Walker Has Impact on Cardinals

When the Dallas Cowboys signed Herschel Walker this summer, receiver Pat Tilley of the St. Louis Cardinals wasn’t impressed.

“I don’t think Herschel could shine Tony Dorsett’s shoes,” Tilley told the Dallas Times Herald. “Dorsett’s the best running back I ever saw. It’ll take Walker time to break into that lineup.

“I don’t think he’ll have that much impact this year. Maybe next year.”

Monday night, with Dorsett sidelined, Walker was the game’s top rusher and receiver as the Cowboys beat the Cardinals, 31-7.

Wonder how that rates on the impact scale?

Add Cardinals: Among the Dallas contingent at the 1985 draft when Tex Schramm picked Walker, then playing in the United States Football League, in the fifth round was assistant coach Gene Stallings.

Says Stallings, now head coach of the Cardinals: “When they selected him, I thought it was a wasted draft choice. I was there when Tex did it. All I could see was drafting a player for that year. I guess that proves why he is president and we’re not.”

Now-it-can-be-told Dept.: Chet Simmons, the original commissioner of the USFL, told the New York Times how the league selected its official football:

“I remember that we met in a hotel room to pick the ball. George Allen, Chuck Fairbanks, John Ralston, Red Miller and Randy Vataha--all grown men--threw spirals over my head and whizzed them past my ears for half an hour. Vataha had been a wide receiver, so everyone wanted to throw to him. In the end, we chose a Wilson model. That was the one that felt best to Randy.”

Trivia Time: Has there ever been a major league player with the same name as the man serving as the president of the United States at the same time? (Answer below.)

St. Louis Manager Whitey Herzog said Wednesday he didn’t think either Gary Carter, then batting .248, or Keith Hernandez, with 82 runs batted in, should be the National League’s Most Valuable Player.

“You can’t have a legit MVP hitting under .250 or a first baseman who doesn’t knock in 100 runs,” Herzog told Bob Sudyk of the Hartford Courant. “With the year he is having, Mike Schmidt has to win it.”

Note: On Thursday night, Carter went 2 for 4 with 4 RBIs, raising his average to .251 with 102 RBIs.

Said Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller when asked about the split-fingered fastball: “There hasn’t been a new pitch in 111 years, which actually is the age of professional baseball. They’ve got new names for all the same things.

“There’s no such thing as a split-finger fastball. There’s a split-finger change of pace. It’s the old forkball.

“It’s been popular in Japan for years. More popular than here. The screwball. The curveball. The outdrop or the roundhouse. All these things are either breaking pitches or fastballs. Knuckleball, spitball. Some are legal, some are not. Most are.

“It’s just a new term. It’s like wide neckties. It’s fads.”

Got that?

Bo Who?: Bo Jackson is gone, but the beat goes on at Auburn. After three games, Brent Fullwood of the Tigers leads the Southeastern Conference in rushing, averaging 9.1 yards a carry.

Trivia Answer: Yes. John Kennedy was an infielder for the Washington Senators in 1962-63 while John F. Kennedy was in the White House. Both, incidentally, were born on May 29. Kennedy played for the Dodgers in 1965-66, both pennant-winning years.

Quotebook

Todd Phipers of the Denver Post: “Thank goodness the NBA training season is finally here. What has it been, two or three weeks since the playoffs ended?”