Say Hey, Red Sox Took a Pass on Mays

It’s well known what happened between the Boston Red Sox and Babe Ruth. Not as well known is how the Red Sox let Willie Mays slip away.

Mays, who will receive “Baseball’s All-Around Greatest Player” award Saturday at a dinner honoring baseball scouts at the Beverly Hilton hotel, was asked about the scout who signed him, Eddie Montague.

Mays was playing for his father’s Negro League team, the Birmingham (Ala.) Barons, while still in high school when Montague, then a Red Sox scout, first saw him play.

“The way I remember it, he wanted to sign me for the Red Sox, but I guess they didn’t want me,” Mays said Wednesday from his home in Atherton, Calif.

Montague signed Mays after going to work for the New York Giants. Mays didn’t say it, but the Red Sox had a reputation for shying away from black players.

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Trivia time: Who was known as “the Babe Ruth of the Negro Leagues”?

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Necessary expense: Tom Lasorda, who will serve as the master of ceremonies at Saturday’s dinner honoring baseball scouts, worked as a scout for the Dodgers in the 1950s, and Al Campanis, the Dodgers’ director of scouting, was his boss.

“I always put ‘PTA, 10 cents’ on my expense reports,” Lasorda recalled. “One day, Campanis said, ‘What is PTA, 10 cents?’

“I told him, ‘Pay toilet at the airport.’ ”

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Enough already: New Hall of Fame inductee Paul Molitor, a guest on Dan Patrick’s ESPN radio show Wednesday, said he and co-inductee Dennis Eckersley were going to read the Top Ten list on David Letterman’s show that night.

Molitor said he didn’t know what the topic would be, adding, “I just hope it’s not something like, ‘What would you say to Pete Rose?’ ”

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Add Top Ten list: Eckersley and Molitor learned the topic of the list after arriving at the Letterman show taping. It was: “Things I’d Like to Get Off My Chest Now That I’m in the Baseball Hall of Fame.”

Samplings:

No. 10: Molitor: “Once after I hit a grand slam, I kissed the umpire on the mouth.”

No. 9: Eckersley: “In case there’s any confusion, when I die, please don’t freeze me.”

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Oops: An Associated Press dispatch sent out to newspaper sports departments Wednesday contained hundreds of home phone numbers for well-known sports figures. There was just about everyone from Hank Aaron to Barry Zito on the list, including Paul Tagliabue and Bud Selig.

Another dispatch stating, “Disregard,” soon followed.

An AP spokesman called it an “inadvertent transmission.”

Said Times Sports Editor Bill Dwyre: “Knowing [AP sports editor] Terry Taylor, there’s going to be an opening in her department.”

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Trivia answer: Josh Gibson (1912-47), reported to have hit 72 home runs in one year.

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And finally: Reader Annie Eitman said, “Got a nice Laker calendar from a local Realtor. On the back were first-aid tips ... for choking.”

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