They Manage to Say Some Amazing Things

Managers say some strange things, and The Sporting News has been keeping track. Here are some excerpts from the publication’s new paperback, “Baseball . . . It’s a Laughing Matter”:

--Casey Stengel, New York Mets: “Whenever I decided to release a guy, I always had his room searched for a gun. You couldn’t take any chances with some of those birds.”

--Jeff Newman, Oakland, after five games as interim manager: “The shock has worn off. The ulcers are setting in.”

--Del Crandall, Seattle: “The one thing that has kept Jack Perconte from being a good major league player is performance.”

--Jerry Coleman, San Diego: “You never ask why you were fired, because if you do, they’re liable to tell you.”

--Tom Lasorda, Dodgers: “I’ve got one fault. I lie a lot.”

--Doug Rader, Texas: “I usually don’t give a good impression--or a second impression. For that matter, I usually come across like a sack of manure.”

Add Managers: Said Leo Durocher, when asked about Bobby Thomson’s home run in 1951: “Oh, Bobby Thomson’s home run? Well, that was, ah, you, that wasn’t, ah, to me, ah, eh, if you’d asked that question, I would have answered in a different way. But I’ll answer it in the same way I would’ve answered if you asked the question.”

Trivia Time: What’s the most home runs hit by a player who won the batting championship the same year? (Answer below.)

Add Forgettable Quotes: Last month, after San Francisco had gone 15-17 against the National League East, catcher Bob Brenly said of an upcoming string of 25 games against the West: “We’ll kick their butts, steal their women and drink their beers.”

The Giants went 9-16.

Robin Roberts holds the record for most home runs allowed in a career, 505. Henry Aaron holds the record for most home runs hit, 755. Guess what happened when they confronted each other in an old-timers’ game at Atlanta?

Home run.

“Into the blue seats,” Aaron said. “Don’t tell me the baseballs aren’t juiced up.”

Would-you-believe-it Dept.: No team is more identified with the home run than the New York Yankees, but when Dave Winfield and Don Mattingly hit bases-loaded homers Monday against Toronto, it was only the second time in history that the Yankees had hit two grand slams in one game.

According to Marty Noble of Newsday, the only other time was May 24, 1936. Tony Lazzeri hit both. He had 11 runs batted in, an American League record.

Some Wimbledon observations by Tony Kornheiser of the Washington Post:

--On the strawberries and cream: “You get between six and eight of them in a cup for 1 pound 50 pence. At the $1.61 exchange rate, that’s $2.40 American. For the money it costs you to get full, you could buy a Yugo.”

--On cooking: “The British idea of rare is meat that’s only been in the oven for two months.”

--On Jimmy Connors: “He got to the semifinals by beating Slobodan Zivojinovic, which is pronounced just like it looks.”

Trivia Answer: 52 by Mickey Mantle in 1956. He won the batting title at .353.

Quotebook

Bert Blyleven, Minnesota pitcher, who is threatening to break his own major league record of 50 home runs allowed in a season: “It’s pretty bad when your family asks for passes to the game and wants to sit in the left-field bleachers.”