Molitor’s Run Paid Dividend

Paul Molitor’s run at Joe DiMaggio’s hitting streak might have ended, but as they say in Hollywood, the residuals keep pouring in. The Molitor record watch was basically boffo at the box office.

During the streak’s latter stage, the Brewers played seven home games, and club officials estimate that Molitor brought about 10,000 extra people to each of them. Or to put it another way, he made them around $450,000.

“The cash register rings every time he gets a hit,” Brewer Vice President Dick Hackett said.

Those extra 10,000 must have been mighty welcome Wednesday night, for the game when the streak ended. Without them, the Brewers would have had a crowd of 1,246.

Trivia Time: Who is Steve Walsh? (Answer below.)

This, from boxing reporter Wallace Matthews of Newsday: “What do Bob Arum and Richard Nixon have in common?

“In 1974, both used the line, ‘I am not a crook!’

“The question is, who influenced whom?

“ ‘What, are you kidding?’ Arum said. ‘That was before Watergate. I said it before Nixon did.’

“But while Nixon’s disclaimer came in the midst of a real-life crisis, Arum’s denial was part of his one and only acting role, in the cult classic film, “The Marijuana Affair,” which was recently screened at a secret, invitation-only showing.

“In a hilarious performance, Arum plays Harold Stokes, a drug-enforcement agent gone bad who also moonlights as Jamaica’s No. 1 pusher. When Arum’s double dealing is discovered, he at first tries to bargain his way out. When that doesn’t work, he resorts to begging, and then finally defiance, daring the agents to shoot him as he runs off, laughing maniacally. They do.

“ ‘Wasn’t I great?’ ” a proud Arum asked. Truthfully, the film is one of those best enjoyed by people under the influence.”

Now-it-can-be-told Dept.: Freshman running back Mike Beasley of the University of Maryland reveals that his secret weapon for dealing with coaches trying to recruit him for their college football teams was his mother, Marilyn.

“She told me to be smart and to look people straight in the eye,” Beasley said. “A lot of people can’t look you in the eye and tell you a lie.”

Mrs. Beasley’s only son may do what Maryland freshmen seldom do--make the team.

“My mother and I have a mother-son relationship and a friendship,” Beasley said. “I know who the boss is, but I can tell her about things on my mind. I can talk about girls, which most people say you can’t talk about with your mom.

“And I can talk about football. She’s one of my worst critics. I’ve come home after a 200-plus-yard game, thinking I’m pretty good, and she’ll point out two or three things I could’ve done. She keeps my head level. And talking football lingo, I’ll put her up against any mom in the country.”

Trivia Answer: Walsh is the sophomore starter with the unenviable job of succeeding Vinny Testaverde, Bernie Kosar and Jim Kelly as quarterback at the University of Miami this fall.

After Spuds McKenzie, “the original party animal” of beer commercial fame, visited the Oakland Coliseum for a promotion during an A’s-Yankees game recently, New York’s Ron Kittle concluded: “Spuds is a better interview than Rickey Henderson.”

Quotebook

Riddick Bowe, U.S. super-heavyweight boxer, before his bout with Cuba’s Jorge Gonzalez in the Pan American Games, which he lost: “I’m going to hit him with the Ghetto Whopper. Then I’ll hit him with the Cherry Tree Special. Then I’ll hit him with the Bowe Go, and if he’s still standing, I’ll start running.”