He Knows Where He Is by What the NFL’s ‘Fans’ Throw at Him

Ron Wolfley, St. Louis Ram running back, on fans: “Wherever you go in the NFL, fans are all alike. The only thing that separates them is what they throw.

“On the West Coast, they throw food. The farther east you move, the larger and harder the objects become. In Midwest cites like Chicago, it’s an AA battery. When you get to Philadelphia, it’s a D battery. I’m serious. I’ve been hit with a D battery in Philly.”

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Trivia time: Who holds the NFL record for fair catches in a career?

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First base parade: Jayson Stark of the Philadelphia Inquirer on “unbreakable” baseball records from Joe Dittmar’s book, “Baseball’s Benchmark”:

“Bruno Haas holds a record even Mitch Williams never broke: most walks by a pitcher in one game--16 set for the [Philadelphia] A’s on June 23, 1915.”

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Good riddance: Nick Canepa in the San Diego Union Tribune on San Diego State’s 31-19 loss to Brigham Young on Saturday:

“Speaking strictly from a selfish standpoint, I will not miss Provo, miss that three-story ‘Y’ defacing the Wasatch [mountain range], miss a town where living on the edge is adding candy sprinkles to your ice cream, miss a team [BYU] so long in the tooth the coach calls the players, ‘sir.’ ”

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Leave me alone: Kirby Puckett, Minnesota Twin center fielder, who also played second base, third base and shortstop in an extra-inning game: “I can play anywhere in the infield as long as the darned ball doesn’t come to me.”

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Ongoing: Blackie Sherrod in the Dallas Morning News: “Speaking of literary endeavor, Denver’s Woody Paige sez he has a new book in offing--’O.J. Simpson Trial: The Early Years.’ ”

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Anxiety? Gene Michael, New York Yankee general manager, on reports his job is in jeopardy:

“I have a five-year contract and two years are guaranteed. George [Steinbrenner, Yankee owner] just never told me which two are guaranteed.”

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Movie buff: John Hall, former Times sportswriter, on why Stanford quarterback Mark Butterfield should be wearing jersey No. 8 instead of 7: “Butterfield 8 was once a pretty hot number.”

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Early optimism: Headline in the Cincinnati Enquirer on Sunday: “Bengals eye 3-0 and--playoffs?” The NFL Bengals, 3-13 in 1994, are 2-1 with 13 regular season games remaining.

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Futility: Jim Leyland, Pittsburgh Pirate manager, on his team’s lack of hitting: “We take six hours of extra batting practice, and it doesn’t mean a thing. When we get in a game, it looks like we’ve never hit before.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1955, Rocky Marciano knocked out Archie Moore in the ninth round at Yankee Stadium to retain the world heavyweight title.

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Trivia answer: Willie Wood of Green Bay, with 102 from 1960 to 1971.

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Quotebook: Spike Dykes, Texas Tech football coach, after losing 50 pounds in the off-season to drop to 215 pounds: “It’s like tossing one deck chair off the Queen Mary.”