Trout Goes Fishing for a Name

Steve Trout, traded by the Chicago Cubs to the New York Yankees after pitching two straight shutouts, was asked what he thought of the deal.

“The Cubs are looking forward to the prospects they got,” Trout said. “The other guy . . . Tomsbury . . . Tewksburg . . . he might do a really good job.”

That’s Tewksbury, as in Bob.

Add Trout: Billy Connor, his former pitching coach with the Cubs, told Joe Gergen of Newsday: “He plays to a different tune. In his first spring training, he took 300 cuts in the batting cage and got tendinitis in the arm from swinging the bat. Against St. Louis one time, he had a shutout for five innings. He walked into the dugout and told (catcher) Jody Davis, ‘Now I think I’ll try for some strikeouts.’ ”

Last Add Trout: Rejoicing at being with a contender, he said: “We’re trying to get another ring in the family. My father got one in ‘45, and I want another one.”

In the 1945 World Series, Paul (Dizzy) Trout of Detroit was 1-1 with an 0.66 ERA as the Tigers beat the Chicago Cubs in seven games.

Trivia Time: Howard (Doc) Edwards, new manager of the Cleveland Indians, is only the second manager in major league history to be called Doc. Who was the other? (Answer below.)

From San Diego Padres reliever Keith Comstock, who spent nine years in the minor leagues and two in Japan before making it to the major leagues at age 31: “I’m the Dieter Brock of baseball.”

Both are natives of Birmingham, Ala.

The Iron Man: When Dave Winfield went all the way for the American League in the All-Star game Tuesday night, it wasn’t the first time. In 1979, when he was with San Diego, he played all nine innings for the National League. The NL won, 7-6.

Said former catcher Joe Garagiola after playing in an old-timers’ game: “It was the first time I was ever jammed by a 54-m.p.h. fastball.”

Joe is 61.

Jack Nicklaus, on the condition of his golf game: “I got contact lens so I could see. Now, I can see I can’t make anything.”

Battle of the Bulges: In Portland, Terry Forster is fashioning an earned-run average to match his waistline. Forster, whose weight has been estimated between 250 and 280 pounds, has a 14.54 ERA in 4 appearances for the Minnesota farm club, allowing 8 hits and 8 walks in 4 innings, with just 1 strikeout.

Mr. Clutch: Danny Ainge, facing a 160-yard shot over water on the 17th hole in the Greater Hartford Open pro-am, heard a spectator yell, “OK, Ainge, there are 10 seconds left and you’re down by two points.”

Says The Sporting News: “Ainge pulled out an 8-iron and hit his shot five feet from the pin, then turned to the crowd and raised his arms in the three-point signal.”

Trivia Answer: James Thompson (Doc) Prothro. He managed the Philadelphia Phillies in 1939-41. The team finished last all three years. He was the father of Tommy Prothro, former UCLA and Ram coach.

Quotebook

Kansas City Royals Manager Billy Gardner, on why he hasn’t called any clubhouse meetings this season: “The only clubhouse meetings I like are the ones dividing up playoff shares.”