They Hope to Finally Patch Things Up

Did a 1918 snub put a 75-year curse on the Boston Red Sox?

The editors of New England Sport, a Boston magazine, think so, and they want the snub righted.

The 1918 team, the last from Beantown to win a World Series, was denied commemorative championship emblems because of a labor-management dispute. The magazine claims the Red Sox are the only World Series champion to not have such commemorative items, and the editors have asked major league baseball to award them to heirs of the 1918 team.

The fifth game of the 1918 World Series between Boston and the Chicago Cubs was delayed for more than half an hour when players from both teams went on strike to protest a management decision to change the way World Series receipts were distributed.

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Trivia time: Who was the first major league batter to hit home runs from both sides of the plate in the same game?

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For the record: Graduates of Woodrow Wilson High in Dallas, headed by Hal Haynes of Glendora, rightfully point out that Heisman Trophy winner Tim Brown went to their school--and not rival Highland Park, as stated in an earlier Briefing trivia time. That makes Wilson, not Highland Park, the only high school with two Heisman winners. Davey O’Brien, Texas Christian, 1938, was the other.

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Merely a nod: Taunting among players sometimes takes on a subtle tone. New Orleans Saint safety Brett Maxie tells this story about the San Francisco 49ers’ Jerry Rice:

“One time I laid into Rice pretty good. He got up and just nodded at me and said, ‘So that’s the kind of a day it’s going to be.’

“And I thought, ‘Oh, no. Here we go.’ And sure enough, he burned me good that day.�

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Proper name: Gasoline is back in Gasoline Alley.

When Winston Cup stock cars tested at Indianapolis Motor Speedway earlier this week, it was the first time gasoline trucks fueled racing cars there since the 1964 Indianapolis 500. After the fire that caused the deaths of Eddie Sachs and Dave MacDonald, rules were changed to require methanol for Indy cars.

The Gasoline Alley sign remained over the garage area, however. Now that stock cars--which use gasoline--are coming to the Speedway, it is correct again.

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Training methods: J.J. Perry, who operates taekwondo schools in the Los Angeles area, perfected his craft while on military duty in Korea in 1987 and 1988.

“I was there at the height of the students’ protests before the Seoul Olympics,� Perry said. “I trained daily with members of the Korean university team, then fought my way back to the subway through the crowds of student protesters. It helped accelerate my training.�

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Trivia answer: Augie Galan of the Cubs, June 25, 1937, against Brooklyn.

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Quotebook: The late Don Drysdale, on the changing times in baseball: “When we played, World Series checks meant something. Now all they do is screw up your taxes.�