In This Era, Fights Were Easy to ‘Fix’

Tony Koester, the radio voice of the Sacramento Solons of the Pacific Coast League from 1937 until 1957, died the other day and his death brought back memories of a different era in broadcasting baseball games.

Koester, 93, did road games from the studio, relying on brief descriptions on a telegraph wire and sound effects, such as hitting a board with a pencil before describing a hit. When there were breakdowns or delays in the Teletype reports, he had to be creative.

“He would manufacture a fight in the stands by a couple of fans or a series of pop foul balls by the batter,” said his son. “That could buy time until the wire service caught up with them.”

*

Trivia time: Who was the last pitcher to lead the major leagues in wins, earned-run average and strikeouts in the same season?

*

Fullback U: Reader Don Galias points out that four Notre Dame backs now in the NFL ran for 100 yards or more in last week’s games. Three of the four played fullback for the Fighting Irish: Jerome Bettis, Pittsburgh; Anthony Johnson, Carolina, and Ray Zellars, New Orleans.

Ricky Watters of Philadelphia is the fourth.

*

Aging process: Sign in a Winston Cup stock car racing garage: “Getting old can be like being punished for a crime you didn’t commit.”

*

Nationalism: Brett Hull was born in Canada, and although he has dual citizenship, Canadian fans were upset when he played for the United States in the World Cup of Hockey. When the St. Louis Blues’ star played in Edmonton against the Oilers, he was booed each time he touched the puck.

Asked how he felt about his reception, Hull said, “I don’t.”

*

Talking back: Bob Drum, a golf writer and television personality who died several months ago at 78, was known for his acerbic wit.

Golf World magazine recalled that Drum once wangled a trip to the British Open, even though his paper, the Pittsburgh Press, hadn’t assigned him to cover it and told him that it didn’t want any stories from him.

However, when Arnold Palmer, from Latrobe, Pa., near Pittsburgh, was second after the third round, an editor cabled Drum: “Need story tomorrow on Palmer.”

Drum’s cabled reply: “I hope you get one.”

*

Says it all: Headline in Baseball Weekly: Vic-Torre-us Yankees.

*

Next up: From Tony Kornheiser of the Washington Post on the reaction to 12-year-old Yankee fan Jeff Maier: “By tonight he’ll probably be on Letterman, saying he’s engaged to Kerri Strug.”

*

Trivia answer: Dwight Gooden, New York Mets, 1985, with 24 wins, 1.53 ERA, 268 strikeouts.

*

And finally: Here’s an Italian alternative to Roberto Alomar’s spitting incident.

Striker Alessandro Veronese, 26, who was sent off by a female soccer referee after two violations in an amateur league in Padua, Italy, replied by kissing her on both cheeks. Veronese shook Anna Di Toni’s hand before kissing her.