Night of If-Onlys, Might-Have-Beens

Awards they didn’t give out at Thursday night’s Orange County Sports Hall of Fame banquet, the 10th in a series . . .

Absent But Not Forgotten: Buzzie Bavasi wasn’t honored but don’t say he wasn’t remembered. Wherever Don Baylor goes, Buzzie’s legacy doesn’t stray far behind.

Baylor, of course, was the Second Greatest Mistake Buzzie Ever Made, taking the silver right behind Nolan Ryan. Sadly for future generations of California Angels, history repeated itself inside Bavasi’s Anaheim Stadium office twice within the span of four years. First Ryan in 1980 and then Baylor in 1983--Angels of renown shown the door after slights by Bavasi, financial or otherwise.

With Baylor, it was otherwise. Buzzie burned the only bridge that mattered--Baylor’s pride--in 1981 with his now infamous aside/insult to Orange County Register columnist John Hall, who recounted that fateful afternoon before the sold-out Grand Ballroom at the Disneyland Hotel.

“In 1981,” Hall began, “Donnie was in a little slump and I was up in Buzzie Bavasi’s office when the new programs were delivered. On the cover were four of the Angels’ stars--Fred Lynn, Reggie Jackson, Rod Carew and Don Baylor.

“Buzzie was someone who couldn’t resist a little joke every once in a while and this was when Don Baylor was in a little slump, maybe five minutes. Buzzie looked at the cover and said, ‘What’s Donnie doing in there with all these hitters?’

“I thought it was funny and I printed it, but it turned out to be a distressing thing to Donnie. It seems he’d been having some difficulty with Buzzie for some time. So Donnie quit baseball. For one day, he quit baseball.”

Hall glanced over at Baylor’s table.

“So if you want to know who was the idiot who wrote that funny line,” he said, “I’m the idiot. And I’ve been ducking Don Baylor for eight years.”

Hall then apologized for the quote on both ends, mouth and keyboard, which Baylor acknowledged fairly predictably.

“John, I accept your apology,” Baylor said as he squinted into the spotlight from behind the podium. “The other one, I have to consider.”

What If?: Two years after The Quote, Baylor’s Angel contract expired and he became eligible for free agency. In 1983, Baylor thought about making amends with Buzzie and re-upping with the Angels.

For about a minute.

Baylor moved quickly, first to the Yankees, then to Boston, then to Minnesota and finally to Oakland. From 1986 through 1988, Baylor appeared in three World Series--for three different teams. He won a world’s championship with the Twins in 1987.

What might he have done with the Angels? It pains to even fantasize.

In 1984, the Angels played .500 ball and weren’t eliminated until the final week of the season. In 1985, the Angels finished one game behind Kansas City, the eventual World Series winner. Think Baylor’s presence might have turned either tide?

And take away his two-run home run for Boston in the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 1986 playoffs and we never would have heard of a reserve center fielder named Dave Henderson.

What If? II: Nolan Cromwell brought it up, completely unprompted, as he thanked the Rams “for letting me everything I was able to do. . . .

“If I could’ve caught a ball in 1980 and run it back, we might have won a Super Bowl and made my career even better.”

Thanks a lot for the memory. Cromwell’s bobble of Terry Bradshaw’s misfired pass with nothing but open field ahead may have decided the 1980 Super Bowl. Cromwell had his hands on the ball with Pittsburgh holding a two-point lead. Once he dropped it, the Steelers regained their composure, and the momentum, to pull away for an eventual 31-19 victory.

Worst Typo: While Cromwell gave his induction speech, his name was flashed onto the big screen alongside him.

It read: NOLAN CORMWELL.

Drop an interception in the Super Bowl and see what happens.

Most Deserving Recipient: It’s called the Woody Dietch Courage Award and it went to Charlie Cowan, the ex-Ram offensive lineman thrown into the trenches against two failed kidneys. Maybe they should subtitle it The Charlie Cowan Award.

“I used to think two-a-days were very tough,” Cowan said. “In fact, I thought two-a-days were the toughest things I ever had to do.

“No, this is the toughest thing I’ve had to do--kidney failure. It takes every ounce of strength I have to keep hanging in there when it would be so easy to just lay there and give up...

“This is the kind of thing that keeps Charlie Cowan going. So I thank you for this award. This inspires me to do more. And I am going to do more.”

Most Tasteless Remark: By emcee Ed Arnold, who walked to the microphone after Cowan’s heartfelt speech and quipped, “Charlie, that’s a tough way to go on a diet.”

Charlie didn’t laugh.

Grin And Bear It: At least Don Andersen, executive director of the Freedom Bowl, was able to send the crowd away with a smile. Before he presented a lifetime achievement award to former CIF Southern Section Commissioner Ken Fagans, Andersen deadpanned:

“Forgive me if I appear nervous but I do work for the Freedom Bowl and this is one of the largest crowds I’ve appeared before.”