Dedeaux Knows He Has a Lot to Celebrate

Rod Dedeaux celebrated his 90th birthday Feb. 17, and he and wife Helen celebrated their 64th anniversary Friday night.

Saturday night, Dedeaux was presented the John Wooden Lifetime Achievement Award at the Paralysis Project of America’s 13th Sports Legends dinner at the Omni hotel downtown.

“You’ll have to excuse my voice,” the legendary USC baseball coach said, apologizing for being a little hoarse.

“We tried to celebrate 64 years all in one night last night.”

Quick quips: The weak voice didn’t keep Dedeaux from entertaining the gathering. He said one of his all-time favorite quotes came from his lifelong friend Casey Stengel.

“Casey said, ‘Show me a man who will cheat at golf, and I’ll show you a winner,’ ” Dedeaux said.

Trivia time: Who is the only major leaguer to have won the rookie of the year, most valuable player and Cy Young awards?

Out of position: Joe Morgan, the National League most valuable player in 1975 and ‘76, was among the sports legends featured at Saturday night’s dinner.

But before he was introduced, tennis’ Stan Smith spoke.

“I thought Joe Morgan would have been leading off tonight,” Smith said.

Par for Nixon: When Smith and the U.S. Davis Cup team went to the White House in 1970, President Nixon presented them with golf balls with Nixon’s name on them.

“We thought that was a little strange, us being tennis players,” Smith said.

Youth prevails: Morgan, at 60, looks as if he could still play. So imagine what the 5-foot-7 second baseman looked like when he broke into the majors with the Houston Colt .45s in 1963.

A film clip shown Saturday night included a sound bite from Morgan’s Hall of Fame induction speech in 1990, when he talked about his first major league at-bat.

He knocked in the winning run in a game against the Philadelphia Phillies.

“Gene Mauch [the Phillie manager] was so mad that when he went into the clubhouse, he yelled at his players, ‘You guys got beat by a guy who looks like a Little Leaguer,’ ” Morgan said.

Sense of humor intact: Receiving a standing ovation Saturday night was Mike Utley, the former Detroit Lion offensive lineman paralyzed in a game against the Los Angeles Rams in 1991.

He may have lost the use of his legs, but he hasn’t lost his sense of humor.

“I should have played golf,” Utley said.

Trivia answer: Don Newcombe. Newcombe, who won the rookie honor in 1949, was the Cy Young Award winner and National League MVP in 1956.

And finally: Saturday night’s emcee, Al Michaels, said he was confident a cure will be found for paralysis. “It will be a miracle, and I know something about miracles,” he said.

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