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Billie Jean King
Evert beats past. Stove beats future in U.S. Open
By FRED ROTHENBERG
AP Sports Writer
FOREST HILLS, N.Y. (AP)
— Chris Evert beat the past and
Betty Stove beat the future to
advance to their semifinal
matchup at the U.S. Open tennis
championships.
The top-seeded Miss Evert
provided a barometer for Billie
Jean King’s continuing singles
comeback Wednesday night
with a 6-2, 6-6 victory over the
former queen of women’s ten
nis.
Sports World
yj An AP s P orts Analysis
x By WILL GRIMSLEY
i A/ AP Special Correspondent
Connors still best
Jimmy Connors is a chameleon, a man of complex
moods and changing personality traits, but is still the best
tennis player in the world, says Bill Riordan.
Riordan speaks with authority. He is the Svengali who
helped fashion two of the maddest geniuses of the game —
the fiery, feisty Connors and the talented, tempestuous
Hie Nastase.
Nastase has made an early exit, a victim of his own un
bridled temperament, but Connors, shrugging off an
aching back, remains in the thick of the fight for the men’s
U.S. Open tennis championship, to be decided at Forest
Hills this weekend.
“Jimmy can win it if he can get his head all together,”
predicted Riordan, wealthy Salisbury, Md., businessman
and promoter who recognized Connors’ latent talent when
Jimmy was a fuzz-faced 16-year-old whom he later helped
hoist to millionaire status.
“It’s not Jimmy’s back you have to worry about, it’s his
frame of mind. He is tom up emotionally. First, there’s
his broken romance with Chris Evert — they both are still
nuts about each other — and the split has left a heavy
bruise.
“He lost his father last fall. That had to be a traumatic
experience. All those years he wasn’t at home but
traveling the circuit with his mother. High strung as he is,
he must be asking himself, ‘My God, was all this worth it?’
“Then I wonder who, if anybody, is calming him down.
He is typically a volatile, high strung person. The one
thing I think I was able to do for him when we were
together was keep him loose.”
Riordan managed Connors from 1972 through 1975 when
the relationship was broken by Jimmy’s mother, Gloria.
Connors’ career has been splotchy and erratic ever
since. He won both the Wimbledon and U. S. crowns in
1974, establishing himself firmly as the world’s No. 1, but
has failed in the last three Wimbledons and lost twice in
the finals at Forest Hills.
He has been plagued by an assortment of ills —a bad
knee, injured thumb on his racquet hand, chronic back
trouble. He began assembling a record of pullouts and
losses in the finals.
Questions have been raised: Are Connors’ problems
physical or mental? Is this brilliant young talent going
into an eclipse?
“I don’t know,” acknowledges Riordan, “I am sure
Jimmy’s ailments are genuine. He is a plucky guy. But he
has been spoiled by quick success. He doesn’t work as
hard. He is inclined to overeat and gain weight. Some of
his confidence may be eroding.”
Riordan said he first noticed Connors when the
aggressive left-hander came East in 1971 to play in
Riordan’s National Indoor Championships in Salisbury.
“He was absolutely electrifying,” Riordan added. “I got
one look at him and said, ‘This kid is going to be the best
player in the world.’”
Riordan and Connors formed a partnership in 1972, and
one of Jimmy’s first pieces of equipment was a “black
hat.” He became the game’s villain, an unreconstructed
maverick.
“It was a perfect marketing and merchandising gim
mick,” Riordan explained. “This was the period of youth
rebellion. Jimmy became an anti-establishment symbol.
Intense, a gut fighter, he was a natural for it.
“He spumed the offers of Lamar Hunt and Jack
Kramer, threw the money-lenders out of the temple. He
joined my minitour. On the court, he would give the crowd
the finger and yell four-letter words. Off the court, he
became the epitome of charm, a ‘Gee whiz, golly’ kid.
“He played the game with hate in his heart, but once the
match was over he knew how to deal with the public and
the press. This made him the richest player in tennis. He
also was the best. When he went all out, nobody could
touch him.
“Now, I dont know. He has a barrel of problems —
physical and mental. They are trying to stereotype him
now, fit him into a mould. But, by nature, he’s not a
conformist.
“What Jimmy needs is to shake off the shackles and be
come the old Jimmy Connors — snotty, mean, arrogant,
thoughtful, charming and the toughest, fightingest,
strokingest tennis player who ever lived.”
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Chris Evert
About hours earlier, Tra
cy Austin, the 14-year-old future
queen of tennis, drove her
Cinderella carriage to center
court. But Miss Stove turned the
clock to midnight with a
powerful 6-2, 6-2 triumph.
In the other women’s quarter
finals matches today, No. 2 seed
Martina Navratilova, the Czech
expatriate now playing out of
Dallas, faced No. 10 Mima
Jausovec of Yugoslavia and
third-seeded Virginia Wade of
Britain met Wendy Turnbull,
• W?'
Betty Stove
the No. 12 seed from Australia.
With all the hoopla attached
to Miss Austin, the most famous
school girl this side of Amy
Carter, a pair of men sneaked
less dramatically into the
semifinals.
Guillermo Vilas, the No. 4
seed from Argentina, could do
no wrong in his 6-1, 6-1, 6-0 rout
of unseeded Ray Moore of South
Africa. Vilas has a Saturday
semifinal date with Harold
Solomon, the No. 12 seed from
Silver Spring, Md., who wore
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Tigers’ Rusty Staub, left, dives for bag while Orioles’ Doug DeCinces dives for the tag. Staub was safe.
Willie Horton’s brainstorm
helps Texas defeat Twins
By BARRY WILNER
AP Sports Writer
The time was right for a
change. Willie Horton was hit
ting just .156 against the Min
nesota Twins and the Texas
slugger decided something had
to be done.
So, before Wednesday night’s
game, “I made up my mind to
try to hit the ball to right field,”
he recalled.
The results of the designated
hitter’s brainstorm were a
homer and a double to right and
a single in Texas’ 4-3 victory. “I
haven’t been getting anything
good to hit inside all year. I’ve
been planning to hit that way
since the first two months of the
season.”
The Twins used a shift on
Horton, placing three infielders
' between second and third base.
Horton beat the shift with a long
opposite-field homer in the
second, then smacked a double
down the right-field line in the
sixth to score Toby Harrah from
first with the winning run.
The victory was a different
experience for Texas which had
dropped four in a row and 12 of
their last 18. The Rangers re
mained eight games behind
Kansas City in the American
League West.
Unfortunately for Texas and
the rest of the AL West con
tenders, Kansas City keeps
right on winning. The Royals
took their eighth straight victo
ry Wednesday with a 10-7 deci
sion over Seattle.
In other American League
action, the Yankees increased
their Eastern Division lead to
3% games with a 4-3, 10-inning
victory over Cleveland; Toronto
upset Boston 3-2; Baltimore
BASEBALL STANDINGS'"
Baseball At A Glance
By The Associated Press
National League
East
..W L Pct. GB
Phila 85 53 .616 -
Pitts 80 60 .571 6
Chicago 73 64 .533 11%
S Louis 74 65 .532 11%
Montreal 63 75 .457 22
NYork 54 84 .391 31
West
Los Ang 85 54 .612 —
Cinci 73 67 .521 12%
Houston 68 71 .489 17
SFran 65 75 .464 20%
S Diego 63 78 .447 23
Atlanta 51 88 .367 34
F7S
if
Tracy Austin
down No. 10 Dick Stockton of
Carrolton, Tex., 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.
The other semifinal pairing
will be determined today. Brian
Gottfried, the No. 3 seed from
Lauderhill, Fla., plays surpris
ing Corrado Barazzutti of Italy
and second-seeded Jimmy Con
nors, Belleville, 111., meets fifth
rated Manuel Orantes of Spain.
While school bells were be
ginning to ring around the
country, Miss Austin — set to
enter the ninth grade in Rolling
Hills, Calif, a week from today
topped Detroit 6-2 in 11 innings
in the first game of a double
header, with the Tigers winning
the nightcap 11-5; Chicago beat
Oakland 5-1 and California took
Milwaukee 4-1.
Royals 10, Mariners 7
Kansas City collected 18 hits,
including four hits and two
homers by Darrell Porter and
four safeties by George Brett.
The Royals overcame a six-run
Seattle third inning.
The Royals have won 19 of
their last 22 games in busting
open the AL West logjam that
saw four teams battle for the
lead throughout the summer.
Yankees 4, Indians 3
Cleveland right-hander
Wayne Garland was one out
away from his first victory over
New York, but Mickey Rivers’
Torres
promoted
CINCINNATI (AP) - Angel
Torres, a 24-year-old left-hand
ed pitcher, was promoted by the
Cincinnati Reds Wednesday
from their farm team in Three
Rivers of the Eastern League.
Torres is the fourth minor
league player called up by the
Reds in the past week.
He was obtained by the Reds
last May from the Montreal
Expos in a deal that gave Cin
cinnati two young pitchers in
exchange for Santo Alcala.
Torres, a native of the Do
minican Republic, was 2-1 in 12
games at Three Rivers, with a
3.52 earned run average. Ear
lier this season he was with In
dianapolis and Denver of the
American Association, where
he had a combined record of 2-0
and an ERA of 7.28.
American League
East
• W L Pct. GB
NYork 85 54 .612 -
Boston 81 57 .587 3%
Balt 80 58 .580 4%
Detroit 67 72 .482 18
Cleve 65 75 .464 20%
Milwkee 59 85 .410 28%
Toronto 46 90 .338 37%
West
K.C. 83 54 .606 -
Chicago 77 59 .566 5%
Minn 77 63 .550 7%
Texas 75 62 .547 8
Calif 64 70 .478 17%
Oakland 54 83 .394 29
Seattle 55 86 .390 30
— was given a professional ten
nis lesson by Miss Stove, the 32-
year-old native of The Neth
erlands.
“She just overpowered me,”
said Tracy, standing tall on the
court at 5 feet and 90 pounds. “I
was lucky to get in a rally. Most
of the time she just put the ball
away off her serve, and hit
winners off mine. She was too
strong for me.”
Miss Stove gave Tracy a pro
fessional beating because she
was able to see her pig-tailed
two-run single up the middle
tied the game. Garland then lost
it in the 10th on singles by
Thurman Munson and Reggie
Jackson and a throwing error
by left fielder Bruce Bochte,
which allowed Munson to score.
Blue Jays 3, Red Sox 2
Dave Lemanczyk, 11-13,
pitched a six-hitter for his first
triumph in six starts as Toronto
broke an 11-game losing streak.
Roy Howell’s opposite field
homer off loser Ferguson Jen
kins, 10-10, tied the game in the
sixth. Gary Woods, recalled
from the minor leagues just last
week, knocked home the
decisive run with a single later
in the inning.
Orioles 6-5, Tigers 2-11
A pair of rookie catchers
shared the spotlight in the dou
bleheader split. Baltimore re
ceiver Dave Skaggs drove in
five runs, three on a bases-
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r
Guillermo Vilas
loaded double in the 11th inning,
to lead the Orioles to their first
game victory.
Lance Parrish, playing in
only his second major league
game, went 3-for-4 with four
runs scored and four RBI in the
nightcap. Parrish also hit his
first major league home run.
White Sox 5, A’s 1
Steve Renko, 3-0 since coming
to the American League,
combined with Dave Hamilton
on a four-hitter for Chicago.
Ralph Garr had a two-run
homer and Don Kessinger a
two-run triple for the White Sox.
Angels 4, Brewers 1
Don Baylor, who has seven
hits in his last eight at-bats and
had reached base nine times in
his last 10 at-bats, slammed a
two-run homer to support Paul
Hartzell’s five-hitter. Hartzell,
7-9, hurled his fourth complete
game of the season.
Page 13
— Griffin Daily News Thursday, Septembers, 1977
A*'
Harold Solomon
opponent as the enemy, not just
some cute little kid.
“Five or six years ago, I
would have been sentimental,
too,” said the 6-foot, 160-pound
Miss Stove. “And I would have
lost to her.
“I never saw Tracy at all. I
only saw the ball.
“I considered her a com
petitor, a very good competitor.
She has a real good future.”
Ms. King, a four-time cham
pion here, had a wonderful past.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★A
SPORTS
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
Pistons’ Barnes
granted parole
By JOHN SHURR
Associated Press Writer
CRANSTON, R.I. (AP) — The
Rhode Island state prison will
soon be losing its best bas
ketball player. Former All-
American Marvin Barnes will
be checking out next month.
Barnes, who wound up behind
bars last May for a probation
violation, was granted parole
Wednesday and will be return
ing to the Detroit Pistons on
Oct. 14.
“He (Barnes) presented him
self very favorably,” said Jo
seph Galkin, Parole Board
chairman. “He was contrite. He
said he made two mistakes and
he learned a heck of a lesson.”
The 6-foot-9 forward was giv
en a one-year suspended sen
tence and placed on probation
for three years in 1974 after
pleading guilty to assaulting
Providence College teammate
Larry Ketvirtis.
Judge Anthony A. Giannini of
Providence Superior Court sent
Barnes to the state prison May
16, saying the young athlete
violated his probation by carry
ing an unloaded pistol in his
luggage.
“I think he had a heck of a good
shaking up,” Galkin said. “We
have a feeling that nothing of
h/
Jimmy Connors
But if her comeback from knee
surgery and a year’s retirement
from tournament singles
doesn’t progress, she hinted
that she would retire per
manently.
“I’m really ticked with my
play,” said the person most re
sponsible for the growth of
women’s tennis. “I played the
big points badly. Chris played
them much tougher.
“I better be ready by October
or November, or that’s it.”
this kind will ever happen
again. Maybe it’s good that he
got this jolt this early in his ca
reer.
“Not too many people con the
Parole Board. We got a feeling
of real sincerity.”
Galkin, who said Barnes was
finishing work on his Provi
dence College degree, said the
board considered the parole
early because the Pistons want
ed to know when he would re
turn to the team.
“Marvin said he was looking
forward to going on to bigger
things (in basketball), but more
important he’s going to go on
and make a success of his life.
“He hasn’t been frittering
away his time there,” Galkin
said. “We get a feeling that the
experience he had was a sa
lutary one.”
Meanwhile, Bob Kauffman,
general manager of the Pistons,
said the National Basketbal
Association team was “terribly
disappointed” that Barnes will
miss part of training camp.
“We do, however, appreciate
the consideration the Parole
Board has given in granting him
the Oct. 14 release date,”
Kauffman said.
