It Was a Workout to Remember

When Ohio State’s national championship football team of 1968 held its 20th reunion, there naturally were a lot of Woody Hayes stories.

Ron Maciejowski, a reserve quarterback, told of the Wednesday workout before the Michigan game when Hayes ordered him to take over for Rex Kern, who had a sore back.

Maciejowski: “The first play is a pass play and I throw one to Bruce Jankowski that is just off his fingertips, and I look back at Woody and he’s already thrown the play cards in the air and he’s ranting and raving that we don’t care, that it’s Michigan week, and everything else.

“That’s when he ripped off his cap and tried to tear it, but couldn’t, which made him madder. So he took his watch off and smashed it on the ground, then took his glasses off and smashed them into the ground. Then he took his shirt and ripped it right down the front and he tried to tear the whistle cord which was hanging around his neck but couldn’t, because it was too tough. So he got frustrated and punched himself in the eyes.

“All the freshmen and sophomores were stunned because we had never seen anything like it before. And it all happened in about 15 seconds.”

Ohio State beat Michigan, 50-14.

Add Ohio State: Said Coach John Cooper of the 1988 Buckeyes, who are 2-4: “I still get some nice letters. A guy wrote me he thought we were doing a good job, the team was getting better each week and playing better, and that we had a good coaching staff. He was proud of us, but he said, ‘I’m writing this in crayon because they won’t let us have anything sharp in here.’ ”

Trivia Time: What position did Mike Marshall play the last time the Dodgers played the Oakland A’s in the World Series? (Answer below.)

John Eisenberg of the Baltimore Sun says this of Tom Lasorda: “He’s the only man in sports who could share a stage with Shecky Greene and share a pulpit with the Rev. Jerry Falwell. Yes, an overweight, schmoozing, Italian Jerry Falwell, stuffing his face with pasta fagioli, talking about Lourdes and split-fingered fastballs.

“It’s a load of hot air, of course, enough to fill every blimp Goodyear ever launched into the sky. In a city filled with posturing self-promoters, Lasorda still makes the top-five All-Wind. He could be in show business. Hell, he is in show business.”

Trivia Answer: Pitcher. It was the other Mike Marshall, of course, the one who won the Cy Young Award in 1974. He gave up only 1 run in the World Series, but it was a big one. In the seventh inning of Game 5, with the score 2-2, the game was held up 6 minutes because of a disturbance in the stands. When order was restored, Joe Rudi hit Marshall’s first pitch for a home run. Oakland won, 3-2, to wrap up the Series.

Marshall was second-guessed afterward for not taking any warm-up pitches while play was suspended.

Quotebook

Mike Webster of the Pittsburgh Steelers, on the team’s 1-6 record: “We need to turn it around as fast as we can, like 3 or 4 weeks ago.”