On This Hole, He Didn’t Have the Honor

When longtime Bay Area play-by-play announcer Lon Simmons was presented with the Ford Frick Award at the recent baseball Hall of Fame inductions, he was introduced by Joe Morgan.

During his acceptance speech, Simmons told a story about a golf match with Morgan. With a bet still on the line going to the 18th hole, Simmons hit his tee shot in the fairway and Morgan hit his deep into the rough.

Simmons said Morgan couldn’t find his ball and had to be reminded that there was a five-minute time limit. Finally, Morgan yelled, “I found it.”

Said Simmons: “He proceeded to hit it out of the rough, through a bunker and right up to the flag.

“Now if you’re me and you’ve got his golf ball in your pocket, what do you say?”

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Trivia time: Simmons, who retired in 2002, had what signature home-run call?

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Memorable critique: Simmons, talking about comments from his listening audience, said, “I got one of the great letters of all time from a guy who said I was like cotton in the aspirin bottle. You didn’t know what it was there for, you just knew it aggravated the heck out of you.”

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What a relief: From reader Bill Littlejohn, regarding Dennis Eckersley’s Hall of Fame induction: “If I were Eckersley, I’d have been nervous if I’d seen Kirk Gibson hobbling around at my induction ceremony.”

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The person to blame: Craig Kilborn, an ESPN “SportsCenter” anchor from 1993 to ‘96, returns tonight for a guest appearance with Dan Patrick.

Kilborn, known for his catch phrases when he was at ESPN, said, “Bob Costas interviewed me a few years ago on his St. Louis radio show and asked, ‘Are you responsible for those obnoxious ESPN sportscasters being flip and funny?’

“If that’s true, I apologize.”

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Blood brothers: Kilborn, one of five former anchors making one-night guest appearances this week on “SportsCenter,” was asked to name his favorite catch phrase from his ESPN days.

“Here’s one that is kind of obscure,” he said. “At the time, Hakeem Olajuwon had been suffering from anemia and was making his return that night.

“I was talking to my brother, and he said, ‘His red cell count must be up.’ I said, ‘That’s great. Give me something else related to blood,’ and he said, ‘Hemoglobin.’

“So that night Olajuwon hits a jumper and I say, ‘His red cell count must be up.’ He hits another, and I say, ‘Hemoglobin.’ ”

Had Olajuwon made one off the glass, Kilborn could have said, “Blood bank.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1982, Raymond Floyd won the PGA Championship by three strokes over Lanny Wadkins after shooting a 63 in the first round.

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Trivia answer: “Tell it goodbye.”

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And finally: Overheard at Yankee Stadium: A VIP asked Yogi Berra, “Yogi, do you come to all the home games?”

Said Berra: “Sometimes.”

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