Coach Always Traveled With Full Itinerary

The late Jim Valvano once toured Italy with Rollie Massimino, now the basketball coach at Nevada Las Vegas.

“Rollie had a great time and just raved about everything until the last day,” Valvano said. “Then he complained that the towels were so thick that he had a hard time closing his suitcase.”

Trivia time: Who holds the NBA record for the highest scoring average in one playoff series?

Bank on it: After he retired from baseball, Casey Stengel was a bank officer in Glendale. He was asked once how much interest his bank paid, and, as usual, Casey explained it clearly.

“Well, I’ll tell ya,” he said. “That’s what seems to be worryin’ the world. Everybody seems to be saying we’re on tight money, yet they’re building more buildings all the time.

“I don’t know how rich those people are, but when they go on an airplane you get out to the coast in five hours, so I guess you can lose it overnight.”

Right.

FYI: From SportsLetter, a publication of the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles:

The bat Babe Ruth used to hit his first home run of the 1924 season was sold for $60,000 at the recent Premiere Sports Auction held by Superior Galleries in Beverly Hills. The bat was the highest-priced item at the auction, which had total gross sales of $1,262,747.98.

Everything else: The basketball team from Limoges, France, is regarded as the Knicks of Europe. After Limoges beat Treviso in the European final, the Milan newspaper Gazetta dello Sport said of Limoges’ defensive tactics: “Only knives weren’t used.”

Ozark-isms: Baseball announcers Ralph Kiner and Jerry Coleman are known for their malaprops. Danny Ozark, a former Dodger coach who managed Philadelphia from 1973 to 1979, was in their league. A sampling from the book “Voices of the Game”:

Of a Phillie second baseman: “His limitations are limitless.”

Of a quarreling shortstop: “He and I have our indifferences.”

After a three-game sweep by Atlanta: “Those games were beyond my apprehension.”

And, of his players, Ozark said: “Contrary to popular belief, I’ve always had a wonderful repertoire with them.”

A real zoo now: Philadelphia Phillie pitcher Terry Mulholland, asked about the departure of clean-cut Dale Murphy to the Colorado Rockies:

“You know,” he said, scanning the locker room, “there goes the last ounce of sanity left in this clubhouse.”

Not-so-grand-slammer: From “Great Moments & Dubious Achievements in Golf History”: Cyril Walker, the 1924 U.S. Open winner, was known for his slow play. It resulted in his disqualification at the Los Angeles Open at Riviera Country Club in 1930.

When he refused to leave the course, he reportedly was dragged away, kicking and screaming, by police.

Fitting: The phone number for Cub announcer Harry Caray’s sports bar in Chicago is 312-HOLY-COW.

Little leaguer: Kansas City Royal Manager Hal McRae, on his team’s need to improve its catching after Mike Macfarlane’s nine passed balls last year:

“We couldn’t catch the ball--heck, sometimes we couldn’t pick it up until it stopped rolling.”

Trivia answer: Jerry West of the Lakers, who averaged 46.3 points against Baltimore in 1965.

Quotebook: Pete Rose, talking to the Sporting News on the possibility of interleague play in the major leagues: “It would take some of the lust off the All-Star game.”