Personal Preference Makes Up His Vote

It’s the time of year when selected reporters weigh the pros and cons of players eligible to be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Steve Jacobsen of Newsday has taken to the task, scrutinizing the 41 prospective entrants.

Here’s a sample of his evaluations:

Jim Bunning--A very gritty competitor. He won 20 games once and 19 four times. Bunning won 100 games in each league, mostly for mediocre teams. He was a grumpy interview, but that shouldn’t count against him. Yes .

Minnie Minoso--A charming fellow, and too bad he was an old rookie. Minoso once drank three bottles of milk of magnesia, thinking it was lemon drink. He’s good enough to think about; not good enough to elect. No .

Thurman Munson--This uncharming fellow was a wonderful competitor. Munson was a good catcher and dangerous hitter and a leader when some dreadful New York Yankees teams became good again. Munson hit .300 five times, had 100 RBIs three times when few catchers do either. He would have done it more. He was cranky, suspicious, rude and bigoted: But so were Cobb and Hornsby. Yes .

Coach Don Nehlen of West Virginia is getting into the hype of Monday’s Fiesta Bowl, where his undefeated No. 3-ranked Mountaineers will face undefeated No. 1 Notre Dame.

Nehlen says West Virginia deserves to be the national champion should it upset the Irish.

Although there is a school of thought that says No. 2 Miami should become the national champion under such a scenario, Nehlen retorts: “I mean, you’d have to be senile. I just don’t see how you could deny us. It would be an awful miscarriage of justice.”

For his part, Lou Holtz of Notre Dame will not play along in the pregame theorizing: “I’m sure West Virginia wants me to say they are No. 1 if they beat us,” he said. “But I didn’t go to school just to eat my lunch. We’ve got to play Miami next season.”

Bruce Snyder, the former Ram running back coach and currently the coach at Cal, told this story at The Times’ breakfast honoring the Southland’s best football players.

“I remember the story of the football coach who was just having a terrible season,” Snyder said. “His team was fumbling, throwing interceptions and losing a lot of games. But he’d go home and tell his wife, ‘You know, we’ve been through a lot and you’ve always been there for me.’

“Then the next year, he got fired and he goes home to tell his wife and says, ‘We’ve been through a lot and once again here you are, always there when things are bad. I really appreciate it.’

“Finally, the following year, he goes home to find his house has burned down. He finds his wife, gives her a hug and says, ‘You know, once again, disaster has struck and you’re here for me.’ Then he paused and said, ‘Wait a minute. I’ve got this figured out. Every time something bad happens, you’re here. . . . You’re bad luck!’ ”

Quotebook

When asked what he liked most about Mario Lemieux, the Pittsburgh Penguins spectacular player, all-time great Gordie Howe answered, “His paycheck.”