The Bunt Sign Could Become a Punt Sign

Boston Red Sox Manager Butch Hobson, a former Alabama backup quarterback, can’t always distinguish baseball from football.

He talks of the Red Sox “putting points on the board” and scratches football terms on the clubhouse blackboard such as fourth and one and third and long.

By Hobson’s reasoning, is a home run a touchdown?

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Trivia time: How many years did Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale of the Dodgers lead the National League in strikeouts?

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Hello out there: Noting that 7-foot-6 center Shawn Bradley of Brigham Young has been on a Mormon mission in Australia for two years, Minnesota Timberwolves General Manager Jack McCloskey has some reservations on the projected top draft pick:

“Nobody has seen him,” McCloskey said. “You’d have to ask some aborigine about him.”

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Wake-up call: Jay Hilgenberg, a center for the Cleveland Browns, was watching the recent NFL draft on television when he fell asleep. The Browns then selected Michigan center Steve Everitt.

Hilgenberg was awakened by a phone call telling him the Browns had drafted a center.

“That’s what I get for sleeping on the job,” he said.

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Night owls: From Chet Coppock of the Chicago Sun-Times: “Major league baseball didn’t need to come up with rule changes to try to speed up the action. They just should have suggested to Carlton Fisk years ago that fans appreciate getting home before 2 a.m.”

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Nobody’s buddy: From “Baseball’s Even Greater Insults:” Whitey Herzog, when he was managing the St. Louis Cardinals: “I’m not buddy-buddy with the players. If they need a buddy, let them buy a dog.”

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Just another Joe: Kansas City Chief Coach Marty Schottenheimer, asked to evaluate his new quarterback, Joe Montana.

“I really haven’t paid that much attention,” he said. “It’s like every other player. You’re going to have to earn the respect.”

Come on, Marty, get real.

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Tall tale: Dale Hunter of the Washington Capitals, who will be suspended for 21 games next season for his blindside hit on New York Islander Pierre Turgeon, said he didn’t realize that Turgeon had just scored a series-clinching goal.

“If Hunter were Pinocchio,” wrote Art Martone of the Providence Journal, “his nose would be in another time zone.”

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Prophet: From Tim Povtak of the Sporting News on the Lakers-Suns series: “The Lakers are dying and will make a coaching change after this one ends quickly. Magic Johnson is not coming back. He knows what’s there.”

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Dying to win: From “Great Moments & Dubious Achievements in Golf History:” The 1985 New South Wales Open in Canberra, Australia, offered an unusual prize for a hole in one. Anyone getting a hole in one would win a prepaid funeral offered by one of the tournament sponsors.

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Trivia answer: Seven--four for Koufax, three for Drysdale.

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Quotebook: Ray Ratto in the San Francisco Examiner: “What, a Southwest Conference school cheating at football? Pure slander.”