‘Poobah of Pittsburgh’ Isn’t Quite the Same

Readers learned Wednesday that John Wooden once had a hole in one and a double eagle in one round of golf in the late 1930s.

Morning Briefing today offers another Wooden tidbit: If he had wanted to, he could have been the manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Wooden carries a clipping in his wallet from the Pittsburgh Press that tells the story about how Joe L. Brown, then the Pirate general manager, offered him the job after talking baseball with Wooden at a dinner in Los Angeles in the 1960s.

So why didn’t he take the job?

“I don’t think I could have gotten the respect of the players, because I had no experience in professional baseball,” Wooden said this week. “I told Joe, I don’t know who would have been run out of town first, him or me.”

No football expert: Speaking of crossing over to another sport, Bloomberg News reported this week that ABC was interested in Charles Barkley for a role on “Monday Night Football.”

Barkley on Wednesday declined the opportunity.

“I better stick to basketball,” he told the Arizona Republic. “The only thing I know about football is the point spreads.”

Trivia time: Randy Johnson had 13 strikeouts in his perfect game against the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night. What is the record for most strikeouts in a professional baseball game?

A good sport: Johnson on Wednesday night presented David Letterman’s Top 10 list, titled “Good Things About Pitching a Perfect Game.”

The highlights:

* No. 8: “Shows everyone that even though I’m 40, I can still ... I’m sorry, I lost my train of thought.”

* No. 7: “Cool to get a congratulatory call from the president, even thought he kept calling me ‘Larry.’ ”

* No. 3: “Maybe people will finally get over the time I killed that bird.”

* No. 2: “It’s just one more thing about me that’s perfect. Am I right, ladies?”

* No. 1: “George Steinbrenner just offered me a billion dollars to sign with the Yankees.”

Gift idea: Robby Hammock, the young Arizona Diamondback catcher who caught Johnson’s perfect game, was a guest on Dan Patrick’s ESPN radio show Wednesday.

Patrick, suggesting a new Rolex might be in order, asked Hammond how much he paid for the watch he now wears.

“Oh, about $65,” he said. “And it has a fake leather wristband.”

Said Patrick’s partner, Rob Dibble: “When you take that out of your jewelry box in the locker room, you might want to make sure Randy gets a good look at it.”

Trivia answer: On May 13, 1952, in a Class-D Appalachian League game at Bristol, Va., Ron Necciai, 19, of the Bristol Twins struck out 27 while pitching a 7-0 no-hitter against the Welch Miners. There were four walks, an error and a hit batsman.

Note: Necciai was called up by the Pittsburgh Pirates later that season and was 1-6 in his only major league stint.

And finally: Hammock said Johnson doesn’t shake off signs.

“He stares you off,” he said.

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