It’s the Land of the Long Memories

Thanks for the memories: Ralph Terry may be a rookie on the PGA Seniors Tour, but his name is a familiar one to sports fans. They haven’t forgotten him around Northern California, that’s for sure.

Terry the golfer is also Terry the former pitcher who was named the most valuable player in the 1962 World Series, when the New York Yankees beat the San Francisco Giants in seven games. So when he was introduced at last weekend’s tournament in Rancho Murieta, Calif., just outside Sacramento, boos rippled through the gallery.

Terry had heard the whispers for several days.

“That’s the guy who got Willie McCovey out in the last game of the ’62 World Series,” a man told his wife during one round. “You know, on the line drive Bobby Richardson caught.”

The woman glared at Terry but said nothing.

“It looks like the fans never forget,” Terry told Dan Hruby of the San Jose Mercury News. “The boos, well, I guess I can’t blame them.”

Add Terry: Playing in his 11th tournament, Terry had yet to earn his tour card and was 55th on the money list.

“In a way, John Brodie and I have a lot in common,” he said of the former quarterback who now also plays on the senior circuit. “He was a hell of a football player. And I had some good years in baseball. Actually, I’ve been a golf pro for 20 years. I think I can make it on the tour, although these guys out here are very, very good.

“They introduce players out here as having won this classic or that classic. Heck, I won the Fall Classic.”

Trivia Time: Who are the two major leaguers who began this season having hit 20 or more home runs in each of the last six seasons? One is in the National League, the other in the American. (Answer in column two.)

Tonight’s exhibition against Buffalo stirs up memories for Raider Coach Tom Flores, who played for the Bills in 1967 and ’68 after the Raiders had traded him.

“I remember that stadium,” he said, meaning Buffalo’s ramshackle War Memorial, not the new 80,020-seat Rich Stadium, where the Bills have played since ’73.

“We worked out in the stadium, too,” Flores said. “When it got cold, the guys would crawl into that thing they roll up the tarp with to keep warm, then come out when it was time for their drill. After the games, we ran to our cars. It was a scary place.

“I enjoyed watching ‘The Natural’ and seeing that old stadium again. I hear they’re getting ready to tear it down and are bringing back all the famous people who played there.”

Flores paused. “They didn’t invite me,” he said.

Would you believe it?: With a home run Wednesday night, Barry Bonds became the second Pirate ever to hit 20 home runs and steal 20 bases in the same season, joining Dave Parker.

Pittsburgh’s Roberto Clemente, for all his talent, never achieved that feat. In fact, his season high for steals in the majors was 12 in 1963, the year he hit 17 home runs. He hit 20 or more homers three times but never again reached double figures in steals.

Trivia Answer: Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies and Dwight Evans of the Boston Red Sox.

Quotebook

Announcer Rich Ashburn, a former baseball player, telling broadcast partner Harry Kalas how he used to take especially good care of his bats, even to the point of sleeping with them: “That’s right, Harry. I went to bed with a lot of old bats in my day.”