Here’s a Perfect Fix for Grateful Baseball Junkie

One of those delighted to receive the 1989 edition of the Elias Baseball Analyst was Newsday’s Marty Noble, who called it “the most fascinating baseball publication this side of Mickey Rivers’ dictionary, Casey Stengel’s thesaurus and the April issue of Penthouse.”

Among the gems Noble culled from the pages of the fifth edition:

--Boston’s Dwight Evans was two for two on Memorial Day, three for four on the Fourth of July and three for five on Labor Day. He hit a home run and drove in three runs in each game.

--In his eight seasons with the New York Yankees, Dave Winfield has driven in 744 runs, the most in the major leagues.

--The Angels have the worst Friday-the-13th record in baseball, 7-17.

--While Baltimore Manager Frank Robinson was searching for the right mix, he used a major league high of 108 different starting lineups.

--Chicago White Sox third baseman Steve Lyons led the league in errors with 29. Twenty of his first 24 appearances were as a defensive replacement.

--San Diego’s John Kruk has not been hit by a pitch in 1,320 major league plate appearances, the most among active players.

Trivia: Fifty-one years ago today, Temple defeated Colorado at Madison Square Garden, N.Y., 60-36, in the final of the first major postseason college basketball tournament. What was the tournament?

Feelings of Bliss: New Mexico Coach Dave Bliss, who in the past has taken Southern Methodist University to the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. tournament, will take his team to the National Invitation Tournament this year.

The NCAA snubbed New Mexico, despite the Lobos’ 20-10 record. Bliss’ reaction? “That’s why I came here, so I could go to the NIT,” he said. “I’ve been to the NCAA.”

Gone but not forgotten: New Dodger Eddie Murray doesn’t have anything to say to Baltimore writers, but that hasn’t kept them from continuing to take shots at him.

Wrote Phil Jackman of the Baltimore Evening Sun about Murray, who will have his No. 33 retired by the Orioles: “If the Baltimore Orioles wanted to retire something of Eddie Murray’s, they should have selected his pants. He didn’t get them dirty.”

The risk-taker: Mike Schmidt was talking about the possibility of failure as he prepares for his 17th major league season.

“I think it’s human nature for the way fans perceive me that my career would be clouded by the final years,” he said. “They’ll look back and remember Willie Mays dying on the vine for the Mets. It took them 10 years to get over that and remember that he was one of the greatest players to ever play the game.

“I will not want people to look back on me and think I was dying on the vine for a last-place club. So, yes, I am taking a risk here.”

Knight errand: Even though his Indiana basketball team was beaten twice by Illinois, Coach Bob Knight is less than thrilled at having the Hoosiers not seeded No. 1 in the Midwest Regional.

“If the Big Ten champion doesn’t get the first seed--the best league in the country according to every power rating I’ve seen--then why the hell play it?

“What we ought to do is schedule 18 Hoosier Conference teams.”

For the record, no such conference exists.

Trivia answer: The National Invitation Tournament. The NCAA Tournament didn’t begin until the following year, 1939, when Oregon beat Ohio State at Evanston, Ill.

Quotebook: Said New York Ranger rookie Tony Granato after fans showered the ice with mugs following a loss on Gift Mug Night: “I’m just glad it wasn’t Machete Night.”