It Was Restaurant That Paid the Price

You know, of course, that the world’s fastest human today is Ben Johnson, but how about 50 years ago? Would you believe Ben Johnson?

On Feb. 26, 1938, in New York, Ben Johnson of Columbia University won the 60-meter dash in the National AAU indoor championships in 6.6 seconds, equaling the world record he already shared with Jesse Owens.

They had set the record in 1935, and Johnson was one of future book favorites to make the 1936 Olympic team, but injuries ruined his bid.

Today, he is a 73-year-old retired Army colonel living in Harrisburg, Pa. He said his problems with discrimination were minor.

“I came from a small town in Pennsylvania where we were the only black family,” he told George Vecsey of the New York Times. “I was president of my high school class, was on the debate team, never had a problem. When I went to visit my grandparents in Philadelphia, you had to sit upstairs at the movies. But when I went to Columbia, New York was fine. One Child’s restaurant refused me service, but around 50 guys from school went down there and tore up the place, and that was that.”

Add Johnson: Looking back, he said, “The big difference between now and then was a three-letter word, F-U-N. We really did have a good time. Whenever I was on a national team, we would travel to Europe by boat for five or six days and really get to know each other. A great hurdler from Rice named Fred Wolcott, a white man, became a great friend of mine. I still have all the friends I made running.”

Harold Baker of Van Nuys has a question for Dwight Gooden. If, as Gooden says, “brothers can’t run for distance,” Baker asks, “How did two ‘brothers’ from Kenya win the two longest races in last September’s world championships at Rome, the 10,000 meters and marathon?”

Ouch: Said “Today Show” host Bryant Gumbel, a devoted Cub fan, when asked about the proposal to install lights at Wrigley Field: “It makes sense. Considering the trades Jim Frey has made, they’re already operating in the dark.”

Trivia Time: What American League batting champion, after moving to the National League, made the final out in two Sandy Koufax’s no-hitters? (Answer below.)

Helene Elliott of Newsday, on Katarina Witt’s tipsy performance at the post-victory press conference at Calgary: “The goofy half-hour session was reminiscent of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team’s triumphant news conference at Lake Placid. Players sprawled across the stage of the high school auditorium that served as an interview area and proclaimed that their victory was as great as the American revolutionaries’ victory over the British at Bunker Hill. When told that the Americans had lost the Battle of Bunker Hill to the British, Jack O’Callahan waved off all thoughts of defeat and said, ‘I don’t want to hear that.’ ”

Trivia Answer: Harvey Kuenn. On May 11, 1963, as San Francisco’s left fielder, he grounded back to Koufax for the last out against the Dodgers. On Sept. 9, 1965, as a pinch-hitter for Chicago pitcher Bob Hendley, he struck out to complete Koufax’s perfect game against the Cubs.

Quotebook

David Clyde, one-time Texas high school sensation who flopped as a major league pitcher: “If they ever start an Instructional League Hall of Fame, I’ll be a charter member.”