He Wasn’t Very Quick Then, Either

James (Quick) Tillis has called it quits after being stopped by Evander Holyfield in the fifth round Saturday night, and it could be said that his career ended as it began.

A dozen years ago, Tillis left home, a ranch in Oklahoma, and took a bus to Chicago to seek his fortune as a boxer. He had $30 in his pocket and carried his belongings in a couple of cardboard boxes.

After arriving, he stepped outside the bus station, set down the boxes, looked up at the world’s tallest building, the Sears Tower, and said, “I’m going to conquer you, Chicago.”

When he looked down, the boxes were gone.

Said Boston pitcher Dennis (Oil Can) Boyd after Kansas City’s Bo Jackson hit a mammoth home run against him Saturday at Fenway Park: “That was serious contact, man. It went 800 feet. Nobody ever done that to me.”

Add Red Sox: From General Manager Lou Gorman, on not being invited to attend the meeting at which John McNamara was fired as the manager: “I’m just an employee. I learned a long time ago, in my Navy days, that if the captain says left-full rudder, you turn left-full rudder.”

The Prophet: There were plenty of snickers when he said it, but Tom Lasorda must have known something back in February when he said: “I urge all of the fans in this city to get together and identify with this team, because when July and August come around, they’re gonna be battling each other on the streets in downtown L.A. to buy tickets to see this ballclub.”

Trivia Time: Name the last major league player to knock in 150 or more runs in a season. (Answer below.)

At the British Open, Sandy Lyle was seen wearing a button that said, “It’s not whether you win or lose . . . but whether I do.”

Now-it-can-be-told dept.: Pittsburgh announcer Steve Blass offered this explanation when Michael Dukakis declined to participate in the wave during the Dodgers-Pirates game July 8 at Dodger Stadium: “The wave was moving to the right.”

Wait a Minute: Wrote Roger Fischer of the St. Petersburg Times: “NBC says it actually bailed out of the final two years of its deal with the Rose Bowl because it was losing money and was suffering from insufficient ratings. The last Rose Bowl that carried title implications, NBC said, was the 1971 game in which John McKay’s Southern Cal Trojans faced Woody Hayes’ Ohio State Buckeyes. Thus NBC’s justification for axing the ‘Granddaddy of Them All.’ Spare us that cliche, ABC.”

The 1971 game matched Stanford and Ohio State. The Indians, led by Jim Plunkett, knocked off the previously unbeaten Buckeyes. The next year, Stanford knocked off previously unbeaten Michigan. USC won national championships with wins over Ohio State in 1973 and 1975 and Michigan in 1979. UCLA upset previously unbeaten Ohio State in 1976. In 1980, unbeaten Ohio State was beaten by undefeated but once-tied USC.

Mitch Webster, who had played only with Montreal and Toronto in the major leagues, had this to say when he was traded to the Chicago Cubs: “It’ll be great not to have to listen to two national anthems.”

Trivia Answer: Tommy Davis of the Dodgers, with 153 in 1962.

Quotebook

Cincinnati Manager Pete Rose, told that rookie Chris Sabo was on a pace to break Rose’s club record for doubles in a season: “If he gets close, I’m going to bench the little creep.”