If You Need a Fin, Go See Chi Chi

Ira Berkow of the New York Times tells about a pro-am in which Greg Norman and his partners were being held up by a group ahead.

“Who’s the pro in that group?” Norman asked.

“Chi Chi Rodriguez,” he was told.

“Oh,” Norman said. “Now I know why they’re so slow. Chi Chi’s got all that money in his pocket.”

When told of Norman’s remark, Rodriguez laughed.

“He’s the White Shark and I’m the Loan Shark,” Chi Chi said.

Add Chi Chi: Of the senior tour, he said: “We have to thank Arnie Palmer for what we have. He gave our tour the credibility it needed, just as he did on the regular tour. Will there be another Palmer? Never, but maybe we’ll find someone who can drive his tractor.”

Trivia Time: Next to Helen Wills Moody, an eight-time winner, who has won the most women’s singles titles for the United States at Wimbledon? (Answer below.)

54 Years Ago Today: On July 6, 1933, the first major league All-Star game was played at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The American League, managed by Connie Mack, defeated the National League, managed by John McGraw, 4-2, on a two-run homer by Babe Ruth.

Exactly 50 years later at Comiskey Park, Fred Lynn of the Angels hit the first grand slam in All-Star history to lead the AL to a 13-3 victory, ending an 11-game winning streak by the NL.

For What It’s Worth: Mark McGwire hit his 30th home run in Oakland’s 80th game of the season. Roger Maris hit his 30th in the 75th game and Babe Ruth hit his 30th in the 83rd game.

Jerry Reuss, 3-0 with the Angels after going 0-5 with Cincinnati, was asked if that proved that the National League is tougher than the American League.

“That’s silly,” he said. “If that’s so, then the American Assn. must be better than the American League, too, because I got hit pretty hard there a couple of times.”

Said Cincinnati outfielder Dave Collins after the Reds called him up from Nashville in the American Assn.: “I hate the minor leagues. I’d rather go out to lunch with my ex-wife’s attorney than play in the minor leagues.”

Richard Justice of the Washington Post notes: “It was a year ago the Chicago White Sox fired manager Tony LaRussa and hired Jim Fregosi. In that year, Fregosi went 73-98 while LaRussa went 86-68 in his new job in Oakland.”

From Jack Aker, deposed Cleveland pitching coach, blaming catcher Rick Dempsey for much of the club’s problems: “We got beat a lot of times with a lot of stupid pitches, to be blunt about it. A lot of the pitchers came up and asked for Chris Bando to catch them. When Dempsey handled all those good pitching staffs in Baltimore, a majority of the pitchers there were calling their own games. Dempsey does a good job with Steve Carlton, because Carlton calls his own game.” Dempsey hasn’t exactly been a ball of fire offensively, hitting .178 with one homer and five runs batted in.

Trivia Answer: Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova, with six each. Navratilova won her first two Wimbledon titles representing Czechoslovakia.

Quotebook

Minnesota pitcher Joe Niekro, claiming the baseballs are souped up this year: “They used to use horsehide from workhorses. Now they use thoroughbreds. As soon as a horse wins the Kentucky Derby, they take him out and chop him up.”