He Beaned Reagan With No Apologies

Former big league outfielder Harry (Peanuts) Lowrey, who died earlier this month, played bit parts in a number of films while he was growing up in Culver City and while he was playing for the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League.

One of the movies was “The Winning Team,” starring Ronald Reagan as Grover Cleveland Alexander.

Wrote The Sporting News: “In one scene, Lowrey, playing the part of second baseman Rogers Hornsby, was supposed to bean Alexander with a throw toward first base, then run over to Reagan and exclaim, ‘Sorry, Alex!’

“But when the directors at Metro Goldwyn Mayer realized they would have to pay Lowrey an extra $50 because of the two spoken words, Peanuts was told, ‘Just run over to Reagan, roll him over and look soulfully at him.’ ”

Now-it-can-be-told dept.: Manager Dave Johnson of the New York Mets told Steve Marcus of Newsday that Met General Manager Frank Cashen called him in last year and told him he was concerned over the number of innings Dwight Gooden was pitching.

Johnson: “I said to him, ‘What do you want me to do, remove him after he throws 100 pitches?’

“He said, ‘That would be a consideration.’

“I told him to give me a signed note that I could take out and hold over my head to show the fans so I don’t get shot dead when I remove him.”

That ended the discussion.

Trivia Time: What do Wally Joyner of the Angels, Cory Snyder of the Cleveland Indians, Rick Aguilera of the New York Mets and Scott Nielsen of the New York Yankees have in common? (Answer below.)

General Manager Jim Irsay of the Indianapolis Colts told holdouts Jon Hand of Alabama and Jack Trudeau of Illinois that each day they miss they lose value.

He put it this way: “The five-bedroom with a pool is gone. The four-bedroom with no pool may still be possible.”

Free agent rookie Joe Dudek of the Denver Broncos, who set NCAA Division III scoring records at Plymouth State, explains why he’s having trouble with blocking and pass catching: “We ran the I formation in college. It was me right and me left.”

When the San Francisco Giants hit into a triple play against the Chicago Cubs July 9, it was the first time they had hit into one since 1964 against the New York Mets.

Did Giant Manager Roger Craig, a former Met pitcher, remember the game?

“No, I was no longer there,” he said. “But there’s no way the Mets I played for could get a triple play. They had trouble getting one out.”

Craig was with the Mets in 1962 and 1963. He had records of 10-24 and 5-22 before being traded to St. Louis. There, he made it to the 1964 World Series and won a game as the Cardinals beat the New York Yankees in seven games.

Trivia Answer: They were teammates at Brigham Young in 1983. Note: They didn’t make it to the College World Series, losing to Fresno State and Arizona State in the West Regional. The Sun Devils were led by Oddibe McDowell and Barry Bonds. Winning it all was Texas with Roger Clemens on the mound.

Quotebook

Tom Brookens of the Detroit Tigers, told that there was going to be a team meeting: “We don’t need a meeting. I already know everyone on this team.”