California Has Richter Scale, Ohio Has Nuhn

Gary Nuhn of the Dayton Journal Herald was wondering what would happen next to plague the U.S. Women’s Open golf tournament in suburban Dayton.

After a train derailment led to a phosphorous fire and numerous thunderstorms hit the area, Nuhn wrote Friday: “ . . . Would you believe swarming locusts? Saturday, how about an earthquake?”

Saturday at approximately 4:20 a.m., Ohio was hit by an earthquake registering 4.2 on the Richter scale.

When Detroit’s Dave Collins collided with teammate Kirk Gibson going for a fly ball against Kansas City, he figured to come out second best. Gibson is a former All-American wide receiver at Michigan State.

Collins said there was nothing to it, however, and told Gibson so.

“I told him that’s why Michigan beat them every year,” he said.

Trivia Time: A total of five ex-Dodger pitchers won major league games last week. How many can you name? (Answer below.)

Golfer Mac O’Grady, on why he swings right-handed and putts left-handed: “I saw a Japanese neurologist in 1975, and he told me what hemisphere of the brain controls my neuromuscular movement. He said it’s much easier to monitor my visual field if I putted left-handed.”

Remember what former major league pitcher Bill Lee said when asked why southpaws are always depicted as flakes?

“What do you expect from a northpaw world?” he said.

Darryl Dawkins of the New Jersey Nets, on teammate Buck Williams: “Buck’s the hardest-working, most intense guy I’ve played with. If he had my mouth, he’d probably be the best-known player in the NBA.”

Add Forgettable Quotes: “It’ll be over early. I’ll be merciful to him,” said WBA junior-heavyweight champion Dwight Muhammad Qawi at the weigh-in for Saturday’s bout with Evander Holyfield. “I’ve dominated this division. There’s no one left to fight. I’ll just have to move up to the heavyweights.”

See Page 9.

If the Navy approved, why couldn’t Napoleon McCallum take weekends off to play for the Raiders? Coach Tom Flores doubts it would work, because McCallum would miss too much practice, but there is a precedent of sorts.

In 1961, the U.S. Army Reserve called up Green Bay’s Paul Hornung in midseason and stationed him at Ft. Riley, Kan. Hornung was given Sunday furloughs to play for the Packers, and he led the league in scoring with 146 points.

Free European vacations were given by Holiday Inns to people who stayed in its hotels for extended times.

Bill Tobin, director of personnel for the Chicago Bears, told The Sporting News that he thinks every scout in the NFL took advantage of the offer.

“In Paris,” he said, “we had scouts running into each other all over the place.”

When Bruce Crampton quit the PGA Tour and went into the oil business in Dallas, he figured he never would play again.

Today, he’s a rookie on the senior tour.

“When the oil started selling for $10 a barrel instead of $44 a barrel, I got the old putter out,” he said.

Trivia Answer: Charlie Hough (Texas), Doyle Alexander (Atlanta), Don Sutton (Angels), Sid Fernandez (New York Mets), Dave Stewart (Oakland). Note: John Franco of Cincinnati, signed originally by the Dodgers, also was a winner in relief.

Quotebook

Senior golfer Chi Chi Rodriguez, on his nationality: “My name used to be O’Connor, but I changed it for business reasons.”