This Was One That John Didn’t Miss

After beating the Milwaukee Brewers Wednesday night, Tommy John of the New York Yankees was told that his three first-inning errors had tied a record set by J. Bentley Seymour of the New York Giants in 1898.

Said John: “J. Bentley Seymour? Yes, I pitched against him in the Eastern League.”

From Tom Weir of USA Today: “Iranians have complained because a woman is scheduled to carry the sign identifying their delegation at the Seoul Olympics’ opening ceremonies, saying it’s against their religious principles. Maybe we can send them Bob Knepper.”

Trivia Time: Pete Rose and Vida Blue, both winners of most-valuable-player awards and both members of World Series championship teams, had what three other things in common? (Answer below.)

Dallas Cowboys fullback Timmy Newsome, on the difference between blocking for Herschel Walker and the departed Tony Dorsett: “Tony was sort of a dip-and-dart runner. You would try to set him up with a block but you just weren’t sure how it would come off.

“With Herschel, you have to take your man on in a hurry because the train is on tracks running right up your back.”

Golfer Howard Twitty stands 6-5 and weighs 210. Asked why he never played football, he said, “Because I always felt I’d like to keep all my blood inside my body.”

Now-it-can-be-told Dept.: Vice President Ernie Accorsi of the Cleveland Browns told USA Today that as a teen-ager he went to an exhibition game between the Baltimore Colts and the Philadelphia Eagles at Hershey, Pa., because he wanted to see Colt quarterback George Shaw.

Instead, the Colts used a free-agent quarterback most of the game.

“I thought I had been swindled,” Accorsi said. “A guy sitting next to me said, ‘This kid is going to be pretty good, quit complaining.’ I said, ‘I didn’t pay to see him. ‘ “

The kid was Johnny Unitas.

Said Roy Gerela, former kicker for the Pittsburgh Steelers, after a 49-yard attempt at the gun had hit an upright and given the Denver Bronco old-timers a 25-24 win over a team of old-time all-stars: “I had a side bet on the game, so it worked out all right.”

Telling-it-like-it-is Dept.: Said Atlanta announcer Skip Caray on TBS after Ozzie Virgil was caught off first base in a game against Cincinnati: “Boy, our baserunning is awful . . . atrocious.”

Jim Abbott, the one-handed pitcher from the University of Michigan who was drafted by the Angels, is making a believer of U.S. Olympic Coach Mark Marquess.

“I expected him to be a polished left-hander,” said Marquess. “What I didn’t know is that, right now, he’s the hardest thrower on my staff.”

As for Abbott’s fielding, Marquess said, “He’s an average fielder. I expected below average. They bunt on him. He throws them out. Next case.”

In golf, they call it paralysis by analysis. Said Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies after breaking out of a prolonged slump: “I’ve replaced the fundamentals with hunger.”

Trivia Answer: Both have colorful last names, both were switch-hitters and both wore No. 14.

Quotebook

Sugar Ray Leonard, asked to name a possible opponent if he comes out of retirement: “An anorexic Mike Tyson.”