COMMENTARY : Dan Goldie Is Tennis’ Mr. Warmth

Dan Goldie, the former NCAA tennis champ from Stanford and McLean, Va., is a guy who could use some help in the public relations department.

After beating Jimmy Connors at Wimbledon, he sniffed, “It’s tough to rank the victory one-two-three. You’ll have to ask my agent. He keeps track of that stuff.”

Mr. Warmth, this guy.

“The incident took place on a team bus in mid-August. At issue was whether or not Phil Linz should play his harmonica.”

Ah, does that bring back memories.

This is the 25th anniversary of the glorious summer of ’64 for the Baltimore Orioles and, about now, you’re asking yourself, what did the Birds do that year?

They led the American League on a merry chase nearly all season, that’s all. “Pennant Fever,” the feeling and the record, was a hot item in Baltimore. Yogi Berra was managing the New York Yankees, and they seemed doomed as the players had trouble relating with Yogi as boss man.

Brooks Robinson of the Orioles was on an MVP kick (.317 with 20 homers and 118 RBI) and, it appeared, the O’s had enough pitching to hold up.

The Yanks had just lost a game on getaway day and, as the bus moved toward the airport, Linz hauled out his harmonica. Berra yelped “knock it off” from the front of the bus and Linz, preoccupied, didn’t hear him. He asked what the manager had said. Mickey Mantle answered, “He said, ‘Play louder.’ ”

The Bombers were in turmoil, but they began to play better anyway. In September and in need of relief help, they latched on to Pedro Ramos, on his last legs. Baltimore manager Hank Bauer groaned that New York would win as it had so many times with late-season acquisitions. He was right; the Yanks went 22-6 the last month, beating out the Chicago White Sox by a game, the O’s by two. But what a terrific summer.

A bottle of champagne at Wimbledon goes for $43.20. Which seems a bit steep until one considers that strawberries go for 65 cents apiece.

The Orioles should post the weights and physical measurements of all hands in a prominent place and plead with the lads to maintain their condition. I mean, these guys even look as though they can play, unlike so many of their pot-bellied brethren.

Heartfelt apologies are due the National Basketball Association. It was assumed basketball played the longest season, but this year hockey won by nearly a week. The icers went from Oct. 7 to May 28 (234 days) while pro hoops lasted 229 days. Baseball is third at 203 days, followed by pro football (141), college hoops (137) and college football (129). Has indoor soccer sent the boys home yet?

Temple’s nickname is the Owls, as in “wise, old ... “ Maybe a change is in order though; next year’s basketball team will contain six former Proposition 48ers.

Calgary and Vancouver have signed a pair of magnificent Soviet hockey players in Sergei Makarov and Igor Larianov, but how good will they be not playing alongside each other?

Scene from the 1988 Winter Games in Calgary: The Soviets consistently change five men at a time on the fly and, during a game against tough Finland, it was time for the first string to skate off. Makarov had the puck and rather than just flip it down the other end, he decided to see how far he could go single-handedly before being stopped. Going one-on-five, he maneuvered to the high slot and got such a fine shot on goal, the netminder had to smother it, giving the Soviets a faceoff deep in Finland’s territory. Bobby Orr used to do such things.

The first recorded cricket game in the United States occurred in 1709 in Westover, Va. However, the sport has had its problems catching on. Nevertheless, players from across the land congregated in Washington over the long weekend bidding to make the U.S. team that is headed for international competition. The team is expected to be world class in the not-too-distant future due to the influx of people from the West Indies, a cricket hotbed.

This honesty-is-the-best-policy business is beginning to catch on. Nebraska, checking its archives while preparing for its 100th football season, found it was crediting itself with nine too many wins. Let’s see if Oklahoma follows suit.

Given his druthers, Mike Tyson said he’d rather fight in Atlantic City, N.J., than Las Vegas, Nev., because the Convention Hall there provides a “gladiator factor. Yeah, the crowd’s above you looking down, just like in ancient times.”

Tyson has been in A.C. readying for a July 21 date with Carl Williams for a week. Truth pulls in Friday.