Philadelphia Was Bad, but Broadway Was Even Worse

When the Philadelphia 76ers went 9-73 in 1972-73 for the worst record in NBA history, Roy Rubin was fired as the coach in midseason when the club was 4-47.

Ray Didinger of the Philadelphia Daily News, in a story on the team, recalled that Rubin later invested in a Broadway play that folded after two performances.

The title of the play was “Tough to Get Help.” The leading man was killed in a fire. The playwright died of a heart attack in his early 40s.

Said Rubin: “The word ‘jinx’ crossed my mind a few times.”

Said Philadelphia’s Mike Schmidt as talks between the Phillies and free-agent catcher Lance Parrish broke down: “Well, he can always play tight end in the NFL.”

Parrish is 6-3 and 230. At Walnut High School, he played quarterback and was recruited by UCLA.

Trivia Time: When Jimmy Piersall of the New York Mets hit his 100th lifetime homer and celebrated by running the bases backward, who was the pitcher? Hint: Piersall now works for him. Second hint: He also gave up Pete Rose’s only grand slam. (Answer below.)

Wait a Minute: From the Associated Press story on Johnny Miller’s victory over Payne Stewart at Pebble Beach: “For Stewart it was a second consecutive runner-up finish in this tournament and another chapter of what might have been in his dreary, discouraging saga.”

We should be so dreary. Stewart won $535,389 last year.

Larry Bird and Kevin McHale of the Boston Celtics both have a chance to score more than 2,000 points this season, becoming the fourth tandem in history to accomplish the feat.

They would join Jerry West and Elgin Baylor of the 1964-65 Lakers, Pete Maravich and Lou Hudson of the 1972-73 Atlanta Hawks, and Kiki Vandeweghe and Alex English of the 1982-83 and 1983-84 Denver Nuggets.

Says Peter May of the Hartford Courant: “What do those teams have in common? None won the NBA championship that year.”

From Richard Justice of the Washington Post: “Second baseman Steve Sax’s 210 hits were 104 more than any other Dodger last season, and researchers for the Elias Sports Bureau believe no player ever has led his team by that many. Third baseman Bill Madlock was second with 106.”

Don Maynard, named last week to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, recalled his first negotiations with New York Jets Coach Weeb Ewbank.

“When we finished,” said Maynard, “Weeb stood up and shook my hand and said, ‘It’s great to have you with us. Please don’t tell anybody what you’re making.’

“I told him, ‘I won’t, Weeb. I’m just as ashamed of it as you are.’ ”

No, David Robinson of Navy wouldn’t be the first to split duty between the NBA and the service. Elgin Baylor and Lenny Wilkens both did it in 1961-62.

Baylor, of the Lakers, was in the Army Reserves and served as a medic at Madigan General Hospital in Tacoma, Wash. Wilkens, of the St. Louis Hawks, was a second lieutenant in the Quartermaster Corps at Fort Lee, Va.

Interestingly, Baylor was the only member of his Army unit who had to serve.

Trivia Answer: Dallas Green of the Philadelphia Phillies. He is now the general manager of the Chicago Cubs, for whom Piersall works as a batting instructor.

Quotebook

Pro tennis star Martina Navratilova: “In Czechoslovakia there is no such thing as freedom of the press. In the United States there is no such thing as freedom from the press.”