Only Run Travels a Long Way

Detroit scored only one run Monday at Tiger Stadium, but it was a memorable one.

In a 2-1 loss to the New York Yankees, Detroit outfielder Larry Herndon hit a home run to center field that would have traveled at least 500 feet, according to the Associated Press, if it hadn’t hit the screen in front of the upper-deck bleachers.

“The only ones I can remember being hit out there were by Mickey Mantle in the 1950s--two in the same game--and Frank Howard,” said Tiger President Jim Campbell, who joined the club in 1949.

Said Yankee Manager Lou Piniella: “I’ve been coming here 18 years and that’s as far as I’ve seen a ball hit.”

Said Detroit outfielder Kirk Gibson, who is on the disabled list: “It was pretty awesome. I only remember one to center field. Carl Yastrzemski hit it into the second row. I know because I caught it.”

More than one observer has theorized that Fernando Valenzuela actually is tougher on right-handed batters because of the perverse action of the screwball. They’re right.

According to Bill James, in his “Baseball Abstract,” right-handed batters have hit .218 and left-handed batters .243 against Valenzuela the past three years.

Another James statistic: Roger Clemens has received the best offensive support of any American League pitcher for two years in a row, 6.09 runs last year (tying Mike Mason) and 6.15 in 1985.

Trivia Time: Name the only coach who has coached three different teams in the NBA finals. (Answer below.)

Quote of the Year: Said Laker Coach Pat Riley Sunday when Denver writers asked him about the playoffs: “Right now, I’m thinking Clippers tomorrow night.”

Sure.

Wally Joyner of the Angels told Bob Verdi of the Chicago Tribune how a couple of Chicago Bears have prepared him for anything: “I went to school in Georgia with Kevin Butler. And then I went to college at Brigham Young with his buddy, Jim McMahon. Now, how’s that for a pair? Are they a couple of beauties? I think they liked me because I’m sane.”

Said Providence backup center Dave Snedeker, a transfer from Iowa, when asked by The Sporting News to compare former coach George Raveling with current coach Rick Pitino: “Raveling would bring in great players every year. Coach Pitino got players that he easily could give up on that he never did. He could just as easily go out and get new players. If Raveling felt guys weren’t getting the job done, he’d go out and recruit somebody he thought would.”

Only-in-New York dept. A Gotham tabloid ran this headline after Dwight Gooden tested positive for cocaine: “SAY IT AIN’T SNOW, DOC.”

Last year, when it was revealed he had fathered a child, the headline was: “PAPA DOC.”

Rafer Johnson, the man who carried the torch to the top of the Coliseum to light the flame for the 1984 Olympics, obviously has a vivid memory of the moment. Said the former decathlon champion after getting to the podium for a speech he was making to a group trying to get the ’91 Olympic Festival in Los Angeles: “I’m pleased there were no stairs to climb.”

Trivia Answer: Alex Hannum (St. Louis, 1957-58; San Francisco, 1963-64; Philadelphia, 1966-67). Quotebook

Bo Jackson of the Kansas City Royals, denying he was nervous before Monday’s opener: “I always thought nervous was another word for scared. And if you’re scared, you should get a dog.”