Prime Time Is a Mere Rerun Compared to This Spectacle

The flashiest member of the New York Yankees? How about that outfielder who doubles as a defensive back and calls himself Prime Time?

He’s No. 2, according to Jon Heyman of Newsday, who wrote: “Move over, Deion Sanders. You are no longer the most flamboyant, most happening, most gold-loving player in pinstripes.

“You have gold chains around your neck, but Pascual Perez has bigger ones and more of them. You have a $100,000 Mercedes sports car, but Perez has a Mercedes and a Jaguar, and a chauffeur, too.

“Perez makes the flashy Sanders look like Mr. Greenjeans.”

Level stare: Phoenix Sun Coach Cotton Fitzsimmons, on Greg Grant, a guard from Division III Trenton State: “I like a player I can look in the eye.”

Grant and Fitzsimmons are both 5-foot-7.

Trivia time: What do the Baltimore Orioles, Atlanta Hawks and Phoenix Cardinals have in common?

Ouch: Said Jim Van Vliet of the Sacramento Bee after watching Willie Mays debut as a guest analyst for SportsChannel on a San Francisco game, which the Giants lost: “He was atrocious. His diction would have made Dizzy Dean sound like a Rhodes scholar. His late-inning analysis devolved into audible moaning.

“I thought Bill Rigney was a helpless homer on Oakland A’s telecasts. But Mays leaves Rig in the clubhouse.”

He’s a wreck: Said heavyweight Mike Jameson after being pounded into submission by George Foreman Tuesday night: “I can take a good punch. But, by God, he hit me harder than anyone, and that includes Mike Tyson. When he hits you with those hands, it’s like a wrecking ball coming at you.”

Teeing off: Said USA Network golf analyst Gary McCord when asked to assess the water-lined 13th hole at the Greater Greensboro Open: “I think they ought to fill in the lake.”

What a ride: Oakland pitcher Dave Stewart, on the line-drive homer by Jose Canseco Wednesday night: “I’ve never seen one hit that low. The shortstop could have gotten on that and taken a flight to New York.”

Sly doings: Bill Cayton, estranged manager of Mike Tyson, has another heavyweight, Tommy Morrison, who doubles as an actor and has a role in Sylvester Stallone’s latest “Rocky” sequel.

The shooting has been extended because Stallone decided to re-shoot the ending.

“Stallone originally wanted Rocky to die at the end of the picture, but they’ve decided not to kill him off,” Cayton told the New York Times. “They want to keep Rocky going. It’s one of the more profitable series.”

Name game: From Jack Buck, picked by CBS as its lead play-by-play man in baseball: “I’m going to change my name to ‘Buck 65.’ That’s all I read, ‘Jack Buck, 65.’ ”

Trivia time: All three moved from St. Louis.

Quotebook: Texas knuckleball pitcher Charlie Hough, 42, after watching son Aaron pitch in a Little League game: “He winds up just like Nolan Ryan, but he throws about as hard as I do.”