Cheap Seats
No iron-man deficiency
Cal Ripken Jr. isn’t the only iron man of the Orioles. Ernie Tyler, the club’s 71-year-old “ballboy” and umpires room attendant, has been at every home game since 1960.
“I’ve never missed a pitch,” Tyler said, “which is something no umpire can say.”
Who ya gonna call?
Ida Albo had the right idea. Her Hotel Fort Garry in Winnipeg has the reputation for being haunted and she figured the perfect guest for a Halloween charity social would be one of the original Ghostbusters - Bill Murray. So she invited him.
But she wasn’t prepared when Murray showed up unannounced in the lobby last week more than a month early.
“I didn’t know he was coming,” she said with delight. “I’ve got to get some lipstick on. I’ve got to find something tartly. Whatever it takes.”
Murray had come to Winnipeg to see a Northern League baseball playoff game between the St. Paul Saints - he’s a co-owner - and the Winnipeg Goldeyes. He was invited to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the game, but instead rifled the ball into the Goldeyes’ dugout and taunted the team from the mound.
“We’re all pretty excited about whipping the Winnipeg team so bad they have to relocate to Alberta,” Murray joked.
Strange brew
A group of Montreal Expos, who threw a rowdy bash aboard a chartered Air Canada jet last week, will have to pay for damaging 18 seats and carpet that had to be replaced because so much beer was spilled.
Because takeoff was delayed until 3:40 a.m., the players had access to a free bar. During the flight, some players decided to play cards and created tables by pulling down the backs of 18 seats - snapping the frames on the back rests.
Since the seats couldn’t be repaired, 18 passengers were bumped from a regularly scheduled commercial fight - forcing the airline to reimburse them.
Club vice president Bill Stoneman said coaches didn’t hear the partying from the first-class section.
As opposed to the no-class section.
The Louvre, on steroids
The U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in Eveleth, Minn., already boasts a giant hockey puck. Last week, a truck carried in a giant hockey stick to complete the set. The 107-foot, 6,050-pound stick and 5-foot, 700-pound puck are displayed on a vacant lot.
The stick is elevated, and the puck, which is on a 6-foot pedestal, will be cocked at an angle to make it look like it is being shot.
The important stuff is inside: “On this wall, we have Bob Probert’s seventh false left bicuspid, knocked out by Link Gaetz in the ‘87 preseason … “
The last word …
“We obviously don’t have a problem with it. What am I to say? I’m making a hell of a lot of money. Should I say, ‘I can’t believe I’m only making $7 million’? Should I say that? Give me a break.”
- Dallas receiver Michael Irvin, on whether a huge contract awarded Deion Sanders will cause internal strife
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo