George Fostering Big Dreams

If baseball gave an award for optimist of the year, George Foster surely would be a leading candidate.

Said Foster, 37, after hitting a homer for the Chicago White Sox Friday: “I’m only 53 home runs away from 400. From then on, the goal will be 500.”

Told that it might take some time considering his age, he said, “I can average 30 home runs for the next five years.”

Reminded that he hasn’t hit that many in a season since he hit 30 with the Cincinnati Reds in 1979, he said: “I have to get my mechanics straightened out. My mechanics have been off the last 4 1/2 years.”

Where are you, Mr. Goodwrench?

Said Reggie Jackson after hitting his first Anaheim Stadium home run in 33 games Friday night: “If I’m going to go down, I’ll go down smoking. I’d gotten the idea that if I didn’t make contact, I wouldn’t play. But you can’t change to a .22 after you’ve gone with a .44 magnum for 19 years.”

Trivia Time: What player opened the scoring in the last Super Bowl? (Answer below.)

Now-It-Can-Be-Told Dept.: Mike Ditka, in his autobiography, said he decided William Perry would be his No. 1 pick after he and personnel director Bill Tobin scouted a group of college players at an Arizona tryout camp in the spring of 1985.

Ditka: “When I saw Perry run the 40-yard dash, I said to Tobin, ‘How would you like to tackle that son of a gun?’ He weighed 356 pounds and looked like a thundering herd running down the field. Kind of hard to believe. That’s when I really got intrigued by him. I said, ‘Bill, I really want to analyze this guy.’ He said, ‘I’m glad you do, because I like him.’ ”

Add Ditka: He wrote that he didn’t care who he played in the Super Bowl but said, “I always thought the best matchup would have been the Raiders and the Bears. It would have been just a brawl. I don’t know how fancy it would have been or who would have won but it would have been a brawl. I think we match up pretty well, although I like us at the quarterback position a little better.”

No, Buddy Ryan doesn’t put the knock on all his players. Of defensive end Reggie White, the Philadelphia coach said, “He’s the best lineman I’ve ever coached. Better than Carl Eller, Alan Page, the Jets and all the guys in Chicago.”

Lee Trevino said it isn’t serious, but he will undergo surgery after the year to have small growths removed from the corner of each eye.

“They don’t affect my golf,” he said. “I started wearing glasses for reading about four years ago, but what I really need is longer arms.”

Cleveland Indian Coach Bobby Bonds, on rookie Cory Snyder: “I haven’t seen a right fielder with an arm like that since Roberto Clemente.”

For What It’s Worth: Tony Dorsett still holds the NCAA record for career rushing, with 6,082 yards in four years at Pitt, but Herschel Walker likely would hold the record if he hadn’t passed up his final year at Georgia. Walker gained 5,259 yards in three years. That projects to more than 7,000 yards in four years.

Trivia Answer: Tony Franklin of New England, on a 36-yard field goal.

Quotebook

Mike Singletary, on why the Chicago Bears play an attacking defense: “In today’s football, bend and don’t break will break you right out of the league.”