Early Retirement of U.S. Swimmers Amazes Salnikov

Vladimir Salnikov, the Soviet swimmer who set a world record at the Goodwill Games at Moscow, is 26 years old.

That makes him an old man by American swimming standards, and he’s noticed the difference.

“Most of the American swimmers I do know now are television commentators,” he said.

Kevin Duckworth, drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers, is a 6-11 center from Eastern Illinois who weighs 295 pounds. He once weighed 365.

“I guess he got in trouble in high school,” Trail Blazer personnel director Bucky Buckwalter said. “He worked at a Burger King. He’d sell one burger and eat two.”

Peter Gammons wrote in Sports Illustrated: “Hours after they were outbid for Tom Seaver, the Yankees traded Ken Griffey to Atlanta for Claudell Washington and infielder Paul Zuvella, a deal which won’t help them at all.”

In his first seven games with the Yankees, Washington hit .320 with 3 home runs, 4 RBIs and 6 runs scored.

Trivia Time: Exactly six years after he won his first World Series game, the perfect game in 1956, Don Larsen won his last World Series game, also in Yankee Stadium. Whom did he beat? (Answer below.)

Larry Bird makes this confession in the Denver Post: “The truth is, Bill Russell is a better basketball player than I am, and I ain’t afraid to admit it. When you look at Bill Russell winning 11 championships in 13 years, that’s really totally uncalled for. That’s ridiculous. That’s amazing. It’s something that will never be done again.”

Wait a Minute: From the Associated Press: “PHOENIX--The Phoenix Suns, in another step of a rebuilding process, announced that they are switching their National Basketball Assn. preseason training site from Prescott to Flagstaff.”

And if that doesn’t do it, don’t forget Winona.

Bill Conlin of The Sporting News revealed that Bo Jackson is not the first athlete the Kansas City Royals have lured away from football, recalling that Willie Wilson, as a New Jersey prep, was headed to Maryland to play flanker.

Conlin: “Undaunted, the Royals brought him to Kansas City for a workout, and he asked to meet some members of the National Football League’s Chiefs who were working out next door at Arrowhead Stadium. One of them was All-Pro linebacker Willie Lanier. Lanier told Wilson that if he wanted to be walking without a cane when he was 35, he should choose baseball.”

From minor league manager Rocky Bridges: “You know what the Little League is? Something to keep the parents off the streets. I bet you don’t know what is the first question Little Leaguers always ask me. ‘How much money do you make?’ ”

Trivia Answer: The Yankees. Playing for the San Francisco Giants, Larsen pitched one-third of an inning in Game 4 and got the win when Chuck Hiller hit a grand slam in a 7-3 victory. It was the first grand slam by a National Leaguer in World Series history. Hiller hit three homers during the regular season.

Quotebook

Benji Durden of the United States, on the empathy the runners shared in the Goodwill Games marathon in Moscow: “Twenty-six miles doesn’t care if you’re capitalist or socialist.”