He Learned Quickly This Wasn’t Cricket

Call it the Stupid Human Trick.

Mujibur Rahman, the Bangladeshi novelty store owner who gained fame with frequent appearances on “Late Night With David Letterman,” made his pitching debut Wednesday night at Sioux City, Iowa, debut being the key word because it was the first time he had ever played baseball. The stage was the first inning of the Sioux City-St. Paul minor league game.

The 39-year-old right-hander was signed by Sioux City during a stop in town to help publicize the Letterman show, which will be seen there starting Aug. 29. One good promotion deserved another, so the Explorers had him spend 30 minutes before the game with pitching coach Dan McDermott, then sent him to the mound.

That’s when the problems began--Rahman trotted out to first base.

“Once we got him pointed toward the plate and not throwing to first base, it looked like he would be all right,” interim Manager Mark Schlemmer said.

No such luck. Rahman’s opening pitch went over the head of the batter and the catcher, and he was relieved.

Add Mujibur: Said Schlemmer: “He just didn’t have enough time before the game and he developed tightness in his elbow. In the interest of his career, we felt that it was best to take him out before any further damage was done.”

Trivia time: Who was the youngest coach in NBA history?

State of Montana: Bob Glauber of Newsday visited River Falls, Wis., recently and recalled the scene from a year ago, when Joe Montana first arrived for training camp with the Kansas City Chiefs:

“Pretty wild? How about unbelievable.

“Wherever he went in this quaint little town in western Wisconsin, Montana was mobbed by Chiefs fans hoping to get a glimpse of perhaps the greatest quarterback of all time. At practice. At the lunch room. Outside the players’ dormitory. In bars.

“One night, for instance, Montana went to a local bar and had a couple of beers with some of his new teammates. The empty cans soon became the source of arguments between fans looking to get a piece of Montana--after all, his lips had made contact with the cans, hadn’t they?”

Add Montana: Now it can be told. A concussion in the third quarter did more than knock Montana out of the AFC championship game last season. It caused him to consider retirement.

“(Retirement) was something I thought about, yeah,” he said last month. “That really concerned me about what happened.”

Instead, the Hall of Fame-bound quarterback underwent a series of neurological tests that revealed the concussion would not have long-lasting effects, and he decided to return for a second season with the Chiefs.

Trivia answer: Dave DeBusschere, who at 24 became player/coach of the Detroit Pistons in 1964-65.

Quotebook: Bob Uecker, on his son’s Little League experience: “He struck out three times and lost the game when a ball went through his legs. Parents swore at us and threw things at our car as we left the parking lot. Gosh, I was proud. A chip off the old block.”