This Bomber Is Mad, and He Also Bombs

Who is the Mad Bomber?

Not even the shadow knows. . . .

He’s the mystery man of East Coast racetracks, where railbirds know the Bomber only as the East’s most conspicuous horse player. He makes mammoth wagers at New York City off-track parlors.

And, truth be known, he’s a lousy horse player.

When he places a big bet (usually $20,000 to $70,000) and it’s reflected on the tote board at, say, Gulfstream, other bettors exclaim: “Look, it’s the Bomber!”

Last Monday, in the fourth race at Gulfstream, a $40,000 wager to win suddenly appeared for morning-line favorite Crash Man, making him the 1-9 favorite. By post time, odds had gone up to 4-5.

Crash Man finished sixth.

In the sixth, the Bomber put $20,000 to win on Hollywood Flash, who finished 14 lengths out.

The Bomber’s pattern: Irrationally large wagers bet only in the win pool, never on exactas and always on obvious favorites.

Wrote Andrew Beyer in the Washington Post: “His actions have provoked much discussion because it’s hard to believe anyone smart enough to accumulate so much money could be stupid enough to bet this way.”

Trivia time: What do baseball Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews, ex-NFL coach Rod Dowhower, NFL quarterback Randall Cunningham and Dallas Cowboy assistant coach Ernie Zampese have in common?

Sub 70s: Here’s another nugget from Byron Nelson’s record 11 consecutive golf tournament victories in 1945:

--He set the PGA record for most consecutive rounds under 70 strokes in one year, 19.

As reported in an earlier Morning Briefing, Nelson also in 1945 set the PGA Tour record for the lowest scoring average for a year, 68.33.

New game plan: Not much has worked so far in the baseball strike, so the players have turned to big league schmoozing.

Playing the lobbying game, about 50 major leaguers played host to a reception for about 20 senators and 75 representatives Wednesday night, signed about 600 baseballs and served hot dogs. And the band played “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”

Some of the hosts: Cal Ripken Jr., John Franco, Bobby Bonilla, Danny Tartabull, Darren Daulton, Dave Winfield, Don Mattingly, Cecil Fielder, Eddie Murray and Tom Glavine.

At one point, Winfield put an arm over the shoulder of Rep. Bill Luther of Minnesota and said, “All we’re asking you to do is listen to the situation.”

Oz line: The Hartford Courant’s Ken Davis, writing about Connecticut’s basketball victory over Miami, after losing for the first time at Kansas:

“The Connecticut basketball team clicked its heels twice Tuesday night and returned to its winning ways. That’s right, Toto, the fourth-ranked Huskies weren’t playing Kansas anymore.”

Baltimore Redskins?Would the Washington Redskins consider moving to Baltimore?

No.

But it was a nice try, Jack Kent Cooke acknowledged.

Maryland legislator Howard Rawlings sent the Redskin owner a letter, offering public funding for a “Jack Kent Cooke Harbordome” if he would agree to move.

Cooke, in a written response, said: “You make a very persuasive case, I must admit.”

But Cooke added, “The die is cast (for another new Redskin stadium site) central to the Baltimore-Washington corridor.”

Hubert No-D: From Newsday’s David Steele, rating the New York Knicks:

“Biggest disappointment: Hubert Davis finally broke out of his shooting slump. But after 2 1/2 seasons in the NBA, he still can’t guard anybody. Will he learn sometime before the playoffs?”

Trivia answer: All went to Santa Barbara High School.

Quotebook: Tot Pressnell, onetime Brooklyn Dodger pitcher when Babe Ruth was a Dodger coach, talking about Ruth’s disappointment at never being allowed to manage: “I don’t think Babe ever would have made a manager. He could just never remember names or the signs.”