House-Bound Hubby Makes Presence Felt

Joanne Dibble, wife of Cincinnati Red pitcher Rob Dibble, told Paul Daugherty of the Cincinnati Enquirer what her life has been like while her husband is on the disabled list:

“He almost blew up the house trying to light the grill. He couldn’t get it started, so he came in and got a box of matches. He lit the thing. Of course, it exploded. He burned all the hair off his arm.

“He’s a slob. A total slob. He doesn’t know we have a place for the dirty clothes. He just figures they go on the floor next to the bed. Miraculously, they get clean.”

Add Dibble: “He eats between 3 and 5 in the morning. When I get up, I see the line of stuff from the refrigerator to the living room. It’s like a little trail.”

Trivia time: Who was the last Angel to lead the American League in home runs?

Griffey’s baggage: Bernie Lincicome in the Chicago Tribune: “When Ken Griffey Jr. breaks Roger Maris’ single-season home run record, he should get three asterisks: one for batting indoors, one for hitting a juiced baseball and one for inheriting superior genes.”

The Chamberlain file: Alex Hannum, commenting on Wilt Chamberlain in Terry Pluto’s book, “Tall Tales”:

“When I coached the San Francisco Warriors, I thought Al Attles was the fastest guy on our team--by far. We used to gamble a lot--which player could jump the highest and run the fastest.

“So I set up a series of races, baseline to baseline. In the finals, It was Wilt and Attles and Wilt just blew past him. I’m convinced that Wilt Chamberlain is one of the greatest all-around athletes the world has ever seen.”

Looking back: On this day in 1969, Pancho Gonzalez, 41, won the the longest tennis match in Wimbledon history by beating Charles Pasarell after 112 games which took 5 hours 12 minutes.

Trivia answer: Reggie Jackson with 39 in 1982, tying Gorman Thomas of Milwaukee.

Quotebook: Michael Jordan on playing for the double-A Birmingham Barons: “I was at the top of the world a year ago. Now I am at the bottom of the totem pole. And I’m enjoying it.”