Gentile Wants Share of Maris’ Place in History

Only in baseball.

Thirty-four years after the fact, research suggests that perhaps Roger Maris wasn’t the lone American League runs batted in leader in 1961, after all.

The New York Yankee outfielder not only broke Babe Ruth’s home run record with 61 that season, but also led in RBIs with 142, one more than Jim Gentile of the Baltimore Orioles.

But Ron Rakowski, a member of the Society for American Baseball Research, maintains that Maris mistakenly was credited with an extra RBI on July 5 against the Cleveland Indians at Yankee Stadium. Therefore, Rakowski says, Gentile and Maris should be co-leaders at 141.

“I wish I’d known that then,” Gentile said. “The next winter, [General Manager] Lee MacPhail said if I had led the league in RBIs, that alone would have been worth an extra $5,000.”

In the third inning of that Yankee-Indian game, Maris singled. Cleveland third baseman Bubba Phillips, trying to catch Maris rounding first base, threw the ball into the stands, allowing Tony Kubek to score. According to Rakowski, Maris was mistakenly given an RBI on the play.

Rakowski said he wants to see the “phantom” RBI taken from Maris’ total.

“If there’s an injustice,” said Rich Levin, a spokesman for the commissioner’s office, “we may make a change.”

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Insistent replay II: The goal that gave England the lead, and eventually the victory, in extra time of the 1966 World Cup final against West Germany should not have been allowed, according to computer experts at Oxford University.

New video analysis techniques show Geoff Hurst’s shot that hit the crossbar and caromed down did not cross the goal line. Professor Ian Reid said the study plotted the path of the ball from Hurst’s boot and after it hit the crossbar, and revealed that it landed one inch outside the goal line.

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Trivia time: On this date 34 years ago, the second All-Star game of the 1961 season was called because of rain at Fenway Park with the scored tied, 1-1. How many other ties have there been in All-Star game history?

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A real scrambler: A man was arrested after leading police on a high-speed chase that began when he tried unsuccessfully to register at the Denver Broncos’ training camp at Greeley, Colo.

Alex Sanchez, 31, reportedly had been a quarterback at Abilene Christian. When he attempted to check into camp, a Bronco official refused to allow Sanchez to sign in because he was not under contract.

When security officer Ken Craft arrived, Sanchez began spitting water and swinging a baseball bat at Craft.

A chase ensued involving the Colorado State Patrol with speeds reaching 100 m.p.h. before Sanchez was finally arrested.

“He probably got a little frustrated--a third-team quarterback in high school,” Bronco Coach Mike Shanahan said. “He probably wanted a chance to show what he could do.”

In what, the Indy 500?

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A true media blitz: Those who complain about cheering in the press box would have been overcome with rage had they been unfortunate enough to sit in the press box at the 1906 Kentucky Derby.

According to a recent story in the Louisville Courier-Journal recalling the incident, “Outsiders fairly took over the press box at the Derby. The form-sheet men had all they could do to keep from being thrown over the railing by the stampeding men and women.”

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Trivia answer: None.

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Quotebook: Owner Art Modell of the Cleveland Browns: “Vince Lombardi wrote the book on coaching. Don Shula edited it.”