At Least They Did Not Ask Him About Curly and Larry

Moe Drabowsky retired in 1972 after pitching for 17 seasons in the big leagues. He recently spoke to a group of grade-school children in Maryland.

“I was amazed when some of them asked if I ever pitched to Mickey Mantle or Harmon Killebrew. I thought, ‘There’s some good in baseball cards after all.’ But I got upset when a few of them asked if I ever pitched to Babe Ruth or Honus Wagner.”

A good team: Nelson Piquet, a three-time Formula One champion who suffered serious foot and leg injuries last month in a crash during practice for the Indianapolis 500, received a fax recently from Alessandro Nannini, another former Formula One racer.

Nannini, who had to have his right arm surgically reattached after it was severed in a helicopter accident nearly two years ago, told Piquet: “If we put together your arms and my legs, we’d have one good driver.”

A really big chew: With the Indians stuck in last place, Cleveland relievers Steve Olin and Kevin Wickander had a one-on-one game of their own--to see who could chew more pieces of gum at one time. In a chew-off Sunday at Cleveland Stadium, each stuffed in 71 pieces of Bazooka bubble gum and chewed for four minutes.

Wickander had been the team’s reigning champion at 55 pieces, but now must share that title. He wants a rematch.

Net values: Bill Tilden’s tennis trophies and memorabilia will be auctioned off July 8 in Atlanta at the National Sports Collectors’ convention. Most valued is his 1920 Wimbledon men’s singles trophy, appraised at between $40,000 and $60,000. His U.S. championship perpetual trophy, which was given him after victories in 1923, ’24 and ‘25, is listed between $25,000 and $30,000.

If you want a memento of Tilden and don’t have a lot of money, Big Bill’s sterling silver hairbrush-and-comb set is expected to go for no more than $150 to $200.

Add auction: Also on the block will be Babe Ruth memorabilia, including a gray flannel high school jersey with green pin stripes that the Babe wore while attending St. Mary’s Industrial School in Baltimore. It is priced at “$30,000 and up.”

Add auction II: Michael Jordan’s University of North Carolina jersey No. 23 is listed at $6,000, Magic Johnson’s Laker home jersey at $4,000.

Trivia time: Jack Nicklaus has won the U.S. Open four times. How many times has he finished second?

First things first: George Foreman was master of ceremonies at a boxing writers’ dinner last week in New York. Before accepting the gig, Foreman asked one of the writers, “You’re going to feed me at this thing, aren’t you?”

True analysis: PGA pro Peter Jacobsen played golf with Michael Jordan at Portland’s Waverly Country Club last week. Jordan shot an 86. Jacobsen was asked if Jordan had a future in professional golf after basketball.

“I’ll be playing center for the (Chicago) Bulls before he’s on the tour,” Jacobsen replied.

Action time: The announcement that ABC and ESPN will show World Cup soccer games commercial-free caused San Francisco Examiner columnist Ray Ratto to ask: “What if the game stinks and we need commercials?”

Frequent fliers: At baseball’s All-Star break, the Seattle Mariners will have flown 28,313 miles. That is more than the Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers and Toronto Blue Jays will fly all season.

Wait a minute: Something seems slightly amiss when you check the all-time PGA money list and you have to go all the way to No. 57 to find Arnold Palmer’s name. He was, after all, the first to make a million in golf. But another year or so and Arnie’s $1,902,697 won’t even be in the top 100.

Good thing he has those motor oil commercials.

Looking back: Forty years ago today, Ben Hogan won the U.S. Open golf tournament for the second consecutive year with a two-stroke comeback victory over Clayton Heafner.

Trivia answer: Four, once as an amateur.

Quotebook: Race driver Danny Sullivan, after being involved in a crash with Scott Pruett, Scott Brayton and Scott Goodyear: “I was just hoping to get away Scott-free.”