You Might Say Miller Took a Chip Shot

NBC golf analyst Johnny Miller got off a zinger at the PGA Seniors Championship that surely didn’t endear him to the pros at the Heritage tournament, which was telecast by CBS.

Miller’s broadcast partner, Bryant Gumbel, remarked Sunday that the caddies of Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Lee Trevino, were famous in their own right.

Said Miller: “Probably more famous than the guys leading at Heritage.”

Think Payne Stewart is laughing?

Add golf: Said Peter Jacobsen when asked why the European pros do so well in big U.S. tournaments: “We get spoiled on the PGA Tour. The Americans are used to playing on thick grass and perfect greens. When you play in Europe, you’ve got to dig it out of hoof marks and jeep tracks. No wonder they do so well.”

Trivia time: What active major league player had the most runs batted in during in the 1980s?

Would-you-believe-it Dept.: From Hubert Mizell of the St. Petersburg Times: “So ticked is Leo Durocher at not being elected to the baseball Hall of Fame, the former infielder/manager has ordered lawyers to decline if the 84-year-old ‘Lip’ is elected after he dies.”

Feller’s pitch: Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller claims he threw harder than Nolan Ryan does, although Ryan’s fastball has been clocked at 100.9 m.p.h. and Feller’s at 98.6 m.p.h.

Feller told the New York Times: “My fastball was timed by photo-electric cells at home plate, but by then the ball was losing speed, maybe as much as 15 m.p.h.

“That was long before the radar gun they use today. The radar gun gives you the average speed of a pitch from the mound to the plate. On a radar gun, I would have averaged 105 to 107 m.p.h.”

Free spirit: World B. Free, one of the NBA’s all-time gunners, was seen at a Philadelphia 76er game passing out cards that said: “World B. Liquors.”

Hat trick: University of Kentucky basketball Coach Rick Pitino, who coached the New York Knicks last season, concerning his supposedly strained relationship with Knick General Manager Al Bianchi: “I never had a relationship with Al when I was the coach, I don’t have a relationship with Al now and I won’t have a relationship with Al down the road.”

Trivia answer: Dave Winfield, with 1,438 RBIs. Note: If Jim Rice is signed by any team, he would be the leader with 1,451.

Add Winfield: From former shortstop Tony Kubek: “Every shortstop and second baseman will tell you that Dave Winfield is the most feared baserunner in the league, and take care to get out of his way. For a big man, he can fly. Gene Michael, the Yankees’ third base coach, told me Winfield’s speed makes him look good. He knows how to cut the corner at third and put on a burst that gets him home with a slide that could be violent.”

Quotebook: Charles Barkley, Philadelphia 76er forward: “I’m an easy guy to dislike.”