When It’s Time to Get Out, It’s Time to Get Out

Davey Johnson’s fire-me-or-I’ll-quit departure from the Baltimore Orioles “probably qualifies as the most bizarre dismissal of a manager in 105 years,” Shirley Povich of the Washington Post contends.

Citing the 1892 ouster of Bill Barney as manager of the Washington Senators, Povich writes that Barney was fired by club co-owners Earl Wagner and his brother, George, who “were scalawags from Philadelphia. They quickly enraged Washington fans by charging them 25 cents for parking their bicycles outside the ballpark. And when Earl Wagner was asked why he fired manager Barney, he fumbled and said, ‘Insubordination.’

“Wagner was pressed on this matter and was asked, ‘Exactly what was the form of Bill Barney’s insubordination?’

“ ‘Well,’ said Wagner, ‘we asked him to resign and he refused. That’s insubordination.’ ”

*

Add Johnson: Peter Gammons of the Boston Globe writes that Oriole owner Peter Angelos’ “public response was so bereft of class and dignity that one GM called it ‘proof that Angelos is the American League’s Marge Schott.’ The bottom line is that Johnson has three World Series rings and Angelos has had four managers in five years. . . .

“Look at Angelos’ huge law practice: There is one partner in the entire firm--Peter Angelos. He has no respect for or concept of managing, and he isn’t going to listen to the most respected general manager of the last quarter-century, Pat Gillick.”

*

Trivia time: Name the only Pac-10 school never to have won a national football championship or appeared in a basketball Final Four.

*

Was Wild Wing driving? Air Hugo, the Charlotte Hornets’ economy-sized in-arena blimp, performed an unscheduled tribute to the Hindenburg during the team’s home opener.

Accidentally bumping into a ceiling support structure inside the Charlotte Coliseum, Hugo began leaking helium, sputtered around for a few minutes and finally crashed in the seats, only a few rows in front of Hornet owner George Shinn.

*

It was the shoes: The shoe wars are as intense in English soccer as they are in American basketball, as Steve McManaman, star midfielder for Liverpool, recently learned.

McManaman, attempting to terminate his contract with sportswear manufacturer Umbro, had agreed to wear the company’s soccer shoes until the situation was resolved. But when Umbro executives saw McManaman playing in Reeboks--with the logo removed--the player soon found himself facing a contempt-of-court hearing and a possible prison term.

Wisely, McManaman avoided jail time by apologizing for the indiscretion and agreeing to pay Umbro’s court costs.

*

Trivia answer: Arizona State.

*

And finally: Ken Rosenthal of the Baltimore Sun, getting in his two cents’ worth on l’affaire Angelos-Johnson: “If Angelos owned the Rolling Stones, he’d fire Mick Jagger.”