He Has a Few Words for Senior Umpires

The main question for the new Senior Professional Baseball Assn. is not whether it will succeed, but whether it will survive Earl Weaver’s presence.

The league, for baseball players 35 and older, began play in Florida last week. Weaver, who was ejected 96 times as a major league manager, was kicked out Sunday during an argument with first-base umpire Barry Sholman.

Weaver’s Gold Coast Suns lost to West Palm Beach, 6-3, dropping their record to 0-5.

“We’ve played five out of 72,” Weaver said. “I might get thrown out of the next 67.”

How do the Senior League umpires compare to their major league counterparts?

“These umpires are high school rejects,” Weaver said. “The league went for the cheapest umpiring association. There should be no league if this continues.

“We have retired major league umpires in the area. At least they know what a balk and a half-swing are.”

A dispute over those two calls led to Weaver’s ejection Sunday.

Rick Horrow, president of the league, said its umpires are from the Gulf Coast Umpires Assn.

“I assure you they are the best available,” Horrow said. “All the umpires have at least 15 years of experience, and the average umpire has five years in the minor leagues and in major league spring training.”

Magic act: Jan Hubbard of Newsday on the New York Knicks’ 118-110 loss Monday night to the Orlando Magic: “So far, the Knicks have lost only to the world champion Pistons and Magic. And Magic has beaten a lot of teams.

“Unfortunately for (Coach Stu) Jackson, the Knicks lost to the wrong Magic--not Johnson, but Orlando.

“Still, despite the loss, Knick fans should be encouraged about Jackson’s head-coaching future because he is a coach who looks at the future and cowers, which is a sign of greatness. And he was like that before the game Monday night. The best NBA coaches fear failure, fear the opposition, fear expectations and fear fear.

“It is a healthy way to feel. When a head coach is scared of everyone, he takes no one for granted. The only trick is to convey that fear to the players, and have them listen. Jackson told them the Magic would play hard. The Knicks apparently didn’t listen.”

Trivia time: Michael Dokes, who will fight Lionel Washington at the Forum next Monday night, registered the second-quickest heavyweight championship victory when his bout against Mike Weaver on Dec. 10, 1982 was stopped after 1 minute 3 seconds. What was the quickest bout in a heavyweight championship fight?

Taking the initiative? San Franciscans voted Tuesday on whether a new ballpark should replace Candlestick Park.

Citing a $12,500 campaign gift to opponents of a new ballpark from a contractor who worked on Arco Arena in Sacramento, San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos accused Sacramento developer Gregg Lukenbill of trying to steal the Giants.

The Sacramento Bee quoted Argos: “We haven’t had any looting after the earthquake until now.”

Lukenbill, owner of the Sacramento Kings and leader of efforts to bring a major league baseball team to that city, denied any involvement in the San Francisco ballpark initiative.

“He’s going to have to live with the things he’s saying and doing now for the rest of his career,” Lukenbill said of Agnos. “I’m not concerned with that.”

San Francisco District Attorney Arlo Smith said he might start a grand jury investigation into the charges; the initiative appeared headed for defeat late Tuesday.

Trivia answer: Jim Jeffries knocked out Jack Finnegan in 55 seconds on April 6, 1900.

Quotebook: Coach Jerry Tarkanian of Nevada Las Vegas, before playing a touring Soviet team that lost two players to the NBA: “Sure, some of their good players aren’t on the team anymore, but they’ve got the whole rest of the country to pick from.”