One Pitch That Kubek Just Couldn’t Watch

When Mel Stottlemyre, whose son Todd made his major league debut for the Toronto Blue Jays Sunday, joined the New York Yankees in 1964, he fit right in with a veteran ballclub.

“It was like he was a 25-year veteran; without him we never would have won,” said announcer Tony Kubek, who was then the Yankee shortstop.

Kubek told Steve Jacobson of Newsday that Todd Stottlemyre has the same poise his father displayed as a rookie.

Kubek recalled an incident that occurred when he and Mel Stottlemyre, now pitching coach for the New York Mets, were returning to their hotel on a trip to Cleveland in 1965.

“Some guy jumps out of a dark alley at us,” Kubek said. “I was the veteran. I thought we were in trouble; I told Mel, ‘Let’s go.’ He said, ‘No problem.’ ”

The man offered to sell them a diamond ring for $100, and Kubek said, “Let’s go, Mel.” Stottlemyre listened to the pitch. The man walked them across the street to a department store and showed how the ring scratched glass.

“I said, ‘Mel, let’s go,’ ” Kubek said. “ ‘We’re going to get fined for being late.’ And the guy and Mel kept talking. The guy said he’d give us the ring for $50. Mel said if it’s real, it’s a good deal.”

So they talked him down to $20, and Stottlemyre bought the ring. And Kubek bought one, too.

The next morning they jumped out of bed and ran to get their bargains appraised. The jeweler took one look and said, “Did you buy them from some guy about this big? You can get all you want like this down the street for 29 cents each.”

Trivia time: Who is the only current coach in the National Basketball Assn. to be the No. 1 overall pick in the draft?

On opening day last Monday, three fans in Boston committed the first steal of the season before the first pitch. They stole their way into Fenway Park.

Three-and-a-half hours before the first pitch of 1988, Charlie Gleason, 14, Jason Mahoney, 15, and Derek Wisniewski, 15, sneaked into the park.

“We know all the tricks of Fenway,” Wisniewski said. “I know it like the back of my hand.”

The three South Boston teen-agers said they skipped school with permission from home. They see about 50 games a year. On this particular day, they planned to return outside, sell some box seat tickets, then sneak back in.

“Are you sure you can get back in?” someone asked.

“Positive,” Wisniewski said. “There are 100 ways to get in.”

Mahoney said he learned from a friend. Wisniewski says an uncle passed on the tradition.

“Sam Smith,” Wisniewski said. “They call him Fat Sam. He taught me all his tricks. He visits a lot of stadiums, and he gets into those, too. He leads the league in stolen stadiums.”

Something to write home about: Former major league pitcher Bill Gullickson hurled a 3-hitter Saturday in his first start to lead the Yomiuri Giants to a 9-2 rout of the Yakult Swallows on the second day of Japan’s baseball season.

One of the runs he allowed came on a home run by former Angel Doug DeCinces, his second homer in two games.

Bad guys wear black: The Southern California Browns Backers Assn., a fan club of the Cleveland Browns, took a poll of its members, and one of the questions asked was which team do you hate the most.

The results were predictable, a tie between the Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers.

Trivia answer: Doug Collins of the Chicago Bulls, who played college ball at Illinois State, was the first player drafted in 1973 by the Philadelphia 76ers.

Quotebook

Kevin Bass of the Houston Astros, who didn’t realize when he hit a home run that it was a grand slam: “When I rounded third, I wondered why three guys were standing at the plate waiting on me.”