Finley’s Greatness Hasn’t Diminished, He’ll Gladly Tell You

Charles O. Finley returned to major league baseball for one day Sunday and showed he’s as humble as ever.

The former owner of the Oakland A’s was in Detroit to manage the Athletics in a old-timers’ rematch of the 1972 American League playoffs in which the A’s beat the Tigers, 3 games to 2, and went on to win their first of three straight World Series titles.

“I’m sorry Billy Martin isn’t here to manage the 1972 Tigers again,” Finley said. “I’d like to kick the bejeebers out of him.”

Finley was told that Sparky Anderson, now manager of the Tigers, still claims his 1972 Cincinnati Reds were better than the A’s, even though the A’s beat them in the World Series.

“I might even find time to give Sparky a few tips,” Finley said. “He’s going to need them in the last 35 or so games.

“You know, Sparky is one of the nicest guys in baseball. But that doesn’t make him a good manager. You’re looking at the best manager in baseball right here.”

Add Finley: Darold Knowles, a former relief pitcher for the A’s, got off the best line of the day, at the expense of his former boss.

When somebody asked, “Where is Charlie?” before Finley arrived, Knowles quipped, “Oh, he’s probably going to manage this game from his office in Chicago--just like he used to do.”

Trivia Time: Who hit the most home runs in a career among players who never led their league in home runs in a season? (Answer below).

Seattle Mariners Manager Dick Williams, after last Thursday’s game at Yankee Stadium was postponed after 2 1/2 innings with the Mariners leading, 1-0: “My best pitcher (Mark Langston) is washed right down the drain, and I don’t like it. We started in the rain. We should’ve played in the rain. At the least, you have to wait longer than we did. I don’t care if it’s the Yankees. The heck with the Yankees. They’re not going to win it anyway.”

He is the World: Freshman offensive lineman Raymond (World) Smith of Grambling weighs about 420 pounds, although no one knows for sure since the university has no scale capable of weighing him. There has been talk of using freight scales.

Smith’s measurements: A 20-inch neck. Size 16 shoes. Pants that are 60 inches at the waist. Size 58-60 jersey.

“It’s like having an entire line in front of me,” running back Wayne Smith said.

According to Raymond Smith, the nickname World came from his high school coach in Washington.

“One day I was having a goal-line stand,” Smith said. “They called this certain play and I clogged everything up. They called me as big as the world.”

Well, the thought was there: The Detroit Tigers wanted to reward their millionth fan of the season earlier this month by presenting him or her with season tickets for 1988. The winner was Cathal Chrisophe.

She lives in the Netherlands.

As Jayson Stark of the Philadelphia Inquirer said: “That’s a long commute to see Jim Walewander.”

San Diego Padres announcer Jerry Coleman, while doing a CBS broadcast from Royals Stadium in Kansas City: “The sky is so clear today you can see all the way to Missouri.”

Trivia answer: Stan Musial, with 475.

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Walter Payton of the Chicago Bears, on his future on football: “I want this to be my greatest year. Athletes like Julius Erving and I have an obligation to the fans to go out on the top of our game.”