In a Pinch, Angels’ Stubing Proves Consistent

As a pinch-hitter for the 1967 Angels, Moose Stubing was 0 for 5 with 4 strikeouts. Those are his lifetime stats as a big-league player.

As a pinch-manager for Cookie Rojas, Stubing went 0 for 8 as the 1988 Angels set a club record for consecutive losses with 12.

Does anybody else see a pattern here?

Add Stubing: Maybe Moose could develop a sense of humor like that of Rich Donnelly, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ bullpen coach.

Here’s Donnelly on Tommy Sandt, another Pirate coach: “We call Tommy Sandt ‘Lucky Strike’ because he’s lucky to throw a strike. He’s the worst batting-practice pitcher of all time.

“(Outfielder) John Cangelosi, who is about 4-feet tall, never swings at a pitch. He always looks to walk. The other day, Tommy threw extra hitting to John. He took 200 pitches and called it a day.”

Forgive and forget: A year ago, one of Mark Gastineau’s Jet teammates spat at him as Gastineau the defensive end crossed a picket line during the players’ strike.

A couple of days ago, his teammates applauded when New York Coach Joe Walton named him captain for Sunday’s game, which ended a 17-17 tie with Kansas City.

“He’s worked extremely hard,” fellow defensive lineman Marty Lyons said. “He’s put it all behind. He’s playing well. When he plays and he’s on top of his game, he can be as good or the best at rushing the passer as anybody in the league.

“I’m happy for him,” said fellow Jets defensive lineman Marty Lyons said. “He’s proven himself to be a team player as well as an individual.”

Bring back Jimmy (Oops) Hines: The Cleveland Browns say they’re interested in signing world-record sprinter Butch Reynolds, even though the Olympic silver medalist (400 meters) hasn’t played football since high school in Akron.

“We have an interest in him,” said Ernie Accorsi, executive vice president of the Browns. “He interests us more than Ben Johnson.”

Hines, who set a world record in the 100 meters in the Mexico City Olympics in 1968, played briefly as a wide receiver with the Miami Dolphins in 1969, long enough to prove he could drop a pass with the best of them.

High-flying Ducks: The last time Oregon (4-0), which plays USC Saturday, came into a game against the Trojans undefeated against the Trojans this far into a season was 1933, when the Ducks were 8-0. Oregon lost, 26-0.

Why Orel Hershiser takes batting practice seriously: During his 59-inning scoreless streak, the Dodgers scored just 13 runs. That’s a 1.98 earned-run average for the other side.

Quotebook

Dennis Kozlowski of the United States, after he won a bronze medal in Greco-Roman wrestling: “If you shoot for the moon, maybe you’ll only get to the street lamp, but at least you got off the ground.”