At Least He Wasn’t ‘Mr. Suspended’

George Steinbrenner commended Dave Winfield for the role the former New York Yankee played in the World Series for Toronto.

But it was a decidedly left-handed compliment from the Yankee owner, who once derisively referred to Winfield as “Mr. May” in contrast to Reggie Jackson’s nickname of “Mr. October.”

“I’m happy he was finally able to take away some of the sting of one for 22,” Steinbrenner told Newsday, alluding to Winfield’s performance with the Yankees in the 1981 World Series.

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Add Steinbrenner: Asked if he was mellowing and taking a softer, gentler approach, the Yankee owner said: “Softer? Gentler? Nah. Look what it got George Bush.”

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Trivia time: Who holds the Pacific 10 record for punting average?

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Outer limits: Chi Chi Rodriguez will sign autographs for almost anybody, but he has his limits.

“I don’t sign autographs for guys with earrings,” the Senior Tour player said. “They’ve got their rights, but I got my rights, too.”

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Hanging in: New York Giant quarterback Phil Simms is recuperating from elbow surgery, prompted by an injury he suffered against the Raiders last month. So, at 37, it would seem to be time for him to retire.

“I’m not going to quit, not yet,” Simms said. “I don’t want to go out, find another job and work. That outside world scares me.”

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Holding pattern: Arizona State is closing in on a record that it would rather not attain. The Sun Devils have been penalized 104 times this season, six shy of the Pacific 10 record set by USC in 1973.

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Crash landing: Headline in the Boston Globe after Notre Dame had routed Boston College last Saturday, 54-7: “Eagles Have Landed--Thud.’

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Culture shock: Andrei Poleshchuk is spending a month at the Rocky Mountain News in Denver through a U.S.-sponsored program for foreign journalists. His observation after attending an NBA exhibition between the Denver Nuggets and Chicago Bulls:

“I’d have been better off not to have had dinner before I came to the arena. It turned out my American (newspaper) colleagues can have proper meals there free of charge. That’s what we used to call ‘communism’ in Russia.”

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Bargain back: Dallas running back Emmitt Smith, who leads the NFL in rushing, was the 17th pick in the 1990 draft. His contract reflected that.

“They got a cheap price,” Smith told the Dallas Morning News. “These jokers, they got more than what they paid.”

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Come again? General Manager Phil Esposito of the Tampa Bay Lightning, explaining why he traded Russian Anatoli Semenov to Vancouver:

“This may be weird to say, but maybe he was too good for our team. He’d make a pass and nobody would be there.”

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Trivia answer: UCLA’s Kirk Wilson, 44.6 yards, 1955-58.

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Quotebook: Edmonton Oiler center Bernie Nicholls, on being fined $10,143 for slashing: “I can’t believe you can be fined $10,000 for slashing. When men played the game--Gordie Howe and those guys--you would get two minutes for slashing.”