Weaver Is His Man, for Sake of Argument

Cub General Manager Jim Frey told the Chicago Tribune that his most enjoyable moments in baseball were watching Earl Weaver argue with the umpires when Weaver was the manager and Frey was a coach at Baltimore.

Frey: “He’d go out and argue about a play for 15 minutes, get everyone mad at him, then jump back in the dugout, out of breath, and say to us coaches, ‘What do you think? Was he out or safe?’ ”

Add Frey: Asked to explain the big drop in homers this season, he said: “Last year I said the MVP in the National League should be a seamstress in Haiti. Maybe she retired this year.”

Trivia Time: Which National League player finished among the top 10 this year in batting, home runs, runs batted in and runs scored? (Answer to follow.)

The Last Word: New York Mets first baseman Keith Hernandez, who started his career in St. Louis, told the New York Times he was watching with envy when the Cardinals played the Dodgers in the 1985 playoffs.

“Which, of course,” said the Times, “brought up the still-debated question: Should the Dodgers have pitched to Jack Clark?

“Hernandez slowly shook his head and his mustache. ‘No,’ he said firmly.”

Add Clark: Wrote Peter Pascarella of the Sporting News before the playoffs: “The Dodgers finally may have had enough of Mike Marshall after his last disappearance from the lineup. According to several sources, the Dodgers have made a preliminary pitch to the Yankees for Jack Clark.”

From Tim Kurkjian of the Baltimore Sun: “Mets pitcher Sid Fernandez was asked a lot of questions in Inside Pitch, the team’s in-house magazine. A sampling: (1) What was your favorite subject in school? ‘None.’ (2) What famous person would you like to meet? ‘Nobody.’ (3) If you could be anyone else, who would you be? ‘Duke Kahanamoku, the Father of Surfing.’ (4) If you could wish for one thing, what would it be? ‘For Keith Hernandez not to play so far off the bag so I wouldn’t have to cover first.’ ”

Just how fast was that 21.34 by Florence Griffith Joyner in the 200 meters at Seoul? Of the 69 male sprinters who ran in the 200 meters, 37 ran slower than 21.34.

Add Seoul: Wrote Ed Schuyler of the Associated Press: “One gets the impression that every Kim on earth lives here--except Novak.”

Ouch: From Jerry Greene of the Orlando Sentinel: “The rift between Jay Schroeder and the Redskins was that Schroeder felt black players were behind Doug Williams instead of him. Truth is that almost all Redskins of any color favored Williams. Schroeder wasn’t paranoid--he was disliked.”

22 Years Ago Today: On Oct. 6, 1966, Jim Palmer, 20, became the youngest pitcher to throw a World Series shutout as the Baltimore Orioles beat the Dodgers, 6-0. Sandy Koufax was the loser, and it marked his last appearance in a game.

On this date in 1963, Frank Howard homered and singled as the Dodgers beat the New York Yankees, 2-1, completing a 4-game World Series sweep.

Trivia Answer: Andres Galarraga of Montreal. He also led the league in hits and doubles.

Quotebook

Atlanta defensive tackle Tony Casillas, on Seattle Seahawks linebacker Brian Bosworth, a former teammate at Oklahoma: “If it weren’t for peroxide and hairdressers, there wouldn’t be a Brian Bosworth.”