He Doesn’t Have Writer’s Block When It Comes to These Fans

Symbolic autographs, signed for children on the field before the first pitch? Tickets $1? Feel-good sessions with the customers? Pregame meetings to remind the help to make nice?

If baseball wants peace with its fans, it might take the lead of Charlie Hayes.

In a letter to the fans, printed in the Rocky Mountain News, he wrote:

“From the time I was drafted from the Yankees to be a member of the original Rockies until recently, when I signed with Philadelphia, you always made me feel like I was wanted and appreciated. For the rest of my life I’ll never forget the kindness and respect shown me wherever I went in Denver.

“Especially ingrained in my memory will be the days and nights I spent at third base before 50,000-60,000 screaming fans at Mile High Stadium. You fans are what make baseball in Denver so special and even though I’ll be on the opposing team, I’m looking forward to playing in front of you at Coors Field when the Phillies visit in July.”

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Trivia time: It’s a matter of record that Freddie Haas’ victory in the 1945 Memphis Invitational broke Byron Nelson’s record of 11 consecutive tournament victories. Why, then, did George Low claim to have been the tournament winner for years afterward?

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Making up for lost time: The golf season is short, running only from June through September, but at least they don’t have to charge twilight rates at Bjorklidens Golfklubb, in northern Sweden, 154 miles north of the Arctic Circle. There is daylight around the clock in summer.

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Too much of a bad thing: Hockey players prefer a tight-fitting skate for control, but Detroit Red Wing defenseman Paul Coffey used to overdo it, stuffing size 9 feet into a size 6 1/2 skate.

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Next time, the bus: On the flight back to Cleveland after their final regular-season game at Charlotte last Sunday, the Cavaliers’ plane dropped 4,000 feet because of turbulence. So Cleveland forward Tyrone Hill hired a limo and driver to take him the nine hours to New York for Game 1 of the playoffs. He was required to fly back to Cleveland for Game 3, but demanded sedation.

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You’ve come, uh, a long way: Team boss Bill Koch and the women of the America 3crew decided progress was made because they “went from being considered a joke to being a team that Dennis Conner and his crew could get drunk over beating.”

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Staying power: Darren Daulton, drafted by the Phillies in 1980, has been with the same organization longer than any other player in the National League.

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So near, so far: After sailing 27,000 miles in the BOC Around-the-World Challenge alone, through 60-foot seas and near hurricane-force winds, David Adams was stalled a mile from the finish line in Charleston, S.C., because the wind stopped blowing.

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Trivia answer: Haas was an amateur. Low, a pro, finished second, and said for years, “I win the front money.”

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Quotebook: Phil Rizzuto after the former Yankee shortstop received an honorary degree from Hofstra: “This is out of my realm. My God, they speak the King’s English. I’m from Brooklyn.”