Attending Game Comes With a Price

A Toronto city councilman says he will buy President Bush potato chips and beer, provided the president stays home and watches baseball’s All-Star game on television.

Howard Moscoe says the costs of protecting Bush during his planned visit to the game at Toronto’s SkyDome stadium July 9 could be better spent on Toronto’s citizens.

Toronto spent $59,000 ($52,000 U.S.) on police overtime when Bush visited in 1990 to see the Texas Rangers, partly owned by his son George, play the Toronto Blue Jays in the season opener.

Moscoe adds that if Bush wants to sneak into town wearing a fake nose and mustache with glasses that would be all right with him, too.

Trivia question: Identify the four Ivy League teams that have played in the Rose Bowl game.

Stan the Meanie: Who was baseball’s meanest pitcher? Stan Williams, the former Dodger, was reportedly the meanest of the mean.

“In all the years I played, he was the only guy who ever scared me,” said Giant announcer Ron Fairly in a Pittsburgh Press article. “And he was on my team.”

Giant Manager Roger Craig told the San Francisco Examiner that Williams was far meaner than Don Drysdale, who had an intimidating reputation.

Add Stan: On one occasion, Williams threw a ball that hit Hank Aaron on his helmet.

Williams later apologized, and Aaron graciously accepted the apology.

“You don’t understand,” Williams said. “I was trying to hit you in the neck.”

Alley Oop: Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News, commenting on the retirement of bowler Earl Anthony:

“How come? His thumb go?”

New breed: The Baltimore Sun’s John Eisenberg speculates on what rules could be expected if the rich players owned a major league team. A sampling:

“Booing fans arrested. Reporters not allowed within 15 feet of the players. Adult autograph seekers strung upside down by their toes from the mezzanine. Pregame workout optional.”

Bang, bang: Gangster Al Capone, known as Public Enemy No. 1 in the late 1920s, was his own worst enemy on a golf course near Chicago in that era.

The Golf Hall of Shame book details how Capone, a notorious hacker, kept a loaded revolver in his golf bag for protection.

While lifting his golf bag, one of his clubs jarred the trigger of his pistol. It went off, shooting him in the foot.

After that, his bodyguards carefully checked to make sure a safety catch was on before they deposited any gun in Capone’s golf bag.

Geronimo!The Denver Broncos are using parachutes to help players train. The chutes are attached while players run, giving them additional resistance.

No one has been airborne yet.

Trivia answer: Brown in 1916, Pennsylvania in 1917), Harvard in 1920, and Columbia in 1934.

Quotebook: An unidentified Scottish writer, commenting on the red, white and blue outfit Payne Stewart wore during his U.S. Open playoff victory over Scott Simpson: “He looked as if he were dressed for burial at sea.”