus, and if you are looking for an example of what the free enterprise system will permit an intelligent and industrious individual to do, this is it. PERSISTENT READERS of these tortured tales will recall that some years ago we had a review of a book called "Run for the Roses" by one Donald Bollman.

This was not a story of horse racing, as the title suggested, but an account, rather, of a fellow who was on the verge of becoming a pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers only to be cheated by an automobile accident which left him with badly burned hands. Don Bollman came home to Michigan, scored a rousing success as the proprietor of a general store in a small town, and then 16 years ago launched the community of Canadian Lakes, buying land, increasing water levels, building a castle, constructing golf courses and a ski run, carving roads and bending the landscape to meet the demands of those seeking refuge from the strains and perils of modern society. He thinks he has eight more years of work ahead of him. If you are interested in that sort of life-style, you should see Canadian Lakes and form your own conclusions. One thing about it, Don Bollman has carved a monument to himself out of the wilderness, and how many of us can say that as time goes marching on? i i i 1 Career MAJORS Made successful transition from third base to second at Montgomery in 1977, hitting .280, stealing 38 bases in Rebels' pennant-winning drive before call to Tiger Stadium in September In first Tiger start, collected three hits including a double; in 11 games with the Tigers, batted .250 and fielded flawlessly.

MINORS Prize infield prospect signed in 1975, broke in at Bristol that season. Came into his own at Lakeland the following year. Was MVP of 1976 Florida State League with .297 average and 48 stolen bases. That brought move from third base to second and non-roster trial with Tigers in 1977 spring training. 1 Free Press Photo by ALAN KAMUDA Nickname: Sweet Lou.

Born: New York, N.Y., 5-12-57 (21). 5-foot-ll, 160 lbs. Bats left, throws right. Year Club Avg. Gms AB 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB Year Club Avg.

Urns AB 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB 1975 Bristol .237 42 114 17 27 6 1 1 17 25 13 1 1978 Detroit .338 28 80 12 27 2 0 0 7 7 8 4 1976 Lakeland .297 124 434 70 129 12 5 1 62 55 51 48 1977 Montgomery .280 107 396 81 111 13 4 3 48 58 52 38 Detroit .250 11 32 5 8 1002462 Major League totals .313 37 112 17 35 3 0 0 9 11 14 6 MISCELLANY Brooklyn-born, Whitaker was raised in Martinsville, where he played high school baseball and basketball. Spent two winters in Florida Instructional League. Was tagged with nick Key: Cms-games played; AB-at bats; R-runs; H-hits; 2B-doubles; 3B-triples; HR-home runs; RBI-runs batted In; BB-bases on balls; SO-strikeouts; SB-stolen bases. name of "Sweet Lou" by Tigertown teammates 4 1 it 5L 4' Gone in 120 seconds: My answei Billy Gislasm argareVs marriage 10th anniversary. They would also use the occasion to introduce the Bay City Rollers to Los Angeles; the hot Scottish group may star next season in a new TV show.

QUESTION I became a Christian shortly after beginning a term in prison. I will be released soon, and I am afraid of the adjustment I will have to make when I get out. What can you suggest to help me keep straight? P.M. ANSWER Now is the time to prepare for your future not when you are released and suddenly find yourself surrounded by temptations. You have taken the first step by inviting Christ into your life.

He not only has provided for your salvation someday in heaven but also wants to help you right now. I suggest you begin immediately to read the Bible carefully and prayerfully. i i PRINCESS MARGARET'S 18-year-old marriage to Lord Snowdon ended officially Wednesday in a two-minute London divorce hearing witnessed by about 35 reporters. Neither the 47-year-old sister of Queen Elizabeth II nor the 48-year-old Snowdon were on hand as Judge Roger Willis approved her uncontested divorce petition and the petitions of 27 other couples including an office cleaner and a barmaid. Though the divorce decree allows Margaret and Snowdon to remarry within six weeks, only Snowdon, who is seeing a 33-year-old divorcee, seemed likely to do so.

Margaret's friend Roddy Llewellyn, who has been on an unofficial exile in Jamaica for the last three weeks, has said he definitely has no plans to wed Margaret and the princess insists she doesn't want to marry again. She was off in the country Wednesday, recovering from hepatitis. MUHAMMAD AL FASSI, that sheikh who decorated his Sunset Blvd. mansion so weirdly that it's become the talk of Beverly Hills, has gotten a rental offer for the place. TV producers Sid and Marty Kroft are saying they will pay $1 million for use of the mint-green mansion (complete with statues decorated with glued-on body hair) for a huge' party to celebrate the Kroft organization's! ROBERT De NIRO'S friends reveal that he and his wife, the gorgeous singer-actress Diahann Abbott, have split.

He has moved back to New York, New York, and she intends to pursue her career in L.A. BETTY FORD returned to the White House Wednesday for the first time since completing three weeks of treatment for alcohol and drug addiction and one reporter noted that she looked tanned but tired. "I feel fine," the former first lady told congressional friends who watched the East Room unveiling of officials portraits of her and Gerald Ford. However, Vera Glaser, of the Free Press Washington staff, wrote that Mrs. Ford "showed signs of her recent ordeal.

Beneath the Palm Springs tan, her face was puffy. Some of the spring was gone from the former dancer's step. AMY CARTER may be trading her most outstanding physical feature those giant eyeglasses contact lenses. Mom Rosa- Twenty-one years ago she was the striking, 19-year-old starlet who played Bloody Mary's daughter in the movie "South Pacific." Today, at 40, (above) France Nuyen is as striking as ever. She's on location in Hawaii shooting a two-hour suspense Mm, "Death Moon," for CBS.

stein. Absent was Rubin's former Chicago Seven fellow defendant Abbie Hoffman, still a fugitive on a years-old cocaine charge. Abbie sent a cake, baked by himself. FRANK SINATRA and wife Barbara are among the handful of outsiders involved to the mostly-family-only wedding of Monaco's Princess Caroline to Philippe Junot next month. Sinatra and the mother of the bride, Princess Grace, have been friends ever since doing "High Society" together back in 1957.

(She played the ingenue.) lynn said this week that the experimental switch was suggested by an eye specialist who said it may help keep 10-year-old Amy's vision from getting any worse. JERRY RUBIN and new bride Mimi Leonard tarried awhile three weeks to be exact before throwing a reception to celebrate their marriage, but a party they gave Sunday in New York was a success nonetheless. Am impressive guest list included lawyer William Kunstler, authors Norman Mailer andl Dan Grcnburg and porn publisher Al Gold- "NOW, REMEMBER, 6TAY AWAY FROM MR6. NORMAN, MR6. L.

CARPENTER, MR6. 6ERNHAN6, MRS. MARGLIN, MR6. LPNHART ANP MRe.ULLMAN. 1 m0-.