Williams Made Big Impact on First Sight

The first time I saw Ted Williams was the morning of April 12, 1936. I was playing for Pasadena High against Valencia in the Pomona 20-30 spring tournament when a ball came rolling past the center fielder and into the infield.

Where could it have come from? We looked across the vast playing field to where another game was being played and saw a tall, skinny kid jogging around the bases. It was the “Splendid Splinter” at 18, a pitcher for San Diego Hoover. It was one of two homers he hit that morning against South Pasadena.

There were no fences between the two fields. The ball that rolled into our diamond had to have gone 600 feet.

That afternoon, Williams hit another home run and pitched a five-hitter in a 7-0 victory over Pasadena in the championship game.

Four years later, he was an All-Star with the Boston Red Sox.

Trivia time: Who hit the first home run in an All-Star game?

Sounds like Yogi: The Dallas Morning News’ Frank Luksa quotes Mulligan’s Laws for the way to best improve your golf game: “Go back and take it up at a much earlier age.”

Turnabout: Bill Veeck once hired a hypnotist to convince his St. Louis Browns that they could hit. Mickey Herskowitz of the Houston Chronicle recalls that halfway through the 1944 season, Coach Zack Taylor had had enough.

“How about waking up my guys and putting the other team to sleep for a change,” he told the hypnotist.

Mr. Opinionated: Charles Barkley, on NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon: “Jeff Gordon is the perfect guy for sports, he’s a good guy, he’s the best at what he does, religious, just a good person. People who boo him are just idiots.”

Hello, Tom Arnold: Two views of Fox’s “Best Damn Sports Show Period”:

From Blackie Sherrod of the Dallas News: “[It] makes a valuable contribution to education. Frees up a couple hours nightly to spend reading.”

Andrew Marchand, in the New York Post: “[It’s] supposed to appeal to the young demographic ... some TV execs think this age group is about as sophisticated as a beer can.”

All juiced up: Bob Hille, in the Sporting News, asks the question: “Let me see if I have this straight. Ken Caminiti’s old team now plays in a stadium [Minute Maid Park] named for juice?”

The name game: Could a U.S. Auto Club champion have any better name than Scott Speed? He is the Formula Russell champion.

Changing times: Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News notes that “Pete Sampras used to be tense. Now, it looks as if he’s past tense.”

Trivia answer: Babe Ruth, in the third inning of the first game, July 6, 1933, against Wild Bill Hallahan of the St. Louis Cardinals.

And finally: Manager Carlos Tosca, who inherited the Toronto Blue Jays from the fired Buck Martinez earlier this season, has become something of a philosopher while watching the team fall 20 1/2 games behind the New York Yankees in the American League East.

“Life and this game,” he said, “give you opportunity for adversity.”