Aim May Have Been Off, but His Headache Was the Real Thing

Rodney McCray’s biggest claim to fame used to be his facial resemblance to Mike Tyson.

All that changed last week in Portland, Ore., when McCray, an outfielder for the Vancouver Canadians of the triple-A Pacific Coast League, smashed headfirst through a plywood outfield fence trying to catch a fly ball and emerged with only a small cut over his right eye.

McCray’s effort was shown coast-to-coast on television, and continues to be shown.

“I’m just thankful to be alive,” McCray, 27, said later. His head barely missed a steel beam support.

McCray’s manager, Marv Foley, said: “That was the most courageous attempt I’ve ever seen. It was death-defying.”

The 5-foot-9, 170-pound McCray, who played at University High and Santa Monica and West Los Angeles colleges, was presented with golf balls, a jacket and a hat by the sponsor of the sign through which he crashed. The sponsor, a juice company, also donated $1,000 to the United Negro College Fund.

Moe Drabowsky, Vancouver’s pitching coach, lauded McCray for his effort, but suggested he should work on his aim.

“If he’d hit the Coca-Cola sign,” Drabowsky said, “he’d never have to work the rest of his life.”

Trivia Time: What Southern California high school has had more players selected in the baseball draft than any other in the nation?

Nice to meet you: Boxer Chuck Wepner, who once fought Muhammad Ali, was released from a New Jersey prison last month after serving nearly three years for possession of cocaine and conspiracy to distribute it.

Wepner said no one in the New Jersey penal system gave him trouble.

“One inmate, though, tried the first day I got there,” Wepner recalled. “He said that if I bought him cigarettes every week, I wouldn’t get hurt.

“So, by way of introduction, I slapped him across the face, jammed his head against the cell bars and threw him around for a while. We became good friends after that.”

Dollar days: Inspired by the Chicago White Sox success with a similar promotion at old Comiskey Park last season, the San Francisco Giants will hold a “Turn Back the Clock” day June 23, rolling back prices and outfitting players in replica 1920 uniforms.

Writes Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun: “The Orioles are planning a similar promotion June 19--with a 1960s theme--but owner Eli Jacobs is having trouble persuading the players to roll back salaries to 1966 levels.”

Long and short of it: On this day in 1989, the Dodgers and Houston Astros played 22 innings at the Astrodome in the longest night game in National League history--7 hours 14 minutes.

The Astros won the game on Rafael Ramirez’s RBI single against third baseman Jeff Hamilton, who was brought in to pitch. The game ended with Fernando Valenzuela playing first and Eddie Murray at third.

Meanwhile, Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers pitched his 11th career one-hitter and struck out 11 in a 6-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

Trivia Answer: Lakewood High, alma mater of Montreal catcher Mike Fitzgerald, has had 36 players selected in the baseball draft since it began in 1965. Hillsborough High in Florida, which produced Dwight Gooden, is second with 21, followed by Los Angeles Fremont (20), Long Beach Poly (19) and Compton Centennial (18).

Quotebook: Golfer Greg Norman after the second round of the Kemper Open, which was played in 97-degree weather: “(We) should be allowed to wear shorts. Gawdalmighty, women are allowed to wear ‘em (on the LPGA Tour), and we’ve got better legs than they do.”