Just Who Is Real Pirate Here?

John Galbreath, owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates, also owns Darby Dan Farm, which has produced two Kentucky Derby winners. Not long ago, after the Pirates took an economy flight to the West Coast, pitcher John Candelaria complained that Galbreath treated his horses better than his players.

Now, former first baseman Dick Stuart says he won’t attend a reunion of the 1960 world championship team Saturday in Pittsburgh because the Pirates refuse to buy him a round-trip, first-class ticket from the West Coast.

“The Pittsburgh Pirates haven’t changed in 25 years. They’re still cheap,” said Stuart, who was known as Dr. Strangeglove for his misadventures at first.

He added: “I’m a big man and to fly in coach for five hours is too rough on me. I want the people of Pittsburgh to know why I won’t be there.”

Note: Kathy Saba, Pirate director of promotions, said none of the ex-players are flying first class, and she said Stuart told her he planned to exchange the first class ticket for a coach ticket and pocket the difference.

Would-you-believe-it dept.: Everyone seemed surprised by his shooting percentages, but Larry Bird shot better against the Lakers than he did in 1980-81 when Boston beat Houston in six games for the NBA title.

Against the Lakers, Bird shot 45% and averaged 23.8 points per game. Against Houston, he shot 42% and averaged 15.3 points per game.

Trivia Time: What do departed NBA coaches Lenny Wilkens (Seattle), Kevin Loughery (Chicago) and Billy Cunningham (Philadelphia) have in common? (Answer in Column 2.)

No, the turnout of 30,000-plus to salute the Lakers on Tuesday wasn’t a record for Los Angeles. Not even close.

In 1931, after USC upset Notre Dame, 16-14, at South Bend on Johnny Baker’s last-minute field goal, a crowd of 300,000 turned out to welcome the Trojans as they rode down Broadway in a ticker-tape parade.

That’s right, 300,000.

From Herb Caen of the San Francisco Chronicle: “Herbert the Furrier after watching the Giants in ‘action’ at C’stick Mon.: ‘I haven’t seen so many people sleeping under a Davenport since New Year’s morning.’ ”

From Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post, detailing the problems of the Baltimore Orioles: “Will the Orioles finally bite the bullet, admit that the trade for Dan Ford was a disaster and eat the rest of Disco Danny’s contract just to get him out of their sight? Ford is now on the disabled list; don’t expect him back--ever. The day Hank Peters put a stopwatch on Ford as he dawdled back to the dugout after an out and timed him at 48 seconds, the writing was on the wall.”

Trivia Answer: All were born in Brooklyn.

Note: Brooklyn still claims the most NBA coaches. Also born there were Doug Moe (Denver), Frank Layden (Utah) and John Bach (Golden State).

Quotebook

Baltimore pitcher Mike Boddicker, admitting he’s not a fan of Earl Weaver, rumored to be returning as manager: “Earl’s never wrong. Just ask him.”