With His Car in the Lot, He Was on the Spot

Ken Griffey Jr., the first player selected in the June amateur draft, used some of his signing money to buy a Mercedes and have a telephone installed in it.

Wrote Marty Noble of Newsday: “The phone became necessary when he lost his way while driving to the Seattle Mariners’ spring training camp in Tempe, Ariz.

“Griffey pulled into a parking lot and called Bob Porter, the club’s public relations chief, for directions. After hearing the directions, Griffey realized he was in the parking lot of the Mariners’ hotel.”

From Richard Justice of the Washington Post: “Kansas City outfielder Bo Jackson showed up at training camp in a $50,000 Mercedes with a Raiders license-plate holder. The license plate read ‘TORQUE,’ which Jackson explained stood for ‘horsepower.’ He promptly announced he wouldn’t be giving news conferences to punish the Royals for saying bad things about him this winter.

“He might not know it yet, but he’s probably headed back to Omaha for a while. Gary Thurman, a Willie Wilson clone, is expected to take over in left, at least until Jackson starts hitting minor league pitching.”

Add Thurman: When he and shortstop Kurt Stillwell collided during a Kansas City intra-squad game, Stillwell suffered a bruised knee and shoulder.

Said Stillwell: “Thank God it wasn’t Bo. They’d be picking up body pieces.”

Trivia Time: Who did the Dodgers trade to Cleveland in 1974 to obtain Pedro Guerrero? (Answer below.)

Ouch: Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe, explaining why the Celtics released Darren Daye, said that Daye was not nearly as effective coming off the bench as he had been as a starter when Kevin McHale was sidelined.

“Second,” said Ryan, “there was the matter of his irritating personal qualities, which did not exactly endear him to his mates. One player went so far as to tell him, ‘Darren, nobody on this team likes you. And nobody in Washington liked you, either.’ ”

It never was revealed what Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press wrote about Willie Hernandez that prompted the Detroit reliever to douse him with ice water, but Randy Youngman of the Orange County Register ran excerpts of Albom’s final column from the Winter Olympics that would indicate his long suit is not compassion. Of Debi Thomas, he wrote:

“Debi had the gold medal in her skates, and she stepped on it. Stomped on that sucker flat. One slip. Another slip. Two more slips. Debi is a nice kid. Debi is a sweet kid. Debi choked. . . . She was supposed to be skating to ‘Carmen.’ She looked more like Jerry Lewis in the ‘Geisha Boy.’ ”

Rich Cimini of Newsday, on outspoken but fun-loving Paul Evans, head basketball coach at Pittsburgh: “He speaks loudly and carries his own shtick.”

Trivia Answer: Pitcher Bruce Ellingsen, who would pitch only 16 games in the major leagues. Guerrero, 18-year-old third baseman, played that year for Bellingham, leading the Northwest League in putouts at third.

Quotebook

Purdue basketball Coach Gene Keady, asked why the No. 2 Boilermakers hadn’t recorded more blowout wins this year: “I’m not into blowing people away. I’m happy with a win whether it’s by one point or 30. Besides, some day when I’m 65 I may need a fishing buddy.”