There Was More Than a Hitch When Discussing Surgery

Gary Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was in for a surprise in Arnold Palmer’s office in Orlando, Fla.

“You know what it looks like?” Palmer asked.

“What?” the reporter replied as Palmer began to unbuckle his pants.

Palmer: “A prostate operation? The scar?”

Dulac: “Now, though, the man who has thrilled millions of adoring fans merely by hitching up his pants was undoing his trousers right there in his office, showing off a scar as though it were one of the 70 tournament trophies he has won in his storied career on the PGA and Senior PGA Tour.”

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Trivia time: Which player holds the NCAA Division I basketball record for playing in the most games?

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Another Stengel? Bernie Lincicome of the Chicago Tribune writes that White Sox Manager Terry Bevington is uncharacteristically optimistic about his team.

“This is a man who treats optimism like [Roberto] Alomar treats an umpire. He is talking of the White Sox as if they are the Yankees and he is Casey Stengel, which he can be syntactically speaking.

“ ‘Arguably, we have a great offense, no doubt,’ Bevington says.”

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Galaxy club: Dan O’Neill of the St. Louis Post Dispatch on the St. Louis Cardinals’ plans to change Florida training sites in 1998:

“Men are from Mars, women are from Venus and, starting next spring, the Cardinals are from Jupiter.”

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Anybody listening? Wilt Chamberlain was asked by David Moore of the Dallas Morning News whether he could still play in the NBA today at the age of 60:

“When the Celtics can bring back a guy like Alton Lister at 38--and his best days were not very good--I wouldn’t see a problem playing 10, 15, 20 minutes a game and getting 10 or 15 rebounds.”

With Shaquille O’Neal injured, the Lakers might want to contact Wilt.

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Collectible items: Andy Van Slyke, trying to make a comeback with the Cardinals, recommends first base seats this spring because he’s playing third base:

“It’s a good way to get everybody a souvenir.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1968, Joe Frazier knocked out Buster Mathis in the 11th round to win the vacant New York heavyweight title.

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My kind of town: From The Good Doctor in Inside Sports magazine:

Q: Albert Belle, Bryan Cox, Bob Probert and Dennis Rodman are all with Chicago teams. What is Chicago known as now?

A: The Wacky City.

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Trivia answer: Christian Laettner of Duke, 148, from 1989 to 1992.

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And finally: Montreal catcher Darrin Fletcher on former Expo pitching coach Joe Kerrigan, now with the Boston Red Sox:

“Joe was always into books, anything to get an edge. Sometimes it was like a philosophy class. ‘If a tree falls in New York, will Todd Zeile hit the curveball?’ Stuff like that.”