Griffith: $32 Million Too Cheap for Twins

Shirley Povich, reviewing “Calvin” in the the Washington Post, praises Jon Kerr’s biography as “the complete definition of Calvin Griffith as a figure in the game and as a person.”

Povich writes: “For 30 years, Calvin Griffith offered major league baseball and its fans the picture of a club owner most singular--born to the game, homely of speech, contemptuous of his peers and persevering with his mom-and-pop operation in the new era of baseball supermarkets.”

Griffith sold the Minnesota Twins in late August of 1984, when they had a 5 1/2-game lead in the American League West.

“That sale to Minneapolis banker Carl Pohlad later infuriated Griffith,” Povich writes. “He said his mistake was to leave the final dealing to his nephew, Bruce Haynes, a novice at the business, and Howard Fox, his former assistant. Griffith says Haynes was outsmarted and Fox was too intimate with the buyer. The $32 million they got for the team wasn’t much in light of the Orioles’ sale four years later for $70 million.

“Griffith also charges Pohlad didn’t keep his promises with hirings and firings after promoting Fox to president. He later would recall that when he had to seek approval of the AL club owners for the team’s transfer to Pohlad: “I had to make a speech to tell them what a great guy the (SOB) was.”

No drip dry: Members of the Lake Wales (Fla.) High School band spent most of Monday trying to blow-dry the plumes on their hats. They had to sit in a driving rain during the first half of the Miami Dolphin-Pittsburgh Steeler game Sunday.

Not only did the plumes fail to regain their splendor, but the dye from them bled onto the new uniform jackets. The uniforms had been bought recently for $40,000.

Trivia time: On Nov. 29, 1890, Navy and Army met in football for the first time. Which team won?

Best wishes: The latest in the feud between Jerry Glanville, coach of the Houston Oilers, and Chuck Noll, coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers:

Glanville says he saw a newspaper headline last week that said “Knoll Fired.”

“I thought, ‘What a terrible time to fire Chuck, just before Thanksgiving.’ Then I looked down through the article and saw it was the New Mexico State coach (Mike Knoll). So I had my hopes up a little bit there for Thanksgiving, but they dwindled.”

Throw it back: New Jersey Coach Bill Fitch, after watching the Nets set a franchise low for points in a 105-68 loss at Utah Monday: “I’ve always said that out of 82 games you can take a couple and throw them out. This was one of them. I sure as heck didn’t give up golf and fishing to spend nights like this.”

No ear for fashion: Heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson says he is so fond of new clothes that he buys apparel every day, according to an interview published in the December issue of Vogue.

But although Tyson keeps up with the latest clothing fashions, he’s not interested in one popular male fashion accessory--earrings.

“No, I would never do that,” Tyson said. “I’m a man, and I know what my opinions are about that kind of thing.”

Joe must go: Former New York Jet Joe Klecko on the team’s 3-9 record: “(Coach) Joe Walton has taken a potential Super Bowl team and run it into the ground since 1983. We had the potential to win it all as much as any team when he took it over from Walt Michaels.”

Trivia answer: Navy, 24-0.

Quotebook: Houston Rocket Coach Don Chaney took up sky diving last year but won’t jump during the season: “I might be tempted not to push the button.”