When Paige Said He Was Ready, He Was

A lot of people thought it was a gimmick when owner Bill Veeck of the Cleveland Indians signed 42-year-old Satchel Paige during the 1948 season, but player-manager Lou Boudreau found out differently, and it didn’t take long.

“It was 8 o’clock in the morning at Municipal Stadium,” Boudreau told Bill Parrillo of the Providence Journal. “I met Satch and told him, ‘OK, you can do a little running to get loose.’ He just shook his head and said, ‘No need to run, Mr. Lou’--he always called me Mr. Lou--’I’m ready now.’

“I stepped into the cage,” said Boudreau, who batted .355 that season, “and Satch must have thrown maybe 15-20 pitches. I think I hit one or two out of the cage. Right then, I knew he could help us.”

Paige went 6-1 with a 2.48 earned-run average, and Cleveland won the pennant.

Mr. Big Stuff: How big is Mark Eaton of the Utah Jazz? “If you go to the movies with him,” says Johnny Kerr, announcer for the Chicago Bulls, “you get in for half price.”

It-had-to-happen Dept.: Said San Francisco announcer Ron Fairly, with Eddie Murray at bat during the Dodger-Giant series: “He can’t risk going inside to Murray.”

The next pitch was outside. Home run.

Add Fairly: His partner in the booth is Duane Kuiper, who got off this one recently: “It’s a fine game in which there haven’t been a lot of home runs. In fact, there haven’t been any.”

Trivia time: Who scored the winning touchdown in this year’s Super Bowl?

Add trivia: George Kiseda of Los Angeles asks: “Who was Vic Eaton?”

He was the quarterback the Pittsburgh Steelers kept instead of John Unitas to play third string behind Jim Finks and Ted Marchibroda.

Kiseda: “Walt Kiesling, the Steeler coach, said Eaton was more valuable than Unitas because he could punt.”

Just Say No: From Grambling football Coach Eddie Robinson, explaining why he hasn’t had any drug problems with his players: “I have a meeting with them every year, and I explain to them that when you use drugs, you lose your sex drive. You should see how big their eyes get.”

For what it’s worth: If George Foreman gets a shot at Mike Tyson and comes in at his targeted weight of 263 pounds, he will be the heaviest challenger ever.

Primo Carnera came in at 260 1/2 when he took the heavyweight title from Jack Sharkey in 1933. He weighed 270 when he defended the title against Tommy Loughran. Loughran gave away 86 pounds but went the 15-round distance.

Trivia answer: John Taylor, San Francisco 49ers wide receiver, on a 10-yard pass from Joe Montana.

Quotebook: Sam Snead, 77, on why he doesn’t play on the Senior PGA Tour: “It’s a grind trying to beat 60-year-old kids out there.”