They Could Have Shown ‘Gandhi’ on This Flight

Pittsburgh Pirate coach Rich Donnelly, commenting on the 529-foot home run that was hit recently by Colorado’s Andres Galarraga against the Florida Marlins:

“If there were no stands and that ball had been allowed to keep on traveling, the entire population of Rhode Island could have tagged up from third.”

And this from Galarraga’s teammate, Larry Walker: “The ball had to stop in Albuquerque to refuel.”

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Trivia time: Who is the only player to win three of modern golf’s four major tournaments in the same year?

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The real role model: Tom FitzGerald in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Michael Jordan makes $300,000 per game, and with endorsements, gets $178,000 per day.

“Yet, he’ll have to save all of his income for 270 years to have the net worth of Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft. The lesson to you kids: Be like Bill.”

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Fearless: Walker, the Colorado slugger, was a hockey goalie in British Columbia as a youngster.

“I’ve been hit in the mask by a slap shot and had my face turn red,” he said. “Why should it bother me to get hit by a baseball?”

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Expectations: Henry Schulman in the San Francisco Examiner, on interleague play: “The White Sox’s Albert Belle will get to flip off a whole new base of fans.”

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Easy winner: John Scheibe of The Times’ Calendar section supplied this information. Touch Gold’s time in the Belmont Stakes was 2:28 4/5. Secretariat’s time in the 1973 Belmont was 2:24. Allowing one-fifth of a second to equal one length, Secretariat would have beaten Touch Gold by 24 lengths.

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Indy reaction: About 250 NCAA employees gathered in an auditorium to learn details of the organization’s move from Overland Park, Kan., to Indianapolis. Boxes of Kleenex were passed around, prompting this comment from Steve Rosenbloom of the Chicago Tribune:

“Just the thought of Indianapolis will do that to people.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1938, Cincinnati’s Johnny Vander Meer pitched his record second consecutive no-hitter, a 6-0 victory over the Dodgers in the first night game played in Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field.

Four days earlier, Vander Meer had recorded a no-hit victory, 3-0, against the Boston Braves.

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Trivia answer: Ben Hogan won the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open in 1953. He didn’t play in the PGA Championship that year.

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And finally: George Vecsey in the New York Times: “And starting Monday, the Mets play in Yankee Stadium three straight days, with the looming possibility of ignominious humiliation for George M. Steinbrenner. A three-game sweep by the Mets could justify interleague ball all by itself.”