A Likely St. Louis Starter Has Unique Ideas About His Job

Joaquin Andujar is gone and Danny Cox is hurt, so it’s almost a certainty that Rick Ownbey will be a starter for the St. Louis Cardinals. That should make the writers happy. The big right-hander looks like good copy.

Ownbey, 6-3 and 185, came to the Cardinals from the New York Mets in 1983. He came with pitcher Neil Allen for first baseman Keith Hernandez.

He’s a product of Santa Ana College, and Jack Lang of the New York Daily News once made this observation when Ownbey was struggling with the Mets: “He’s got a terrific arm. But he’s one of those laid-back beach boys from California. So far, his strong suit is throwing a Frisbee with his toes.”

Ownbey himself had a simple explanation for his problems.

“They want me to throw it over the plate,” he said, “and I can’t pitch that way.”

Tom Grieve was insulted. He’s the general manager of the Texas Rangers, and when somebody compared rookie Pete Incaviglia to Kansas City Royals’ Steve Balboni, he said: “Anyone who compares Incaviglia to Balboni ought to be scouting a girls’ soccer team. There is no comparison between Balboni and Incaviglia. Balboni has never taken a swing as good as Incaviglia’s in his life.”

Trivia Time: What manager had the best winning percentage in the major leagues in 1985? (Answer below.)

Add Trivia: A reader suggested this one: “What do Ralph Branca, Terry Forster and Tom Niedenfuer have in common?” The answer is that all three gave up home runs that cost the Dodgers National League pennants, but actually there is a difference.

When Branca gave up the home run to Bobby Thomson in 1951, that ended the game.

When Forster gave up the three-run homer to Joe Morgan in 1982, it came in the seventh inning and gave San Francisco a 5-2 lead. The Dodgers got one run back and lost, 5-3.

When Niedenfuer gave up the three-run shot to Jack Clark, it came in the top of the ninth. The Dodgers failed to score in the bottom half and lost, 7-5.

Also, the loss in the Forster game cost the Dodgers the Western Division title, not the National League title. The Atlanta Braves won the division.

Note: The pitcher Forster replaced was Niedenfuer, who had allowed two hits in the seventh, setting the table for Morgan.

Would-you-believe-it dept.: Dale Douglass joined the PGA Senior Tour March 8 and before the month had ended, he had won $96,000.

That’s more than he ever won in a year on the regular tour. His best year was 1969 when he won $91,553.

Rod Carew, still waiting for a club to call and give him a shot, told the Associated Press he hasn’t heard from many of his ex-teammates.

“Except Reggie Jackson,” he said. “He’s the only one that’s kept close contact. It gives me a good feeling that he’s concerned.”

For the Record: Responding to Monday’s trivia item, a few readers have called to say that Steve Krafcisin should have been named along with Bob Bender as someone who played for two different schools in NCAA championship games.

Actually, Krafcisin went to the Final Four with two teams--North Carolina in 1976-77 and Iowa in 1979-80--but only North Carolina played in the championship game.

Trivia Answer: Billy Martin of the New York Yankees. He replaced Yogi Berra when the club had a 6-10 record. Martin’s record was 91-54 for a percentage of .628. Next was Whitey Herzog of the St. Louis Cardinals with a 101-61 record for .623.

Quotebook

Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda: “They talk about Stan Musial being a great guy. What I want to know is, who wouldn’t be a great guy with over 3,600 hits? Show me a .200 hitter who’s a great guy. That’s what I want to see.”