There Was a Man Who Knew How to Rub It In

When San Francisco Manager Roger Craig was pitching for the New York Mets in 1963, he set a National League record by losing 18 straight games.

In one of the games, he was having trouble gripping the ball, and finally Manager Casey Stengel came to the mound.

“You’re standing on two tons of dirt,” Stengel said. “Why don’t you try rubbing some of it on the ball?”

Add Craig: He pitched 233 innings that year, and Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa said: “He pitched all that time with that team behind him? Well, he sure deserves a lot more than a raise. He ought to bargain for a piece of the ballpark.”

Now-it-can-be-told dept.: Minnesota’s Tom Brunansky would have been out on his base-running gaffe in Game 3 even if Detroit hadn’t got him on a force at second.

Reason: He had advanced beyond second base, and when he retreated to first, he failed to touch second again.

“I would have called him out,” umpire Mike Reilly said.

Today’s Quiz: Why do they call Candlestick Park the ‘Stick?

A. Because the wind blew the candle out.

Trivia Time: If Indiana should win the Rose Bowl after winning the NCAA basketball title, would it be the first school to pull off the parlay? (Answer below.)

The senior golf tour has given new life to the old pros, but Doug Sanders told the Boston Globe: “I’ve got to get an easier job. Twice this month I had to get up at 7 a.m. Sometimes I’m coming in at that time.

“I’m one of those guys who goes out at night looking for a girl that’s a 10. But by the end of the night I wind up with a 1. But I figured a way to win. I find an ugly girl early in the night and drink until she is pretty.”

Add Seniors: Roberto de Vicenzo has been cashing big checks on the super seniors tour, for golfers 60 and over, but he says: “Who likes to be old? I am no longer the Wild Bull of the Pampas. Now, when I see a cow, I just wave.”

Chicago Bears Coach Mike Ditka is feuding again with William Perry, claiming the Fridge has been missing practices by union players.

“I really don’t care whether he comes back or not,” Ditka told reporters. “You people think my life depends on William Perry. You guys are wrong, man. I’ll tell you one thing--his career depends on Mike Ditka a lot more than my career depends on him. You can book that.”

From the Sporting News: “The latest on Marge Schott’s penny-pinching: When she discovered that each physical the Cincinnati Reds were about to give would cost $105, she ordered the club’s six coaches be excluded. ‘It’s the first time in my 21 years in the majors that the club didn’t pay for a physical for me,’ said batting instructor Billy DeMars, who a few weeks earlier had announced he would leave the team at the end of the season.”

Trivia Answer: No. The 1965 and 1975 UCLA football teams won Rose Bowl games after the basketball teams won NCAA titles.

Quotebook

Carl Erskine, former Brooklyn Dodger pitcher, on Stan Musial: “I had pretty good success with Stan--by throwing him my best pitch and backing up third.”