The Happy Sound of Money-Making

If Jim Gruver, assistant manager at Clancy’s bar and restaurant in St. Louis County, wasn’t a Cardinal fan before, he sure is now.

A boisterous crowd of about 150 fans watched the Cardinals clinch the National League East championship with a victory over the Chicago Cubs Saturday on a big screen television at Clancy’s.

“It wasn’t just a lot of loud cheering,” Gruver said. “There was a lot of loud ringing also--at the cash register.”

Not everyone in St. Louis was happy. Curt Veach was seen leaving Busch Stadium after St. Louis scored twice in the bottom of the eighth inning to take a 7-1 lead.

Veach, of Macomb, Ill., said he would face some ribbing when he gets home.

“I can’t stand the Cardinals,” he said. “Where I live in Illinois, it’s one or the other. It’s tough being a Cubs’ fan right now.”

The pain of knowing St. Louis would supplant Chicago as East Division champions was too much for Veach to bear.

“I couldn’t stand to see the Cardinals clinch it,” he said. “That’s why I’m going to the car right now.”

Cleveland Brown quarterback Gary Danielson suffered a shoulder strain in Sunday’s game and was replaced by touted rookie Bernie Kosar, considered the future of the franchise.

Kosar fumbled away his first NFL snap but recovered to complete his first seven passes and lead the Browns to a 24-20 victory over the New England Patriots.

Said Danielson: “Somebody asked me, ‘How long do you think you’ll be out?’ and I said, ‘Either one week or 15 years, I don’t know.’ ”

Jan Stephenson, well-established as the No. 1 sex symbol on the LPGA golf tour, is expected to pad her lead considerably over whoever is in second place when a 1986 pinup calendar she posed for is released.

“Some of the photos are this close to being pornographic,” a source told Pat Sullivan of the San Francisco Chronicle while holding her thumb and forefinger about an inch apart.

In one pose, Stephenson reclines in a bathtub, covered only by golf balls.

Wyoming football Coach Al Kincaid wasn’t real happy when Wisconsin ran a reverse late in the game and then lined up for a field goal on the last play while holding a 21-point lead.

“Maybe they want to be ranked in the Top 20 or something,” Kincaid said. “Maybe it’s sour grapes, but I don’t think a team up, 38-17, should be running the reverse or kicking a field goal with no time left on the clock.”

For the record, the Badgers made the field goal and won, 41-17.

Dept. of Trivial Information: Jerry Davis of the San Diego Padres came to bat in a game early this season against San Francisco’s Mark Davis and hit a fly ball to center field. It was caught by Chili Davis.

Ron Zell Brewer, one of seven TCU football players suspended a few weeks ago for taking payments from boosters, had such a good deal that he didn’t want to take a pay cut.

“I was getting so much money that I thought the college level was pretty good,” Brewer. said. “I felt like I might like to stay an extra year.”

So he did. Brewer is a fifth-year senior.

Quotebook

Cedric Maxwell, formerly of the Boston Celtics: “Red Auerbach is so big, such a legend, that unfortunately people believe every word he says--even if it’s not the truth.”