Lasorda Was a Wild Man, Himself

Oakland A’s reliever Jay Howell said he never will forget his first appearance in the major leagues. The year was 1980, and he was playing for Cincinnati.

“We were playing the Dodgers and leading 7-1 in the ninth when I finally got to pitch,” Howell told Kit Stier of The Sporting News. “On my first pitch I wind up and throw as hard as I can, and Steve Garvey ducks right into it. It bounces off his helmet and up into the press box.

“Tom Lasorda comes running out on the field yelling, ‘What are you doing here in the big leagues? You’ve got no right to be here. You’re going to kill somebody. You’ve got no control. Dumb rookie.’ He was trying to intimidate me.

“Ron Cey was the next guy up, and the back of his heels were on the outside of the chalk of the batter’s box. I struck him out on three pitches. Then I got Rudy Law to hit into a double play to end the game.”

Note: Lasorda, as a Brooklyn left-hander in 1955, appeared in only four games but managed to make the record book. He tied a National League record with three wild pitches in an inning. In 1948 with Schenectady of the Canadian-American League and again in 1953 with Montreal of the International League, he led the league in wild pitches.

Trivia Time: Who was the last switch-hitter to win the Most Valuable Player award in the American League? (Answer below.)

It was quite a weekend for knuckleball pitchers. Phil Niekro of the New York Yankees won his 294th game Saturday night and Joe Niekro of the Houston Astros won his 201st game Sunday. On the same day, Hoyt Wilhelm was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

The Niekro brothers, with a combined 495 wins, are 35 shy of breaking the record of 529 set by Gaylord and Jim Perry.

Joe Niekro, 40, says the record is doomed. In fact, he intends to win 300 games himself.

“We want to set a mark that will stand for a long time, maybe forever,” he said. “It may take three pitching brothers to beat us.”

Add Niekro: Emphasizing how Phil Niekro, 46, keeps defying Father Time, the New York Times recalled an All-Star game in which National League Manager Tom Lasorda, unaware that Niekro already had appeared in the midsummer classic, vowed to get him into the game for at least a third of an inning “so he can say he played in an All-Star game before he retires.”

That was seven years ago.

Now-it-can-be-told Dept.: Washington assistant coach Joe Bugel revealed how Mark Moseley, who is battling former Express placekicker Tony Zendejas for the No. 1 job, broke his hand recently.

Bugel told Christine Brennan of the Washington Post: “Moseley was clowning around with me in the weight room. He said, ‘Tony Zendejas-- I’m ready, boy,’ and hit the back of a weight machine with a closed fist. He grimaced and laughed, so I thought he was all right. The next day I heard he was in the hospital.

“I’m just glad it wasn’t his kicking foot.”

Moseley sent the doctor’s bill to the Redskins, but trainer Bubba Tyer said the club might send it back.

Tyer: “We don’t have a stupidity clause in the contract.”

Said St. John’s basketball Coach Lou Carnesecca, reflecting on last year’s Olympic Games: “I loved it. It was like a tonic. I saw all the games, except when China played Egypt. I don’t want the Chinese and Egyptians to get mad at me, but it was 12:30 at night, I’d seen five games and I fell asleep.”

Trivia Answer: Vida Blue of the Oakland A’s in 1971.

Quotebook

Pittsburgh Pirates Coach Bob Skinner, on the possible impact of a long strike: “Come January, you’ll be able to get a Mercedes real cheap around here.”