I Say, Old Chap, Was That You? Well, Any Port in a Storm, Eh What?

Proving it’s a small world, former Yankee pitcher Ralph Terry, the man who gave up the home run to Bill Mazeroski, told George Vecsey of the New York Times about the time he was playing golf professionally overseas and entered a pro-amateur event in Portugal sponsored by a wine manufacturer.

“Every few holes, you’d stop and have a sip of port,” Terry said. “My partner was a steel executive from England with three first initials like they have over there. After a few sips, he said to me, ‘I understand you played rounders back in the States.’ I said yes.

“He said, ‘I’ve only seen one game of rounders in my life. I was in Pittsburgh in 1960, and my hosts with U.S. Steel played 18 holes at Oakmont in the morning and then said we had to make haste because they had tickets for the final game of the World Series.

“ ‘Well, in the final chukker, this bloke from Pittsburgh hit the ball clear over a wall, and sheer pandemonium broke loose. We were lucky to escape with our lives.’

“I looked at him and said, ‘You know, it’s a funny thing, but I’m the bloke who served it up.’ He said, ‘What a coincidence. Let’s have some more port.’ ”

Edgar Jones of the Cleveland Cavaliers had told the world that he was all talked out, but apparently he has his second wind, and here he comes at you again: “Fans like unpredictable players like me. They move up a little in their seats when I come into a game. They don’t know if I’ll do something good, bad or what. All they know is I’ll do something, and they want to see what it is.

“Basically, I do what I can when I can. I play the complete game. I can shoot, rebound, play defense and bang on the boards. I can hurt you in so many different ways. I see myself as unstoppable because I have so much in my arsenal.”

Will the Hall of Fame be able to wait?

Trivia Time: Name the only player who has played for three different franchises in the Super Bowl. (Answer below.)

The most proficient passer in Super Bowl history? Applying the formula the NFL uses to rate quarterbacks, it’s Jim Plunkett. He has a rating of 122.8.

Then come Joe Montana 116.7, Terry Bradshaw 112.6, Ken Stabler 111.9, Roger Staubach 95.4, Ken Anderson 95.2 and Bart Starr 95.1.

Plunkett, in two Super Bowl wins, threw four touchdown passes and had no interceptions. At the other end of the spectrum is Craig Morton, a loser with both Dallas and Denver. He had one touchdown pass and seven interceptions. His rating is 19.9.

Jay Hilgenberg, the Chicago Bears’ center, told Peter King of Newsday that the Bears must have the best-conditioned offensive unit in the league.

“You’ve got to be in in shape, because our defense is so good,” he said. “You know it’s going to be three plays and a punt, and you’re back out there.”

Trivia Answer: Preston Pearson. He played for Baltimore (1969), Pittsburgh (1975) and Dallas (1976, 1978, 1979).

Quotebook

Mike Dunavant, coach of the women’s basketball team at Virginia Commonwealth, asked if he coached women differently than men: “The only difference is, a good job gets a pat on the shoulder, not on the seat. This makes the parents very happy.”