Frisch’s Fanciful Advice

It seems that managers haven’t yet figured out how to pitch to Mark McGwire, which brings up the story they tell about Frankie Frisch when he was managing the Chicago Cubs.

Frisch, after watching pitcher Bob Muncrief give up a home run to the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Ralph Kiner on a curveball, went to the mound and said: “Never give Kiner a curve. Throw him nothing but fastballs.”

Next time up, Kiner got a fastball and hit it about nine miles.

As Frisch came to the mound, Muncrief said: “Well, Frank, he hit yours a lot farther than he hit mine.”

Add McGwire: Said Johnny Bench, who watched McGwire Saturday when he hit two home runs against the Milwaukee Brewers: “On that second one, he had plenty of time to watch. But he didn’t. He goes from first to second to third to home. I played like that. I like it.”

Could that be a message to Reggie Jackson, the original watcher, and such imitators as Dave Winfield and Eddie Murray?

Baltimore Oriole catcher Terry Kennedy, who has played with Tony Gwynn and against Wade Boggs, compared them thusly: “Every once in a while, Tony will swing at a pitch out of the strike zone and drive it somewhere for a base hit. Wade Boggs never swings at a pitch out of the strike zone.”

Trivia Time: Among major league players who have never won a home run title, who has hit the most lifetime homers? (Answer below.)

Would-you-believe-it Dept.: The Chicago Tribune came up with this one: “Four quarterbacks were drafted ahead of Don Mattingly in 1979--John Elway, Dan Marino, Rick Leach and Jay Schroeder.”

Add Forgettable Quotes: The Kansas City Royals’ Frank White said of Bo Jackson two weeks ago: “The one thing I don’t think a lot of people realized was how much he liked to play baseball. He showed he was somebody not just motivated by money. And I think he looked at the pounding he took for four years, carrying the ball 35-40 times a game at Auburn and decided he wanted to be able to walk when he was 50.”

Add Bo: Wrote Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post after Jackson said he would make pro football a hobby: “Everybody needs a hobby. Personally, I’ve decided to cap oil well fires in my off-season. Red Adair looks rusty to me.”

Add Boswell: “The first time Dexter Manley meets Jackson in the backfield, I’m rooting for the field mike. ‘Yo, Bo, let me help you put your head back on. Say, how’s the hobby coming? It won’t hurt your batting stroke if I tear off these two fingers, will it?’ ”

It-takes-all-kinds Dept.: From the mailbag column of Mark Purdy, sports editor of the San Jose Mercury News: “I played golf this morning, shot 106 and lost three balls. It was a bad day, and I had to write a nasty letter to someone. I picked on you. Why? Because everyone writes nasty letters to you. So why didn’t you find my lost golf balls?”

J.C. ROLLER, Sunnyvale

Trivia Answer: Stan Musial with 475. That ties him for 16th on the all-time list with Willie Stargell.

In 1948, Ralph Kiner and Johnny Mize tied for the National League title with 40 homers. Musial hit 39. Musial led the league in hitting at .376 and in RBIs with 131. One more home run would have given him a Triple Crown, something he never won.

Quotebook

Rocky Bridges, minor league manager, on Little Leagues: “I bet you don’t know what is the first thing Little Leaguers always ask me. ‘How much money do you make?’ ”