He’s a Hit With Women Golfers

If ever a man was entitled to say, “Gimme a break,” it was William Clyne.

Clyne, 63, of St. Petersburg, Fla., was watching the third round of the S&H; golf tournament when JoAnne Carner hit a bad second shot on the 16th hole.

The ball went into crowd and hit Clyne on the head, knocking him unconscious. He fell to the ground where, after a few minutes, he was revived by paramedics who treated him for a wound on the scalp. He then was placed in a chair adjacent to the main gallery.

No sooner had he settled in his chair when Cindy Flom, playing in the next threesome, hit a shot that went awry.

The ball rolled under Clyne’s chair and hit him on the foot.

Add Forgettable Quotes: Said Floyd Mayweather on the eve of his fight with Marlon Starling in Atlantic City, N.J.: “He doesn’t have a jab. I don’t respect his punching power. He doesn’t have good balance. I can’t see him beating me.”

Said Mayweather after Starling was awarded a unanimous decision Saturday: “I retire.”

Add Mayweather: He has displayed ability as an artist but said he wouldn’t make it a career.

“Artists only make money when they’re dead,” he said.

Trivia Time: When the season started, Pete Rose needed 95 hits to beat Ty Cobb’s record. Since 1900, has any player at the age of 44 managed to get that many hits? (Answer below.)

Add Rose: Asked if he had ever been overmatched as a hitter, he said: “I’ve hit off Sandy Koufax, Warren Spahn, Bob Gibson, Tom Seaver when he was young and Nolan Ryan when he could throw a ball through a car wash without it getting wet. I’ve been struck out a thousand times, but I’ve never been overmatched.”

Said Kelly Tripucka of the Detroit Pistons when asked how he plays defense against Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics: “I try to make him shoot from the outside and pray a lot.”

Add Bird: According to Peter May of the Hartford Courant, he was roundly booed in Cleveland by 20,900 fans who didn’t appreciate some remarks he made in the papers.

Said World B. Free of the Cavaliers: “Anyone who admits to being from a place called French Lick deserves to be booed.”

Said Bird: “I’ve been booed worse than that in my hometown.”

Said M.L. Carr of the Celtics: “The crowd wanted Larry, and what he gave them was 20,000 cases of laryngitis.”

Said Sam Snead after Kathy Whitworth and Mickey Wright fell back in the second round of the Legends golf tournament: “Women just aren’t as good as men in any department. If women beat us, we’d have to go hide.”

You’ll get letters, Sam.

Trivia Answer: Yes. In 1934, outfielder Sam Rice of Cleveland got 98 hits at the age of 44. He batted .293. Rice, a Hall of Famer who played the rest of his career with Washington, had a lifetime average of .322.

Note: In pre-1900, player-manager Cap Anson of the Chicago Cubs had 159 hits at the age of 44 in 1895. At age 45, he had 133 hits, and at 46, he had 128. Anson, a Hall of Famer, had a lifetime average of .333.

Quotebook

Dallas Coach Dick Motta, asked after the Mavericks were eliminated by the Portland Trail Blazers if it was the low point of the season: “No, that last question was.”