He Switched Into Fast Forward Just as He Seemed Set to Fall Back

Peter Allis, ABC’s English color commentator during the U.S. Open, was talking about Mike Donald early in Sunday’s fourth round.

“Will he pull a Kuts?” Allis asked.

Say what?

Allis compared Donald’s lead position to the front-running tactics of Vladimir Kuts, the great Soviet distance runner of the mid-1950s. Allis launched into a reminiscence about a race at London’s White City Stadium in the mid-1950s, in which the then-unheralded Kuts bolted to an early lead and won, despite the track announcer’s repeated assurances that the real race was between Englishmen Chris Chataway and Chris Brasher, both Englishmen.

It’s a good thing that Allis didn’t continue his Kuts analogy through Sunday’s final holes. There’s no telling what he might have done with Kuts’ best-known race, the 10,000 meters at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, when Kuts played a mind game with still another Englishman, Gordon Pirie. In “The Complete Book of the Olympics”, David Wallechinsky describes that competition:

“Several times (Kuts) sprinted out at a seemingly insane pace, only to have Pirie catch up each time. Alternatively, Kuts would slow down, move to the outside, and wave Pirie past him. But Pirie refused to bite, preferring to remain at Kuts’ shoulder.

“Suddenly, at the end of the 20th lap, Kuts stopped so abruptly that Pirie was forced to take the lead. Relieved of the pressure of having Pirie on his heels, Kuts rested for a half lap while he studied his adversary in front of him. Then, just as abruptly as he had slowed, Kuts burst past Pirie to take the lead for good.”

Add Kuts: He set the Olympic record for the 10,000 that day, winning in 28:45.6. Pirie wilted from the struggle, finishing eighth. Five days later, Kuts went back to his front-running style, winning the 5,000 meters in another Olympic record, 13:39.6. Pirie was second, 11 seconds back.

Last add Kuts: In 1975, he died at age 48 after suffering the fourth in a series of heart attacks that began in 1960. Writes Wallechinsky: “Unfortunately for Kuts, the experimental training program which the Soviet coaches had imposed on him took its toll.”

Trivia time: Name the only NCAA Division I school to win more than one men’s national championship during the 1989-90 academic year.

Learning from history? Roger Craig, the San Francisco Giant manager, recently told Nick Peters of the Sacramento Bee that he was a longtime believer in using role players such as outfielders Rick Leach, Rick Parker and Mike Kingery. Said Craig: “I remember when I was with Brooklyn in 1955, and we called up a kid pitcher named Don Bessent. We probably wouldn’t have won the pennant without him, and we had a lot of great players on that club.”

Craig may be correct in spirit, but the Dodgers won the 1955 National League pennant by 13 1/2 games. Bessent went 8-1 and had three saves.

Add Bessent: The 1955 season was his heyday. His four-year major league career, mainly as a reliever, ended in 1958. His overall record: 14-7, 12 saves and an earned-run average of 3.33. In Game 2 of the 1956 World Series against the New York Yankees, he pitched seven innings in relief of Don Newcombe and Ed Roebuck and got credit for the Dodgers’ 13-8 victory.

Bonus trivia question: What was Don Bessent’s nickname?

Pitchers’ duel: In a recent California League game, the Visalia Oaks defeated the Bakersfield Dodgers, 2-0.

So?

What made the game special was that a total of 28 batters reached base. Visalia had 11 hits (all singles), three walks and two hit batsmen, and left 12 men on base. Bakersfield had 10 hits (all singles), one walk and one hit batsman, and left 11. There were two double plays, and no one was caught stealing.

Trivia answer: The University of Wisconsin, in ice hockey and rowing.

Bonus trivia answer: The Weasel.

Quotebook: Andre Agassi, on his tennis future: “I’ve only scratched the iceberg.”