Their Wardrobes Are Similar, but This Jacket Did Not Fit

The first 5,000 copies of Frank Beard’s new book on the Senior PGA Tour, “Making the Turn,” came off the presses at MacMillan and Co. with a color picture of Tommy Aaron on the book jacket instead of the author.

“We do have similar builds, although Tommy’s taller,” a puzzled Beard said. “And I guess we dress pretty similar. But come on, the guy’s got curly hair.”

Nothing changes: Baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent, in talking with Marty Noble of Newsday, recalled a visit from a friend whose parents knew former commissioner Ford Frick.

“He remembers Frick coming over to the house for dinner and saying, ‘Gee, half the owners are after me and half of them are supportive. I don’t know which half,’ ” Vincent said. “Sounds to me like it’s the same.”

Trivia time: Who was the last player in professional football to play without a helmet?

Collector’s item: San Francisco Giant rookie pitcher Pat Rapp named his first son after Nolan Ryan. Rapp sent Ryan a birth announcement. Ryan autographed it and sent it back.

Network stars: NBC has Chris Evert and Dan O’Brien, but other networks around the world also have big-name sports personalities as commentators.

Gary Lineker, one of the stars of English soccer, and Sebastian Coe, who won two Olympic 1,500-meter gold medals, are working for the BBC. Michael Gross, a three-time gold medalist swimmer, is working for the German network ZDF, and John Walker, who won the 1,500-meter gold medal for New Zealand in 1976, is a commentator for the Australian network 7 Net.

Forklift needed: A 405-pound halibut was caught last month along the coast of Homer, Alaska.

Bad bookkeeping: David Bischoff, former head of the University of Massachusetts’ athletic programs, reportedly charged the school for travel and lunch with a consulting engineer who had been dead for 22 months at the time of the alleged meeting.

The Union-News of Springfield reported that Bischoff claimed $155 in expenses to travel to Manhattan to consult with David Geiger on the university’s new field house. However, the newspaper said Geiger died nearly two years earlier and his firm played no role in the $52 million complex that is to be completed early next year.

Double play: During the All-Star game, Tom Glavine’s father caught a foul ball hit by Kirby Puckett on a pitch from Glavine. Reader Thomas Keiser of Arcadia reports a similar incident at Dodger Stadium recently when Montreal’s Tim Wallach fouled off a ball that was caught by his uncle, Ed Wallach of El Monte.

More on foul balls: Peter Gammons of ESPN opines that “if his National League outfielders had caught the ball was well as his father,” Glavine might not have fared so poorly. The Atlanta pitcher gave up seven consecutive singles in the first inning.

Looking back: Carroll Ditson of West Hills, an early entry for this year’s 25th Baja 1000 off-road race from Ensenada to La Paz, remembers his first one in 1970.

“It took us 2 1/2 days,” Ditson said. “In those days, if you finished you got a free hotel room. Well, the guys who got in first got the good rooms, and I got a leftover with no windows.”

Trivia answer: Dick Plasman, an end with the Chicago Bears who played without a helmet in the 1940 NFL championship game.

Changing times: Tom Sieckmann recently became the 150th player in PGA Tour history to surpass $1 million in winnings. He has won one tournament in eight years. By contrast, Sam Snead won 81 tournaments and $620,126.

Quotebook: Unlimited hydroplane racer Chip Hanauer, after winning his fifth consecutive race in Miss Budweiser last Sunday on the Columbia River: “I have to admit it, winning all nine races this season has entered my mind.”