Weaver Thinks Piniella Has Just What It Takes

Earl Weaver, baseball’s No. 1 umpire baiter, got a chance to watch Lou Piniella in action during the Baltimore-New York series and he sees a bright future for the Yankee manager.

“I like his moves on the field when he’s arguing,” Weaver told the New York Times. “He’s a little animated. You could tell he was teed off. That’s part of it. You have to let everyone know you’re teed off. You can’t be out there with a smile on your face going through the motions.”

Told that Piniella busted up the furniture in the clubhouse after a loss to the Angels at Anaheim Stadium, Weaver said: “If you throw the furniture, you have to make sure you don’t hit the players. If he’s throwing furniture and food, he’s in the fraternity. You have to throw some food to get in the fraternity. I heard that Gene Mauch did it, so I did it. I heard he’s the best.”

For What It’s Worth: No team in modern baseball history has had both a 30-game winner and a .400 hitter in the same season, something Roger Clemens and Wade Boggs hope to pull off in Boston, but the Philadelphia Athletics came close in 1931. Lefty Grove had a 31-4 record and Al Simmons hit .390. Simmons was just six hits short of hitting .400.

Trivia Time: What do singer John Raitt, pro wrestler Jim (The Anvil) Neidhardt and Raiders’ center Don Mosebar have in common? (Answer below.)

Jerry Buss, please note: Tom Heinsohn, asked about the Houston Rockets, told the Hartford Courant: “They’re going to be the dominant team in the West for a long, long time.”

From Houston Coach Bill Fitch, formerly the coach at Boston: “There has never been a basketball player like Larry Bird.”

Said Bill Walton of the second half Sunday: “We were tired and Larry Bird was hitting three-pointers. Hey, that’s basketball at its finest.”

Add Bird: Of the future, he said: “The success of this team depends on how healthy Bill Walton stays. If Bill Walton stays healthy, this team will continue to be successful.”

If Pittsburgh rookie Barry Bonds fails to make to make it big in the majors, it won’t be because he lacks confidence.

Asked about facing Dwight Gooden before Saturday night’s game, Bonds said: “Remember, he’s got to face me, too.”

Bonds walked twice, singled and struck out in four appearances as the Pirates lost to the New York Mets, 6-4.

Now-it-can-be-told dept.: Fun-loving Fuzzy Zoeller appeared to be the most relaxed person on the course when he forced a playoff with Greg Norman in the U.S. Open two years ago, but he told Greg Logan of Newsday: “When it was over, I was drained, literally. Mentally and physically, I was just whipped.”

What did he do that night? “I had drinks, dinner and drinks,” he said. “I fell asleep with the TV on in my hotel room. When I woke up at 2 a.m., there was a good movie on. I lit a cigarette, took one puff, shot the smoke up and the smoke alarm went off. I thought it was going to wake up everybody in the hotel.”

Trivia Answer: All three won shotput titles in the California high school track and field championships--Raitt (Fullerton), 1935; Neidhardt (Newport Harbor), 1973; Mosebar (Visalia Mt. Whitney), 1979.

Quotebook

Boston Coach K.C. Jones, on the intensity of the Celtics at the start of Sunday’s game: “I haven’t seen guys that aggressive since the Chicago Bears.”