Cardinals Should Have Fun in the Sun

Gene Stallings, new coach of the St. Louis football Cardinals, is one of the survivors of Bear Bryant’s infamous summer camp at College Station, Tex., when Bryant took over as coach of Texas A&M; in the 1950s.

Years later, when Stallings became the coach at Texas A&M;, he had a torture camp of his own, and there were reports of mass defections. Blackie Sherrod of the Dallas Morning News recalls that one Dallas paper assigned crack reporter Steve Perkins to investigate the rumors.

Perkins called Stallings on the phone and said, “Coach, we’re hearing reports that as many as 18 players have quit your squad during spring drills.”

Bellowed Stallings: “Well, I don’t know where you got your news, but it’s wrong. It’s more like 26.”

Enjoy your summer, Cardinals.

For What It’s Worth: Hall of Fame pitcher Red Ruffing, who died Monday, had a lifetime batting average of .269 and eight times batted over .300. Wouldn’t that make him a million-dollar infielder today? Just last week, Gary Gaetti of the Minnesota Twins, a .246 hitter last season, signed for $515,000.

Trivia Time: He is the 1984 Olympic gold medalist in the pole vault and he is competing tonight in The Times meet at the Forum. Who is he? (Answer below.)

Just Asking: Wonder if the athletic director at North Carolina State has called in the basketball coach to give him a vote of confidence? Since Jim Valvano was named athletic director at the school, Jim Valvano, the basketball coach, has gone 0-3.

Earl Monroe, former sharpshooter for the Baltimore Bullets and New York Knicks, thinks Kareem Abdul-Jabbar can play until he’s 45.

Calling Kareem one of his favorite people, Monroe told Milton Richman of UPI: “I remember years ago, I’d come home in the summer and there Kareem would be, waiting for me in front of my door here in New York. He’d just wanna talk. He loves trivia, you know, and he loves baseball. So do I.

“Kareem would talk about the team he liked as a kid, the Dodgers, and coming from Philadelphia, I’d talk about the one I liked, the Phillies. I related to all those guys the Phillies had ‘way back. Guys like Harry (The Hat) Walker and Johnny Wyrostek, and later on, Richie Ashburn, Robin Roberts, Ruben Amaro, Dick Allen. I like talking baseball with Kareem. I never liked to talk basketball. I didn’t want basketball to be the only thing in my life.”

Add Monroe: Recalling when he left Baltimore to join the Knicks, he said: “When I came here, they said I couldn’t play with Walt Frazier because there weren’t that many basketballs. It made no difference because he kept the ball, anyway.”

Yes, he said it with a laugh.

The money’s great, but Billy Casper says that’s not the only reason he’s flourishing on the Seniors’ Tour.

“This isn’t just a second chance for a career,” Casper told Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post. “It’s a second chance for some of us to change our personalities. Like who? Well, me. I used to be known as a grouch and a grump. Look at me now. Wearing knickers and plus-fours and silly hats. I never thought I’d see the day.”

Trivia Time: Pierre Quinon of France.

Quotebook

Bob Ferry, general manager of the Washington Bullets, on why he drafted Manute Bol: “Maybe it’s because I played 10 years and didn’t block a shot.”