They’re Stool Pigeons to Billy

“They’re giving those squealers too much immunity and you can quote me.”

So said Billy Martin to Shirley Povich of the Washington Post after reading about the testimony in Pittsburgh last week.

“I hate stool pigeons, and these guys are copping on their own pals,” Martin said. “The government is plenty to blame, too. Why do they need a dozen players to turn state’s evidence when two or three would do? They made a parade out of it.

“That last thing, John Milner stooling on Willie Mays, really upset me. Those guys who admit they’ve been using the stuff should be on trial and ain’t. They’re bringing in other names and hurting other people.”

Martin continued: “Let me tell you how I stand on drugs, cocaine and all the rest. First time a player is caught on coke or anything, give him a year out of baseball right away. If he blows rehabilitation, give him life. Let’s let our country know how strong we are on this.”

Add Martin: The other day he was holding court in his office when, according to the New York Times, the conversation got around to George Steinbrenner and his one-year stint as an assistant football coach at Northwestern.

“He was 0-8-1,” said Martin. “I want to know how he got the tie.”

Trivia Time: Kevin Woo of Torrance asks this one: “Who is the only player to be on the field for both Pete Rose’s 4,192nd hit and Henry Aaron’s 715th home run?” (Answer below.)

After the 12-3 loss to Michigan State at East Lansing, new Coach John Cooper of Arizona State said: “I got home, showered and came to my office at 5 a.m. to watch the films. You can’t sleep after you lose a game.

“I’ve looked at the films about five times now. At least now, we know what to work on.”

Which is?

“Everything,” he said.

BYU defensive tackle Jason Buck, on how the Cougars got steamed up for Washington Saturday: “There were several articles sent to us which were negative. But this one in particular was really bad. It called us a bunch of polygamists, and that really fired us up.”

Wrote Frank Luksa of the Dallas Times Herald on the eve of Sunday’s game at Detroit: “The Lions aren’t very good. They’re close to being bad. . . . The Cowboys are favored by four points plus change in a game they should capture by 14. Tom Landry should outcoach Darryl Rogers. Tony Dorsett should outrun Wilbert Montgomery. Sore ribs aside, Danny White is better than Eric Hipple. On and on go favorable comparisons.”

And on and on go the Lions. They’re 2-0.

During the Navy-Delaware game, Napoleon McCallum of the Middies came up swinging after a hard stop by Delaware linebacker Darrell Booker.

Said Booker: “I guess he thought I was on him too long, but I thought it was a clean hit. I think he was a little frustrated. He mentioned in the papers that he didn’t know Delaware had a team. I guess he knows now.”

Delaware won, 16-13.

Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda, on Mariano Duncan: “If you compare Mariano right now with Ozzie Smith in his first year, I think Mariano is much more advanced. He has cut down the opposition’s run production and it’s not long until he becomes a good left-handed hitter.”

Trivia Answer: Steve Garvey.

Quotebook

Washington Coach Don James, on the 31-3 loss to Brigham Young: “We haven’t played this poorly since last week.”