Without Knowing, He Cemented His Future

What do Babe Ruth and Frank White have in common? The way Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer tells it, they both built big league ballparks.

There is a difference. Ruth made Yankee Stadium “The House that Ruth Built” by hitting home runs, while White actually worked on the construction of Royals Stadium.

The year was 1971, and White had just finished his first year of minor league ball. He was out of a job and went on unemployment in Kansas City. Royals’ owner Ewing Kauffman heard about it and got him a union card.

“I went to work on one of the construction crews,” White said. “That was in the early part of 1972 and I was making $5.50 an hour. In 1972, that was more money than I was making playing baseball. I almost quit baseball right there.”

White worked on a cement crew.

“After they poured the floors, I would smooth it out,” he said. “I look at the stadium now and it’s hard for me to believe I worked here.”

His current salary is $825,000 a year.

Said George Steinbrenner, a U.S. Olympic Committee adviser, when asked facetiously by NBC’s Marv Albert if he would recommend Billy Martin to work with the U.S. boxing team: “I’ll tell you one thing, Billy would have gone at least two rounds against Mike Tyson.”

Trivia Time: Twenty-two years ago today, who became the only National League player in history to hit two grand slam home runs in one game? (Answer to follow.)

Tony Agnone, agent for NFL second-round round choices Chris Spielman of Detroit and Chip Lohmiller of Washington, said of his frustrating dealings with management: “They’re negotiating in the memory of George Halas.”

Lee Thomas, who moved from the St. Louis organization to become general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, was nicknamed Mag Dog when he played for the Angels after catcher Bob Rodgers saw him throw his three-wood into a tree after a bad shot on the golf course.

Says St. Louis Manager Whitey Herzog: “I played golf with him a lot. Every time he threw a club, I picked it up. In a few weeks I had a complete set.”

Said Morganna Roberts, baseball’s kissing bandit who lists her measurements as 60-23-39: “The Twins are my favorite team for obvious reasons.”

UCLA sprint coach John Smith, on why freshman quarter-mile sensation Steve Lewis is nicknamed Sleep 13: “Because we figure we can sleep 13 people in his shoes.”

From Tim Kurkjian of the Baltimore Sun: “She Should Be Schott: Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott is in Rome. She brought a Reds warmup jacket that has John Paul and the number 2 on it. She’s going to give it to the Pope.”

Minnesota outfielder Dan Gladden, who shut down the Angels as an emergency reliever in the Twins’ 16-7 loss Monday night, was still disappointed in his outing.

“I didn’t get to go through my whole repertoire,” Gladden said. “I wanted to give them a little Dennis Eckersley, a little Al Hrabosky. I wanted to throw Juan Marichal at them, too, but the umpire wasn’t giving me the outside pitch. That’s my bread-and-butter.”

Trivia Answer: Pitcher Tony Cloninger of the Atlanta Braves. He also singled and knocked in nine runs in a 17-3 win over San Francisco.

Quotebook

Detroit pitcher Walt Terrell, after getting knocked out early in a game against the New York Yankees: “I was so wild I would have walked Manute Bol four times.”