Ball Went Straight, Not Straight Up

Some pitchers might have told the reporter where to go, but Storm Davis decided to play it for laughs when Rich DePreta of the Stamford (Conn.) Advocate asked him what he threw to New York’s Don Mattingly and Jack Clark in Oakland’s 2-0 loss at Yankee Stadium Sunday.

Of Mattingly’s double, he said: “It was a high fastball. He hasn’t let a high fastball of mine slip by since 1981 in Class AA ball.”

Of Clark’s homer, which followed, he said: “It was a hanging breaking ball. I wanted to call time out the moment I let it go. I felt like yelling, ‘Help! Somebody!’ But nobody would have heard me with 50,000 people around.

“As soon as I released it, I knew it was either going to be a 500-foot pop-up straight up or it was going downtown. Unfortunately, Jack hit the ball to Manhattan.”

Add Yankees: Said slugger Dave Parker of former Pittsburgh Pirates teammate John Candelaria, who blanked the A’s on two hits: “If I needed one guy to pitch a key game in September, Candy is the guy.”

Add A’s: From Baltimore Orioles pitcher Mike Morgan, on why the stadium in Oakland is his favorite: “It has a great sound system. When you’re shagging, you can hear great music. Like when you’re knocked out of a game, they play, ‘Take This Job and Shove It.’ ”

Trivia Time: Ron Blomberg is the answer to what trivia question? (Answer below.)

John McEnroe didn’t exactly feel at home when he took the court against Alexandr Volkov of the Soviet Union in the first round of the French Open.

A Soviet flag flew atop the No. 1 court, but there were no Stars and Stripes. The scoreboard listed him as “J.P. MacEnroe.”

Forty Niner trainer Woody Stephens, defending his strategy against Winning Colors in the Preakness, told the New York Times: “If people want to say I’m the mean old man who beat the filly, I don’t care. If I’d let her get loose, she would have won easy.

“What was I supposed to do, hand over the race because she’s a filly? When you play baseball with a girl, you don’t give her four strikes.”

52 Years Ago Today: On May 24, 1936, Tony Lazzeri set an American League record when he drove in 11 runs as the New York Yankees hammered the Philadelphia Athletics, 25-2. Lazzeri, who hit two grand slam homers, was batting eighth in the lineup.

Now-it-can-be-told Dept.: Philadelphia Phillies clubhouse man Kenny Bush, recalling the 23-game losing streak under Gene Mauch in 1961, told Stan Hochman of the Philadelphia Daily News: “I remember Mauch putting his fist through his office door. And I remember how he used to smash the lights in the dugout. Finally, they got tired of replacing the bulbs, so they put shields over ‘em. Didn’t help. He busted ‘em anyway.”

Trivia Answer: He was baseball’s first designated hitter. In the American League game between New York and Boston on April 6, 1973, he drew a bases-loaded walk for the Yankees in the first inning against Luis Tiant. He wound up going 1 for 3. The Red Sox won, 15-5.

Quotebook

Yankee shortstop Rafael Santana, formerly of the Mets, on the controversies that surround the two New York clubs: “This place is crazier. Guys over there just like to talk a lot. Here, things are really happening.”