Perhaps He Had a Car That Tried a Little Harder

The Cannonball One Lap of America auto rally is an 8,400-mile race around the rim of the United States that starts and finishes in Detroit. It was run March 1-9, and NBC will show highlights Sunday.

The winner last year was Jeff Burnett of Warren, Vt. According to NBC announcer Paul Page, Burnett won the race in a rental car.

“He got a $39.95-a-day special, with no charge for mileage,” Page said. “He brought the car back eight days later with an additional 9,000 miles on it.”

In this year’s race, Burnett had a sponsor and a specially equipped car. He didn’t finish.

After reading Monday’s item on Babe Ruth’s record of 177 runs scored in a season, somebody said, “It didn’t hurt to have Lou Gehrig hitting behind him.”

Not so. Ruth set the record in 1921, four years before Gehrig became a regular with the Yankees. Batting behind Ruth was Bob Meusel, a pretty good slugger himself. In 1925, Meusel led the American League in homers with 33, and in RBIs with 138.

Trivia Time: As former second basemen, what do Gene Mauch, Sparky Anderson and Angel coach Jimmie Reese have in common? (Answer below.)

Add Anderson: In 1952, with the Philadelphia Phillies, he set a National League record for fewest hits in a season (150 or more games) with 104 in 152 games. He batted .218. Yes, it was his only season in the majors. Dal Maxvill, general manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, is the current record-holder. He had 80 hits in 152 games for the Cardinals in 1970. He batted .201.

Would-you-believe-it dept.: St. Louis outfielder Vince Coleman, with 20 stolen bases, already has more steals than the National League champions of 1938, 1939 and 1941. Stan Hack of the Chicago Cubs won the 1938 title with 16 steals. In the American League, Dom DiMaggio of the Boston Red Sox won the 1950 title with 15 steals.

Detroit Piston Coach Chuck Daly, on Vinnie Johnson’s 34-point performance against the Boston Celtics: “What Vinnie did in the game he does against Isiah Thomas every day in practice. I told Dick Harter, my assistant, ‘Maybe, if we put a red practice shirt on Vinnie, he’ll do in a game what he does in practice.’ ”

Said Johnson, who played with Boston’s Dennis Johnson at Seattle: “Dennis is a great defensive player, but I have a little advantage. After having played against him every day in practice with the Sonics, I know what moves work on D.J.”

Johnson’s 22 points in the fourth quarter were one short of the playoff record for points in a quarter. Last year, Gus Williams of Seattle and Bernard King of New York had 23-point quarters.

From Andrew Beyer of the Washington Post: “The last impetuous front-runner to win the Kentucky Derby was Bold Forbes in 1976. Spend A Buck probably has more talent than Bold Forbes, but horses with their running style typically have similar limitations. They can win all-out, head-and-head battles at distances up to a mile, but when they go farther they must be able to control the pace to be effective. When Bold Forbes got into a duel with Honest Pleasure in the Preakness, both of them collapsed.”

Elocutionist won the race, followed by Play the Red and Bold Forbes. However, Bold Forbes came back to win the Belmont. The rider was Angel Cordero, the same man who piloted Spend A Buck.

Trivia Answer: They all played for the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League. Anderson played in 1957 on a team that also included Tom Lasorda. Lasorda had a 7-10 record with a 2.90 earned-run average.

Quotebook

Steve Kelley of the Seattle Times, on the statement by new SuperSonics General Manager Lenny Wilkens that he hopes to keep the franchise moving in the same direction: “I hope not. The Sonics won 52 games in 1982, 48 in 1983, 42 in 1984 and 31 this year.”