Recalling Garbage Time at Comiskey

Hall of Fame shortstop Luke Appling, at an affair celebrating the 75th anniversary of Comiskey Park, revealed that the ball didn’t always take true bounces there.

“The park was built over a dump, and it didn’t get the best of care,” he told The Sporting News. “One day I kept clicking a spike on something. I scratched around and found the handle to one of those old blue-and-white coffee pots. I pulled it out, and they had to hold up the game while they filled the hole with dirt.”

He added: “Before one road trip, I planted some radishes and peas around the shortstop position. When I returned, the radishes were up, and the peas were six inches tall.”

Said Chicago Cubs Manager Jim Frey when told that Ron Cey said it was a blow to his pride when he wasn’t named as the cleanup hitter this season: “What about my pride, having to bat a .160 hitter in the cleanup spot?”

In golf, they call it paralysis by analysis. Pete Rose says a lot of hitters suffer from the same malady.

“There are too many players today who think too much about how to do it,” Rose told Steve Lowe of the Akron Beacon Journal.

“The guy out there is throwing a fastball, slider, forkball, knuckleball, screwball, palmball, spitball, greaseball, and he’s throwing it 90 m.p.h. and you’re going up there worrying about if this is right or that is right and the umpire is saying, ‘Next.’ ”

Chief’s Crown in 1985 and My Dad George in 1970 failed to win after being favored in all three Triple Crown races, as noted in this space recently, and former Times turf writer Bob Hebert writes to add the name of Correlation in 1954.

Correlation, bred in California and trained by Noble Threewitt, finished sixth in the Kentucky Derby, won by Determine. He was second by a head in the Preakness, won by Hasty Road.

Bill Shoemaker rode him in the first two races, but Eddie Arcaro took over in the Belmont because Shoemaker was under suspension. Correlation remained the favorite under Arcaro, who was going for his sixth Belmont win, but he wound up fifth. The winner was High Gun.

Severiano Ballesteros, 10 shots off the lead in the British Open, not only appears to be out of the title chase, he might not even finish as low Spaniard.

Ahead of Ballesteros, who is tied with brother Manuel at 149, are Emilio Rodriguez 141, Manuel Pinero 144, Jose Rivero 146, and Jose-Maria Canizares and Jose Maria-Alazabal at 147. The latter is an amateur.

Katie Guerrero, wife of race driver Roberto Guerrero, will be working in the pits Sunday at the Michigan 500 even though she is seven months pregnant.

It’s mandatory to wear fire suits in the pits, and Katie solved the problem by being outfitted with what may be the first maternity fire suit in history.

There are two names written on the front of the suit. Under the name Katie Guerrero is written Baby Guerrero.

Quotebook

Ken Denlinger of the Washington Post, on Mikael Pernfors of Sweden leading the University of Georgia to the NCAA tennis title: “Wonder how many in Stockholm were yelling, ‘How ‘bout them Dawgs?’ ”