In This Game, He Took No Chances

New York Mets Manager Dave Johnson, a scratch golfer, was asked if he had ever played against Nancy Lopez, wife of Met third baseman Ray Knight.

Johnson told the New York Times that he had, but only after taking a few precautions.

First, he said he kept putting off the match while repeatedly telling Lopez that there was no way she could beat him.

“I wanted to plant that negative idea in her mind,” he said.

Secondly, he insisted on picking the course. He selected Westchester Country Club, his favorite.

Thirdly, he persuaded her to play from the men’s tees.

Finally, he insisted on match play instead of medal play, so he wouldn’t get victimized by a couple of bad holes.

With all that, he managed to win the match, 1 up.

“Oh, one other thing,” he said. “Nancy was eight months pregnant.”

Add Johnson: He is the answer to the trivia question, “Who got the last hit off Sandy Koufax?”

It happened in the second game of the 1966 World Series. Johnson played second base for the Baltimore Orioles, who beat the Dodgers, 6-0.

Johnson later bumped into Koufax and mentioned his feat.

“Yeah,” Koufax said. “That’s why I retired.”

Trivia Time: In 16 seasons, 1949-64, only two teams other than the New York Yankees won American League pennants. What did they have in common? (Answer in Column 2).

Add Forgettable Quotes: Said Jack Renner before the start of the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills: “This is my kind of course. What a pleasure to play a course without railroad ties and without a green in the middle of a lake. Here, you have holes with options, sometimes two or three options. This is the way golf is supposed to be played. I love it.”

Renner opened with an 85.

Said Johnny Miller, when told of Renner’s score: “On second thought, Jack Renner might decide he likes railroad ties.”

Lee Trevino couldn’t believe it. Somebody prefaced a question to him by remarking that Trevino had not won a major championship “for a while.”

Said Trevino: “Were you in prison in 1984? Maybe you didn’t get copies of the newspaper there. I won the PGA in 1984, and that’s not too long ago.”

The USGA says, “The purpose of the U.S. Open is to identify the best player.”

Said Skip Bayless of the Dallas Times Herald after the first round: “This time, it may identify the best Antarctic explorer.”

Wait a Minute: Said Kansas City pitcher Danny Jackson of Mike Witt’s performance Thursday night at Anaheim Stadium: “You can’t pitch any better than that.”

Witt already has, of course. You can’t get any better than perfect, and that’s what Witt was on the last day of the 1984 season, when he beat Texas, 1-0.

Trivia Answer: The 1954 Cleveland Indians and the 1959 Chicago White Sox both were managed by Al Lopez. Also, a star pitcher for both teams was Early Wynn.

Quotebook

Dave Winfield of the Yankees, on leaping above the wall to rob Lee Lacy of a home run at Baltimore: “Me and Manute Bol are the only guys in this region that would have caught that ball.”