He Wouldn’t Let the Moment Speak for Itself

Today is the 20th anniversary of Henry Aaron’s record-breaking 715th home run and likely will be celebrated in major league cities.

“This means that Americans will be treated, ad nauseam , to one of the worst calls in the history of radio play-by-play,” John Steigerwald of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote.

“Milo Hamilton is the guilty party and he screamed for the entire time that it took Aaron to circle the bases. All he needed to to say was, ‘There it is . . . number 715,’ and shut up.”

That’s what Vin Scully did.

Add Aaron: Al Downing of CBS Radio hopes to interview Aaron before the “Game of the Week” broadcast of the Dodger-Atlanta Brave game Saturday.

Downing reasons that Aaron owes him one. Perhaps. Downing, then pitching for the Dodgers, served up home run No. 715.

Trivia time: Who is the youngest player to win the Masters tournament?

Moo birds: Some players are accustomed to getting booed, but Jim Mouton of the Houston Astros has the distinction of being “mooed.”

It started when he was introduced Monday as he was about to make his major league debut. Fans began calling out, “Moo, Moo,” and they did it whenever he came to the plate or made a play in right field.

“We didn’t pass out a script or anything, it just happened,” Mouton said. “After a while, it got me pumped.”

Keep moving: Even though he is the only skier left in a race to the North Pole, Norwegian Borge Ousland is not home free. He still faces deadly cold, thin ice and 263 miles of desolate Arctic terrain.

Ousland is projected to finish by May 1--if he doesn’t encounter any hungry polar bears.

Holy cow!Harry Caray, now with the Chicago Cubs, is celebrating his 50th year of broadcasting this season. His son, Skip, and grandson, Chip, are also baseball broadcasters.

“If I’d only named myself Flip, we’d have Flip, Skip and Chip,” Caray told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Add Caray: “I never eat before the game. I always eat after the game. I have my couple of martinis, a couple of bottles of Budweiser and a couple of Grand Marniers, and by the time I get home I’m feeling pretty good.”

Golf’s Bambino: Legendary golfer Gene Sarazen, 92, likened John Daly to Babe Ruth in welcoming him back on the PGA Tour, saying:

“If Babe Ruth didn’t play, nobody came to the game. Nobody cares if John Daly shoots 80. They just want to see him hit a ball.”

Trivia answer: Seve Ballesteros in 1980, when he was 23 years 4 days old.

Quotebook: Bill Kofender, former Detroit Race Course publicist: “I’m on such a strict diet, I don’t even listen to dinner music.”