The Toughest Part Was Absorbing Blows

Former Cincinnati Bengal punter Pat McInally, who will be inducted into the Orange County Sports Hall of Fame in October, acquired several nicknames during his career.

At Villa Park High, he was 6 feet 1, 132 pounds and had a big nose, so he was called “Stork.”

At Harvard, he was tall and thin and picked up the nickname “Mr. Green Jeans.”

At Cincinnati, in his early years, he was a receiver and was knocked cold a few times, leading teammate Bob Trumpy to give McInally another nickname: “Candlelight.”

Candlelight?

“One blow and he’s out,” McInally explained.

Trivia time: What is the only team in the AFC West against which the Raiders have a losing record?

Walking the plank? In Pittsburgh, they are worried that Bobby Bonilla is leaving when his contract is up at the end of this season and that Barry Bonds will follow at the end of the 1992 season. But outfielder Andy Van Slyke isn’t worried about this year or next year.

“I’m more concerned about three years from now,” he said.

Van Slyke is signed through 1994.

Get Hue-bie Brooks: Don Markus of the Baltimore Sun reflected on the Dodgers’ signing of free agents Brett Butler, Darryl Strawberry and Kevin Gross.

“Green has replaced blue in the team’s color scheme,” Markus said.

Wild Bill: Bill Veeck’s inclusion in the Baseball Hall of Fame reminded John Steadman of the Baltimore Evening Sun of some of Veeck’s zany promotions as owner of the Chicago White Sox.

He would tape lucky numbers under Comiskey Park seats for fans to win such prizes as a thousand ice cream bars, a burro, a ton of salt, a barrel of pickles, a truck load of fertilizer, 50,000 nuts and bolts, or a baby-sitting service for all night games.

Veeck once honored Al Smith, outfielder of the White Sox. To make the party complete, Veeck invited anyone named Smith to be his guest at Comiskey Park.

Add Veeck: He once had White Sox pitcher Early Wynn, disguised as the Lone Ranger, ride onto the Comiskey Park infield on horseback and execute rope tricks.

Don’t worry: Dodger pitcher Bob Ojeda, a former Met, told Jack O’Connell of the Hartford Courant that there is a huge difference between fans in New York on the West Coast.

“You know L.A., everybody’s happy,” Ojeda said. “We had an earthquake two weeks ago, and everybody was still happy. The public is not going to go wild about Darryl slumping. Maybe if it was Magic (Johnson) blowing a few passes. L.A. fans just aren’t into it like New York fans.”

Haven’t got a prayer: The NFL’s new “behavior-modification” guidelines not only outlaw touchdown celebrations and postgame handshakes, they make it against the rules for players to have an organized postgame prayer on the field.

This does not sit well with Philadelphia Eagle defensive end Reggie White, an ordained minister, who leads a group of Eagles in prayer after every game. Said White: “We’re going to pray. They’re probably going to fine us, and if they fine us, I’ll take legal action.”

Trivia answer: The Seattle Seahawks are 15-13 against the Raiders, regular season and playoffs.

The Marshall plan: Boston Red Sox General Manager Lou Gorman said he was forced to release former Dodger Mike Marshall after a trade for a minor leaguer fell through with the White Sox. The deal looked good, Gorman said, “until (Marshall) opened up his mouth criticizing their general manager (Ron Schueler), then they said the heck with it.”

Quotebook: From New York Yankee relief pitcher Steve Farr after the resurgent Yankees won six of 10 games on a West Coast trip: “Win, win, win. . . . Geez, it’s boring.”