PEOPLE
The N.Y. Mets could have sprouted wings and flown away for all Manager Yogi Berra apparently cared during a 4-1 win over Cincinnati. Berra's son Tim was making his pro football debut in a preseason game with the Colts that day, and Yogi called Baltimore five times in the course of the Mets' victory to find out how Tim was making out. One of the calls was placed by a coach, who told the person answering the phone, "I apologize for bothering you, but I have an expectant father on my hands." Said the younger Berra—who did just fine—when he heard of his father's telephonic activity: "It's typical."
Three-hundred-pound Walter G. Finch is off and walking in his race for a U.S. Senate seat from Maryland. And he had literally every step of his 1,500-mile "walk to the people campaign" figured out ahead of time. "I have the military stride of about 128 paces a minute, so every mile I walk I lift up my feet about 4,000 times. That means the first day I picked up my feet 120,000 times. By the time I'm finished I'll have lifted my feet between five and six million times," Finch says. Although it would have impressed his prospective constituents almightily had he kept on walking when he encountered the Susquehanna River, Finch simply dived in, swam across and continued walking. All this energy may get people out to vote for him—if they can find a ride to the polls.
Another candidate for the U.S. Senate, Florida's former Secretary of State Richard Stone, prefers tennis to hiking. He was so elated when he and his doubles partner took a match 6-4 that he joyfully leaped over the net after the winning point—or, oops, he tried to. Stone caught his foot on the way over and went sprawling. The net result: a broken arm and a gash over his right eye that required nine stitches.
Angela Hernandez, 27, has been battling not only bulls but the courts in Spain for years. A 1908 law that prohibited female matadors has now been abolished, allowing women the right to challenge el toro on foot. Women previously were allowed only to thrust short spears into shoulder muscles of the bulls from horseback. Hernandez, a rejoneadora for the last four years, has been gored three times fighting in South America. Fortunately, the scars don't show.
"He was walking with a distinct wobble," the arresting officer told the court after hauling former Oklahoma quarterback and Baltimore Colt defensive star Bobby Boyd before the bench for "driving while under the influence of alcohol." Not so, protested Boyd, asking that the $100 fine levied against him be set aside. Over a football career that spanned more than 13 years, he had undergone five knee operations that caused him to "wobble," Boyd explained to the judge. His honor overturned the fine, pronounced probation without verdict and Boyd wobbled home.
George Best, once England's best in football, cannot seem to stay retired. Out he came at the invitation of Dunstable Town to play against the Manchester United Reserves, his old club. Overweight and a bit paunchy, Best did not score but managed to assist on two goals as Dunstable's nonleague 17-year-olds tallied three times in the last 10 minutes to win 3-2. Best's appearance at Dunstable, where about 350 fans usually watch games, drove attendance up to 3,866, and he had to be removed with a minute remaining in the match to escape admirers waiting to mob him. That old Best magic is still there, even though he can no longer pull off the hat trick.
The first game of the season at Baldwin-Wallace, Ohio found the Dayton Fillies confronting Cleveland's USA Daredevils, including all 350 pounds of Bessie Dawson starting at defensive tackle. Dawson and the Daredevils bowled them over 28-12, and she now says if an NFL team can use a linewoman, well, there she is.
Even with the cost of food zooming higher than a wedge shot, there is no sign athletes are cutting down on costly calories. Just before his PGA victory Lee Trevino attributed his six-month golfing slump to overeating. "Last night I had three pieces of pecan pie, an ice-cream sandwich and peaches," he said before going out to win. "The only thing holding me down was a rope."
Once he was graduated from high school in Georgia, Ralph Hunter, who has long-jumped 22'6", could not wait to get to the University of Southern California to work under Coach Vern Wolfe. He rushed in his application, airmailed his transcripts, paid his fees, jetted to Los Angeles, dropped his bags at the dormitory and dashed of to meet the head of the track program. There were just a couple of small problems: the coach was Jim Crumpton, not Vern Wolfe, and Hunter was not at USC but at Southern California College. To a young fellow from Georgia, everything looks the same through the smog.
TWO PHOTOS