No Mistaking Way He Talks Baseball

After Game 4 Sunday night, a female reporter asked Tom Lasorda what he said to Jesse Orosco when he went out to talk to the Dodger reliever in the 12th inning.

“I just offered him some words of encouragement and let him know we were all behind him,” Lasorda said.

When the reporter said she could read his lips while he was out on the mound, Lasorda asked her what she thought he had said.

“It started off with, ‘What the heck are you doing . . . ‘ “

At which point Lasorda cut in, “What the heck? Lady, you sure can’t read lips.”

Add Lasorda: Back in April, Newsday polled a number of players on who they considered the best manager in baseball.

Said Don Sutton: “Tom Lasorda. He goes for the jugular. Each game is a season in itself. Valenzuela will pinch hit. Orel Hershiser will relieve. The game is right now, at the moment, to win or lose.”

More Lasorda: Of Kirk Gibson, he said, “He’s a hell of a competitor. He plays baseball the way my wife shops.”

Attention Dodgers: If you make it to the World Series, there’s a Don Baylor quote you could use on the bulletin board. On Sunday, the Oakland A’s designated hitter said he would prefer to play the Mets, explaining: “We feel we should play the best in the National League. They had 100 wins, we had 104. We want to beat the best, to prove we are the best.”

45 Years Ago Today: On Oct. 11, 1943, Spud Chandler allowed 10 hits but no runs as the New York Yankees beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 2-0, to win the World Series in five games. The Cardinals left 11 runners on base.

Trivia Time: What was Spud Chandler’s first name? (Answer below.)

Ex-Raider Sean Jones of the Houston Oilers told the Sporting News he was going to rent his Santa Monica townhouse to Bo Jackson.

“I’m a slum lord,” Jones said. “I’m going to up his rent because Bo can afford it. Actually, I trust Bo so much I didn’t even cancel the cable television.”

UCLA didn’t make much of an impression on Oregon State defensive end Pellom McDaniels Saturday.

“We expected to win,” McDaniels said. “They’re in for trouble with the rest of the league. We should have won the game. Mistakes cost us the game. The Bruins are just another football team.”

Add Bruins: Said Terry Donahue when asked to compare freshman Shawn Wills to Gaston Green at a similar stage: “You know I don’t like to compare players because I might get somebody upset. If I say Gaston was better, then Shawn’s mad. If I say Shawn’s better, Gaston doesn’t donate money back to the school.”

Oklahoma linebacker Kert Kaspar said Coach Barry Switzer called him into his office last week after Kaspar said: “I just want to go out there and score half-a-hundred on Texas and shut them out. They just laid down and died against Brigham Young. They can’t beat Kansas or Kansas State.”

What did Switzer say?

Kaspar: “He told me, ‘Keep your fat mouth shut.’ ”

Trivia Answer: Spurgeon.

Quotebook

Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda, asked if he ever put pine tar on the ball when he was pitching: “With the stuff I had, Pal, I used everything I could.”