Barks Were Reward for Huge Appetite

Now it can be told: Dallas Cowboys center Tom Rafferty is a fancier of chips and other munchies, and one day in camp Roger Staubach presented him with a big bowl of mixed snacks.

Rafferty ate the whole bowl and then wondered why everyone started barking at him.

It seems Staubach had mixed some dry dog food into the concoction.

Rafferty, 34, still answers to the name of “Ruff.”

Remember that 33-inning game between Pawtucket (R.I.) and Rochester (N.Y.) in the International League in 1981? The Pawtucket manager was Joe Morgan, the new manager of the Boston Red Sox.

Says Morgan: “I was smart enough to get thrown out in the 22nd inning.”

Add Morgan: From Bob Sudyk of the Hartford Courant: “When he managed at Charleston (S.C.), after losing a doubleheader in Raleigh (N.C.), mainly because his team couldn’t run, he challenged a handful of his players to a race outside the hotel. ‘There were about four or five putting up 10 bucks apiece,’ Morgan said. ‘A cab driver held the money. I won.’ ”

Trivia Time: Who did USC lose to in football last season when it went 8-4? (Answer below.)

Thanks-but-no-thanks dept.: From an Associated Press story on Indiana University guard Joe Hillman, who is playing the outfield for Oakland affiliate Medford (Ore.) in the Class-A Northwest League: “He was hitting .353, fifth in the league, before his coaches made some changes in his swing. At week’s end, he was hitting .303, ninth in the league.”

It-had-to-happen dept.: After sending the National Football League exhibition standings on the wire, the Associated Press followed up shortly with this correction: “Change St. Louis to Phoenix.”

Wait a Minute: Said University of Georgia football Coach Vince Dooley when asked when he would retire: “If you have a pretty good year, wouldn’t this be a nice year to go out and retire? That makes sense because that’s a logical question. The answer is that’s something to think about, that’s a good question.”

It has been hot in Georgia.

Said noted New York designer Alexander Julian, a native Carolinian, after unveiling the uniforms that the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Assn. will wear: “This has been one of the most exciting and entertaining projects I have ever done. The Hornets are a part of a new page in Southern history and I’m proud to be part of it.”

Makes you want to sing “Dixie.”

Add Hornets: Said personnel director Gene Littles when asked if the team was interested in Utah’s Mel Turpin: “There is no way we would ever want to get Melvin Turpin. He is not even considered. He never works and he will never play. I have no interest in him whatsoever. I fined him $60,000 one year in Cleveland. He’s overweight and he doesn’t work.”

40 Years Ago Today: On Aug. 2, 1948, 42-year-old Satchel Paige made his first major league start for the Cleveland Indians and pitched seven innings as the Indians beat the Washington Senators, 5-3.

Trivia Answer: Oregon, Notre Dame and Michigan State twice.

Quotebook

Tommy John, on why he didn’t join the New York Yankee players who attended the musical “Damn Yankees” over the weekend in Toronto: “Why should I? I’ve been seeing the damn Yankees all season.”