Cheap Seats
Going for the jugular
Staggered early in a fight he would go on to win, heavyweight contender Andrew Golotta pulled a move straight out of “Dracula” last month in Atlantic City. He bit his opponent, Samson Pou’ha, on the neck, drawing blood.
“I did that once,” ex-heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield admitted. “It was in the amateurs, and I was knocked down. I got back up, and my survival instincts kicked in. I wasn’t even thinking. I just bit him.”
The move was equally instinctive for Golotta. Just ask his trainer, Roger Bloodworth.
That’s MISTER Anderson to you, Ruben
Ruben Sierra and (fill in the blank) can’t stand each other. The latest flap occurred when Oakland general manager Sandy Alderson tried to compliment Sierra, who isn’t known for drawing walks, by sending the A’s outfielder a bottle of champagne and congratulatory note for a walk Sierra earned to start a game-winning rally.
“Who is this Sandy Anderson?” Sierra asked the San Francisco Chronicle, getting the GM’s name wrong. “He never played. (He should) put on a uniform and go to home plate. And I want to be the pitcher, so the first pitch I’m going to throw is going to be over his head.”
Sierra’s outburst incensed manager La Russa.
“Every time he opens his mouth, he makes a fool of himself,” La Russa said. “You try to protect guys, shade the truth a bit. But there’s a term players use - V.I. - when a player starts believing fantasy. Ruben’s a village idiot.
“In this one case, I’m going to say how full of (bleep) he really is. He gets on Sandy because he never played. Here’s a guy who went to Vietnam for three tours. If Ruben ever went to Vietnam, he’d alternate between vomiting and (bleeping).”
Sierra, incidentally, claimed he was misquoted. The reporter’s audio tape suggested otherwise.
Not to jump to conclusions, but …
Bud Selig, the acting stuffed shirt of baseball, says, “It’s too early to make any snap judgments” about game attendance being way down.
Points out Phil Jackman in the Baltimore Sun: “Uh, Bud, when do you think snap judgments are made, quickly or after all the facts are in and the situation has been studied? That’s called a conclusion.”
This Red’s square
Deion Sanders was found innocent last month on charges in connection with an incident in which an offduty cop took exception to Sanders’ motor scooter ride outside Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium.
The trial lasted three days. In that time, the Reds outfielder was on base nine times and stole seven bases. “He isn’t playing like he has a guilty conscience, that’s for sure,” observed manager Davey Johnson.
The last word …
“He can’t bust a grape in a food fight.”
- Former heavyweight champ Riddick Bowe, on current WBA titlist Bruce Seldon
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