You Just Don’t Mess With Fans in Chicago

Don Zimmer’s attempt to take on Pedro Martinez in the American League championship series prompted ESPN.com’s Jeff Merron to chronicle other times coaches have ... “well, gone a little nutso.”

No. 1 on the list was Woody Hayes’ punching Clemson linebacker Charlie Bauman with two minutes left in the 1978 Gator Bowl, which resulted in Ohio State’s firing him.

No. 2 was an incident involving a former Chicago Cub manager. On April 29, 1983, the Cubs lost to the Dodgers. It was the team’s 11th loss in 12 home games, and the fans who had turned out for the day game at Wrigley Field booed loudly.

The Cubs’ manager, Lee Elia, in an expletive-filled tirade, said of the fans: “They ought to go and get a ... job and find out what it’s like to go out and earn a ... living. Eighty-five percent of the

Bartenders and waitress were offended, and Elia was gone before the end of the season.

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No end in sight: From David Letterman on Thursday night: “I’ve got a celebrity birthday for you -- Angela Lansbury. How many of you loved and remember Angela Lansbury from ‘Murder She Wrote’? Seventy-eight years old today ....As a special treat, Pedro Martinez threw her to the ground.”

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Trivia time: What Los Angeles-area high school player, drafted in the 19th round as a shortstop by the Kansas City Royals, was the most valuable player of the 1985 World Series?

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Hard to find: More from Letterman: “Where is Saddam Hussein? Well, according to rumors, Saddam is being hidden by relatives in his hometown. No, wait a minute. That’s that Chicago Cubs fan.”

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Circulation boost: The Minneapolis Star Tribune, in its Sunday editions, ran excerpts from a Q&A; with Viking owner Red McCombs by The Times’ Sam Farmer. In the introduction, the Star Tribune referred to The Times as McCombs’ “adopted home paper.”

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Razing the Raiders: Rich Perelman, who is the host of a new Jim Healy-type program on KPLS (830) Sunday mornings, said, “The Raiders play at home [tonight], so the signs will be friendlier than those posted in Cleveland last week, like ‘Just Sue, Baby,’ and ‘Commitment to Litigation.’ ”

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Davis in his prayer: Tom Joyce delivers his Pasadena Quarterbacks Club invocations in rhymes, and his last one included this: “Comfort Al Davis as he gets sued for breach of duty, he’d save time and cash if he could take it before Judge Judy.”

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Trivia answer: Bret Saber- hagen, from Reseda’s Cleveland High.

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And finally: Bernie Williams hit his 18th postseason homer Saturday, tying Mickey Mantle and Reggie Jackson for the career lead. Jackson says the extra playoffs have a lot to do with it. “Mantle hit 18 in a World Series. I hit 10 in a World Series. Once you do that, then you can talk,” he said. “If those guys would have played another 14 or 12 games every postseason, Mantle would have had 50.”

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Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.