Other Than That, They’re in Good Shape

The firing of Baltimore Oriole Manager Frank Robinson prompted Baltimore Sun columnist Mike Littwin to do his own brand of firing. Some excerpts:

“Let me give you a quick assessment of the Orioles, as they are now constituted. They have a manager in Johnny Oates with no experience. They have a general manager in Roland Hemond who is afraid of the president and they have a president in Larry Lucchino who is afraid of the owner.

“That’s the kind of front-office setup that inevitably leads to firing a manager the minute something goes wrong. It’s the easy way out. The uncreative way out. The unimaginative way out. The cowardly way out.”

Add Littwin: Littwin writes that it is only natural for players to grumble about a manager, even if a team is winning.

“In another life, I used to cover the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was the late 1970s and the Dodgers were a powerhouse, just as today. Tom Lasorda was the affable manager, whom the players not only privately ridiculed, but many also actively disliked. They would do Lasorda imitations behind his back and laugh about the Great Dodger in the Sky. So much for motivation.”

Trivia question: What other famous Los Angeles pro athlete wore uniform No. 44 besides Fernando Valenzuela (in his Angel tryout), Darryl Strawberry and Reggie Jackson?

Some joke: Jim Hardy, the former USC and Ram quarterback, got a hole in one at an NFL Alumni golf tournament at Los Coyotes Country Club and eagerly anticipated the prize for his accomplishment: a new BMW.

However, Hardy was told that BMW withdrew its sponsorship for a possible hole in one before he made his ace. It figures. The tournament was held April 1.

Forgotten man: Jim Gentile batted .302 with 46 home runs including five grand slams and 141 RBIs for the Orioles in 1961. However, his accomplishments were obscured by Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees, who hit 61 and 54 home runs in the same season.

“It was kind of lost,” Gentile, now 56, says of his big year. “They were the Yankees. They got most of the ink.”

They still do, only it’s negative ink.

Triple threats: In Thursday’s City high school track and field meet at Birmingham High, spectators thought they were seeing triple while watching the class B 800 meters race. They were.

Marc, Michael and Jeffrey Adolphus of Crenshaw High, all 10th-graders with Bart Simpson haircuts, were running 1-2-3 after the first lap. Which begs the question, have triplets ever competed in the same track event previously?

Relief, at last: The Texas House approved a bill designed to “provide some relief for women” by requiring that stadiums and other facilities have more restrooms for women than men.

As passed by the state Senate, the bill mandated that womens’ restrooms outnumber men’s two-to-one in new and renovated buildings. The House amended the bill to set the ratio at three-to-two.

Asked if she approves of the measure, Gov. Ann Richards, Texas’ first female governor in more than 50 years, said: “We get three for two? That might be enough.”

Trivia answer: Jerry West of the Lakers.

Quotebook: Philadelphia Manager Jim Fregosi was asked by the Chicago Sun-Times to describe his managerial style when he was with the Angels: “I was the worst . . . on the face of the earth. I look back and can’t believe what I was.”