Lacy Says He Knows Just Where to Hit It

Lee Lacy has it all backwards. You’re supposed to play fulltime until you get into your 30s, then adjust to a role. Lacy has played all the roles. Now, at age 37, he says he’s ready to play fulltime for his new team, the Baltimore Orioles.

Lacy, a onetime utility man who started his career with the Dodgers, had his most productive season last year at Pittsburgh. He batted .321, second in the league, and led the league’s outfielders in fielding.

Over the last five years, he’s batted .311. He explained his secret to Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post:

“I’ve always been able to hit all kinds of pitchers. Basically, I’m a bad-ball hitter, so it doesn’t matter where they throw it. I don’t pay a lot of attention to the fundamentals of hitting. I just try to attack the ball.

“I’ll do all sorts of things. Change my stances every time up. . . . I don’t have a strike zone. . . . I hit the ball all over, have occasional power down both lines. But I’ll chink it over the infield or beat out chops. I love to bunt. If I see crumbs in the third baseman’s eyes like he’s been up too late the night before, I’ll lay one down for a hit.”

Said Utah Jazz Coach Frank Layden when told that some players had complained about playing on back-to-back nights with a flight in between: “I’ll tell you what’s tough, that’s getting up at 7 in the morning with the old lady yelling at you. You grab the lunch pail and head out for a full day’s work. Now that’s tough. I don’t feel sorry for the players.”

Add Layden: In preparing for a trip, he says: “My assistants break down the films and analyze the games, while I scout the menus.”

A. Ray Smith, owner of the Louisville Redbirds of the American Assn., still wants to buy the Cincinnati Reds, even though they were just sold to Marge Schott, owner of a car dealership in Cincinnati.

Smith claims Schott has made a bad impression, especially by bringing her dog Schottzie to a press conference.

Schottzie is a 175-pound St. Bernard.

“My God, that was embarrassing,” said Smith. “I think she shocked everybody.”

Said Schott when advised of Smith’s statement: “Schottzie’s very hurt.”

Brent Ziegler of the New Jersey Generals is a 6-2, 232-pound running back out of Syra cuse who was drafted in the 10th round last year by the Cincinnati Bengals.

He told George Usher of Newsday: “I waited for the NFL draft because scouts, major NFL scouts, told me I’d go in the first five rounds and play in the NFL for 10 years.

“The day of the draft, I was sitting in my fiancee’s apartment and it got to be 11:30 at night, around the ninth or 10th round, and I was really upset. She turned to me and said, ‘They’re probably going in alphabetical order.’ ”

Quotebook

Danny Ainge, on the advice he got from Larry Bird on guarding Magic Johnson before the last game against the Lakers: “He told me to make sure Magic didn’t get a triple-double by the end of the first quarter.”