Some Feuds Never Die

Don’t expect a lot of fond reminiscing between former Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver and Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer at any old-timers games.

The feisty Weaver said he felt belittled by Palmer, who made fun of his stature and drinking habits during a charity roast at which Weaver was the honored guest.

“I don’t appreciate some idiot who comes up to make fun of somebody because of his size or because of his physical abilities,” Weaver said to the audience at the Sports Boosters of Maryland Headliners Banquet in Baltimore. “I’ll never forgive the man.”

Palmer, who often feuded with his manager when he pitched for Weaver, had earlier gotten big laughs from the crowd of about 1,000 when he said: “I’d like to congratulate somebody … who actually chauffeured Earl around while he was here. A lot of the state troopers are very happy here in Maryland. They’ve been happy since Earl moved to Florida, because he’s Florida’s problem now.”

Never a kind word

Mike Freeman of The New York Times, commenting on New York sportswriters: “ … In New York, writers have elevated the sport of nastiness to Olympic levels, fabricating stories about competitors to the team officials they cover, portraying black writers as lackeys of black athletes, and treating some women reporters as an inferior species.

“We are the varsity when it comes to self-abuse; the rest of the journalism community is a bunch of amateurs.”

Taking a jab at Tyson

“Boxing Update” writer Jack Welsh recently interviewed trainer Emanuel Steward about a hoped-for Mike Tyson-Lennox Lewis fight.

“I believe Mike is actually afraid of Lennox and I think Lennox is a big thorn in Mike’s side,” Steward said.

“It would be a quick evening if they ever met. I can see a one-round KO for Lewis.”

Handle with care

The Golden State Warriors ran a three-man weave drill during a recent practice with a strange twist.

They used an egg rather than a basketball.

Assistant coach Phil Hubbard used to use the drill when he was an assistant coach under Stan Albeck in Atlanta.

“Usually, they’ll break the egg, but the one we used was hard-boiled. But they didn’t know that,” Hubbard said.

Better on the floor than on their faces.

The last word …

“I like the A’s because of the pitching. Let’s say it goes seven games, the A’s win, and Reggie drops one on ‘em in the ninth.”

- Reggie Jackson, comparing this year’s New York Yankees with his 1970s Oakland A’s teams that also won the World Series three straight years.