For Each Free Throw He Made, Wilt Had a Reason for Missing

As dominant as he was during 14 seasons in the NBA, Wilt Chamberlain never could master the art of free-throw shooting, making only 51%.

Last month, when the Philadelphia 76ers retired Chamberlain’s jersey No. 13, the Philadelphia Inquirer reprinted several of Chamberlain’s attempts to explain his lack of success:

--”My arthritic knees made it too painful to use my natural (knee-bending) motion at the line.”

--”My natural outside shot had too much English on it.”

--”Most tall men don’t shoot free throws well because their height prevents them from putting the kind of arc and trajectory on the ball that makes most good shots go in.”

--”I started lifting weights . . . the strength I got from that destroyed my touch.”

--”My hand is too big and I don’t get a natural grip on the ball.”

--”The problem is in my head, because I shoot free throws well in practice.”

Trivia time: What does Chamberlain list as his greatest thrill?

Now-it-can-be-told Dept.: Mickey Owen, a former Brooklyn Dodger catcher, recently told Times staff writer Alan Drooz that he was managing the Mexico Blues of the Mexican League when Babe Ruth hit a home run for the Mexico City-based team in 1946.

According to Owen, Ruth was signed as a publicity stunt.

“They grooved him a few pitches,” Owen said of Ruth, who died two years later. “He hit one way up in the bleachers. The crowd went crazy. So, I was the manager for Babe’s last home run. There’s some trivia for you.”

Fifty years ago: “Three Pirates were fined $250 each for breaking curfew and ‘trifling with sobriety,’ ” the Pittsburgh Press reported, “but Manager Frankie Frisch refused to identify them ‘to protect the families of those players.’ ”

Don’t tell his agent: Frank Viola of the New York Mets believes that he should be paid about the same as Dwight Gooden, who this week signed a contract with the Mets that will pay him $5.15 million a year, but teammate Ron Darling doesn’t agree.

“ ‘V’ is a great pitcher, but Doc and (Roger) Clemens are way up there and the next group of guys is (down) here,” Darling told Tom Verducci of Newsday. “I hope it doesn’t become a pride thing with him. ‘V’ has great statistics, but Doc is Doc. ‘V’ pitches with guile and finesse. Whether you like it or not, singles hitters will never be paid as much as (Darryl Strawberry). People like strikeouts. They’re the slam dunks of baseball.”

Spirits in the material world: According to Sports Illustrated, tennis star Mats Wilander, a sometime guitarist who is in the midst of a 17-city Swedish rock-concert tour, traded the trophy he won for winning the 1988 French Open to Sting for a Grammy Award.

Trivia answer: Grabbing 55 rebounds in a game against Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics Nov. 24, 1960. It is an NBA record that still stands.

Quotebook: Catcher Tom Pagnozzi of the St. Louis Cardinals, who have been picked by many to finish sixth in the National League East again this season: “The only guys not picking us last are our own writers because they know they have to deal with us. They’re picking us fifth.”