All You Have to Do Is Relax and Wind Up

The Philadelphia Phillies hired former Dodger pitcher Johnny Podres as their pitching coach in hopes of avoiding a repeat of their staff’s National League-leading 651-walk, 69-wild pitch totals in 1990.

Podres explained his approach to the problem by comparing two former teammates, both Hall of Famers, in their early careers with Brooklyn.

Said Podres: “It took (Sandy) Koufax some time to learn some things. “(Don) Drysdale was good from the get-go. He threw strikes.”

“(Drysdale was) unbelievably relaxed when he pitched. Koufax was tense. You can do a lot of things with the baseball because you’re relaxed. When you tense up, your stuff isn’t as good as you think.”

Trivia time: Which two players were members of the team with the best single-season record in NBA history, as well as the team with the worst?

Nay-sayer: The Boys and Girls Club of America recently held a symposium in Chicago to discuss the topic: “The Athlete as a Role Model.”

Moderator Dick Schaap said at one point in the discussion: “Athletes now seem a lot a brighter and more informed than they were 20 years ago.”

To which Gale Sayers, the former Kansas and Chicago Bear running back, responded: “Hey, I played 20 years ago.”

A quick study: Robert Bianco, the Pittsburgh Press’ television and radio editor, recently heard Pitt basketball player Jason Matthews explain to a radio interviewer the reason he wasn’t bothered by recent newspaper stories criticizing the Panthers’ play.

Said Matthews: “The majority of guys on our team don’t read the local newspapers anyway.”

Bianco wrote: “There’s a shock, huh? No doubt they’re too busy reading Proust and Pound.”

Dunce cap: Jan Hubbard of Newsday offered a post-mortem on the tenure of Al Bianchi, who was fired Friday as the New York Knicks’ general manager.

Hubbard wrote: “Bianchi seemed befuddled and intimidated by the salary cap. The Lakers have Magic Johnson and James Worthy, but they can sign Sam Perkins to a six-year, $19-million contract. The Knicks have Patrick Ewing and Mark Jackson, and they can do nothing. Who is smarter?”

Hard to be Humble: Because rules are rules, Dr. Tracy Smith’s 13-pound 6-ounce largemouth bass, caught last March on Lake D’Arbonne, is still the Louisiana state record.

But it looked for a minute there as if 16-year-old Jason Humble of Monroe might take Smith’s place. Nice human-interest touch to the story, too, what with Jason catching it on a lake behind his uncle’s house during a backyard barbecue.

According to the Associated Press, the fish was weighed on certified scales and verified by Wildlife and Fisheries biologist Mike Wood as a Florida bass.

Too bad Jason’s largemouth didn’t meet one last criterion, as specified in the Louisiana Outdoor Writers Assn. rules: Only fish caught in public waters are eligible for state records.

Trivia answer: Leroy Ellis and John Q. Trapp, both of whom played for the 1971-72 Lakers, who went 69-13, as well as the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers, who went 9-73. (Ellis and Trapp were traded to Philadelphia during the 1972-73 season for Bill Bridges and Mel Counts.)

Quotebook: Channel 13’s in-studio anchor Barry Tompkins, immediately after one of Florence Griffith-Joyner’s “meet the runners” segments, live from the Los Angeles Marathon course, during Sunday’s telecast: “Hi, I’m Barry. I’m from San Francisco. This is my fourth marathon, and I feel great. “