Masters Again Masters Trevino

The following appeared Tuesday in USA Today:

“AUGUSTA, Ga.--Even Lee Trevino, one of the more outspoken critics of the Masters, is looking forward to playing this year.”

Trevino, basically a left-to-right player, which has put him at a disadvantage at Augusta National, said: “I’ve been trying to hit it high and hit it right to left.

“I’m enthused about the way I’m playing,” he said. “I’m playing better than I have in a while.”

Said Trevino Friday, his enthusiasm dimmed by rounds of 81 and 83: “I don’t want to be here. I hope to God these people don’t send me an invitation next year.”

It-had-to-happen Dept.: Said USA announcer Gary McCord as Seve Ballesteros addressed a 25-foot putt from the lower tier of the 14th green Friday: “This is not a birdie putt. He’s just trying to get it close.”

In the heart.

Trivia Time: In the opening game of the 1965 World Series between the Dodgers and the Minnesota Twins, who was the only .300 hitter in the Dodger lineup? (Answer below.)

Too-little-too-late Dept.: UCLA painted the office of the basketball coach this week. When Larry Brown resigned as head coach in 1981, one of his gripes was that he couldn’t get a wall in his office painted.

Add Brown: The question now is, will Dick Vitale stick to his promise? He said on ESPN he would scrub the floor of Allen Fieldhouse with a toothbrush if Brown stayed in Lawrence.

That might get a better rating than the NCAA final.

Said Detroit pitcher Frank Tanana after Thursday’s 11-6 win over Boston: “I think the secret was I told our hitters, ‘Boys, I’ve never lost with 10 or more runs.’ ”

41 Years Ago Today: On April 9, 1947, baseball commissioner A.B. (Happy) Chandler suspended Brooklyn manager Leo Durocher one year for incidents detrimental to baseball. Today, University of Kentucky students are seeking Chandler’s suspension from the board of trustees for racial remarks.

Where They Are Now: Reggie Jackson is the proprietor of Reggie Jackson Chevrolet in Berkeley, just two blocks from the University of California campus.

Why would a man whose hobby is collecting exotic cars be selling Chevys?

“Because I’ve always believed America is baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet,” he told Art Spander of the Sporting News. “You want a chocolate bar, you buy a Hershey’s. Want pancakes, Aunt Jemima. Want rice, Uncle Ben’s. I kind of felt Chevy is America.”

Why Berkeley?

“There’s no place like it,” he said. “People asked me if I was going to a Halloween party last fall. I told them, ‘Who needs Halloween when you spend time in Berkeley?’ ”

Asked Spander: “Would you buy a new car from this man?”

Said Cheo Erving, 15, when asked if he was anything like his father, Julius Erving: “Nah. I play basketball, yeah, but I don’t tell corny jokes.”

From Phoenix Cardinals owner Bill Bidwill, recalling when the club was based in Chicago: “The first naughty word I learned was damn. The second was Bears. And I learned them simultaneously.”

Trivia Answer: Don Drysdale. He hit exactly .300. Next highest was Maury Wills at .286.

Quotebook

Ray Kimble, 34-year-old triple jumper who attended Washington State: “I’m so old that when I attended college, I competed in the Pac-8.”