The Slice: Fastballs work magic on speeders

A friend saw the discussion about homemade “Slow Down” traffic signs.

“My dad’s method worked much better,” he wrote.

My friend’s father was a big, athletic, construction superintendent. When the family lived on the North Side, he used to help the kids work on their baseball skills in the front yard.

A young guy in a hot rod occasionally zoomed by, prompting my friend’s dad to yell, “Slow down!”

That didn’t seem to make an impression.

So one time, when the hot rodder was zipping past, my friend’s dad whirled and fired a perfect strike into the driver’s side of the car, leaving a major dent.

Henceforth, that speeder found a new route.

Of course, nowadays such an incident would spawn lawsuits and idiot parents complaining that their brainless kid’s self-esteem had been harmed.

“Brushes with Fame Department: It was during World War II and David Beckley was an 18-year-old Navy man when he rode an elevator with Clark Gable at the Davenport Hotel.

As the movie star got off the elevator, he looked at Beckley and said, “Good luck, sailor.”

“How to make use of a little sister: Tina Wynecoop’s daughter-in-law was at the pediatrician’s office with 4-year-old Trace and 2-year-old Caitlyn.

“The nurse wanted to get a throat culture from Trace and his mom was helping her out by holding his head so he couldn’t get away,” wrote Wynecoop.

The little boy quickly devised an escape plan.

He yelled out, “Help me, Caitlyn — kick the nurse!”

“Saturday’s bet: OK, I lost.

To collect your winnings, simply introduce yourself next time you see me in an establishment that serves beer. I will be happy to buy you one.

I’ll just need to see two pieces of government-issued photo I.D. and your EWU diploma.

Or, if you conduct yourself like the reasonably classy winners I’ve heard from already, we might be able to arrange an Honor System waiver.

And I have to report that, for me, there is a silver lining to losing this bet. Several Eagles revealed that, had I won, they intended to pay me off with microbrews.

“Speaking of Saturday: A couple of readers noted that the Cat Woman in the photo was from a movie, not from the “Batman” TV series. Yes, that was Halle Berry.

On the TV show, Cat Woman was played by Julie Newmar and Eartha Kitt. Lee Meriwether played her in the 1966 movie.

“Today’s Slice question: What do people mistakenly assume you care about?